The Popess: Elena Mazzon’s feminist solo show resurrects a forgotten religious uprising
Coming to The Glitch this September, The Popess retells the true story of a female-led sect in 13th-century Italy that believed a woman was the Holy Spirit incarnate.
A nun named Maifreda. A woman believed to be the Holy Spirit. A congregation led by women and executed for heresy. This is not a fable or a Dan Brown novel — it’s a buried fragment of history that once shook the Catholic Church.
In The Popess: Instructions for Freedom, writer and performer Elena Mazzon resurrects the true story of the Guglielmites, a 13th-century sect who believed a woman named Guglielma was the incarnation of the divine. Before her death, she appointed Maifreda da Piovano — a nun — as her spiritual successor, the “Popess” of a new, female-led church. The movement didn’t last. By the year 1300, it had caught the eye of the Inquisition. Its leaders were exhumed, tried posthumously, and burned.
Mazzon returns to The Glitch in Waterloo for a limited run of the show from 3–8 September, offering audiences a darkly comic, fast-paced retelling of this little-known rebellion. Alone on stage, she plays “Everywoman,” a searching soul drawn into a radical vision of salvation led by women — and the consequences that followed.
Directed by Colin Watkeys, the piece combines historical storytelling with present-day urgency, asking what happens when belief becomes a form of resistance. It’s a show about power, faith, and who gets to define the truth — themes that resonate with modern debates on gender, religion and institutional control.
First staged in London in 2024, The Popess has since toured to New York, Italy and across the UK. Mazzon, who trained in both London and her native Italy, has appeared in The Count of Montecristo, Killing Eve, and Anna and Modern-Day Slavery. Her previous solo work includes Clara: Sex, Love and Classical Music, which earned international praise for its blend of irreverence and precision.
The Glitch, Lower Marsh, London, SE1 7AE
Wednesday 3rd – Monday 8th September 2025
7pm (And 2pm matinee Sat)
Running time: 60 minutes
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/vaultcreativearts/1718463
Elena Leo is the Culture & Lifestyle Editor of Ikon London Magazine.
