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We all matter, art Matters for all of us

History

Still Point Theatre Collective is a Chicago-based community of artists dedicated to creating performances, workshops, retreats, and community events that celebrate our common spirituality and humanity, and raise consciousness on issues of peace and justice.

Founded in 1993 by actress Lisa Wagner-Carollo, Still Point is animated by the philosophy that art has value for everyone, and the performing arts provide uniquely powerful tools to educate, inspire, and challenge people to action. Still Point activists use the tools of theater-making to amplify hard-to-hear voices at society's margins, including prison inmates and former inmates, and adults with developmental disabilities. In addition to these outreach programs, Still Point also offers an expanse of touring productions focused on spirituality and social justice.

The 90's:

Originally produced by Call to Action in 1990, Haunted by God: The Life of Dorothy Day was the first production to spread the mission of Still Point. Written by Paul Amandes, Robert McClory, and Lisa Wagner-Carollo (who also portrays Day), directed by Virginia Smith, and designed by Tony Award Nominee Daniel Ostling, Haunted by God tells the story of Dorothy Day, a social activist, journalist, and co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement. Haunted by God, still starring Wagner-Carollo, has been performed in the US and Canada (including Guam), toured Europe twice, and continues to be performed, having recently celebrated its 20th Anniversary.

The Collective's first and longest lasting outreach program is the Imagination Workshop, which features creative dramatics workshops for adults with developmental disabilities. The first Imagination Workshop was established in 1992 at Esperanza Community Services. Using dance and movement, music, comedy, and improvisation, these workshops provide a space in which individual expression is encouraged. By discovering and developing each participant's gifts, communication and social skills are enhanced, and members gain an opportunity to serve the community through performance. Each program culminates in performances of original works. This first program was absorbed into Still Point when the company was founded in 1993. The Imagination Workshop at Esperanza Community Services continues to hold weekly workshops into its 19th year.

From 1994 until 1996, Still Point was busy producing theatre focused around many diverse topics. Moved by the 1980 murders of three North American Catholic sisters and laywoman Jean Donovan in El Salvador, Lisa Wagner-Carollo began a research process with the goal of bringing Jean's story to life. After extensive interviews with Donovan's family and friends by Wagner-Carollo, playwright Paul Amandes wrote Points of Arrival: A Jean Donovan Journey, which toured nationally from 1996 until 2000, with a European tour in 1996. Also touring in 1996 was Bow in the Clouds, a children's play written by Collective member Annalise Raziq, which told the story of Noah's Ark.

Joining the repertoire of the Collective in 1996 was Anita Stenger Dacanay's Qadishtu (Sanctified Women), a play about Mary Magdalene's search for "truth, freedom, and forgiveness." Stenger Dacanay's fiery drama synthesized her own story with that of Mary Magdalene, combining theater and religious ceremony, involving audience members in "readings, sharing of food ('the flesh and fluid of the goddess'), and blessings."

In 1998 the Collective expanded its programming to include the Persephone Project. These workshops are safe spaces for women in prison to tell their stories, build community, and explore together. At the end of a three- to six-month process, participants present an original performance for invited guests, prison volunteers, and their fellow inmates. These performances provide a forum for the participants to express their views, and share their experiences and challenges as incarcerated women. The project's first location was at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, a Federal prison in Chicago, IL, facilitated by actress and writer Cheryl Graeff and Steven Spielberg's Shoah Foundation grant recipient Emmy Kreilkamp. This original workshop continues to hold a semester of workshops each year.

In 1999 Karine Koret premiered the first of her two powerful productions for the Collective, Lily. Written and performed by Koret and directed by Beau O'Reilly, Lily is an inspiring testimony of one woman's experience in a concentration camp during the Holocaust. The play was created by actress Koret and was based on the real life experiences of her Grandmother. Beginning in 1999, Lily toured around the United States, and in 2001, Koret performed Lily for her grandmother and her friends in Israel.

The 00's:

The 90's saw immense growth, and the next ten years saw the Collective rapidly establishing exciting new programming and touring productions. In 2000 the Collective rung in the new Millennium by launching the Persephone Project for a short time in Cook County Jail, facilitated by Annalise Raziq, Lisa Wagner-Carollo, and Karine Koret.

In 2002 Karine Koret followed up her Still Point debut with Mazel. Mazel highlighted Koret's grandfather's WW II experiences. The piece starred Koret and was directed by Beau O'Reilly. Also in 2002, Still Point premiered Deep Listening, a play on death and dying. Lisa Wagner-Carollo, the show's sole performer, lived at a homeless shelter for people with HIV/AIDS for two years. Inspired by this experience, she commissioned playwright Teresa Weed to create Deep Listening. In Weed's interviews with healthcare providers, she was informed that, "As a culture, we are dying very badly." The play was directed by Virginia Smith and designed by Holly Windingstad, with original music by Paul Amandes. The result of this collaboration of artists and those in the field developed into a vivid, moving play with music.

In 2003 the Collective bloomed with creative energy, premiering two new productions and adding an outreach workshop. Still Point brought to life Chicago poet Melysha Sargis Maraee's play, Caravan. Directed by Jenny Magnus, designed by Holly Windingstad, and starring Annalise Raziq, Lisa Wagner-Carollo, Tawni Bell, Alexandra Platt, and Erika Walton, the show was performed at Chicago's Rhino Fest. Telling the story of six Middle-eastern women's lives on Chicago's southwest side, the play deeply engaged audiences with its "strong, subtle ensemble."

In the fall of 2003, a new weekly theater workshop for adults with developmental disabilities began at El Valor, an agency located in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood. Pilsen is considered the heart of Chicago's Mexican American community. This workshop still meets weekly, and Still Point also facilitates a weekly "sing-a-long" that meets Thursday afternoons at El Valor.

The Collective ended 2003 with their production of Strong Women, a play based on the poetry of women at Cook County Jail and adapted by Lisa Wagner-Carollo and Annalise Raziq. Still touring, this inspiring performance explores the shock of arrival, the experience of incarceration and abuse, seeking one's spirit in the midst of adversity, separation from children, and the quest to grow as a person and eventually release long-held fears.

In 2005, Still Point expanded the Persephone Project to three new locations, and began providing services at Lake County Jail, Dwight Correctional Center, and the Salvation Army Halfway House in Chicago.

Also in 2005 the Collective expanded its touring repertoire with The Hermit in New York, a play telling the story of Trappist Monk Thomas Merton. The play ran until 2009. The Hermit in New York told the story of a contemporary man of faith practicing the fourth century tradition of eremitism, while remaining a participant in the crowded, lawless modern world. The play was performed by two actors, Beau O'Reilly and Matthew Wilson, and was staged in a neat minimalist style. The Hermit in New York opened a window on the world of Thomas Merton: a solitary, a celebrity, and an ordinary man.

In 2007 the Collective premiered an extension of the Persephone Project, Sisters Rising. The concept for this group came from several conversations between Lisa Wagner-Carollo, Still Point founder, and Annalise Raziq, one of the Persephone Project facilitators, about the joys and challenges of working with incarcerated women. They had discovered that one of the most difficult struggles of the Persephone Project was inconsistent attendance. They'd be right in the middle of developing the women's trust in each other and themselves, when someone would be unexpectedly transferred to another facility. Even more heartbreaking was the fact that often deep and moving pieces were created, yet very few individuals outside the prison walls would experience the women's artistry.

As an extension of the work done in prisons, and to address these challenges, Still Point began the Sisters Rising Project in early 2007.

Thanks to a generous grant from the Chicago Foundation for Women, the pilot program, comprised of ten incredibly courageous, creative and strong formerly incarcerated women, lasted ten weeks, culminating in a performance at the Court Theatre in Chicago. (For this pilot program, Still Point collaborated with CLAIM, Chicago Legal Advocacy for Incarcerated Mothers, Women of Power, and Books for Women in Prison.)

Sisters Rising provides part-time work for formerly incarcerated women. Program participants meet throughout the year to create original theatre pieces and to tell their stories. They perform throughout the Chicago area.

Also making its debut in 2007 was A Fine Line, written by Jantae Spencer and Dawn Herrara-Terry. Commissioned by the Christian Church/Disciples of Christ for their conference on combating racism and working toward healing, A Fine Line examined race relations through the eyes of mothers. The plot revolved around two American women whose children are romantically involved, and each scene takes place in a different time period: the 1940's, the 1970's, and modern day. The mothers, one black and one white, are brought together in dialogue as they work to understand each other, coming face-to-face with their own racial stereotypes and assumptions.

In 2008 Adoptions Unlimited Inc. commissioned the Collective to facilitate the writing and performance of Strong Connections, a 45-minute play written and performed by former wards of the state in the Illinois foster care system. The performance troupe named themselves The Unheard, and in their play, they relate their life stories and the personal impact of their journeys through foster care. They emphasize their struggle to find and maintain meaningful personal connections along the way. The play was directed by Annalise Raziq with Jacob Kaufman and Kamaran Madison.

2008 also saw the collective expanding programs for adults with developmental disabilities into four new facilities. Programs at New Horizon Center, Keshet, and Anixter Center (Chicago) all started weekly theatre programs, offshoots of the original Imagination Workshop, facilitated by Collective member Judith Harding. Additionally, Lisa Wagner-Carollo and Jacob Kaufman began facilitating sing-a-long workshops at Columbus House (Chicago). In 2009, the Imagination Workshop, led by Judith Harding, expanded to Welles Park for a year of weekly workshops.

Harding's work with disabled adults continued in 2009 with a collaboration, Site Unseen (2009): (Dis)abling Conditions, a one night only event, at the Chicago Cultural Center. Harding's piece May I Have was performed by adults of varying ability. Chicago Art Magazine wrote "The dancers were poshly dressed in black suits with striking red cravats. They moved in a slow, methodical waltz, one two three, one two three, one two three. The floor was encircled by spectators, seated or leaning, but unswayed by music-the only sound was the shuffle of passersby and muffled conversation from the periphery. A bell rang. The paired dancers bowed, went on to find their next companion-it was to be a long chain of waltzing pairs-but were foiled, or perhaps saran-ed, by a wall of thin plastic separating them from the potentially forthcoming partner. Dismayed, a lonely dancer touched the barrier. Looked at the barrier. Saddened, she crossed her arms, stared at the floor. A square of cloth fell from her suit to the floor. Acceptance and inspiration. She bent and lifted the barrier and ducked under. New pairs were made. Dancers bowed and spoke, 'May I have...' The waltz continued."

In 2010 the Collective's work continued to diversify as Steve Grossman conducted a six month play reading workshop with Mather Lifeways, a retirement community. The Collective also began collaborations with the Illinois Center for Community Law's Changing Minds Campaign and worked with a group of formerly incarcerated women called Cluster of Rosez. In 2011 the Collective began offering two additional programs, available for bookings nationally, Jacob Kaufman's Bad, Bad Women: Theatre Behind Bars about his work with incarcerated women developing theatre around Feminine mythology and storytelling, and The Life and Spirituality of Dorothy Day: A Day of Reflection offered by founder Lisa Wagner-Carollo in conjunction with her performance Haunted by God: The Life of Dorothy Day.

Today, Still Point is a strong collection of skilled and experienced collaborative artists who are actively working to improve their communities. The Collective is vigorously involved in facilitating workshops at three correctional institutions, seven weekly workshops for adults with developmental disabilities, three touring shows, one lecture, one day of reflection, one performance troupe of formerly incarcerated women, and two performance pieces in development. As Still Point Theatre Collective moves forward, it continues to embrace the notion that we all matter, and art matters for all of us.