ANNOUNCEMENT
PANEL CHANGE!
Ricardo Gamboa is not able to make it for Panel 2: Theatre, Arts Activism, and Chicago
Introducing our new panelist:
Kevin Aoussou is a Chicago based artist from Abidjan, Côte D’Ivoire. A graduate of Northwestern University MFA Acting program, Kevin is an alumnus of The National Theater Institute Moscow Art Theater Semester (2016), Winthrop University (2018), and the inaugural Arvold Warner Studios Teacher Training Lab.
Kevin was one of the leaders of Winthrop University’s theater alumni anti-racism push, the LightsUpWU Initiative. He was also an original member of Charlotte Coalition of Anti-Racists Artists which led a demonstration and public arts performance against the proposed 2021 CMPD police budget.
A 2026 Jeff Impact Fellowship Awardee Kevin’s work with the his organization, the Local Lab Collective, has led to the development of several new plays and community events!
Thursday
OCTOBER 1, 2026
Opening Day
The festival opens with shared practice, civic imagination, climate-focused work, a world premiere, and the opening keynote.
10:00 AM
Morning Meditation
Sanctuary
Meditation
Nicoya Helm
A shared morning meditation led by Nicoya Helm to begin the festival day.
11:00 AM
Creative Power: Artists as Civic Leaders
Classroom
Workshop
Tom Tresser
A participatory exploration of artists’ civic agency and the practical ways creative people can organize and contribute to public life.
2:30 PM
Climate Playwriting Workshop
Social Hall
Workshop
Melanie Coffey
The Holocene Collective - run by Melanie Coffey and Olivia Gregorich - works to showcase climate and science storytelling in Chicago. Through audience interaction, post-show conversations, and climate education, we work to educate audience members on the climate crisis and eco-friendly activities in a guilt-free way - specifically tailored for individuals that live in apartments and can't afford a hybrid car.
4:30 PM
An Afternoon with John Michael
Classroom
Conversation / performance
John Michael
An afternoon with John Michael, creator of Narcan Time Machine.
6:30 PM
Keynote Speaker: Lisa Biggs
Sanctuary
Keynote
Lisa Biggs, Ph.D.
The festival keynote with Lisa Biggs, Ph.D.
7:30 PM
The Stoop
Social Hall
Performance
Grace House Acting Apprentices
Every stoop has its own ecosystem, unspoken laws, and gatekeepers. A space of memory, where the past, present, and future are patiently observed. Join us for a performance developed by our Grace House Acting Apprentices through Still Point Theatre Collective's Persephone project. This new play will premier at the 2026 Social Change Theater Festival, and be available for booking in the Chicago area through Spring 2027.
8:30 PM
Climate Change Play Reading
Classroom
Reading
6th Fest
A climate change play reading presented by 6th Fest.
Friday
OCTOBER 2, 2026
Practice, performance & systems
Friday moves from participatory practice into performance and an evening examination of theater, violence, and the carceral system.
10:00 AM
Morning Meditation
Meditation
Sanctuary
Nicoya Helm
A shared morning meditation led by Nicoya Helm to begin the festival day.
11:00 AM
Intro to Theater of the Oppressed
Workshop
Social Hall
Mark Weinberg
The Center for Applied Theatre (CAT) offers interactive workshops that emphasize collaboration as a way to explore issues and solve problems. These workshops function to raise questions about our place in the world and they offer opportunities for shared learning and the development of actions for affecting that world. Workshop activities combine fun, dialogue, storytelling, and deep listening with the visceral and ambiguous language of Images sculpted with our own bodies. Participants embark on a journey to explore what needs changing, imagine just and humane societies, and commit to exercising and strengthening the inner resources and Virtues needed to progress together.
2:30 PM
Self Producing and Theater for Social Change
Workshop
Classroom
Ted Williams III, D.Min.
A workshop on self-producing and theater for social change led by Ted Williams III, D.Min..
4:00 PM
Life Out Loud: Voices of Pride
Performance
Social Hall
Free Street Theatre
Three friends journey through a gallery of stories from LGBTQ+ people, past and present. Together they investigate history’s torn out pages, discovering the power of authentic friendship, and new ideas to expand our understanding of gender and sexuality. This charming, funny, and interactive play uses poetry and improv to introduce gender expansive vocabulary, healthy coping mechanisms and often forgotten Black and Asian queer history.
Credits:
Directed and Co-written by Dionne Addai, with the Life Out Loud Ensemble**
Theatrical Consultation by Lexi Saunders
Starring: Jett Pasia, Haven Crawley, Ua Smith
Including contributed pieces from Zahra Baker* and Aimy Tien**
*Zahra Baker’s contribution is based on an interview with the About Face Youth Theatre ensemble and directors Donny Acosta and Megan Carney for About Face Theatre’s production of 20/20.
**Aimy Tien’s contribution of “Ancient History” was originally developed for the About Face Theatre production of Power in Pride with an ensemble including Dionne Addai, Mia Vivans, Angelicá Grace, Lexi Saunders, Nico Kruger, and Vic Wynter.
7:00 PM
Panel 1: Theater and the Carceral System
Panel
Sanctuary
Ozivell Ecford; Toussaint Daniels; James Swansey
A panel on theater and the carceral system with Ozivell Ecford, Toussaint Daniels, and James Swansey.
8:15 PM
The Story of Violence
Screening / talkback
Social Hall
Toussaint Daniels
Written by Toussaint Daniels and incarcerated citizens at The Dixon Performing Arts (DPA) program, located at the Dixon Correctional Center. The Story of Violence is a loose adaptation of the movie “One Night in Miami.” It features characters modeled after Ta-Nehisi Coats, as well as prominent Chicago figures like Barack Obama and Lil Dirk. The play was read publicly as part of Still Point Theatre Collective's Playwright From The Inside Reading Series.
Saturday
OCTOBER 3, 2026
Stories, action & reflection
The closing day brings personal stories and public action into conversation, ending with a collective share-back and meditation.
10:00 AM
Morning Meditation
Sanctuary
Meditation
Nicoya Helm
A shared morning meditation led by Nicoya Helm to begin the festival day.
10:30 AM
SoulWork Studio Workshop w/ Mi Kang and a Q&A w/ Dr. Cristal Chanelle Truscott
Classroom
Workshop
Mi Kang; Dr. Cristal Chanelle Truscott
SoulWork Studio offers training that empowers artists to engage the fullness of their identities by cultivating creative power through a people-first, culturally-responsive and socially-conscious studio practice. The Studio provides a range of opportunities to learn from Certified SoulWorkers that includes easy-to-implement classroom activities, lecture-based webinars, in-person workshops, and summer intensives. www.SoulWorkMethod.com
12:00 PM
To Pray Marvelously Well: The Spiritual Friendship of St. Edith Stein and St. Teresa of Avila
Social Hall
Performance
Lisa Wagner-Carollo
Written by acclaimed Chicago playwright Jenny Magnus and directed by Virginia Smith, this one-woman show is brought to life by actress Lisa Wagner-Carollo, who has toured the world in Haunted by God: The Life of Dorothy Day. This inspiring new production from Still Point Theatre Collective explores the journeys of two remarkable women in a one-of-a-kind spiritual dialogue across the centuries.
2:00 PM
Alex in Windyland
Social Hall
Staged reading
Abby Thompson
Based on research and experience working alongside youth in Chicago’s foster care system, Alex in Windyland explores the complexities of the foster care system. The day before her 12th birthday, Alex is taken from her sister and transported onto a train called Windyland. A magical liminal space, Windyland is where Alex faces new challenges, finds new friends, and goes on adventures. Will Alex be reunited with her sister? Will she find a forever home? The clock is ticking and the train keeps running... As the train speeds forward, the urgency of her journey becomes clear, just as it does for thousands of foster youth navigating an unpredictable system.
4:30 PM
Ensemble Based Process 101
Sanctuary
Workshop
Coya Paz
This workshop will cover the elements that shape Free Street's methods for building ensemble, research-informed practice, and putting the pieces together to make original work that centers Chicago social justice issues. This session offers a taste of what Free Street offers in their certificate sessions, offered quarterly in Chicago.
6:00 PM
Mere Animal: The Vindication of Mary Wollstonecraft
Social Hall
Workshop / performance
Janine Ashley
This hybrid session begins with a solo performance excerpt from Mere Animal: A Vindication of Mary Wollstonecraft. It is 1801, and since Mary’s death, the British crown has mounted a smear campaign to counter her advocacy for women’s and children’s rights, filling popular publications with shaming accounts of her life and loves. When a wish to commiserate with fellow revolutionaries unexpectedly brings her ghost face-to-face with a present-day audience, Mary’s attempt at conversation becomes a search for an antidote to the oppressive narratives so often imposed upon us all. Never losing her notorious playfulness or sense of humor, Mary escorts the audience through some of the most painful moments of her early life toward well-founded hope and an urgent call to action: to call out harmful narratives and tell the truths they erase, changing society for the better one story at a time.
After the performance, participants are invited into a facilitated theatre-based story workshop exploring self-authorship and narrative awareness: What stories about people and possibility have we inherited? Who tells them? What do they leave out? And what might change if they are no longer accepted as the final word? Using collaborative image-making and storytelling exercises, participants will create counterstories that make room in our imaginations for new stories and solutions capable of shaping lasting social change.
7:30 PM
Panel 2: Theatre, Arts Activism, and Chicago
Sanctuary
Panel
Ricardo Gamboa; Ericka Ratcliff; Ted Williams III, D.Min.
A conversation about theatre, arts activism, and Chicago with Ricardo Gamboa, Ericka Ratcliff, and Ted Williams III, D.Min..