Digital Program
Find out about all the amazing artists and companies
Supporters
Thank you to our
Advocate: Anonymous
Ally: Sarah Ailey
Changemakers: James Aevaliotis, William & Liza Haynes, Carson Becker
Saturday - March 1
10am - Still Point
Opening meditation with Nate Smith
10:35-12:30 - Panel 1
Applied Theater & Social Change
This panel will be an introduction to Applied Theater for our audience. This is an opportunity to learn more about the topic of applying theater to our surroundings, the origins of the practice and how it is being used in the community to impact social change.
​
Panelists:
(click for bios)
-
​Isaura Martinez - WorkersTEATRO
-
Alison Carey - Cornerstone Theater, Oregon Shakespeare Festival *Attending digitally
12:30-1:30
Lunch Break
great dining options nearby:
-
Golden Apple Grille (American)
-
Pockets Restaurant (Pita Pockets)
-
S&G Restaurant (Breakfast)
-
Dear Margaret (Contemporary French)
-
Sal’s Trattoria (Italian)
-
Che Rico (Mexican)
-
I’m Vegan (Thai/Vegan)
-
Farm Bar (American)
​
For more options, here’s a longer list of restaurants in the Lakeview/Roscoe Village area:
1:30-2:45
Creative Tools for Sustainable Communities: Using the arts to engage community issues with Free Street Theater
In this workshop, Free Street Theater will walk you through their process creating original work about environmental justice in Chicago, answering questions like "How did we get here?" "How do we start?" and "What does it look like?" Part-participatory, part-presentation, this workshop will get participants thinking about how theatre can be created in response to and with communities, and how theatre can serve as a tool in a social justice strategy.
Facilitator: Katrina Dion
Katrina Dion is a Chicago based director and producer, known for her radical youth work at Free Street Theater, where her work centers environmental justice. In her 12 years at Free Street, Katrina has directed over 11 original plays, mentored over 200 youth, and produced over 40 shows. Outside of Free Street, Katrina works with many artists to bring their visions to life: from working with new and young playwrights at The Theatre School at DePaul University, directing their their first premier; or supporting artists performing in their own work like directing Maggie Kubley’s “Lossed” as part of the Indiana Fringe Festival, or co-directing & dramaturging Erin Kilmurray and Kara Brody’s “Knockout” presented by Lucky Plush as part of the Look Out series at Steppenwolf. Katrina served as the director of "The Wizards” by Ricardo Gamboa with Concrete Content, for which we won The Chicago Reader Best of award for “Best Stage Director,” in 2023. Additionally, she has worked with Albany Park Theater Project, Third Rail Projects, the Goodman Theatre and Birch House Theater; she supports Downstage Arts as a Development Consultant. In 2019, she was listed as one of the top “50 People Performing for Chicago Theatre," has had work featured in Teen Vogue, and has facilitated workshops at and for the Illinois Caucus for Immigrant & Refugee Rights, The National Civil Rights Museum, the Obama Foundation, University of Chicago Lab Schools, ProPublic Illinois, and more. You can find out more about Katrina and her practice at katrinadion.com
3:00-4:30
WorkersTEATRO: Considering the Continuum of Abuse
4:45-6:30 - Panel 2
Applied Theater & The Carceral System
This panel will be an in depth conversation with those impacted by the carceral system and theater as a tool for healing and change. Many theater organizations have prison, juvenile dentetion, or post incarceration programming showing a solid front to combat the dangers of the school to prison pipeline. This conversation will be steps to a united front, sharing success, shortcomings, learning moments, and laying out a vision for the future.
Panelists:
(click for bios)
6:30-7:30
Dinner Break
7:30-9:15 - Jabril's Chains
by Brian Beals
Mud Theater: performance & talkback
The play
Seventeen-year-old Jabril is convicted for a murder he did not commit. Nine years into his bit, Jabril’s is a man now, he is also a father, poet, activist, and an inspiration to his younger brother. A court date for his appeal has finally been set. Can Jabril use the wisdom his cellie, Old Head Ed has bestowed upon him about the system to beat it.
​
Brian Beals is an accomplished activist, organizer and award-winning playwright, who was exonerated in 2023 after spending 35 years incarcerated for a crime he did not commit. He is the founder and Executive Director of Mud Theatre Project in the Dixon Correctional Center Performing Arts Program, which is presenting this play.
9:15 - Still Point
Closing meditation with Nicoya Helm
Sunday - March 2
10am - Still Point
Opening meditation with Nicoya Helm
10:45-12:15 - Theater for Life
climate crisis readings & workshop
This one of a kind workshop/reading hosted by 6th Fest invites you into theater's vital role in the cause of causes: the living planet.
​
Excerpts from leading climate playwrights:
(click for bios)
-
Blue Blood Red Knot by Kristin Idaszak
-
“Mulberry Mantis” aria from MIRROR BUTTERFLY by Ruth Margraff
-
​dir. Beth Milles, comp. Ben Barson
-
-
Tomorrow by Nate Smith
​
These artists will also lead attendants in breakout exercises and discussion making sure that everyone leaves with tools for making..theater for life.
​
Performances from:​ Atile Gilbert, Nathalie Galde, Torrey Hanson, Patrice Egelston, Kevin Aoussou
​
Pianist: Mike Przygoda
12:15-1:30
Lunch Break
great dining options nearby:
-
Golden Apple Grille (American)
-
Pockets Restaurant (Pita Pockets)
-
S&G Restaurant (Breakfast)
-
Dear Margaret (Contemporary French)
-
Sal’s Trattoria (Italian)
-
Che Rico (Mexican)
-
I’m Vegan (Thai/Vegan)
-
Farm Bar (American)
​
For more options, here’s a longer list of restaurants in the Lakeview/Roscoe Village area:
1:30-3:00 - PANEL 3
Not For Profit- A Community Conversation
A hybrid, open format discussion for theater practioners and lovers alike. In the midst of Donald Trump appointing himself head of the Kennedy Center, and the NEA being neutered, we are asking: if you're not-for-profit, what are you for?
-
Michael Rohd (Co-founder: Hope is Vital, Sojourn Theatre, Center for Performance and Civic Practice) - *attending digitally*
-
Alison Carey (Co-founder of Cornerstone Theater, Director of OSF American Revolutions) *attending digitally*
-
Joanie Friedman (Executive Director of Civic Leadership at U of Chicago)
-
Katrina Dion (Producing Artistic Director - Free Street Theater, educator at DePaul)
-
Nate Smith (Member of Still Point--host of the festival, climate organizer)
-
and most of all: YOU!!
3:00-4:15 - Behind the Mask
(Presented by SPTC in collaboration with Grace House Transitional Home)
A collaboration of scenes and stories to understand what is going on behind the mask and discover ways to promote acceptance of mental health issues. Also, poems about displacement…Finding home. and what that means. Written and performed by women and alumni of Grace House transitional home. Presented with St. Leonard’s Ministries
4:15-5:30
Civic Actor’s Studio Workshop
5:30-7:00
Newspaper Theatre – Demystifying “objectivity” though critical performance
Newspaper Theatre workshop with Mark Weinberg from The Center for Applied Theatre
The goal of this interactive workshop is to introduce the participants to the techniques of Newspaper Theatre and have them practice using them so that they can have them as tools with which to support their work after the festival.
The techniques of Newspaper Theatre provide relatively simple ways of transforming non-dramatic written (hard copy or electronic) texts, like newspaper articles, into a performance and critical reading of social reality. “The primary objective of Newspaper Theatre is to devolve theatre to the people. The secondary objective is to attempt to demystify the pretended ‘objectivity’ of most journalism. … The third objective of the Newspaper Theatre is to demonstrate that theatre can be practiced by anyone.” (Boal, Augusto. Legislative Theatre: Using performance to make politics. (Routledge, 1998) pp. 235-236)
The general goal of Newspaper Theatre is to expose the ideology embedded in a news report and the power structure it supports. Note that “the application of these techniques is not limited to news stories from the papers; it is equally efficacious if used with the minutes of discussions, acts of assemblies, chapters of books – when it comes down to it, it can work with any written texts.” (237)
After an explanation of the techniques, participants will work in small groups to choose a news topic they want to explore and a technique they want to use. Each group will create a short performance they will share with the group as a whole. The session will end with an evaluation of the experience and an exploration of Newspaper Theatre as a tool for the participants.
7:15-9:00 - Pangaea
by Carson Grace Becker
performance & discussion
The play
Meet Ella, from Pond Creek Arkansas, awaiting execution for a macabre crime only Iphigenia might understand. And then meet her twice more, as two of her past selves split off to reveal the tragic mysteries that formed her. A tall and poetic tale told in tryptic form, Pangaea is a small reminder that all our common, magical, and continental Earth was Once Upon A Time one.
​
Carson Grace Becker is an award winning produced playwright, screenwriter, and teaching artist. She earned her MFA in Playwriting from the University of Iowa, and has served as: Artistic Director of Chicago Dramatists and The Root & The Bloom Collective (Butte, MT); Literary Manager/Dramaturg at Honolulu Theatre for Youth; Adjunct and Guest writing instructor at Columbia College, University of Chicago/Graham School, Roosevelt University, NYU, Ohio University, University of Nebraska, University of Illinois (Chicago) and Oklahoma State University. She’s received a Joseph Jefferson Award, several Illinois and Montana Arts Council Grants, residency at The William Inge Center for the Arts, and more. She is thrilled to be joining Stillpoint Theatre Collective and 6th Fest's ensemble and mission.
.jpg)
(click for links)
9:15 - Still Point
Closing meditation with Nicoya Helm
Monday - March 3
10:30am - Still Point
Opening meditation with Nicoya Helm
11:10-1:20 - Shakespeare Behind Bars
Film Screening and Talkback
The profound journey of a prison theater troupe seeking redemption through performing Shakespeare's "The Tempest" Winner of 11 festival awards and a 2005 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury nomination, SHAKESPEARE BEHIND BARS follows a year in the life of the renowned Shakespeare Behind Bars troupe at Luther Luckett Correctional Complex in La Grange, Kentucky. Led by innovative director Curt L. Tofteland, whose ground-breaking work using art, theatre, the collected works of William Shakespeare, and original writing with marginalized populations, began in 1991. The prisoners cast themselves in roles often reflecting their personal experiences. Their individual stories, including information about their crimes, are brilliantly interwoven with the plot of “The Tempest”. As the prisoners delve deeply into the characters they portray, they truthfully confront their personal demons. The result is an extraordinary story about the creative process and the power of art to heal and redeem–in a place where the very act of participation in theatre is a human triumph and a means of personal liberation.
discussion with: Curt L. Tofteland, Founder & Producing Artistic Director
1:20-2:00
Lunch Break
2:00-3:45 - PANEL 4
Applied Theatre & The Trauma-Informed Process
This panel will discuss and analyze Trauma Informed practices alongside Applied Theater sharing experiences working in communities using Applied Theater. Some panelists will be attached to universities allowing us to receive a scholarly insight to Applied Theater as a tool for change.
Panelists:
(click for bio)
Curt Tofteland - Shakespeare Behind Bars
Lizzy May - University of California, Berkeley
Lynne Pace Green - University of Illinois Chicago
Ozivell Ecford - Northwestern University
3:45-5:00 - Collaborating Community Connection
(with The Local Lab Co. and Friends)
Get to know the people you've spent the last three days, or just one workshop with.
5:00-5:30 - Still Point
Closing Thoughts and Meditation (with Nicoya Helm)
Nicoya Helm unites expertise in education and modern mindfulness to help people look deeper, dream bigger, and live better. She holds a Master of Science in Education from The University of Kansas and has over 25 years of meditation experience including multiple multi-day silent retreats. She has studied with teachers in the Order of Interbeing (Thich Naht Hanh) tradition, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Insight meditation, Shinzen Young’s Unified Mindfulness system, and most recently, Michael Taft’s unique non-dual approach. In 2018 she completed Unified Mindfulness’s Pathways coach training program and has since served as a lead Pathways instructor training other mindfulness coaches. She’s also passionate about reducing stigma around mental health challenges and has trained over 300 people (and counting!) in Mental Health First Aid (MHFA). When not teaching, she enjoys making stuff, playing outside, and talking to strangers.
5:30-6:30
Dinner Break
6:30-7:30 - Life Out Loud
Presented by About Face Theatre
Three friends journey through a gallery filled with stories from LGBTQ folks from the past and present. Together we’ll look back to move forward, gathering inspiration to inform our current choices, and build confidence in our voices. This interactive play uses monologues and improv to introduce the audience to gender expansive and inclusive vocabulary as well as healthy coping mechanisms. This piece is still in development so post reading Dionne will facilitate a workshop and gather feedback from the audience about their experience
Since our founding in 1995, About Face Theatre has been a national leader in producing theatre by queer artists that tell queer stories. Through bold theatre and arts-based educational programs, our work celebrates the persistence and joy of queer identities while shining a spotlight on the social inequalities impacting LGBTQIA+ people. Our Mission: About Face Theatre advances LGBTQ+ equity through community building, education, and performance.
%20-%20Dionne%20Addai.jpg)
DIONNE ADDAI (they/she) is a performer, writer, director, and teaching artist local to Chicago. She works at About Face Theatre as their Educational and Artistic Programming Director. Dionne is a passionate advocate for reproductive rights, racial justice, and free comprehensive sex education. Their artistic practice centers on educating to encourage sociopolitical action and mutual aid. As a performer, Dionne has multiple on-camera credits and has worked with over 20 renowned theatre companies (Merrimack Repertory, Raven Theatre, Filament Theatre; etc). She co-hosts a live-recorded podcast called Mad Liberation and releases music under the stage name, strawberry gelato. Dionne is represented by Actors Talent Group
7:45-9:15
Tortured By Blue
by Stanley Howard
Theatre Y wants to participate in people’s lives in ways that matter, here and now.
Rather than telling stories about a community, we seek to participate in our community’s story.
Theatre Y serves to manifest imagined realities, living global citizenship to better understand our shared humanity.