Stories
Everything you need to know about Storycatchers.
Welcome to our blog. Our newsfeed. Our point of view on everything that’s important to what we do. Scroll through find something that interests you.
Thanks for your interest in our youth.
4 Great Reasons You’ll Love Our New Website
“I am my own story.” The number one rule of marketing is “It’s not about the company, it’s about the customer.” In this case, the customer is you (the reader) and our youth. Simply put, we think we’ve designed a website that makes it easier for you experience how...
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What You Missed in Austin
On August 26th, the new Changing Voices ensemble at the Austin Career Education Center had their first staged reading after months of writing their personal stories. If you were there, you'd understand why it was one of my favorite experiences as a teaching artist....
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The Way of Peace: Congressman John Lewis’ Unforgettable Visit
by Cheryl Coons, Program Manager of the Temporary Lockdown Ensemble “No one has forgotten you. There is reason to hope, and you guys give me hope.” Those are the words that the legendary civil rights activist Congressman John Lewis spoke to our Temporary LockDown...
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Trading T-shirts for Dress Shirts: Deloitte Mentors Changing Voices Youth
by Tory Davidson, Community Engagement Manager It’s not every day that the Changing Voices team is clad in polished shoes and button-down shirts, welcomed into a skyscraper in downtown Chicago, and given the run of the place. In June, Deloitte let us do exactly that....
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Ira Glass and Storycatchers Find Social Impact Through Art
By Jacob Clinkscales, Storycatchers Teaching Artist “Stories have the power to create empathy within us, and over time, people begin to see the world through the eyes of the ones they have opposed.” In June, Storycatchers teaching artists, myself included, performed...
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Donor’s Corner
The work of Storycatchers Theatre has gained national attention once again as one of the first recipients of an award from the Art for Justice Fund in November 2017. The Art for Justice Fund, created by Agnes Gund in partnership with the Ford Foundation and...
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Steppenwolf Brings Show to Youth Inside Three Juvenile Justice Facilities
An interview with Kari Betton, Music Director and Composer, Storycatchers Theatre Conducted by Tory Davidson, Community Engagement Manager, Storycatchers Theatre In March, Steppenwolf Theatre's young adult production of The Burn toured to the juvenile justice...
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A Special Thank You from the Executive Director
I have always believed in the power of stories to transform people. Storycatchers Theatre embodies this belief by providing young people with the tools they need to express themselves, change, and grow; this mission is the reason I joined the organization in July 2016...
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From Bullies To Bonding
Written by Meade Palidofsky, Founder and Artistic Director When I direct rehearsals at Warrenville every fall, I am immersed in the adolescent energy and off-stage drama around me. Overhearing a range of comments - from bursts of encouragement to sharper exchanges - I...
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Learning What It Means to Have REAL POWER
Written by Aimee Stahlberg, Strategy and Process Manager Changing Voices “How can I get me some real power?” That’s the ending line of Storycatchers Theatre's current Changing Voices production. After touring for several months, members of the Changing Voices Ensemble...
read moreDonors’ Corner: “It takes a village to raise a curtain.”
Written by Rachel Hauben Combs, Development Director A wise Chicago theatre artist once said that and it has never been truer. Today, both artistic endeavors and social justice causes are increasingly dependent on individual donors. In 2016, our very own “Temporary...
read moreThe Past Comes Knocking
I have spent a great deal of time lately thinking about what we have accomplished as a company -- the multitude of young people who have benefited from our storytelling and team-building process during the last 32, now going on 33, years. Where are they now? It is a...
read moreMonster: Perception & Identity
A dynamic partnership with Steppenwolf Theatre is underway, as Storycatchers Teaching Artists and the Changing Voices Ensemble prepare for the March 2017 tour of the Steppenwolf for Young Adults (SYA) production of Monster. The play, directed by Hallie Gordon...
read moreStorycatching: The Dress
Storycatching will be a monthly column by Artistic Director Meade Palidofsky relating stories that have shaped company philosophy, mission and process over the past 30 + years. The Dress Soon we will be hanging the banner for the Sheila Kalish Memorial Theatre in the...
read moreMaestro Muti Returns to IYC-Chicago
“Maestro Muti is very passionate about making the music of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) available to people who wouldn’t ordinarily be able to experience it,” Coordinator of Civic Engagement Programs, James Hall, explains. “We feel strongly that the Chicago...
read moreThe Revolving Door Evolves
Lamar bounds into the classroom, throwing his arms wide open and grinning ear to ear. “How ya’ll BEEN!!!” Lamar’s excitement mirrors our own as Storycatchers’ Temporary Lockdown Ensemble at the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center begins a new season. A big,...
read moreDear Sky…The Big Show
The residents at the Illinois Youth Center (IYC) - Warrenville call Storycatchers Theatre’s fall musical the “Big Show” – and for good reason. The production elements are more elaborate than for the other three performances that occur throughout the year at...
read moreDonors’ Corner
Storycatchers Theatre could not deliver its award-winning programs to court-involved young people without the support of many individual and institutional donors. Right now, the company is poised to make an extraordinary evolutionary leap because of the generosity and...
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