Current Projects

UNPITIED: New Play Development (Ongoing)

Written and Directed by Irene Kapustina

Unpitied is an original play written and directed by Irene Kapustina. It tells the story of Karim, a political prisoner who, after enduring twelve years of severe oppression and torture in a desert prison in Syria, moves to Chicago and meets Bonnie. Bonnie deals with a trauma of her own, which includes abuse as child and troubled youth. Together they learn to live and love again. This is a story about East and West, about resiliency and hope, and about how two different people can fall in love with each other.

On-going Program

Research and Community Identity Project
Community: Various
Organization: Educational, community, and public institutions and private organizations and businesses

These workshops focus on helping the participants develop a stronger sense of self and contributing to research in the fields of applied theatre and developmental psychology. By working with participants whose life circumstances changed dramatically, we offer a safe space for reflection and dialogue with self and peers.

The goal of our theatre based sessions is, together with our participants, to identify, pose, and answer questions that will help them navigate through the times of change confidently and purposefully. Ultimately, the program aims to equip our participants with tools to have a sense of ownership over their life narrative and construct a positive vision for the future.

On-going Program (Zoom and In Person)

Professional Development for Organizations and Practitioners
Community: Various
Organization: Educational, community, and public institutions and private organizations and businesses

The workshops offer new techniques and participant centered tools and strategies to organizations that wish to diversify their tools of engagement with their staff and community.  The workshop equips employees and staff with unique interactive and performance art techniques to address the needs of their colleagues, clients, and communities. Themes include, but are not limited to: engagement, efficacy, diversity, multiculturalism, conflict resolution, identity, self care, activism.

On-going Program (Zoom and In Person)

Hosting with Empathy: Refugee Community Platform Building through Drama
Community: Various
Organization: Educational, community, and public institutions and private organizations and businesses

This community workshop grew out of Lost and Guided, a play based on real life stories of refugees in the United States, and is designed to spread knowledge and awareness of the Syrian conflict and to develop an empathetic understanding of displaced populations among the American public. Through a series of interactive activities, the participants read, explore, and experience those stories together. The workshop offers an opportunity for education, connection, reflection, play, and activism.