Today we’d like to introduce you to Lisa Wagner-Carollo.
Lisa, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Ever since I can remember, I wanted to be an actor and singer. My parents both sang and did theater, and when I was five years old, my Dad gutted an old television set, so that I could put on marionette shows for the family. As I grew up, I continued to perform and would often organize the kids on the block to do shows in the backyard or in our basement. Then, when I was fifteen, I went on a church retreat and had a deeply spiritual experience. At that point, I began to consider going into ministry. Additionally, in college, I found myself drawn to social justice and peace issues.
So, when I graduated from college, I had a deep desire to combine theater, spirituality, and social justice. Therefore, in 1993, I founded Still Point Theatre. I acted as the company’s executive director for 18 years and now act as artistic director. Through this work, I have produced several professional plays (about Jean Donovan, Dorothy Day, and Thomas Merton, among others), and I have also developed and led outreach programs for women in prison, formerly incarcerated women, adults with developmental disabilities, and senior citizens. Consequently, because of Still Point’s outreach to women in prison, I have often been invited to lecture about Still Point’s prison work at universities around the country and locally (Loyola University, Simpson College, Briar Cliff University). I’ve also led workshops to teach others how to carry out this work (North Greenville University, Bethany College). Despite the challenges, I’m deeply grateful for all of my experiences with Still Point and how these experiences have helped me grow.
Our work in prisons has been especially gratifying. The women we work with often grow a great deal from the work and they are awed at their own capacity for achievement. One of the women once told me that the work had emboldened her to follow her dream of starting a business after her release. She said that now she can stand in front of the mirror, reflecting on her theater experience and say, “you did it.” She said that, before, she couldn’t even look in the mirror.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, it definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. I believe that choosing to be an artist is deliberately choosing to do something that is counter-cultural, so, automatically, you are going against the grain – and will face challenges.
One of the hardest aspects has been financial. We have chosen to pay our facilitators and artists – and to strive to pay them a wage that is just. So, it can be very difficult to make ends meet from month to month.
However, we are celebrating our 25th anniversary this year, so – somehow – we have stayed afloat – and we are thriving. Currently, we have a very strong team working with the theater – and I am immensely grateful.
Looking back, though, I realize that I have been greatly sustained – through all of the challenges – by my spiritual life. I have a strong spiritual focus and this has carried me through many dark days. My spiritual life is not static. It is ever-changing and can be difficult (full of ups/downs/anger, etc. – like any relationship – but, looking back, it has sustained me and given me strength and new ideas, guidance, etc.
Recently, I published a book – Above, Along, Inside, and Through that reflects a good deal on this journey.
Please tell us about Still Point Theatre Collective.
Andrea Morgan (her name has been changed) stood on the gym stage of the State Correctional Center in central Illinois singing a beautiful gospel song with a full, rich, alto voice. It was the second performance of a play created by ten incarcerated women. She sang to one-hundred women, detainees of the institution. As she sang, she looked at them with compassion and care. I had directed the play, and I sat on the front row, full of gratitude and wonder. Later, I read a local newspaper article about the performance, and the journalist had interviewed all of the women from the show. When I teach programs in the prisons and jails, I never ask the women about the reasons for their incarceration. Therefore, I was shocked when I read, halfway through the article, “… Andrea Morgan said she was serving a life sentence for accidentally shooting and killing her infant son when she was attempting to take her own life.”
I tell this story because Still Point Theatre exists for women like Andrea. I founded Still Point in 1993. This year, we are celebrating our 25th anniversary. Our mission statement reads:
Still Point Theatre Collective uses the tools of theatre-making to inspire compassion, raise important social justice issues, and reduce the stigmas associated with incarceration and disability.
Andrea was part of Still Point’s outreach program to incarcerated women, The Persephone Project. This project provides theatre programs for currently and formerly incarcerated women. Still Point facilitates workshops for women in Chicago-area detention centers. The ultimate goal of this program is to prevent recidivism.
Along with our work in prisons, Still Point also produces professional theater productions and conducts outreach programs to adults with developmental disabilities and senior citizens.
As far as professional productions, we have toured Haunted by God: The Life of Dorothy Day since the company was founded (25 years), and, currently, we are creating a new professional production on human trafficking. Our plays toured locally, nationally, and internationally.
Still Point artists conduct theatre and music classes, the Imagination Workshop, with developmentally disabled adults at multiple sites around the Chicagoland area. Programs include regular performances, exposing audiences to the humor and artistry of these incredible men and women. Through the Imagination Workshop, Still Point cultivates greater community integration, seeking to break stereotypes and reduce stigmas associated with disability.
Sage Theatre Works: Our senior citizens offer us a wealth of experience, perspective, and wisdom. Sage Theatre Works seeks to highlight these gifts by creating performance opportunities for older people. These ongoing weekly classes are structured with both the needs and desires of participants taking priority. Performances provide seniors with meaningful challenges and an opportunity to have their gifts acknowledged and appreciated.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My favorite memory is attending theatrical productions with my parents.
Contact Info:
- Address: 4300 N. Hermitage
Chicago, IL 60613 - Website: www.stillpointtheatrecollective.org
- Phone: 773-868-1700
- Email: stillpointc@aol.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SPTCchicago/
Image Credit:
Chris Carollo, Warren Skalski
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