Still Point Theatre Collective, a Chicago-based organization dedicated to using theatre as a tool for social justice, is hosting its second annual Social Change Theatre Festival, 1-3 October 2026. This festival continues the mission we began in 2025: to provide a much-needed space for artists, activists, and audiences to engage with theatre and performance as tools for social change. The festival is rooted in a commitment to theatre that uplifts and empowers marginalized voices by bringing together individuals and organizations dedicated to using theatre for justice and transformation.
Livestream schedule
All times listed in local Chicago time (CDT, UTC -5). Convert to your time zone.
Day 1 — Thursday 1 October 2026
4:30 p.m. An Afternoon with John Michael
An event with the creator of Narcan Time Machine, combining conversation, a Narcan demonstration, and material from the show.
Presented by: John Michael Colgan
6:30 p.m. Keynote Speaker: Lisa Biggs
The festival’s opening keynote on performance, social justice, and the role of theatre in creating social change.
Presented by: Lisa Biggs, Ph.D.
7:30 p.m. The Stoop
A new play exploring the stoop as an ecosystem with its own unspoken laws, gatekeepers, and memories of the past, present, and future.
Presented by: Grace House Acting Apprentices and Still Point Theatre Collective’s Persephone Project
8:30 p.m. Climate Change Play Reading Two one-act plays—Endlings and The Jungle—plus a short discussion about the place of climate theatre.
Presented by: 6th Fest
Day 2 — Friday 2 October 2026
11 a.m. Intro to Theatre of the Oppressed
An interactive workshop using collaboration, dialogue, storytelling, deep listening, and embodied image work to explore social issues and imagine paths toward change.
Presented by: The Center for Applied Theatre
2:30 p.m. Self Producing and Theatre for Social Change
A workshop exploring how artists can develop, organize, produce, and share theatre created for social impact.
Presented by: Ted Williams III, Ph.D.
4 p.m. Life Out Loud: Voices of Pride
A funny, interactive play using poetry and improvisation to explore friendship, gender, sexuality, healthy coping mechanisms, and often-forgotten Black and Asian queer history.
Presented by: About Face Theatre and the Life Out Loud Ensemble
7 p.m. Panel 1: Theatre and the Carceral System
A conversation about theatre’s relationship to incarceration, justice, healing, advocacy, and social change.
Panelists: James Swansey, Ozivelle Ecford, and Toussaint Daniels
Presented by: Still Point Theatre Collective
8:15 p.m. The Story of Violence
A screening and talkback centered on a work written by Toussaint Daniels and incarcerated participants in the Dixon Performing Arts program. The piece is a loose adaptation of One Night in Miami. In collaboration with the Mud Theatre Project.
Presented by: Dixon Performing Arts, Mud Theatre Project, Teamwork Englewood, and Still Point Theatre Collective
Day 3 — Saturday 3 October 2026
12 p.m. To Pray Marvelously Well: The Spiritual Friendship of St. Edith Stein and St. Teresa of Avila
A one-woman production exploring the journeys of St. Edith Stein and St. Teresa of Avila through an imagined spiritual dialogue across the centuries.
Presented by: Still Point Theatre Collective
2 p.m. Alex in Windyland
A staged reading inspired by research and work alongside young people in Chicago’s foster-care system, following Alex’s search for her sister, friendship, belonging, and a permanent home.
Presented by: Abby Thompson
4:30 p.m. Ensemble Based Process 101
A workshop introducing methods for building ensembles, conducting research-informed creative work, and developing original theater centered on Chicago social-justice issues.
Presented by: Free Street Theater
7:30 p.m. Panel 2: Theatre, Arts Activism, and Chicago
A conversation about theater, arts activism, organizing, and the role of Chicago artists in advancing social change.
Panelists: Ricardo Gamboa, Ericka Ratcliff, and Ted Williams III
Presented by: Still Point Theatre Collective
