Crucial Connections- Collaboraction’s Family Tree Stories-

On Yesterday’s radio show, Frank and I spent some time with Anthony Mosley, Artistic Director of Collaboraction Theatre. Our discussion was about an amazing new program, Crucial Connections, a new moxed media project that will illuminate how systemic oppression impacts our ancestral narratives and how interconnected our family stories are. Right before Anthony joined Frank and I, Frank and I had been talking about a new coffee we were tasting and how delicious the de-caf was. We mentioned how years ago, Sanka was the only decaf the world knew. Anthony told us of a story in his life where it was indeed a relative of his that was the first to sell Sanka along the truck stops Just goes to show that we are all within the :Six Degrees of Separation”, but to know that we must tell our stories. The Collaboraction program, Crucial connections is designed just to do that!

Conceived and directed by Mosley, the program will launch in mid-March as a website and will introduce 15 original family storytellers. The site   www.familytreestories.org

The stories will be sortable by video, audio, text narratives and keywords to allow users the examine the way our lives overlap and intersect.

Once the system is in place, the public will have the opportunity to upload their own Family Tree Stories to help cultivate a lush, virtual, renewable forest of diverse family histories.

The lsit of storytellers to initiate this marvelous program is quite diversified and represents a true picture of Chicago!

They are Dana N. Anderson, Dr. David Ansel, Dr. Finely Campbell, Tommy Carroll, Sandra Delgado, GQ, Arica Hilton, Loretta “Firekeeper” Hawkins, Jamil Khoury, Sean Oatrick Leonard, Arla Mallare, Sammy Rangel, Jasmine Robinson, Jaqueline Russell and Priya Shah.

In the near future, YOU!

Once again, the new site will be www.familytreestories.org

About Collaboraction

Collaboraction, Chicago’s theater for social change, collaborates with a diverse community of Chicagoans, artists and community activists to create original theatrical experiences that cultivate dialogue and action around the city’s most critical social issues.

Collaboraction’s new member-supported Together Network presents exclusive virtual content like Becoming: Unlearning White Supremacy, a live web show for all people looking to be active anti-racists (first Tuesday of every month at 6 p.m. CT), and Crucial Connections, a live, interactive talk show that brings social justice warriors, artists and community residents together for crucial conversations (third Thursday of every month, 8 p.m. CT).

A $5 monthly subscription fee allows unlimited access to all of the company’s Together Network programming while providing steady financial support for Collaboraction and its artists. Sign up at collaboraction.org/together-network.

After 10 years at the Flat Iron Arts Building in Wicker Park, Collaboraction has moved to AV Chicago in Chicago’s South Loop and is now focused on producing high-end virtual theater, live, interactive talk shows and online special events. All productions adhere to Collaboraction’s six-point pandemic safety protocols, and all artists and staff are paid equitably per Collaboration’s new Equity Pay for All policy.

As soon as it’s safe to present in-person performances again, Collaboraction will continue to use the theater at Kennedy-King College in Englewood as its mainstage producing home. Meanwhile, Collaboraction has initiated a search for its next home for live performances, community building and video production, exploring Chicago neighborhoods historically overlooked like Englewood, Austin and Lawndale.

Since its founding in 1996, Collaboraction has pushed artistic boundaries working with more than 3,000 artists to bring more than 60 productions and events to over 150,000 audience members. Collaboraction partnered with the Chicago Park District’s Night Out in the Parks program for five straight years cultivating relationships and theater in Englewood, Austin and Hermosa through the Crime Scene, PEACEBOOK and Encounter tours. Other memorable productions include Forgotten Future: The Education Project by Sarah Moeller, This is Not a Cure for Cancer by Anthony Moseley and Sarah Illiatovich-Goldman, Gender Breakdown by Dani Bryant and Erica Barnes, Dark Play (or stories for boys) by Carlos Murrillo, the Chicago premiere of 1001 by Jason Grote and the annual SKETCHBOOK Festival for 15 years.

Collaboraction has been acknowledged for innovation and inclusivity by using theater as a tool for social change with numerous awards including, most recently, a 2020 Foster Innovation Award from Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE), the 2020 Multi-Racial Unity Award from the First Unitarian Church – Chicago, a 2018 Stand For the Arts Award from Comcast, and an Otto Award from New York’s Castillo Theatre.

Collaboraction is supported by The Chicago Community Trust, Find Your Light Foundation, Illinois Arts Council Agency – a state agency, Illinois Humanities, Joseph and Bessie Feinberg Foundation, Marc and Jeanne Malnati Family Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation. A CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events partially supports Collaboraction with funds provided by the National Endowment for the Arts as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

Collaboraction is led by Artistic Director Anthony Moseley, Executive Director Dr. Marcus Robinson, a company of 27 talented Chicago theater artists, and a dedicated staff and board of directors.

For more information, visit collaboraction.org.