If you follow us on social media, you know we love a good birthday celebration. And today is a big one….
It’s A.B.L.E.’s birthday!!!!!
Four years ago today, A.B.L.E. became an independent organization. In that time, we have built an incredible community of artists, educators, and allies who believe that everyone is A.B.L.E. to connect, to contribute, and to create. It’s because of that community - because of YOU! - that we have been able to accomplish so much in just 4 short years. In today’s blog, we’ll share 4 ways you can celebrate with us.
1) Watch The Spy Who Knew Me
Our first official project as an independent organization was also one of our most ambitious ever! In the summer of 2016, twenty actors with Down syndrome filmed an original spy adventure - The Spy Who Knew Me. Actors collaborated with a professional film crew and teaching artists who tailored the filmmaking process to suit each actor’s individual strengths. Writer and director Lawrence Kern crafted the characters and story around monologues each actor wrote themselves about who they are, what they love, and what they can do. The Spy Who Knew Me is truly a community effort, with 100% of funding coming from an online crowdfunding campaign, and multiple organizations and individuals around the city of Chicago joining together to bring the story to life. After a red carpet premiere in the summer of 2017, The Spy Who Knew Me went on to receive acclaim in the local and international film festivals, including winning the Audience Choice award for Best Narrative Feature at the Awareness Festival in Los Angeles. You can go behind the scenes in our production logs.
2) Cheer on our adult ensemble
In 2018, A.B.L.E. expanded our core ensemble program to include adults ages 22+. Many advocates for those with intellectual/developmental disabilities refer to turning 22 as “falling off the cliff.” There is a sharp decline in available services, leaving many adults with I/DD looking for a way to fill their days. After its first year, our adult ensemble already filled to capacity, and these actors have created 3 original performances to share their hearts and minds with audiences. We’ve shared some of our adult ensemble’s devised performances in our show archive. Check out The Most Sensational Inspirational Celebrational ABLE-tational Variety Show and O for a Muse Part 1 on our A.B.L.E. at Home page.
3) Thanks to Chicago Shakes!
A.B.L.E. is an itinerant company, relying on partnerships with different venues around the city to make our productions possible. We have a steady home at The Menomonee Club Drucker Center for our rehearsals and workshops (thank you Neal, Gomez, Erica, and team!), but hop to various venues for our productions. We are grateful for our longstanding producing partnership with Chicago Shakespeare Theater at Navy Pier, who graciously hosts our ensembles for at least one (sometimes more!) shows each season. A.B.L.E. actors have performed on all 3 of CST’s stages - The Courtyard, The Upstairs Studio, and The Yard. CST has allowed us to reach wide audiences - including a record-shattering 421 audience members at Cyrano de Bergerac in 2018 - and supported making our productions more accessible by incorporating open captioning. In addition to performance space, they also provide marketing support, technical staff, and box office services for our partnerships.
4) Help us keep going
It’s because of this community - because of YOU - that when COVID-19 turned our world inside out two months ago, we were able to respond quickly and to create new ways of working together, like our upcoming digital projects - Comedy of Errors and O for a Muse.
We want to create more innovative programs, to share more stories, and to reach more individuals with Down syndrome and developmental disabilities in Chicago and beyond. Our birthday wish, quite simply, is to celebrate more birthdays. We hope we can count on you to help continue our essential programming through this crisis and beyond. Will you consider joining A.B.L.E.’s new monthly giving program with a generous, ongoing gift?
Whether you are ABLE to give $5 a month or $50, your reliable, continuous pledge will allow us to plan ahead and sustain our mission. It doesn't take a lot to make a big difference.
In our very first blog post, we shared a quote from a famous philosopher:
“Well, I have a dream too, but it’s about singing and dancing and making people happy. It’s the kind of dream that gets better the more people you share it with. And I found a whole group of friends who have the same dream, and that makes us sort of like a family.””
