We are still glowing from our Sparks of Invention festival earlier this month!
Our end-of-semester performances are such an important time to bring our community together, and to celebrate the imagination and creativity of all of our actors. Together,our fall ensembles produced 3 shows in just two days. Over 175 audience members joined us both in person and online to celebrate the creator in all of us!
Theater is a team effort. Our ensembles know we have to work together and support each other to make a production work. In addition to the 60+ performers onstage and onscreen during the weekend,Sparks of Invention was supported by a massive team backstage and front of house who made these shows possible. An extra special thank you to our production sponsors Filament Theatre and their entire staff for giving us a home for the weekend. We'd also like to shout out to:
Production Lighting Designer Lea Davis
Front of House Volunteers Alec Cunningham, Sarah Haley, Nick Heineman, Marilyn Halperin, Maggie Leal, Laura Lenhart, Alicia Pankhurst, Joshua Parrack, Jenna Rapisarda, Maren Rosenberg, Caroline Thelen, Whitney Willard Wilkinson
Production videographer Justin Lynk of Just Stories (All three shows will be available for streaming in 2025.)
ASL team Veramarie Baldoza, Sabrina Cienfuegos, Havalah Teaman, and Peter Wujcik
Captioning by Zeke Alicea and Cathy Rajcan with equipment Loaned by Cultural Access Collaborative with special thanks to the Chicago Academy of Sciences / Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
Re-live the weekend with these beautiful production photos from Jeff Kurysz!
Friday November 1st at 7pm
The Monday ensemble reflected on prompts like “Share a moment when you were inspired” and “What is something you’d like to invent?” to develop scenes and monologues that celebrate their imaginations and creativity. The showcase ranged from original characters, to poignant personal reflections, to movement pieces, and playful games.
Saturday November 2nd at 2pm
Using their own lives as inspiration, the Sunday ensemble presented a collection of movement pieces, scenes, monologues songs, and even GIFs about how we invent ourselves out in the world. Because we are our own best inventions! (click here to see the images that inspired their devising this semester)
Saturday November 2nd at 7pm
Our virtual ensemble Zoomed in from across the country to take audiences on an electrifying adventure! Using drama games, songs, and scenes, our ensemble explored the rivalry between inventors Edison and Tesla. Audience members used polls and interacted in the chat to shape what happened in our original time-traveling story.
We need your help to continue inventing!
A.B.L.E.’s ensembles provide space for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to share their authentic selves and build relationships while developing courage, collaboration, and creative skills that support them in and out of the rehearsal room. Just one showcase ensemble costs over $13,000 for rehearsal and performance space, materials, production costs, and staffing for just one semester. We rely on donations from our community to ensure we can continue offering a vital outlet for creative and social connection, not just for our actors, but for their families and caregivers, our Teaching Artists, Facilitators, and our entire community.
Starting on Giving Tuesday (December 3rd) we'll launch our year-end campaign with a goal of raising $30,000 to support our spring ensembles, and lay the foundation for next season. Can we count on your support?
