Monday, May 23, 2016

Artist Spotlight: Randy Steinmeyer

At Still Point Theatre Collective, we aim to work with top-notch professionals when producing our original plays. No one could argue that we have found such an artist in Actor Randy Steinmeyer, who recently took over the role of Fr. Doug Doussan in our play Living Water: The Story of St. Gabriel the Archangel Church.

Randy’s background reveals that he is a quintessential Chicago actor – and happy to have made a good living in his chosen field.  After earning a Bachelor’s degree in Theater Arts from Blackburn College in Carlinville, IL in 1981, he later received his Professional Certificate from the prestigious Goodman School of Drama in 1983. Randy muses that he never left the neighborhood – as his current north side Chicago home is blocks away from the school.

Randy’s resume is full of impressive roles from stage, TV, and film – before 1990 he had earned membership in SAG, AFTRA, and Equity professional actors’ unions.  Just a few highlights of his career include originating the role of Denny Lombardo in the world premiere of the play A Steady Rain, for which he won a Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Actor in a Principal Role; TV appearances in Chicago PD, Chicago Code, and The Untouchables; and film roles in Game Day, The Babe, and Public Enemies. He cited the latter as one of his most treasured movie experiences, having learned a great deal from working with the likes of Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, and Director Michael Mann. Randy chuckled as he recalled Mann’s persistent direction for him: “Don’t do anything.”  He would repeat his line, and Mann would repeat: “No. Don’t do anything.” It seems that Mann’s direction took the familiar counsel “less is more” and went one better. In addition to his work on stage and screen, Randy has traveled the world working as a spokesperson for various corporations - appearing at numerous conferences and conventions.

Randy’s connection to Still Point can be traced back to 1989 when he met Still Point Founder and Artistic Director Lisa Wagner-Carollo. Randy and Lisa both performed in Catholic activist group Call to Action’s productions Between the Times and Peaceworks. It had been a while since the two had spoken when Lisa approached him a couple of years ago about playing the role of Msgr. John O’Grady in a one person play that Still Point created for Catholic Charities USA. Randy had too many conflicts to take on that project, but when Lisa later asked him about playing Fr. Doug in Living Water, he was happy to have enough room in his schedule to take the role.

I asked Randy about the man he portrays in Living Water: Fr. Doug Doussan, the (now retired) pastor of St. Gabriel Church. The play tells the story of how the church rebuilt after the post- Katrina floods devastated New Orleans, and Fr. Doug is a pivotal character in the story. A charming Southern gentleman, this priest’s sincere dedication to his parishioners was always evident when he was being interviewed for the play. After listening to the tapes, Randy remarked that he noticed the surprisingly dry wit that one can almost miss under Fr. Doug’s smooth southern drawl. Randy also noticed the comfortable and at times comical rapport between Fr. Doug and his fellow Pastoral Leader Sr. Kathleen Pittman. He is enjoying exploring this relationship in performing the play with Lisa in the role of Sr. Kathleen.  “We’re having fun,” he remarked, “I think it’s important to have fun when we perform, even when there is a lot of important and serious information to convey. If we’re having fun, the audience will enjoy themselves as well.” Randy also remarked that he often gets cast as blue-collar characters simply due to his physical type, so he’s enjoying the change of pace in playing a gentle-mannered priest.

In speaking of the play’s importance and relevance, he connected the stories told in Spike Lee’s When the Levies Broke to the sentiments conveyed by the character of Michael in Living Water. Michael has a speech that expresses shock, heartbreak, and anger at the lack of response from government officials and agencies during and after the disaster. Randy used the term “criminal negligence” to describe this lack of response, and it’s hard to disagree with that characterization. Randy travels a great deal, and noted that in visiting New Orleans several times since Katrina, he has seen that there are still stretches around the city and along the Gulf Coast that have never recovered. Living Water is telling an important American story that deserves to be told - and remembered. Randy’s exceptional talent and energy are a great boon to this production, and we are thrilled to have him on board.

Please monitor our social media and website calendar for upcoming performances of Living Water: The Story of St. Gabriel the Archangel Church, for a chance to see Randy perform the role of Fr. Doug Doussan. Information about booking a performance can be found at our website: http://www.stillpointtheatrecollective.org/touring-show/living-water


Actor Randy Steinmeyer, pictured above in a recent headshot, and below with Lisa Wagner-Carollo in Living Water: The Story of St. Gabriel the Archangel Church.


Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Mary Dean: Leading the Fight Against Solitary Confinement in Illinois

Mary Dean, if you speak to her, will strike you as an exceptionally gentle and soft-spoken woman. One should be aware, however, that her quiet aspect houses a formidable, lion-hearted warrior in the struggle for justice. 

I began my recent conversation with Mary by asking her how and why she was drawn into a life of activism. She traced that history back to childhood and her experiences growing up on the South Side of Chicago. The effects of extreme poverty were visible everywhere, and in grade school she was volunteering in soup kitchens. Mary has been combating social injustice ever since. While a student at St. Louis University, she became involved in the Catholic Worker Movement, deepening her awareness and commitment to alleviating the burdens of poverty. She is also engaged in numerous efforts to correct policies that promulgate social and economic injustice – locally, nationally and globally. 

Mary’s activism has on occasion resulted in her arrest. As a result of her participation in a peaceful action to call for the closing of the School of the Americas, a U.S. run training facility for Latin American military personnel, Mary was arrested and sentenced to 6 months in Federal prison for trespassing on Federal land. In 1995 she engaged in a nonviolent protest against nuclear weapons, for which she was also arrested. In this incident, she was placed in solitary confinement for a couple of days in Ashland County Jail in Wisconsin.

These experiences gave Mary some first-hand insight into the practices inside the U.S. criminal justice system. She said that she witnessed the degree to which “the focus was not on rehabilitation – not at all.” Two years ago Mary became a paralegal, and then began working for the nonprofit legal organization Uptown People’s Law Center. She utilized her experience and skills to craft a bill setting limits on the use of solitary confinement in Illinois. She researched legislation that other states had put in place to restrict the use of solitary confinement, and collaborated with a coalition of activists to craft the final wording of HB 5417, the “Isolated Confinement Restriction Act.” This group then met with IL House Representative La Shawn Ford to seek his support, and he agreed to sponsor the bill.

Mary and her colleagues celebrated a milestone on Wednesday, April 20, when HB 5417 passed through a hearing in front of the Restorative Justice Committee, of which Rep. Ford is the Chair. The next step will be for the bill to be considered before the Illinois House.

In my conversation with Mary, I realized that there was much I did not know about the use of solitary confinement in U.S. prisons. To focus on Illinois: as of 2013, approximately 2,300 prisoners in the state were being kept in solitary confinement. One of the most harrowing aspects of this statistic is the length of time that many prisoners are spending in this type of confinement. Over 60% are in for less than 1 year, 30% for more than 1 year, and 10% for more than 10 years. To put those statistics in perspective, the U.N. considers anything over 15 days in solitary to be torture. There is widespread agreement on the destructive nature of this type of confinement among courts, prison authorities, and bar associations. That isolated confinement causes extreme emotional, physical and psychological trauma is well known – these facts aren’t even up for debate. How then, can we possibly justify the unrestricted use of such confinement?

In brief, HB 5417 would:
- Limit the use of solitary to no more than 5 days in any 150 day period. 
- Use solitary only when absolutely necessary: when there is reasonable cause to believe that an individual poses a serious threat to himself or others, and less restrictive measures would be insufficient. (Right now, prisoners can be sent to solitary for very minor infractions.)
- Ban the use of solitary confinement against people with disabilities, serious medical conditions, pregnancy; people who are LGBT; or anyone under 21 or over 55 years of age. 

Other stipulations in the bill would require a medical and mental evaluation within 24 hours for any person placed in solitary, and documentation - including reviews every two days by prison personnel - explaining why less restrictive confinement would be insufficient. 

Since the 1998 creation of the Persephone Project, Still Point Theatre Collective has been engaged in arts outreach programs to women incarcerated in Illinois correctional facilities. Our Facilitators have encountered hundreds of individuals who, in our program, expressed a sincere need and desire to grow and heal. A criminal justice system, by definition, should provide justice. Rehabilitation should be the ultimate goal - but as Mary observed, it is so often not the case. When it comes to the rights of people in prison, we would be errant to remain silent. 

Mary Dean represents the true meaning of the word activist: one who is actively engaged in the responsibilities of citizenship. Here she has joined with others to painstakingly work within the system to bring about a legal change that would represent a step toward greater humanity and decency – that could save a significant number of human lives from experiencing severe damage. We should extend gratitude to her, to UPLC Executive Director Alan Mills, to Rep. Ford, and to all others involved in bringing this legislation before the Illinois House of Representatives. 

This brings us to YOU – and the role that you can play to support the Isolated Confinement Restriction Act. If you agree that the current unrestricted use of solitary confinement in Illinois correctional facilities is inhumane and unjust, and if you are an Illinois resident – please call or write your state representative to voice your support for HB 5417. 

Use this link to send a letter to your representative:

Additional information/resources:


Mary Dean, of Uptown People's Law Center


Monday, March 7, 2016

Participant Spotlight: Ellen Stenson

Still Point’s Sage Theatre Workshop celebrates the wisdom, creativity, and perspective of older citizens. The Sage Theatre group at Bethany Retirement Center reached a milestone recently when they presented their first performance on February 6th, 2016. Their original production was entitled Mixin’ It Up, Volume 1.

When Ellen Stenson signed up for the class at Bethany, she really didn’t know what to expect. When I asked if she had had any performance experience prior to taking the class, she chuckled, “Absolutely NOT!  Well, maybe I did a skit in fourth grade in Girl Scouts or something. I never thought I had any kind of talent at all. I signed up just to get involved. I went to the first class, and I was hooked!”

Ellen clearly jumped right into the improvisational process without hesitation, and was surprised at how much she fun she had taking an idea and running with it. Facilitator Lisa Wagner-Carollo used prompts about the class members’ favorite actors to initiate improvs, and Ellen created a Robert De Niro character that became central in the performance.  A flirtation with Barbara Streisand and an ensuing love triangle with James Brolin were part of the comical material that the players created in the weekly classes. 

Ellen had some serious stage fright that manifested itself right before the show. She was working through a monologue with Lisa, and she recalls that her performance seemed to be falling apart. She was stumbling over words, forgetting things – she said that she was having a hard time just getting through it. Lisa talked with her about her performance anxiety, and Ellen recalls her advice,”Lisa said to let go and have fun. She said to talk to the audience, really look people in the eye and make a connection.” Ellen remarked that this approach helped her to work past her fears. “I was able to confront some demons,” she confided. Her connection with the audience was so successful that she had interplay with them in the performance, as she tossed out classic De Niro quotes from some of his biggest films and the audience members would shout out the names of the appropriate movie.

I asked Ellen what her biggest take-away was from the entire experience of being in the class and doing her first live performance. She responded, “I found something that I love to do, and I’m good at it! This has brought up my self-esteem and confidence like you wouldn’t believe. I never thought I could do anything like this – and I had so much fun!” She reiterated that she has never missed a class and doesn’t intend to. “I’ll never stop this!” she exclaimed. In our conversation, it was impossible not to grin along with Ellen's infectious enthusiasm. This budding actress has clearly been bitten by the theatre bug, and it is immensely gratifying to see the joy that has been inspired by her participation in Still Point’s Sage Theatre Workshop. 

In Ellen’s story of overcoming her performance fears, we hear that connection is key. The aspect of theatre that urges us to connect – with our own stories, with fellow performers, and with the audience - is powerful and transformative.
Photo of Ellen, taken by Facilitator Steve Grossman


Monday, February 1, 2016

Wild and Precious: Update on Persephone Project at Lake County Jail

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?” 
- from “The Summer Day” by Mary Oliver

Three weeks ago, Still Point Facilitator Lindsay Porter resumed conducting weekly Persephone Project classes with women at Lake County Jail. Lindsay said that the concept of “identity” has been a theme for reflection and writing in these early sessions. The above quote from Mary Oliver’s poem was used as a springboard for discussion: “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

Lindsay remarked that this group is particularly supportive of one another, and that the Persephone Project environment makes honest sharing and imagining possible. I have heard repeatedly from Persephone Project facilitators, and have heard it confirmed in the testimonials of participants, that the supportive community created in this programming is vital. An environment which facilitates reflection, imagination, connection, hope and personal growth supports the women in reclaiming and rebuilding their lives. 

In contemplating identity, the women have an opportunity to be honest about their worst moments and worst decisions, but to also realize that their entire identity need not be defined by these mistakes. That is part of who they are and part of their experience, but their being also contains many other facets that deserve to be acknowledged. The Persephone Project encourages them to explore these facets.

Lindsay shared that the group has also had discussions about how to look for precious and life-affirming moments even in the midst of the most difficult days of their lives. One participant shared that she likes to get up earlier than needed because she has a view of the sunrise from her cell, and the sight of the sun over Lake Michigan is something she looks forward to each morning. 

The purpose of this work is not frivolous. The classes are focused on building skills and providing opportunities for growth that can have a meaningful impact. Lindsay recalls one comment from a participant in a past facilitation: upon completing their performance at the jail, the woman remarked, “This is the first time I’ve ever finished anything.” Her comment describes an event of serious personal significance for this individual: the performance was an opportunity for her to prove to herself that she could commit to a project and see it through to completion.

Lindsay stated that the jail administration at Lake County is very supportive of the Persephone Project, particularly Chief Jennifer Witherspoon, who is diligently focused on providing programs and services for inmates that give them the best chance at a successful life after release.  We are grateful for the opportunity to have a positive contribution to women at Lake County Jail through conducting Persephone Project classes there.

The current Lake County Jail group is planning an original performance, tentatively scheduled for March 4. Honest creative expression takes tremendous courage. We applaud these women, and their willingness to share about their wild and precious lives.

Still Point Facilitator Lindsay Porter