Two Elmhurst Women Voicing Their Truths in Divercity show- May 13-22

Tellin’ Tales Theatre presents Divercity performing live– May 13-15 at the Greenhouse Theater, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave, Chicago and virtually— May 13-22 on Vimeo. The Saturday evening live performance will include sign language interpretation, audio description and an after-show talk back. The virtual show includes closed captioning and audio description. The theme is “Voicing our Truths.”

Stories range from failed vegan cheese making and discovering one’s inner goddess to a fateful train ride in Romania. Live tickets are available at Greenhousetheater.org or 773-404-7336 and virtual tickets can be purchased at Tellintales.org. Ticket holders will be emailed a link to watch the video one-hour before the show. Closed captioning and audio description will be available.

Divercity is directed by Tekki Lomnicki, Elmhurst native and co-founder and artistic director of Tellin’ Tales Theatre, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary. All of the performers are writers, actors and advocates with disabilities, from Chicago, Evanston, Rock Island, Indiana and Ohio, including Molly Wiesman of Elmhurst (more about Wiesman and Lomnicki below)

Stories were developed and directed in a six-week Zoom Master Class taught by Lomnicki. The disabilities of the performers include blindness, dwarfism, brain injury, mental illness, cerebral palsy and Muscular Sclerosis.

“I am excited to be back live and yet offer a virtual version for our audiences across the country.” says Lomnicki. “Throw away any preconceived notions you have about disability because these performers demonstrate that though they are different in appearance and physical ability, they show how alike we all are when we share our stories.”

About Molly Wiesman:
Wiesman has been involved with various organizations serving people with disabilities such as Easter Seals, JJ’s List and Best Buddies. She is also on the board of Tellin’ Tales Theatre. She has a passion for disability advocacy, and has done volunteer work with several disability organizations such as Best Buddies, Easter Seals and Access Living.

About Tekki Lomnicki:
Lomnicki is the founder and Artistic Director of Tellin’ Tales Theatre, a 25-year old company dedicated to shattering the barriers between the disabled and non-disabled worlds through the power of personal story. Tekki’s two full-length plays When Heck Was a Puppy: The Living Testimonies of Folk Artist Edna Mae Brice and Blurred Vision were critically acclaimed by The Chicago Reader and The Chicago Sun Times. She has written and performed over 26 solo performance pieces, and starred in the award-winning film, The Miracle by Jeffrey Jon Smith. She taught youth at Chicago’s Gallery 37 and After School Matters, and adults at the Victory Gardens Training Center, and ADA 25 Advancing Leadership. She is a recipient of an Illinois Arts Council Artists Fellowship in New Performance Forms, the 2008 3Arts Award in Theater, the 2010 Grigsby Award for Excellence in Solo Performance, the 2014 Dan Van Hecke Award for outstanding leadership and service to the disability community and was named a 2016 Duke of Distinction at York Community High School in Elmhurst. Lomnicki was on the Inclusion & Diversity Council at True Value Company and does disability awareness presentations for corporations. She is currently working on a new full-length musical spotlighting the disability experience.

The mission of Tellin' Tales Theatre is to shatter barriers between the disabled and non-disabled worlds through the transformative power of personal story. We bring together children and adults from both communities to share their stories in theatrically innovative productions and programs to promote awareness, understanding and acceptance.

Divercity is partially supported by grants from the Illinois Arts Council, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation.