Our History
December 2010
A note from Founder and Executive Artistic Director Brighid O’Shaughnessy
In the year 2000, a life-changing experience began. I starting working at Thresholds with their Theatre Arts Project, a program dedicated to helping adults with mental illness find their voices through theatre.
While there, I noticed several things. As I became more comfortable with and aware of mental illness, I realized that many people in my life outside of Thresholds were eager to give voice to their own experiences. It was like a door had flown open and suddenly more and more people were talking.
I also noticed “members” at Thresholds (an alternative name for clients) seemed to have tremendous untapped potential. Many of them had big dreams and hopes for their lives beyond symptom management and securing basic housing and minimum wage employment.
My ideas of how to respond to these observations began to gel. I was inspired by Cheryl Almgren, a member of the Thresholds Theatre Arts Project and a big dreamer herself. In 2005, I founded a non-profit organization and called it Cheryl’s Dreaming Big.
In those early days, we had two major programs:
A coaching and leadership program that was designed to work alongside adults with mental illness in the pursuit of big dreams.
A theatre arts program that used personal stories performed by professional actors, to disarm stigma, generate awareness, and connect people to resources and information about mental illness and treatment.
From these beginnings, we launched forward. Five years later, I am amazed and filled with gratitude and hope when I reflect on what we’ve accomplished thus far. I look forward to the next five years and I hope you will join us for the ride!
Milestones
2004
Cheryl Almgren and Brighid O’Shaughnessy inspire and encourage one another to continue dreaming big.
Visioning and brainstorming for the organization begins.
Photo: Cheryl and Brighid
2005
The company is founded in 2005, named Cheryl's Dreaming Big in honor of Cheryl Almgren.
Photo: Cheryl's greeting cards on sale during her first attempts to manifest her dreams
In May 2005, our first performance takes place at Buzz Café in Oak Park. Titled "Erasing the Distance: The People I Know", the show was based on true stories gathered from people all across the country who had struggled with mental health issues.
We sold out every seat, and people stayed for over 2 hours to talk about the show and the issues of mental health. This show was based on 25 real people’s experiences, both diagnosed and undiagnosed, and the stories of loved ones.
After the show we kept hearing “This cannot end. You have to take this other places.”
Photo: Meredith Siemsen performing in "Erasing the Distance: The People I Know"
2006
We re-workshopped and then performed a new version of the show in April 2006 for a 6-day sold out run at Chicago’s Disability Arts and Culture Festival.
Based on the success of the performance at the Disability Arts and Culture Festival, we began touring to local high schools, colleges, faith groups, and mental health organizations.
Our first year-long Leadership Program is held for adults with mental illness and adults from the general public interested in pursuing their dreams while being of service to the world. The program included retreats in the woods of Michigan, where participants engaged in ropes courses, camping, group activities and even cooked their own food together to strengthen teamwork.
Photo: Participants in the first Leadership Program
The IRS grants us designation as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, allowed to receive charitable donations.
2007
Leadership Retreats are held throughout the year as part of the annual program, with small groups meeting in Chicago to cement the learning from the Michigan retreats.
Photo: Kate Gross and Gloria Centeno, Leadership participants, take a moment to connect.
With word-of-mouth growing, we continue touring "Erasing the Distance: The People I Know" to prestigious high schools, colleges, universities, faith groups, and theaters.
Photo: Performing real stories about mental illness.
2008
After much deliberation and strategic planning in 2007, the leadership program is officially ended and the mission of organization is solidified to focus on the theatre programs. The new mission is: Shedding light on mental illness through theatre.
Two part-time administrative staff positions are created, the first staff positions in addition to Founder and Executive Artistic Director Brighid O’Shaughnessy.
Photo: Brighid O’Shaughnessy, Oriana Fowler, and Jessica Mondres
Erasing the Distance performs at Dominican University, where we then stay for a long-term residency where students collect stories from their campus community and ultimately create and perform "The People I Know: The Dominican University Chapter."
2009
We officially change our name in January of this year, and the name of our first show, Erasing the Distance, becomes the organizational name.
Photo: Erasing the Distance logo
We collect 40 diverse new stories, and from these stories shape a show specifically for college audiences (titled “Facing the Rain’) and another specifically for high school audiences (titled “What’s Behind Our Eyes.”)
Photo: Actors Eddie Jordan III, Jaron Salazar, David Hornreich, Maura Kidwell and Rhonda Marie Bynum perform a scene from ETD's teen show, What's Behind Our Eyes
The Mental Health Advisory Board is formed.
We continue to tour, and reach an audience of 10,000 people in 2009 alone!
2010
The company grows to include over 30 professional artists.
In addition to touring, we create custom productions for groups interested in shedding light on particular perspectives. Programming this year includes a collaboration with AASPI (Asian American Suicide Prevention Initiative) to explore suicide and mental health issues from Asian-American perspectives, and a special project titled "Will You Stand Up?" exploring violence and its connection to mental health.
Pictured left to right: Artist Alfred Li Tsao, Jae Jin Pak of AASPI, Dwight Sora, and Meredith Siemsen
In October 2010, Diana Clegg joins the company in the new position of Managing Director.
We fundraise specifically for our artistic residencies at schools so students can give voice to their experiences.
Our performances have been seen by over 25,000 people so far throughout Illinois and beyond!