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Mud Theatre Project

Mud Theatre Project empowers formerly incarcerated individuals through music, blending classical and hip-hop to share personal stories. Their mission is to foster resilience and creativity in under-resourced communities, transforming narratives into art.

Chamber of Change is a project led by Civic Orchestra of Chicago harpist and fellow Kari Novilla that brings together formerly incarcerated individuals to compose and perform original rap pieces rooted in the harmonic language of classical music. This year in collaboration with The Mud Theatre Project, participants transform classical works into deeply personal stories drawn from their own lived experiences, culminating in a live performance alongside a fusion ensemble of classical, jazz, and hip-hop artists. Inspired by the theme &quot;Gardens Over Graves,&quot; the project reflects on how under-resourced communities can become sites of loss due to systemic inequities in basic needs like housing, education, and healthcare. Yet Chamber of Changeultimately centers defiance and possibility: like flowers growing in a graveyard, the work celebrates resilience, creativity, and the power to reclaim and repurpose one&#39;s environment. The result is a concert that is both an artistic collaboration and a profound act of community storytelling&mdash; music that bridges worlds and affirms the humanity and strength of every voice on stage. Doors open at 6pm.

Chamber of Change with the Mud Theatre Project

Day 3 of the Resilience Arts Festival takes place at The Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts at the University of Chicago. Saturday&#39;s events are produced and sponsored by the Illinois Coalition to End Permanent Punishments, Reparations Media, Restore Justice, and Walls Turned Sideways. Admission is FREE or PAY WHAT YOU CAN, but please note that a ticket is required for entry. Day 3 (Saturday, October 24)&nbsp;at Logan Center for the Arts&nbsp;<a fr-original-style="" href="https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/2026-resilience-arts-festival" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-color: currentcolor; user-select: auto; box-sizing: inherit;" target="_blank">(REGISTER FOR DAYS 1, 2 &amp; 3 HERE)</a> <ul fr-original-style="text-align: start;" style="text-align: start; box-sizing: inherit;"><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">1:00pm - Join the Illinois Coalition to End Permanent Punishments for their first Fully Free Annual Membership Assembly!</li></ul> <ul fr-original-style="text-align: start;" style="text-align: start; box-sizing: inherit;"><li fr-original-style="" id="isPasted" style="box-sizing: inherit;">3:30pm:<ul fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">Join Walls Turned Sideways and End Permanent Punishments to screenprint posters &amp; t-shirts with designs in our archive, including those made as a part of our No New Prisons IL Print Portfolio. Bring your own clothes to screenprint on and to spread the word on abolition!&nbsp;</li><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">Join End Permanent Punishments for a march to the polls immediately following their membership assembly!&nbsp;The walk will be &frac12; mile (about 11&ndash;15 minutes) from Logan Arts Center to the Bessie Coleman Branch Library at 63rd &amp; Langley. This early voting site is open to all Chicago voters, including unregistered voters who want to register that day. Come march with ENDPP and make your voice heard!</li></ul></li></ul> <ul fr-original-style="text-align: start;" style="text-align: start; box-sizing: inherit;"><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">5:00pm - End Permanent Punishments &amp; Restore Justice Presents: VOICES. Hear the story of redemption from directly impacted advocates.&nbsp;</li></ul> <ul fr-original-style="text-align: start;" style="text-align: start; box-sizing: inherit;"><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">6:00pm - A screening of&nbsp;Civil Death by Reparations Media. Civil Death explores the lasting, invisible punishments faced by formerly incarcerated people - and the growing movement to dismantle them. Each year, over 650,000 people leave U.S. prisons. But for many, freedom is just the beginning of a new kind of sentence. In Illinois alone, 4 million people&mdash;nearly 1 in 4 &mdash; carry criminal records that block access to jobs, housing, education, and basic rights of citizenship. Rooted in the ancient concept of civil death, this film follows real people and real policy change - challenging the ingrained practices of permanent punishments. The feature length documentary film flips the script on how we view formerly incarcerated people. It reveals their strength, struggle and humanity - and asks us to imagine real redemption, forgiveness, and justice. When does punishment finally end?</li></ul> Register for the other days of Resilience Arts Festival <a fr-original-style="" href="https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/2026-resilience-arts-festival" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-color: currentcolor; user-select: auto; box-sizing: inherit;" target="_blank">here</a>. Mud Theatre Project acknowledges support from Chicago Torture Justice Center, Crossroads Fund, End Permanent Punishments, Illinois Arts Council, Illinois Humanities Revolution Brewing, The Joseph and Bessie Feinberg Foundation, The Reva and David Logan Foundation, Walls Turned Sideways and Women Initiating New Directions.

2026 Resilience Arts Festival (Saturday, October 24)

The Mud Theatre Project is proud to present the second annual Resilience Arts Festival! The Resilience Arts Festival uplifts the original work of playwrights, performers, writers, and artists impacted by incarceration.&nbsp; Join us for four exciting days that include poetry readings, one-man plays, a documentary screening by Reparations Media, art making, and more. Admission is free or pay what you can. Donations of all sizes are welcome and help us continue this kind of programming! NOTE: This form is for Thursday, Friday and Sunday ONLY. <a fr-original-style="" href="https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/2026-resilience-arts-festival-saturday-october--24" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-color: currentcolor; user-select: auto; box-sizing: inherit;" target="_blank">Register for Saturday (October 24) here.</a> Admission is FREE or PAY WHAT YOU CAN, but please note that a ticket is required for entry. Day 1 (Thursday, October 22)&nbsp;at Definition Theatre<ul fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">7pm - Winning essays from the Conditions of Your Existence Writing Contest, a statewide personal essay contest for people incarcerated in Illinois, will be brought to the stage on opening night of the Resilience Arts Festival. The essays will be performed by artists, writers, and educators whose lives and work reflect a range of relationships to incarceration. Musical interludes will feature original music created by incarcerated artists alongside selections from playlists curated by the writers and other incarcerated contributors. The winning writers will be announced in October with the lineup of performers to follow.</li></ul>A reception will follow the performances. Day 2 (Friday, October 23)&nbsp;at Definition Theatre <ul fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">5:30pm - Can&rsquo;t Get Back Yesterday is a theatrical, poetic, and musical exploration into the mental health effects that prison has on someone who has been on the inside. Written and performed by Prince Saleem Alexis.</li></ul> <ul fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><li fr-original-style="text-align: start;" style="text-align: start; box-sizing: inherit;">6:30pm - Prayers Of A Lost Dog: The Story of DMX. Writer and performer Anthony Spaulding prays, raps, tells stories, and discusses issues prevalent to those incarcerated and the journey of finding their way home. The opening line says it all. &ldquo;We have all wandered around like lost dogs scavenging for light, I pray you find your way home before it gets dark.&rdquo;</li></ul> <ul fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><li fr-original-style="text-align: start;" style="text-align: start; box-sizing: inherit;">7:30pm - Benevolent Blues* by JES Gems encompasses the complexities of experiencing sexual assault, dealing with a pregnancy/abortion as a result of the assault, and being a criminalized survivor. JES Gems is a multi-hyphenate trio that creates mixed media performances from inside Logan Correction Center. The groups members are Jeanine Elam, Erika Ray, and Stephanie Bonds.</li></ul>*CONTENT ADVISORY: sexual and gender violence, mature language Day 3 (Saturday, October 24)&nbsp;at Logan Center for the Arts&nbsp;<a fr-original-style="" href="https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/2026-resilience-arts-festival-saturday-october--24" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-color: currentcolor; user-select: auto; box-sizing: inherit;" target="_blank">(REGISTER SEPARATELY HERE)</a> <ul fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">1:00pm - Join the Illinois Coalition to End Permanent Punishments for their first Fully Free Annual Membership Assembly!</li></ul> <ul fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">3:30pm:<ul fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">Join Walls Turned Sideways and End Permanent Punishments to screenprint posters &amp; t-shirts with designs in our archive, including those made as a part of our No New Prisons IL Print Portfolio. Bring your own clothes to screenprint on and to spread the word on abolition!&nbsp;</li><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">Join End Permanent Punishments for a march to the polls immediately following their membership assembly! The walk will be &frac12; mile (about 11&ndash;15 minutes) from Logan Arts Center to the Bessie Coleman Branch Library at 63rd &amp; Langley. This early voting site is open to all Chicago voters, including unregistered voters who want to register that day. Come march with ENDPP and make your voice heard!</li></ul></li></ul> <ul fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">5:00pm - End Permanent Punishments &amp; Restore Justice Presents: VOICES. Hear the story of redemption from directly impacted advocates.&nbsp;</li></ul> <ul fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">6:00pm - A screening of Civil Death by Reparations Media. Civil Death explores the lasting, invisible punishments faced by formerly incarcerated people - and the growing movement to dismantle them. Each year, over 650,000 people leave U.S. prisons. But for many, freedom is just the beginning of a new kind of sentence. In Illinois alone, 4 million people&mdash;nearly 1 in 4 &mdash; carry criminal records that block access to jobs, housing, education, and basic rights of citizenship. Rooted in the ancient concept of civil death, this film follows real people and real policy change - challenging the ingrained practices of permanent punishments. The feature length documentary film flips the script on how we view formerly incarcerated people. It reveals their strength, struggle and humanity - and asks us to imagine real redemption, forgiveness, and justice. When does punishment finally end?</li></ul> Day 4 (Sunday, October 25)&nbsp;at Definition Theatre <ul fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">4:00pm - Spring is Coming: Melt ICE is the animation project of the 2026 Liberation Lab at Walls Turned Sideways. Formerly incarcerated artist created stop-motion animations depicting ICE tactics as a means to bring further awareness to the growing problem of kidnapped people in ICE detention centers. Artists made these short animations to illustrate this problem and its connection to the overall carceral apparatus.</li></ul> <ul fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><li fr-original-style="text-align: start;" style="text-align: start; box-sizing: inherit;">6:00pm&nbsp;- Join members of MAMAS&rsquo; Mothers of the Kidnapped collective and friends for a conversation about mothering, caregiving and resistance across prison walls. Sharing excerpts from their recently released book, <a fr-original-style="" href="http://bit.ly/RadicalMotheringBook" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-color: currentcolor; user-select: auto; box-sizing: inherit;" target="_blank">Radical Mothering</a>, they&rsquo;ll discuss what mothers and caregivers who are living the violence of the PIC daily can teach us about efforts both to dismantle these systems and to collectively build the alternatives we need, so that all people can thrive with safety and dignity.</li></ul> <ul fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><li fr-original-style="text-align: start;" style="text-align: start; box-sizing: inherit;">8:00pm - This performance created by Mud Theatre founding member Darrion Benson explores the emotional and systemic impact of incarceration on families. The piece is structured as a three-part show combining spoken word, rap, and piano performances to trace a community&#39;s journey from arrest to imprisonment and eventual return, featuring custom song lyrics highlighting a mother&#39;s prayers amid systemic corruption, and drives toward a concrete call to action focused on ending mandatory minimum sentencing.</li></ul>Festival schedule may be subject to change. Follow @mudtheatreproject on Instagram or visit <a fr-original-style="" href="//resiliencefest.org" rel="noopener noreferrer noopener noreferrer noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-color: currentcolor; user-select: auto; box-sizing: inherit;" target="_blank">resiliencefest.org</a> for updates. Mud Theatre Project acknowledges support from Chicago Torture Justice Center, Crossroads Fund, End Permanent Punishments, Illinois Arts Council, Illinois Humanities Revolution Brewing, The Joseph and Bessie Feinberg Foundation, The Reva and David Logan Foundation, Walls Turned Sideways and Women Initiating New Directions.

Mud Theatre Project

Events

Events

2026 Resilience Arts Festival (Saturday, October 24)

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2026 Resilience Arts Festival (October 22, 23 & 25)

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