Hands Up! Faith Tackles Fiery Disagreements Around Faith

“Faith is a thing of the heart, and the heart is a messy twisted place," said Robert Teverbaugh, who along with his partner Stephen Donart, are co-directors of the latest Hands Up! offering from Tellin' Tales Theatre called Hands Up! Faith. They are also two of ten storytellers in the production which runs Virtually on Vimeo March 18-27. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased through the Tellin' Tales website www.tellintales.org. The show will also be presented live on March 18 at 8pm at Kedzie Inn, 4100 N. Kedzie.

The show has a diverse group of performers of different ages, experiences and sexual orientation. Each explore their identity as it relates to religion, relationships, and faith in these individual narratives.

“We live in a nation founded on the concept of freedom of religion, but to get elected, politicians need to prove their faith. We celebrate diversity, yet people condemn LGBTQ people to hell and call them an abomination to god,” said co-director Stephen Donart who is also Tellin' Tales Theatre program director. “To create a better understanding of faith we need to listen to the experiences of all people.”

Hands Up! Faith creates personal encounters and a chance to hear other people’s stories in an attempt to bridge this gap. The goal of the performances is not to lead people to conclusions, but to give them a more informed perspective on the topic. Co-director Robert Teverbaugh says, “Silence on controversial topics is deafening. Our goal is to give people a voice and show that the world cares about what they have to say.”

“Hands Up presentations were developed by Tellin’ Tales Theatre in the last few years to provide adults from a diversity of backgrounds, with and without disabilities, a forum to explore controversial issues through writing, development, and performance of their personal stories,” explained Tellin’ Tales program director Stephen Donart. “Our goal is to reverse the lens through which controversial issues are too often viewed. By highlighting our core, shared humanity, we are better able to understand the beliefs, positions, and circumstances of those with whom we may not agree, or whom we view as ‘other.’

This year, Tellin' Tales Theatre is celebrating its 25th Anniversary. The mission of Tellin' Tales Theatre is to shatter barriers between the disabled and non-disabled worlds through the transformative power of sharing personal narratives. To see more information about Hands Up! Faith and to see the complete list of Tellin' Tales productions for 2022, visit www.tellintales.org.