Three Performers from Lincoln Square Area in Hands Up! Faith

“You can’t get to faith through research," said Shui Sherard, who along with their partner Siri Soderblom, are two of ten storytellers in Tellin' Tales Theatre presents: Hands Up! Faith 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.

Another local area writer-performer, Kimberly Robb Baker, joins this cast as they tackle the sometimes fiery disagreements around faith through personal stories.

It is 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. The players come from the city of Chicago, the suburbs and from a small Illinois town on the Mississippi River.

Kimberly Robb-Baker is a writer who looks at beauty, ugliness and tipping points that hide in everyday life - through a somewhat magical, mystical lens. Shui Sherard thought at an early age that if so many religions claimed to be The One, there would be near universal agreement on nearly everything - but she found out otherwise. Siri Soderblom, owner of the now defunct store Eclecticity and director of the a cappella group Chicago Women's Chorus, explores her art, created the Forgotten Tarot card deck, and has been married to Sherard for 23 years.

“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 shows for 2022, visit www.tellintales.org.