Theatre Y

Hi, I'm Rachelle Zola. I'm 76 years young and just walked 825 miles from Chicago, IL, to Montgomery, AL, USA—healing communities along the way by weaving courageous stories to build powerful bridges of connection between people. I started walking on April 2, 2024, and reached the Alabama State Capitol on September 12. This is just the beginning!

Our goal is to host 250 dialogue circles, bringing people together to connect deeply in community. Only through communicating can we know each other. Knowing each other reduces our fear of each other and opens the door for love. Love heals our communities after centuries of racial harm as we learn to be authentic together.

This is especially critical in a pivotal election year. The quality of our votes depends on how well we truly understand the needs of people in our communities, which will only happen when we know each other.

Your tax-deductible donation will help ignite:

This is a love story—a tribute to the people who so many deem as invisible, dismiss and/or hate because of the color of their skin. I had never even considered them, their lives, their lived experiences, the depth of the harm, the trauma, that they experience every day. Not easy to admit and necessary.

I offer a one-woman play and dialogue experience called LATE: a Love Story. First I tell my story about truths I learned late in life. Then I share stories of the people who have opened their hearts to me. My goal is for you to leave reimagining our shared world.

LATE: a Love Story was birthed in close partnership with Melissa Lorraine, Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Theatre Y, and Emily Bragg, Playwright, with whom I collaborated for a year in creating the experience. Theatre Y is our fiscal sponsor and host for the LATE LOVE community.

Follow my journey of racial liberation here: https://late.love

Radical Love,

Rachelle, Rachel & Andy

How?
Like NPR. 
They also know that some things are too valuable not to be free.
Members donate $5-$1000/month to sustain the vision.

We knew the transition could be very challenging, and could result in a cash shortfall to pay basic operating costs.  We were hopeful and our membership base is growing fast, but as we close out 2018, this is proving to be true. 

Would you be a link in our bridge towards FREE THEATER.

If you live in Chicago your membership comes with benefits !
If you don't live in Chicago but you know someone there, gift  them! 

This GO FUND ME campaign is for anyone who simply wants to invest in this vision!
Help us prove that this kind of community and fraternity is possible!


This is a MOVEMENT.  If you want more information about transitioning to a FREE THEATRE MODEL contact Theatre Y!



Theatre Y also provides Movement Therapy for Trauma Rehabilitation, Suzuki Movement Training, and Storytime for Children across Chicago including Cook County Prison, Lawrence Hall Residence for Wards of the State, Chicago Public Libraries, and the Southside's Neighborship Network.

“Of all of the deserved accolades that can be lavished on Theatre Y’s mission and breathtaking work, perhaps the most accurately deserved is an imagined prescient hypothetical. If they were creating their art under a corrupt and brutal regime, they would no doubt have already been imprisoned and would quite possibly be dead by now. Given that peculiar theoretical paradigm, when viewing their work it is as if you are watching the ghosts of great artists poignantly, vehemently and posthumously rage against the very structural machine of human deprivation. Even in a “free” country, Theatre Y’s work is beautifully subversive. Since we are always just an election or two away from the potential of crushing suppression, their insight is always imperatively relevant.”
— Chicago Stage Review
 
“Far beyond routine. Mesmerizing, riveting, energized, ambitious, articulated, bold...damn good theater.”
— Chicago Stage Standard




Let's make History!