SOUTH BEND CIVIC THEATRE INC
403 N Main Street, South Bend, IN 46601 www.sbct.org

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Organizations Filed Purposes: The Organization's mission is to enrich and create community through live theatre. This is accomplished through the following three pillars: excellence, education, and equity.

In the calendar year of 2019, the South Bend Civic Theatre (CIVIC) produced 200 events (up over 19% from 2018). 80 were performed in the Warner Studio Theatre. 99 were performed in the Wilson Auditorium. 10 were performed off site. Six were performed on our new outdoor venue, Foegley Plaza. Over 650 performing artists were involved in these productions. Annual attendance was 22,444 and represents a 3% increase over 2018. We created our IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access) Task Force made up of a diverse cohort of community leaders and influencers. This group is tasked with holding the CIVIC accountable, pushing us to live out our values as an inclusive community, and injecting IDEA- based initiatives into the fabric of our programming and processes. In March, the CIVIC produced ATHENA UNBOUND: ACTIVISM THROUGH THE ARTS, a two-day symposium of female art, artists, and activism celebrating International Women's Day. Events included MAKE NOISE | MAKE CHANGE: music and storytelling; MAKE ART | MAKE CHANGE: free workshops led by local female performing artists from a multitude of disciplines; MAKE WAY | MAKE CHANGE: songs, scenes, and conversations; and a women's visual art exhibition: "Women, Home, and the Revolution of Memory" curated by Rita Koehler. In October, the CIVIC presented the symposium, "Access and Ability in the Arts." The event was a combination of performance and panel discussion and featured participants sharing their personal journeys and discussing the ways in which the arts (specifically theatre) can be more accessible to those who are blind, d/Deaf, neuro-diverse, as well as intellectually and/or developmentally disabled. The conversation encouraged audience input, covered both arts patronage and participation, and featured ASL interpretation. The symposium prepared our community for the CIVIC's November production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, a thrilling new mystery featuring the adventures of Christopher Boone, a young man diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The symposium included a rehearsal montage and short performance from this piece as well as scenes from both a deaf-integrated production of Into the Woods and a play focused on the importance of mental health. Both the 10-year August Wilson Project and our "Better Homes of South Bend" play commission address the centuries-long issue of racial inequity. Better Homes, the play's working title, is a partnership with author and historian Gabrielle Robinson and playwright Caleen Jennings. Better Homes will be a dramatization exploring the true story of an African American building co-op that fought successfully against South Bend's mid-century racist real- estate policies. These projects allow the CIVIC to expose and better understand rustbelt racism while celebrating the resolve and resilience of our local African American community. The large majority of our audiences were not familiar with the work of August Wilson, so we are also working to elevate local awareness of this monumental artist of color. Through championing Wilson's contributions to the American theatre canon, as well as our city's own stories, we believe our patrons and local students will better understand our country's fraught history and the importance of restorative justice. We are partnering with South Bend's Civil Rights Heritage Center, 100 Black Men of Greater South Bend, and the South Bend Community School Corporation on both multi-year initiatives. All of this to say that the CIVIC is committed to developing meaningful relationships with our city's underrepresented communities. These relationships inform our engagement and education initiatives and guide us toward more welcoming spaces and resonant programming.

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