Encounter, a theatre series about race and healing, is coming to La Follette Park

Art is a medium ripe for the exploration of life’s complexities, such as racism, and the varying perspectives on such issues. Collaboraction Theatre Company, a 21-year-old nonprofit based in Wicker Park, understands the importance of using art to cultivate dialogues around difficult topics. So the company curated Encounter – a series of plays and visual art centered around race and healing in Chicago. After a two-week run as a winter festival, Encounter now is touring the Chicago Park District circuit.
On Saturday, Encounter will make a stop at La Follette Park (1333 N. Laramie Ave) on Chicago’s West Side. Beginning at 3 PM, the free event will feature six productions: including “Dese Shoes,” a poem by Loretta Hawkins in which Harriet Tubman returns from heaven to offer guidance to her people, and “Racism 101,” a documentary film featuring Chicagoans and their first experiences with racism. After the 70-minute lineup, Collaboraction’s Anthony Moseley and Marcus Robinson, the artistic director and managing director respectively, will lead a 25-minute town hall discussion on healing in Chicago.
We caught up with Moseley and Robinson to learn more about Encounter.
The TRiiBE: Why La Follette Park? Why should the Austin neighborhood come see Encounter?
Anthony Moseley: It’s a free show at a Chicago Park District jewel, La Follette Park. Our main thing is that we don’t think what’s happening in Chicago is normal. We believe art is a powerful tool to incite action. We want people from Austin to come out. We also want people from the Northside, Southside, Eastside and downtown to show support and be a part of this discussion. When I see people leaving Encounter, I see people walking out like a community; the same way people left out of theatres after watching…
TT: … Black Panther?
AM: Yes, exactly. There is a little pep in their step. It is a little bit more pride in their chest. People are connecting from this shared experience in ways that are just beautiful.
TT: Is Collaboraction Theatre Company a Black-owned organization?
Marcus Robinson: The Collaboraction Theatre is a nonprofit. So no one owns it, per se. However, the board is more than 60 percent African-American. [The board is] responsible for the organization. Top management is majority African American, Asian and white. People of color are included in our shows. No one is left out.

TT: How many of the actors and actresses for Encounter are Black and from Chicago?
AM: For the Encounter tour, our cast is very diverse but majority Black. For [Saturday’s show], we have plenty of Chicagoans. Loretta Hawkins is a Chicago treasure. She is the author of the poem, “Dese Shoes,” which she performs as Harriet Tubman. Then we have Dana N. Anderson [who wrote] “Soul in Suburbia,” a play about a Black girl growing up in the Northwest suburbs of Chicago. We also have Jharmaine Boyd who wrote a play, “The Blue Eyed Devil,” about a Chicago 1940s interracial couple. All of the selections in Encounter cover racism in Chicago and how we respond to that.
TT: Each show is followed by a town hall. Who facilitates the town hall and what is the goal?
MR: The town hall is co-facilitated by Anthony and I. The town hall is a great way for people to reflect on all of their thoughts [and] ideas that came to them. The goal is for audience members to find a way to activate their power to heal our communities.
TT: And there will be free food, you say?
AM: Yes. Macaroni and cheese, fruit salad and other food brought to you by the delicious restaurant, Son of a Butcher by Whisk.
This interview has been edited and condensed.