Photo by Bruce Silcox
Second Chance
What does it mean to get a second chance in life? Who deserves a second chance? And who decides? Hear our pleas to the Council of Second Chances. You, the audience, get to weigh in on whether or not a second chance is granted. What will you decide?
Three FREE Opportunities To See Second Chance in 2022!
2022 Creative Team
Carlyle Brown, Playwright
Maren Ward, Director
Esther Ouray, Assistant Director, Movement Coach, & Production Manager
mick laBriola, Musical Arrangements & Musician (percussion)
Carlisle Evans Peck, Musician (keyboard)
Cat Zevitz, Sound Design
Blake Brown, Stage Manager
Stephanie Drymalski & Terryann Nash, ASL Interpretation
2022 Ensemble
COUNCIL OF SECOND CHANCES
Mister Mayhem - Lurch
Ralph the Accuser - Robert Blood
Mmm Chaos - Harry Waters Jr. V
Paula Possibility - Esther Ouray
THE SUPPLICANTS
Supplicant One - Marcia Barnes
Caroline - Mary Benrud
Shannon - Cat Zevitz and Christy Lynn
Charles - Daniel Mauck
David - Greg Tromiczak
Sol - Sol Morán
Arminta - Arminta Wilson
Tahiti - Tahiti Robinson
AUDIENCE MEMBERS
AUDIENCE MEMBER 1 - Karen Lunde
AUDIENCE MEMBER 2 - Ken Moore
Some photos
8/14/22 at Target Field Station Amphitheater. Photo by Bruce Silcox.
8/14/22 at Target Field Station Amphitheater. Photo by Bruce Silcox.
8/14/22 at Target Field Station Amphitheater. Photo by Bruce Silcox.
8/14/22 at Target Field Station Amphitheater. Photo by Bruce Silcox.
8/10/22 at Mill City Museum Ruin Courtyard. Photo by Bruce Silcox.
8/10/22 at Mill City Museum Ruin Courtyard. Photo by Bruce Silcox.
In the press
Arthur Dorman of Talkin’ Broadway says, “It is exactly right for anyone moved by bracingly honest accounts of the struggles and hopes of people who are our neighbors, not so unlike us but for a fork in the road at some time in their past. It illuminates the notion that among people of good will, change is possible and hope is always in season.” (full article here)
Attitude of Gratitude
Our deepest thanks to the City of Minneapolis Partnership Engagement Fund.
This funding is allowing zAmya, the North Loop Neighborhood Association (NLNA) and Avivo to offer a seven month long community building process in the North Loop. The August 10th performance of Second Chance is kick starting this process.
The goal is to establish a shared vision amongst community members of what needs to happen for everyone in their neighborhood to feel safe, have shelter, and ensure support for the most vulnerable.
Attendees of this performance will be invited back for listening sessions this fall!
One will be for NLNA members, one will be for Avivo residents. People will be invited to respond to the play and share experiences, questions, concerns, and ideas through creative prompts. The third session will be held with members of both groups, and all participants will be invited back to share perspectives.
Based on these discussions, zAmya will create the script for a new play, specific to North Loop, that will be shared back with North Loop residents at a staged play reading event in February 2023.
If you live in North Loop and would like to be part of this project, fill out this short form and someone will reach out when activities are scheduled!
Looking for ways to help fight for housing justice?
We put together a list of advocacy opportunities.
More information about the play
It is said in the housing advocacy world that people with criminal backgrounds are the hardest to house. The phrase Second Chance is a term housing advocates use to refer to this challenge. Second Chance implies there is someone who messed up. With this housing or this job we’ll give that person a Second Chance at life. As it is now, these Second Chances are hard to come by. While we generally believe in the idea of serving time and paying dues, our systems are not supporting this idea. As the truth gets louder around racial covenants in housing practice, Criminal Justice System as the new Jim Crow, huge racial disparities in shelters and on the streets – it must be asked – was there ever a first chance? Maybe it is America that needs a Second Chance to fulfill the dream for all Americans?
These are the questions and contradictions that fuel Second Chance.
Show History
Created through workshops at the Hennepin County Central Library.
2018 Creative Team
Directed by Maren Ward
Assistant Directors Bianca Pettis and Esther Ouray
Written by Carlyle Brown
Choreography by Leah Nelson
Performed by Stayci Bell, Charles Hilton, Caroline Mannheimer, Greg Tromiczak, Arminta Wilson, D. “Lurch” Yundt, Shannon Kemp, Tahiti Robinson, Sol Moran, Robert Blood, Calvin Wright, Annette Bryant, and David Schnell
Development Process & Support
Second Chance was the culmination of ACTivation: Changing the Conversation on Homelessness Downtown. ACTivation was a year-long residency at the Minneapolis Central Library. The residency goal was to engage library patrons experiencing homelessness in creative projects that built relationships between homeless and housed patrons of the library and, by extension, Minneapolis – particularly downtown employees and residents.
Second Chance was created with support from Hennepin County Library, Minneapolis Downtown Improvement District, National Endowment for the Arts and the Carolyn Foundation.