On Thursday June 20, 2019, Jane Addams Hull-House Museum celebrated the first-ever tribute to improv and theater greats, Viola Spolin, originator of theater games, and her son Paul Sills, co-founder of The Second City and Compass Players. Both were deeply influenced by Hull-House's activist and reform work and commitment to progressive education. The Museum welcomed champions of Chicago's theater history to return where it all began - at Hull-House. This event was a part of the current exhibition Participatory Arts: Crafting Social Change about Hull-House's theater, and arts and crafts legacy, on view through July 28, 2019. Thanks to the Museum co-organizers and partners: Mark Larson, Aretha Sills, the Spolin/Sills family, School of Theatre and Music at the University of Illinois, and Cornelia McNamara Flowers and Parties for providing flower arrangements. (Image credit: Jane Addams Hull-House Museum/Sarah Larson)
You can continue to celebrate the Hull-House Settlement theater legacy during Hull-House Summer of Theater, a series of workshops and behind-the-scenes experiences with Chicago based improv, storytelling, and poetry innovators. Click here to learn more: Hull-House Summer of Theater.
