The 2024 Samuel G. Roberson Jr. Resident Fellowship, awarded to artivist Abby Thompson and Filament Theatre, was awarded for the development of the play Alex in Windyland, now slated for production at Filament Theatre, 4041 N. Milwaukee Ave, in Chicago, from May 17-23, 2025. The Samuel G. Roberson Jr. Resident Fellowship is funded by McMullen & Kime Charitable Trust and administered by the League of Chicago Theatres.
The 2024 Samuel G. Roberson Jr. Resident Fellowship is an annual grant awarded to a Black Theatre Artist to fund a residency or collaboration with a Chicago area non-profit organization. The Samuel G. Roberson Jr. Resident Fellowship offers early to mid-career Black theatre artists the opportunity to work with a Chicago-based non-profit organization in a supportive environment. The Fellowship provides the Artist with a grant of $20,000 and the Partner Organization receives $7,500 to support their work with the Artist. The fellowship is administered by the League of Chicago Theatres and funded by the McMullen & Kime Charitable Trust. Applications were reviewed by an external panel of Chicago directors, actors, playwrights and administrators.
“The Samuel G. Roberson Fellowship supports the work of an artivist in collaboration with a non-profit theatre. We are so proud to have supported Abby and Filament on the development of theatrical project, one that reflects the experiences of youth in foster care and focuses on giving back,” says Marissa Lynn Jones, Executive Director of the League of Chicago Theatres.
Alex in Windyland is an imaginative and heartfelt new play inspired by the real stories of Chicago youth in foster care. Created in collaboration with young people at LYDIA Home, the production shines a light on the complexities of the foster care system. The day before her 12th birthday, Alex is taken from her sister and transported onto a train called Windyland, a magical liminal space where Alex faces new challenges, finds new friends, and goes on adventures. Will Alex be reunited with her sister? Will she find a forever home? The clock is ticking, and the train keeps running. As the train speeds forward, the urgency of her situation becomes clear — just as it does for thousands of foster youth navigating an unpredictable system.
The cast includes Shenise Brown, James Crumb, Jade Gray, Jazz Jabulani, Octavio Montes de Oca and Alyssa Vera Ramos.
Tickets for Alex in Windyland start at $25 and are available at https://bit.ly/alexinwindyland. All proceeds through the run will support Chicago’s LYDIA Home a nonprofit in serving youth in foster care.
The opening is May 17, 2025, at 10:30am and will run through May 23, 2025, in honor of Foster Care Awareness Month.
About The Samuel G. Roberson Jr. Resident Fellowship
The Samuel G. Roberson Jr. Resident Fellowship funds a residency for early to mid-career Black theatre artists based in Chicago for a one-year partnership with a Chicago area theatre. Each year, the Fellowship will be focused on a particular area of concentration in Theatre Arts.
The artist and partner organization will work together toward a public performance of a play, performance piece, or other performance endeavor. Each year, an artist will be awarded $20,000 for participation in the program. The partner organization will be awarded $7,500 for its support of the artist.
Previous recipients of the Samuel G. Roberson Jr. Resident Fellowship are:
-Tonika Lewis Johnson (Artist & Activist/2023), who is collaborating with Rivendell Theatre Ensemble on The Folded Map Project. The theatrical interpretation of her work with Rivendell will center on the psychological and social impact of segregation and racism in the city of Chicago.
-Jerrell L. Henderson (Director/2022), who presented AmericanMYTH: Crossroads, a new genre-defying historic reckoning with five performers mixing live theatre, shadow puppetry, lights, and immersive sound, staged at Free Street Theater in the Fall of 2023.
-Kristiana Rae Colón (Playwright/2021), who worked with Congo Square Theatre to develop homan + fillmore, an afrofuturistic, hybrid-media work and community healing-focused work based on the 2016 Freedom Square encampment at Homan & Fillmore.
About Samuel G. Roberson Jr.
After graduating from Howard University’s Theatre Arts Department in 2005, Samuel G. Roberson Jr. began his theatre career with an apprenticeship at The Children’s Theatre of Minneapolis, where he spent three years defining his desires for acting, writing, directing, and social justice theater. During this time, he began writing and using his artistry to draw attention to issues important to him. He successfully wrote and produced two plays, And They Said I Wouldn’t Make It: A story of Hope, an autobiographical one man show about his fight with cancer as a child. And Same Difference, a 2 man show that deals with black male identity, and the pressures one experiences to act, sound and look a certain way in order to fit in to society.
After his success in Minneapolis, Sam made the move to Chicago where he continued pushing boundaries within the arts and within himself. Through his work with several prominent Chicago Theatres, including Steppenwolf, The Goodman, Northlight, Victory Gardens, Writers Theatre and Congo Square, as well as Spike Lee’s film, Chiraq, Sam made a name for himself not just as an artist but as an activist and leader within the theatre community. In addition to continuing to produce and perform his one-man show, Sam also founded the Make Me A Match Project (M3P), a non-profit organization focused on raising awareness about the need for bone marrow donors within the African American community. Through his efforts with M3P, he helped register donors that resulted in bone marrow matches.
In 2013 he was elected the Artistic Director of Congo Square Theatre. Under his leadership, Congo Square presented the world premiere and subsequent remount of Kelvin Roston’s award winning and Jeff-nominated Twisted Melodies, both productions directed by Sam. He created Congo Square’s signature conversation series, Owning Our Worth, which has hosted culturally specific theater leaders of color in public dialogue for talks on issues relevant to the theatre community at-large. He felt very strongly that it was his duty as an influential member of the community to advocate for more diverse work and casting throughout the Chicago Theatre scene. He also helped bring together a cohort of artists to create Chicago Artists Against Injustice using his artistry as a way to start difficult conversations around issues that often divide us. Wanting to spread his work to Chicago’s youth, Sam founded Congo Square's Education program, Y-BOOM (Young Brothers Owning Our Mission), a literacy-based leadership program that provides a safe environment for adolescent African American men. It was his work with Y-BOOM that garnered the attention of the 3Arts organization who awarded him a 3Arts award for service and leadership as an artist in his community.
For all of Sam’s accomplishments and contributions, there was much more that he had hoped to achieve before succumbing to pneumonia in 2017. He lived everyday he was given to his fullest, and gave all that he could of himself in hopes of inspiring others to do the same. When asked once, "What wakes you up in the morning?", he responded, "Knowing that at some point in my day, I am going to have a positive impact on someone, somewhere." We are most pleased to honor such a beloved, brave and committed truth teller through the Samuel G. Roberson Jr. Resident Fellowship.
About Filament Theatre
Filament Theatre creates imaginary worlds in which young people have agency and autonomy to explore and express the ideas they are passionate about – whether that’s new information, a challenging social situation, or a form of artistic expression. We need stories to help us encounter new worlds, meet new people, and practice how we might behave in that new situation. Without that kind of imagination, we will be unable to navigate the challenges that face our future. Now in its fourteenth year, Filament Theatre is an anchor cultural organization for the Six Corners business district in Chicago’s Portage Park. As the only theatre of its kind in Chicago, Filament is a vital home for innovative artists and young people finding and using their power through the performing arts. Visit FilamentTheatre.org for more information.
About Abby Thompson
Abby Thompson is an Emmy™ Award-winning voiceover artist, performing artist, and teaching artist. Abby has performed, written, and devised theater for social justice, immersive experiences, and theater for young audiences. She has a desire to work on empowering art that engages the community and amplifies untold stories of the marginalized, promotes life skills, and provokes social change. Abby is currently performing in Albany Park Theatre Project's production of Port of Entry, true stories of immigrants and refugees in Albany Park. She has performed professionally with First Stage Children’s Theater, Filament, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, and African American Children’s Theatre. Visit AbbyThompson.org for more information.
The McMullen & Kime Charitable Trust
Melinda McMullen and Duncan Kime serve as advisers to the McMullen and Kime Charitable Trust. They have been involved in Chicago theater for two decades. McMullen has served on the boards of Congo Square and Lookingglass Theatre Company, and the Trust has been particularly active in supporting the work of Black artists, including HeLa at Sideshow Theater, Thaddeus and Slocum: A Vaudeville Adventure and most recently Her Honor Jane Byrne, both of which were produced at Lookingglass Theatre Company.
About Chicago theatre
Chicago theatre is the leader in the U.S. with more than 250 theatres throughout Chicagoland, comprising a rich and varied community ranging from storefront, non-union theatres to the most renowned resident theatres in the country, including 6 which have been honored with Regional Tony Awards, and the largest touring Broadway organization in the nation. Chicago’s theatres serve 5 million audience members annually and have a combined budget of more than $250 million. Chicago produces and/or presents more world premieres annually than any other city in the nation. Each year Chicago theatres send new work to resident theatres across the country, to Broadway, and around the world. For more information, visit www.chicagoplays.com.
The League of Chicago Theatres’ Mission Statement
Theatre is essential to the life of a great city and to its citizens. The League of Chicago Theatres is an alliance of theatres, which leverages its collective strength to support, promote and advocate for Chicago’s theatre industry. Through our work, we ensure that theatre continues to thrive in our city.