Tricia Stiller
McLean County Diversity Project c/o Jeffrey A. Schwartz PO Box 58 Downs, IL 61736
All content is ©Copyright 2010 McLean County Diversity Project
Patricia Stiller has been actively involved in the vast theatre
arts community thriving in Bloomington and Normal since
1986. Originally from the south Chicago suburbs, Stiller's
love for the art form was obvious from an early age when
an elementary school teacher noticed and honed her "flair for the dramatic."
As a vocal performer, Stiller received numerous accolades as well as educational and professional opportunities. She studied under Joyce Porter and Kate Wulle-Dugan in Palos Hills, Illinois, and at the Illinois Theatre Center in Park Forest. Apprenticeships followed throughout Illinois and briefly in Clearwater Florida before she and husband Jeremy, an award winning scenic designer, settled in the twin cities.
Stiller has performed both onstage and off for Community Players Theatre, Heartland Theatre Company, and The Miller Park Summer Theatre Program. She has created curriculum and written and produced original works for multi-generational theatre for Bloomington Parks and Recreation, and now devotes her time and efforts to igniting the creative spark in others through community projects such as the McLean County Diversity Project and The Penguin Project.
Of her involvement with the Diversity Project, Tricia said, "Three years ago, it was a real honor to become involved with the McLean County Diversity Project and its Founder, Jeff Schwartz. I chose the word 'involved' because that, in a sense, is exactly what the project encourages--on so many varied and profound levels.
My involvement began as one of Jeff's wild ideas. He wanted to start a drama club. He thought it would be 'kinda neat.' After our initial meeting - and I still have no idea what movement of the universe caused our paths to cross as we had never met before--I knew that this opportunity was one I could not afford to ignore.
Jeff's directive was simple: "Every year we have a theme," he explained. "Through interactions and other activities, we experience the value of diversity. I want you to help develop a theatre component that goes along with that."
Oh, is that all? Piece of cake!
In all seriousness, I was intrigued and challenged.
Would I be able to provide these young scholars with an outlet to explore life situations, combat social injustice, foster their developing awareness of selves while nurturing newly acquired understandings of life's immeasurable diversity? Hmmmh.
I was sure willing to try.
In our pilot year as a theatre troupe, we tackled "The Laramie Project", the powerful drama which chronicled the reactions and emotions of the town of Laramie, Wyoming in the days following the senseless killing of Matthew Shepard, a young college student brutally murdered because he was gay. During our time together we talked and shared openly of our own experiences with hatred, bigotry, and abuse, from both sides of the equation.
Through the experience we learned a great deal about the complicated realities of being human, and how important it is to try a little harder to see, to hear, to feel and to understand one another.
Our second project was a drama called "David and Lisa," which explored the challenges of living with mental illness. We invested a great deal of time consulting with our friend Edwin, who is an individual successfully living with the challenges of schizophrenia. Together, we worked hard to combat our own fears and deepen our compassion.
How could we feel anything other than gratitude in having been given this opportunity to share this particular story, and in the hope it might generate an awareness and understanding of the plight of those whose lives are challenged in this way.
Along the way, I believe we, as a troupe--as a team--learned to value how fortunate we are.
Growing more confident with the mission of our program, the "Diversity of Religion" was chosen as our theme for year three.
The powerful and historical drama, "The Diary of Anne Frank" was selected for our dramatic efforts and it will be brought to life, this coming spring.
Auditions were completed this past week. The production will feature program veterans, talented newcomers and a little help from our theatrical community.
I am quite confident that these young actors will captivate their audiences as they bring to life the realities of Anne Frank, her sister Margot, her parents Edith and Otto, as well as a handful of other Jewish citizens forced into hiding in a tiny, cramped attic. Hiding in the hope of avoiding capture and extermination at the height of Hitler's hideous reign.
Throughout our audition sessions, it was clear that these students had done their homework and were eager to tell Anne's story. They completely understood the importance of remembering this horrific time, and are proud to offer this tribute to Anne's courage and grace, and that by so doing, they might in some way prevent similar atrocities perpetrated by hate.
I am so very proud of these students, and completely honored to be a part of this unique program.
I look forward to continuing our explorations of living, learning and growing together."