Sydney Chatman
Sydney Chatman (Chicago, IL) uses theater as her medium to conjure hope, justice, freedom, and joy.
Led by ancestral guidance and intergenerational wisdom, she directs, educates, produces, and writes work that heals her community.
Ms. Chatman is a Golden & Ruth Harris Commission Award, Joyce Foundation Award, African-American Arts Alliance Award, and 3Arts Make a Wave winner.
Her theater credits include New York fellowships with SDC (The Trip to Bountiful on Broadway starring Cicely Tyson) and Lincoln Center's Director’s Lab and the Goodman Theatre Maggio Directing Fellowship.
Chicago theater credits: Goodman Theatre, TimeLine Theatre Company, Court Theatre, Congo Square Theatre Company, and eta Creative Arts; Louisville: StageOne Family Theatre; Indiana: Indiana University Northwest. She’s created theatrical performances and collaborations with the MCA of Chicago, Adler Planetarium, Hyde Park Jazz Festival/Back Alley Jazz, the Reva and David Logan Center, Court Theatre, and Victory Gardens Theater.
In 2008 she founded The Tofu Chitlin’ Circuit and created innovative programming called the A La Carte and the Tuxedo Junction. She is a featured artist in Black Theater is Black Life: An Oral History of Black Theater in Chicago, 1997-2010.
Sydney is a proud 23-year veteran theater teacher at the U of C Charter School/NKO campus, where she writes and directs countless plays rooted in social justice and empowerment for the youth. Her arts integration has made her a mainstay in the arts education community and a unique voice in creating stories for Black children. She is a champion for new work that seeks to support, challenge, empower, and build brave spaces for all, but in particular, Black women and children.
Featured Artworks
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Call Us By Our Name
2015, Video credit Delisher Bankole
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Black Boy
2015, Video credit Brill Barrett with M.A.D.D. Rhythms
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The Birmingham Children's Crusade of 1963
2018, Video credit Sydney Chatman
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Black Girls (Can) Fly!
2017, Video credit Simanticos Dance Company