Alex in Windyland, a new devised theatre piece created by Columbia College Chicago Theatre alum Abby Thompson ’19, a graduate of the Theatre Program’s BA Program in Acting with a Minor in Voiceover, runs May 17 through 23, in honor of Foster Care Awareness Month, at the Filament Theatre, located at 4041 N. Milwaukee, Chicago. For tickets and more information, click here. All ticket proceeds will support Chicago’s LYDIA Home, a nonprofit serving youth in foster care.

Thompson created the new play with Filament with the support of the League of Chicago Theatres’ 2024 Samuel G. Roberson Jr. Resident Fellowship for Artivism, funded by McMullen & Kime Charitable Trust and administered by the League of Chicago Theatres. As reported last year by the Playbill theatre news site, Thompson shared the fellowship with Chicago’s Filament Theatre, with which she developed Alex in Windyland.

Named in memory of the late actor and director Sam Roberson (December 17, 1982-May 21, 2017), former artistic director of Chicago’s Congo Square Theatre Company, the 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 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.

“We are honored to administer this fellowship, a generous gift from McMullen & Kime Charitable Trust, to support the work of Black theatre artists in honor of Sam Roberson, a respected teacher, actor, director, artistic director, and champion of social justice theatre,” said League of Chicago Theatres executive director Marissa Lynn Jones in a statement. “Sam was one of the first people I worked with when starting my career, and I am honored to keep his legacy alive in this way. We’re excited to announce Abby Thompson as this year’s recipient and are excited to see the implementation of her artivism in this project. Through this partnership with Filament, we look forward to Alex in Windyland engaging Chicago’s youth and exposing them to important themes within the foster care system in Chicago.”

“It’s a rare opportunity for an independent artist to be given the financial support for the time to devise, play, and create alongside other artists of color in Chicago,” Thompson added. “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.”

Abby Thompson is an Emmy Award-winning voiceover artist, actor, educator, and arts advocate. In 2022, she received an Emmy Award for her narration of a program promotion campaign for a PBS documentary series about Muhammad Ali.

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.

Based on research and experience working alongside youth in Chicago’s foster care system, all of the content in Alex in Windyland is originally sourced from youth-curated ideas as well as dramaturgical and research interviews with community members including child psychologists, case workers, and mentors.