That’s a wrap on the Chicago premiere of Condemned to a Life!

The show opened to a nearly sold-out audience at the de Maat Studio Theatre at Piper’s Alley on Thursday, August 13. We continued to draw strong audiences throughout the three-performance run, with our final performance attracting our largest audience yet.

From our first table read in downtown Chicago to weeks of rehearsals in my basement—where I recreated the exact dimensions of the stage—to the bright lights of opening night, our entire team put an enormous amount of work into bringing this show to life.

And we could not have done it without our donors.

Your contributions helped pay for four custom-built puppets designed and built by the extraordinarily talented Noah Ginex, as well as an entire cardboard world created by the ingenious Kyle Anne Grendys. Kyle even built a telephone with a working rotary dial and a television with a channel knob I could actually turn. And her work didn’t stop there: She also helped us map out our rapid scene changes and maneuver set pieces through a very tight backstage space.

Director Vishaal Desai developed a wonderful vision for the production and guided me through the process of transforming this deeply personal story into a theatrical experience. And his support helped give me the courage to tell this story. Thanks to your contributions, I was able to compensate these artists and our other collaborators fairly for their extraordinary work.

Audience members complimented the show’s humor, acrting, and emotional depth. People left the theater laughing and crying, and many expressed deep gratitude for the story we brought to the stage.

The Chicago premiere has also begun opening other doors as I develop this show further and prepare to bring it to New York in October. I have been interviewed by journalists from the Brain Injury Institute at Mount Sinai and MindSite News. I am also exploring future collaborations with trauma-informed psychologist Dr. Sheela Raja, who contributed the mental health resources included in our beautiful playbill, created by the talented photographer Allie Weber.

I am deeply grateful to everyone who helped bring Condemned to a Life to the stage, and to every donor who believed this story deserved to be told.

But this is not the end. On October 21, Condemned to a Life will make its New York premiere at Theatre Row as part of the United Solo Festival. There is still much more work to be done, and a much bigger life ahead for this show. With gratitude, Amy

We are in the final two days of fundraising for Condemned to a Life, which opens in Chicago on August 13.

The puppets are built, rehearsals are underway, and thanks to an extraordinary group of supporters, we have raised more than $6,000 toward our $8,000 goal. We are now about $1,970 away from fully funding the campaign.

These contributions help pay the artists whose work is bringing the production to life, including puppet construction, directing, design, stage management, and rehearsal labor.

If you have been thinking about supporting the show, this is the moment. Donations through Fractured Atlas are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. Sharing the campaign also makes a real difference.

Thank you to everyone who has helped get us this far.

With 18 days until my solo show, Condemned to a Life, opens at the de Maat Studio Theatre in Chicago, I am feeling incredibly grateful for the support of friends and family.

A huge thank-you to Jennifer Rankin, Alice Boatwright, Chelsea Briggs, Allison Richmond, Grace Bieneman, Jessica Hempstead, and Elizabeth Lewis for supporting the show.

I did not expect to be where I am today, and I could not have gotten here without the love and encouragement of people like you. I am also grateful to be working with such an extraordinary group of artists and collaborators behind this production. I believe strongly in compensating artists fairly for their time, talent, and energy, and every contribution helps me make that possible.

Thank you for helping bring this strange, ambitious, deeply personal show to the stage.