Teya Sepinuck is the founder and director of Theatre of Witness, a model of performance that gives voice to those who have been marginalized, forgotten or are invisible in society. For the past 25 years, she has been creating and producing Theater of Witness projects with prisoners and their families, survivors and perpetrators of abuse, refugees, immigrants, elders and those who have lived through war. Her work has taken her to Poland and Northern Ireland where she just completed a two year residency at The Playhouse in Derry /Londonderry creating original works with ex-combatants, members of the security forces, survivors, witnesses and those living with the intergenerational legacy of the Troubles.
Teya, who has a Masters Degree in Community Counseling was an adjunct faculty in dance at Swarthmore College from 1974 to 1991. She is the recipient of Philadelphia Human Rights Award for Arts and Culture from the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations, a Local Hero Award from Bank of America, as well as Cultural Arts Award from Womens Way and the Mayors Commission on Women. She has a long time meditation practice which informs all of her work and life.
Beyond the Walls - the Road to Redemption (2006)
There are a thousand miles on the Road to Redemption. You never have to walk alone.
This film by Rachel Libert is based on the original TOVA production portraying the true stories of families affected by violence. Created with and performed by former offenders and family members who have lost loved ones to murder or prison, the video examines the affects of violence on the entire community and speaks to the power for forgiveness and healing. Rachel Libert's documentary expands the live theater production with additional portraits of the performers, both in their every day lives and in reflection about their own healing. The streets, neighborhoods, courts and prisons of Philadelphia provide a rich backdrop for the film.
Living with Life (2003)
One ordinary moment in time, and everything has changed.
Living with Life is a unique and emotionally powerful video based on an original, live theater piece featuring eight men serving life sentences at the State Correctional Institution in Chester, PA. This video illuminates their true stories about their lives before incarceration and during their more than 177 cumulative years behind bars. The video documents the performance in spoken word and song, enhanced by interviews with the men and with their families. The video speaks to issues of remorse, forgiveness, patience, strength and spirit.
Artistic Director: Teya Sepinuck. Music: Greg Scott & the Performers.
Shadows - Children, Families and the Legacy of Incarceration (2008)
You're a deadbeat dad. Missing in action. Erased from my heart.
Shadows was created with fathers, sons and husbands incarcerated at the State Correctional Institution at Graterford PA., and mothers, wives and children who have struggled to maintain family and community in the absence of their loved ones. The original Theater of Witness production was performed by recently released prisoners and family members who play the parts of the still incarcerated men, and women and children who portray their own life stories.
Based on an original Theater of Witness production conceived, directed and written by Teya Sepinuck. Music by Dan Kleiman.
Raising Our Voice - emerging from the shadows of domestic abuse (2004)
I sweat strength. Even my tears are strong.
Based on an original, live Theater of Witness production, this video breaks the silence that often shrouds domestic abuse. It does so by weaving the stories of eight performers, who come from different countries, cultures and backgrounds but share the common experience of having been victims, perpetrators or witnesses of domestic abuse, into a collective cry for understanding, action and healing.The film serves as a powerful catalyst for dialogue about abuse, violence, trauma, survival, resiliency, recovery, and individual/collective responsibility.The production was designed to educate communities about domestic violence and underscore the reality that there is hope for healing and transformation.
Artistic Direction: Teya Sepinuck. Music: Niyonu Spann, Greg Scott and Marcella Woodridge.
Some Life on These Bones (1999)
If I can help one woman know she is not alone, then this path would have been worth the pain.
"Some Life on These Bones" is a celebration of strength and sisterhood of eight women who transformed their lives after struggling with homelessness, addiction, domestic violence, sexual abuse, disability, and/or poverty. This video, which weaves live performance excerpts from the original theater production with interviews and backstage clips, tells the story of these women's individual and collective journeys of recovery and transformation.
Artistic Director: Teya Sepinuck, Music: Greg Scott
It's a Female Thing! (1997)
I love being female.
It's A Female Thing! is a 27 minute video documentary about the 21 girls and women ages 8 - 91 who gathered together to create, perform and tour the Growing Up Female Theater of Witness production about their personal and collective life stories. Speaking to issues important to women's lives, the theater piece created a unique environment for intergenerational and cross-cultural sharing. The video follows the cast during rehearsals, performances, workshops, and through some major life changes.
Theater of Witness production by Teya Sepinuck, Music by Kitty Brazelton, Film by Laurie White
Six Points of the Star (2000)
April 26th. I am 14. Chernobyl. We can't touch the dust, breathe the air, eat the food or drink the water. It all looks perfect, but there is poison all around. I escape to Moscow where I hear Shostokovitch's song cycle based on Yiddish folksongs. I want to study everything Jewish, but the libraries are like skeletons. I am being called back to something I have never heard before.
This piece with Jewish Russian refugees and immigrants explores what life was like for Jews in the USSR both under and after Stalin and how they have reclaimed their Jewishness in the USA. Artistic Direction and Script: Teya Sepinuck. Music: Cantor Natasha Jitormiskaia Hirschorn.
Man to Man (1999)
An intergenerational, racially diverse group of boys and men explored issues of gender and manhood in this 1998 Theater of Witness production created by Teya Sepinuck with music by Greg Scott. The film is by Gary Gray.
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