#wegotgoals

On this episode of #WeGotGoals, we heard from Steve Umberger, professional theater director and creative director at Playworks Group. After founding and leading the first and only professional theater company in Charlotte, North Carolina for 25 years, Umberger shifted gears to make what he loved about theater - its ability to connect people on the most human level - the doorway into important conversations our culture tends to shy away from. Beginning in 2018, he launched two projects that allowed two groups of people - one of a homeless population and one of an aging population inside a nursing home - to share their stories in ways they never told (or would dream of telling) before. Ultimately, the formation of these scripts culminated in two live productions performed for sold-out audiences, plus documentaries filmed throughout the process. On the podcast, we talk about the impact live theater had on how the audience viewed and interacted with these stories. "Just like the power to gather in any community—i