WHAT WE DO
Catharsis Productions aims to confront and educate audiences on challenging social issues in innovative and unexpected ways. Our educational programs engage students in tough conversations about the topics of sexual assault, sexual harassment, and oppression. Our presenters encourage genuine dialogue, using humor, audience interaction, and dynamic theatrical media to overcome the traditional defensiveness and preconceptions about these issues. Our goal is to challenge mainstream beliefs and myths, enabling individuals to challenge their positions of power and privilege, question the cultural values they take for granted, and to hold themselves accountable for their actions. It is our hope that views and behaviors can be changed once audiences become attuned to their moral responsibilities within intimate relationships, and that the seeds of long-term change may be planted as a result of our efforts.
HOW WE DO IT
Christian Murphy and Gail Stern founded Catharsis Productions in 2000. Their first program, SEX SIGNALS, is an innovative response to one of our society’s most challenging dilemmas: non-stranger rape. Combining their experience in theatre, advocacy, comedy, and education, SEX SIGNALS incorporates humor and audience participation to foster greater understanding about the nature and impact of interpersonal violence. It has become one of the most popular programs on sexual assault awareness among college audiences and educators, and since fall of 2000, has been performed over 1000 times at over 400 schools throughout the country.
Other Catharsis programs include supplemental workshops and discussions that are designed to build on the impact of SEX SIGNALS, and inspire further discussion and activism on the issues surrounding violence against women. In addition, Gail Stern’s solo presentation, RANT!, focuses on the relationship between language, hate crime, and sexual assault, while incorporating stand-up comedy and audience participation.
Catharsis Productions also offers consultation for schools and organizations looking for their own ways to make a greater impact within their populations. All of the programs offered by Catharsis Productions seek to engage, educate, and motivate audiences to become better human beings.
WHO WE ARE
Christian Murphy and Gail Stern, the owners of Catharsis Productions and creators of SEX SIGNALS, met at a one-act comedy play competition where they both won top awards for writing and performing their one-person shows. Gail serves as the Education Director for Catharsis Productions. She served as the director of the Campus Advocacy Network at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) from 1991-1998, providing crisis counseling and court advocacy to victims of rape and domestic violence. In addition, she has toured the country educating college students and law enforcement officers about gender-based violence and hate crime. In 1999, she appeared on "Politically Incorrect" with Bill Maher, and completed a master’s degree in Education at UIC, focusing on the relationship between humor and learning. She then served as the National Law Enforcement Training Coordinator of the Anti-Defamation League, a ninety year-old civil rights organization, and is currently pursuing her PhD in Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Christian serves as the Artistic Director for Catharsis Productions. He has been a performer, writer, director, educator, and presenter for over ten years. He co-founded and served as Artistic Director for Voices in Harmony, a non-profit theater arts program that paired inner-city teenagers with professional actors to write and perform pieces exploring diversity. Christian is also a certified rape victim advocate with Rape Victim Advocates (RVA), a Chicago-based advocacy organization. In addition to co-creating Sex Signals, he has been the program’s main male presenter since its inception and has presented it over 400 times. In the fall of 2006, we will move into the roles of full-time director and producer.
All of the presenters associated with Catharsis Productions possess a wealth of improvisation, presentation, and facilitation training and experience. In addition, all are either certified rape victim advocates or own significant experience in sexual assault prevention education. Presenters receive over one-hundred hours of training through Catharsis Productions before ever presenting at a college or university.