I consider my work to be taking my very specific, sometimes mundane, personal experiences and shining a light on them so as to make them universal and meaningful to other people in an entertaining and surprising way. In my shows, I am not interested in just putting my personal worldview out there, but in questioning it publicly so that others might do the same. I’m interested in looking
at big issues through a small lens. I appreciate, and am sobered by, the tremendous responsibility of the solo form – to be relevant, to not be indulgent, to actually have something to say.
Though I’m creating solo work, collaboration is a very important part of my process. I’m very lucky to have peers in the storytelling and theatre community that I can count on for honest, insightful feedback, and I rely on them enormously.
Julie Ganey is a Chicago actor, writer, and teacher, and she was last seen at 16th Street in Dental Society Midwinter Meeting. She has also performed with Victory Gardens, Northlight, Goodman, Chicago Dramatists, Noble Fool, Shattered Globe and Drury Lane, among others. She is a member of 2nd Story, where she regularly performs her original work all over Chicago, and has been featured on NPR’s WBEZ. Her solo shows The Half-Life of Magic and Love Thy Neighbor…till it hurts have been produced by Fillet of Solo at Lifeline Theatre, and Next Theatre.
Through Wavelength, an award winning comedy ensemble that performs for educators, she has created and led workshops for teachers and executives all over the country on communication skills and improvisation. In addition, Julie has designed lots of programs for kids, on everything from violence prevention to etiquette. Her bullying prevention program, Stand Up on the Schoolyard, has been presented to students and educators within the Chicago Public School system and across the country. Through American Girl Place, she created the Oops! Manners Program, based on the book by the same name. Julie is also a teaching artist for Lifeline Theatre and Raven Theatre on Chicago’s north side. |
