Sydney Chatman

Sydney Chatman (Chicago, IL) is a theater artist, abolitionist, and educator whose work centers the liberation of Black women’s narratives through performance. Rooted in Black feminist theory, oral history, and abolitionist practice, her creative process engages themes of identity, belonging, and overcoming grief as essential pathways to healing and justice.

With over two decades of experience, Chatman has worked across Chicago’s leading cultural institutions and on Broadway with the Tony-nominated play The Trip to Bountiful. She is the founder of Fly Black Girl Education & Theatre and The Tofu Chitlin’ Circuit, where she created and produced the award-winning production Black Girls (Can) Fly!, a multidisciplinary work uplifting intergenerational Black girlhood and freedom.

 

As a veteran theater educator at the University of Chicago Charter School, Chatman develops trauma-informed, justice-centered curricula that amplify the voices of Black girls and young women. Her work builds dynamic partnerships with organizations such as the Adler Planetarium, Hyde Park Jazz Festival, and Victory Gardens Theater, integrating performance, cultural memory, and community dialogue.

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In 2021, she received two major playwriting commissions from the Golden & Ruth Harris Commission and the Joyce Award, supporting new works that explore resistance, remembrance, and the power of untold stories. She currently serves on arts boards in Chicago and her hometown of Gary, Indiana, where she contributes to regional strategies in arts equity and cultural preservation.