Walk in My Shoes: A Theater of Witness Film

Produced by Police Inspector Altovise Love-Craighead and created and directed by Artistic Director Teya Sepinuck, the film of the Theater of Witness performance of Walk in My Shoes explores societal wounds and shares the true life stories of four police officers and three community members of color.

Theater of Witness brings people together across divides of difference to bear witness to the beauty of meaningful engagement, cultivate empathy, and truly listen to the stories of people we’ve never heard before. Without shying away from the painful wounds of our society, Theater of Witness offers a new story — one that taps into the spirit of love and connection between us all.

Leader(s)

Teya Sepinuck is the founder and director of Theatre of Witness, a model of performance that gives voice to those whose stories haven’t been heard. For the past 32 years, she has been creating and producing Theatre of Witness projects with refugees, immigrants, prisoners and their families, survivors and perpetrators of abuse, elders and those who have lived through war. In 1991, she founded TOVA – Artistic Projects for Social Change through which she created more than 40 original works. Theatre of Witness has since taken her to Poland and Northern Ireland where she spent five years as the artistic director of The Playhouse Theatre of Witness Programme. While there, Teya created a trilogy of original works with ex-combatants, members of the security forces, survivors, witnesses and those living with the intergenerational legacy of the Troubles. This past year, Teya, in partnership with Philadelphia Police Inspector Altovise Love-Craighead, created and produced Walk in My Shoes theatre production and film with police and community members. In July 2017, Teya as director of Theatre of Witness was awarded an Arts and Heritage grant from the Pew Foundation for ‘HeART Stories – Building Empathy through the Arts’ with Jefferson University and ARTZ Philadelphia . Her project with them – “Tangles in Time” with people living with dementia, care partners, and health care professional students, will premiere at the Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral in September 2019.

Teya has a master’s degree in Community Counselling from Villanova University. She was an adjunct faculty in dance at Swarthmore College from 1974–1991 and 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 Women’s Way and the Mayor’s Commission on Women. She was named Chair of Theatrical Innovation by Holywell Trust in Northern Ireland. She has a long-time meditation practice which informs all of her work and life. Her book, Theatre of Witness – Finding the Medicine in Stories of Suffering, Transformation and Peace was published in 2013 by Jessica Kingsley Press.

Altovise Love-Craighead has led a distinguished career with the Philadelphia Police Department, where she currently serves in the Community Relations Division. Shortly after starting her career, she endured a life-altering incident: her only brother, Emir, was murdered. Seeking a way to help others who had lost loved ones to murder, Altovise, along with her mother, Victoria Greene, founded EMIR (Every Murder Is Real) Healing Center. Among her other achievements, Altovise created a curriculum titled, “Trauma-Informed Policing” where officers are taught to identify the signs of trauma and how trauma affects their duties.

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