devising artist & educator
Lizzy believes in magic, teenagers, poetry, and courage. She loves teaching and making in all its forms. Her work as an educator deeply informs her theater-making practice and vice versa.
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Lizzy May (she/they) is a Chicago-based artist and educator creating plays, prose, and pedagogy rooted in queer liberation, embodied ritual, and unhinged imagination. Lizzy is a devising playwright and director. Her plays and scenes have received development in collaboration with Theater Y, LocalLab, 3 Girls Theater, Mira Theater Guild, Oakland Theater Project, Dear Stone, and Backyard Chicago Ensemble Their plays and direction have been staged in Chicago (Backyard Chicago Ensemble, Ghostlight Ensemble), New York (Woolgatherers, Midtown International Theater Festival), and San Francisco (3 Girls Theater, Mira Theater Guild). She writes essays on a weekly substack, Take, Eat. Lizzy co-created a short film based on her original play Honey Child that was included in the Long Beach Tiny Film Festival. Lizzy’s writing has appeared in Des Pair Books, pan pan press, Write that Down, Living Room Zine, Stop/Gap Projects, and The Honeypot, among others. Lizzy's trauma-informed, anti-racist curriculum has impacted thousands of children in Chicago Public Schools, and they continue to foster artistic spaces that center curiosity and healing.​
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Lizzy is an innovative and experienced educator with a Master of Teaching in Special Education and a Master of Education in Educational Leadership from UC Berkeley. She is an expert in healing-centered education and works as Director of Curriculum and Learning for Once Upon Our Time Capsule, a city-wide social emotional learning and arts-integrated project guiding thousands of youth yearly through reflecting on their journeys and imagining a more beautiful and radical future. Lizzy has worked with schools, arts organizations, therapeutic settings, hospitals, and camps to implement trauma-informed pedagogy and curriculum. She facilitates anti-racism for teaching artists trainings with Kevin Aoussou at organizations including Chicago Children's Theatre. She coaches teachers grades preK-8 on anti-racism in the classroom, trauma-responsive pedagogy, accessibility for all learners, culturally relevant instruction and project-based learning.
Lizzy uses evidence-based practices to increase presence and engagement through innovative curricula, assessments, and coaching. Lizzy has twice been an invited presenter at Ingenuity's annual arts education conference and spoke at the Trauma-Informed Arts Education for a Trauma-Informed Illinois conference in 2021. She has partnered with the Lurie Center for Childhood Resilience to learn about the neurological effects of trauma on the childhood brain and pedagogical techniques to mitigate its impact and increase resilience.​​