Empathy Theatre Project is a team of playwrights, producers, directors, and musicians that work together to develop new theatre that fosters empathy in our divided country.

My name is Cordelia Zars. I am a journalist, playwright, musician, and Founder of Empathy Theatre Project.

After the 2016 election in America, I realized that the division in our country indicated a loss of empathy for people with different lived experiences, regardless of political affiliation. We strengthen our identities by rejecting others, and while different opinions contribute to a healthy democracy, believing half the country is crazy does not. Social media, the news, geographical distance-- they all allow us to objectify and generalize entire populations. But listening to a fellow human tell you why they’re struggling? Objectification gets a lot harder.

That’s why theatre holds tremendous potential to foster unity in our country during a time of deep cultural division. So I write musicals about social and environmental problems that polarize our country--such as gender expectations, racial inequity, and land usage conflicts. With my shows, I hope to encourage compassion for those we may oppose, in order to facilitate lasting conversation and solutions.

Because the only way to achieve true democracy is together.

In 2019, my friend Max Middleton and I started an LLC called Arête Theatrics as a space to produce my first original show, Man Up: A Musical. Seeing the powerful effect Man Up had on audiences in Colorado and Wyoming, I founded Empathy Theatre Project in 2021 to expand my mission as an artist. ETP is a space where musicians, artists, and playwrights collaborate to create theatre that addresses the divisions we face in America, and builds empathy for a brighter, and kinder, future.