Everyone, please welcome Eileen Tull to Let’s Talk About Bodies! I got connected with Eileen through Instagram, and as soon as I saw her page and learned of her work, I knew I had to ask her to come on the show to talk bodies. Eileen’s work in the Chicago Theatre scene and with Fat Theatre Project is incredibly crucial. And her leadership in this space and her fight to change the way the fat experience is represented in stories is admirable. Inclusion of varying body types in art is what makes it beautiful, and telling stories of the joy of existing in a fat body is so, so needed. If you’d like to bring Eileen and Fat Theatre Project to your space, please reach out to her! If you’d like to donate to her 501(c)(3), please reach out to her! Eileen is doing incredible work, and I’m so honored to have been able to talk with her about her body story. Enjoy this one - I cannot wait for you to hear it! Trigger Warning: in our conversation, we discuss addiction, self-harm, and themes relating to food intake, exercise, and body image. Please take care of yourselves as you listen and avoid if these topics might be triggering for you. Eileen Tull (she/her) is a Chicago-based storyteller, theatremaker, poet, educator, and one-woman-show person. She has performed throughout the country, from San Francisco to New York City, including in the New Seeds Festival, United Solo, Dallas Solo Festival, Inverse Performance Art Festival, The Marsh, and Fringe Festivals in Chicago, Cincinnati, Minnesota, Elgin, and San Francisco. Her work has been seen all over Chicago in bookstores, art galleries, bars, old mansions, other non-traditional spaces, and sometimes even in theaters. Directing credits include Household Spirits (Theater Wit), STEPS (Improv Playhouse), No Exit, Happy Days, The Alice Gerstenberg Play Festival, and SpongeBob Squarepants: The Musical (Chicago Park District), Funny, Like An Abortion (Fat Theatre Project/Chicago Danztheatre), The Ostrich (The Terror Cottas), The Mark (Assistant Director - Babes With Blades), and Kassandra at the Top of the World (Fat Theatre Project/The Terror Cottas), which she also wrote. She is a drama instructor with the Chicago Park District, where she has taught creative classes to folks of all ages for over 10 years. Eileen has produced the Gloria Bond Clunie Playwrights Festival at Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre since 2024. Eileen is the founding artistic director of Fat Theatre Project, a collective that tells stories by/about/for/with fat people. She graduated from Loyola University of Chicago with a bachelor’s degree in theatre and from Randolph College with an MFA in Directing and Playwriting. Follow Eileen on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eileen.tull/ Follow Fat Theatre Project on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fattheatreproject/ Check out Eileen’s Website/Work: www.eileentull.com Learn more about/get in touch with Eileen’s nonprofit, Fat Theatre Project: www.fattheatreproject.com (While I’m not a licensed therapist, registered dietician, or medical health professional and cannot speak to body image topics from a clinical, trauma-informed place, I am an expert of lived experience. I’m an academic of my own body, and I’m passionate about facilitating conversations with other humans about their relationships with their bodies. I believe it’s important to continue conversations about healthy body image in creative spaces as a means to heal individuals as well as the collective whole. But just know the information presented in this medium is not professional mental health advice or medical advice, and any questions or concerns you have should always be directed to your health providers.) Get full access to Let's Talk About Bodies! at www.letstalkaboutbodies.com/subscribe