UNRECONCILED to Return to Western Massachusetts for One-Night Engagement
Jay Sefton performs at Northampton's Academy of Music, with a post-show talk featuring Bessel van der Kolk.
The Unreconciled Project has announced a special one-night-only performance of UNRECONCILED, the acclaimed autobiographical solo play written by Jay Sefton and Mark Basquill and performed by Jay Sefton on Saturday, July 25, 2026 at 7:00 PM at the Academy of Music, 274 Main Street, Northampton, Massachusetts. The performance will be followed by a post-show conversation with celebrated trauma expert and bestselling author Bessel van der Kolk (The Body Keeps the Score) and musician and healing arts advocate Licia Sky. The Academy of Music engagement serves as UNRECONCILED's Western Massachusetts homecoming ahead of its New York City premiere at La MaMa ETC in Spring 2027.
Galvanizing audiences nationally and internationally, UNRECONCILED is a solo tour de force of daring to stand up to an institution that wants nothing more than silence.
At thirteen, Jay Sefton dreamed of being an actor and was cast as Jesus in a school play directed by the parish priest, who was later defrocked and named in a grand jury report for the sexual abuse of minors. Incorporating actual VHS footage from the 1985 Passion Play, UNRECONCILED unfolds with unflinching honesty and surprising humor.
Sefton takes audiences on a magic carpet ride through love, bewilderment, and the long arc toward accountability, set against the backdrop of a whiskey-drenched, sports-crazed suburb of Philadelphia, where daily life was punctuated by church bells. The play exposes not just one predator but the wider institutional system that enabled him, and continues to deny justice to survivors.
UNRECONCILED arrives at a moment of urgent public relevance. As Massachusetts lawmakers, advocates, and survivors press for reform of statute of limitations laws for childhood sexual abuse — and as questions remain about the release of a statewide grand jury report — Sefton's work offers audiences a rare combination: a deeply personal reckoning and a call to collective action.
MassLive called UNRECONCILED's debut at Chester Theatre Company "the play to gain Chester Theatre and Sefton well-deserved national attention, whether it goes to Broadway, other regional theaters or to film. It's just that good." The production went on to win the Berkshire Theatre Critics Association Awards for Outstanding Solo Performance and Outstanding World Premiere of a New Play. The play has since toured nationally and internationally, including performances at the Cincinnati Fringe Festival and Dublin's Pavilion Theatre. A documentary about UNRECONCILED's journey is currently in production. Anthony Edwards (Top Gun, ER) will Executive Produce.
UNRECONCILED sparks powerful conversations among audiences, survivors, and advocates. In conjunction with the July 25 performance at the Academy of Music and post-show discussion with Bessel van der Kolk and Licia Sky, The Unreconciled Project will offer a creative writing workshop and peer support group for survivors and their loved ones on July 26.
Following the performance, Sefton will be joined in conversation by Bessel van der Kolk, MD, psychiatrist, researcher, and author of the landmark work The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, and by Licia Sky, singer, songwriter, somatic healer, and co-founder of the Trauma Research Foundation. Van der Kolk has long championed the healing power of theater and the arts for trauma survivors, and his presence at the Academy of Music underscores the significance of Unreconciled as both artistic achievement and public health intervention. Mark Basquill, co-writer of UNRECONCILED, will also join the discussion. The conversation will be moderated by Melenie Freedom Flynn, author and Managing Director of the Unreconciled Project.
On Sunday, July 26, The Unreconciled Project will host a creative writing workshop and a peer support group for survivors of childhood sexual abuse and their loved ones. The Unreconciled Project works to empower survivors to reclaim their voices through the art of storytelling, facilitating workshops, peer support groups, and public forums with leading experts on the effects of childhood sexual abuse.
In conjunction with UNRECONCILED, the Unreconciled Project will host a writing workshop The Embodied Story, on Sunday, July 26, 1–4 pm, at Northampton Center for the Arts. This workshop is for anyone with a story to tell who wants to find new ways to get started. During the three-hour session, participants will write new material, explore sensory elements in stories, experiment with ways to deepen narrative, and connect with a creative community. The cost of the workshop is $75. Financial aid is available for those who need it. The workshop is facilitated by Jay Sefton (playwright and performer of UNRECONCILED, and licensed mental health counselor) and Melenie Freedom Flynn (author and trauma-informed coach). More information and registration on unreconciledtheplay.com.
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