Join us each Saturday during the run of Black Cypress Bayou for a Pop-Up Vendor Fair spotlighting recent participants of the Definition Innovator Small Business Incubator Program. Browse a curated marketplace of bold new products and services from rising South and West Side business owners. Open to the public and all patrons attending Black Cypress Bayou—come early, shop local, and support the innovators redefining our local neighborhoods.
Photo by Joe Mazza, Brave Lux
Saturday, February 28
Kristi Dawson
Havana Harvest Coffee Toastery
Havana Harvest Coffee Roastery is a small batch craft roaster known for its rich, smooth, and carefully developed coffee profiles. The roastery focuses on ethically sourced beans, slow roasting, and bold, aromatic blends that highlight the best of global coffee traditions.
Sunday, March 1
Keyana Curry
Two Shea Body
Two Shea Body offers high-quality, homemade shea butter line featuring nourishing body butters and body oils in a variety of delicate, essential oil–infused scents that are healthy for your skin. Shea butter has been used for centuries to deeply moisturize, reduce the appearance of stretch marks and scars, and help soothe skin conditions such as psoriasis, dermatitis, and eczema. We also offer interactive wellness classes to create your own customized body butter tailored to your unique skincare needs—all made daily with tender love and care.
Alicia Brown
The Wick and Wine Experience
The candle shop at The Wick and Wine Experience features a curated collection of premium, small-batch candles in a variety of thoughtfully crafted scents, perfect for gifting or adding a cozy ambiance to your home. It’s part of a Black woman-owned brand that blends quality products with a focus on intentional living and connection.
Saturday, March 7
Nikhaule Martin
Pour Into It Media
Pour Into It Media is a community-centered media and storytelling platform committed to learning, unlearning, and cultural reflection. At this pop-up, we’re offering a Build-Your-Own Book Box experience featuring curated books, tote bags, body care, wax melts, and stationery. Each box is designed to encourage rest, reflection, and intentional engagement with diverse voices.
LaSonda Carrizales
My Crown My Glory
Not all beauty products are created equal. My Crown My Glory is a wellness-driven beauty brand crafting avocado-based, 100% nut-free hair and skincare products, It’s Not Shea. It’s Avocado. Born from a personal healing journey, the brand blends care and intention to create gentle, effective rituals rooted in empowerment, inclusivity, and self-expression, inviting everyone to honor their crown and their care.
Sunday, March 8
Mia Gamble
Susie Q Scrubs LLC
Susie Q Scrubs is a small, woman owned-business that specializes in small batch production of handcrafted bath and body care products that are made with natural ingredients. Our product line includes body scrubs, lotion bars, body butter, shower steamers, bath bomb/fizzy and lip balms—each designed to promote wellness, self-care, and skin nourishment.
Indigo Barkley
Black Love Baby
Black Love Baby is a curated baby gifting brand rooted in love, family, and culture, created to celebrate Black stories and ensure representation starts early. We offer thoughtfully designed Culture Boxes and individual baby items sourced from Black-owned brands, each chosen with intention to affirm identity, joy, and belonging. Every Black Love Baby gift is a meaningful way to nurture our children and the community that supports them.
About the Definition Innovator
In partnership with Promise Holdings and 37 Oaks, The Definition Innovator, their entrepreneurial incubator, empowers Black and Brown entrepreneurs on Chicago’s South and West Sides by providing space, resources, educational commerce courses, one-on-one coaching, and access to capital.
This complimentary, three-month program supports small, product-based business owners in refining their craft while engaging in comprehensive coursework. Participants gain valuable insights into product development, market positioning for profitable operations, and strategies for building sustainable and scalable community-focused businesses.
By collaborating with small businesses, entrepreneurs, economic development organizations, and municipalities across the country, Definition Theatre recognizes the wealth of untapped talent and the critical resource gaps within its own neighborhoods. The Definition Innovator is their commitment to bridging these gaps and fostering local economic empowerment.
ONSTAGE FEB 13 - MAR 15
Black Cypress Bayou
by Kristen Adele Calhoun
directed by Ericka Ratcliff
On a sweltering Texas night in the middle of a pandemic, Vernita Manifold calls her daughters home to the bayou—and to a secret that's about to explode. The richest man in East Texas has turned up dead on their property, and the Manifold women know better than to call the police. As LadyBird and RaeMeka clash over what to do, the mysterious Taysha arrives, and buried truths begin to rise from the swamp.
What starts as wickedly funny family chaos transforms into a powerful reckoning with history itself. Step into this razor-sharp Chicago premiere where loyalty is tested, souls refuse to stay silent, and reparations come knocking from beyond the grave.