UNRECONCILED: Giving Tuesday 2025

The Unreconciled Project is a nonprofit organization that empowers survivors of childhood sexual abuse to reclaim their voices through the art of storytelling. In conjunction with the acclaimed solo-play UNRECONCILED, the Project facilitates storytelling workshops, peer support groups, and public forums with leading experts on the issues of childhood sexual abuse.

Written by Jay Sefton and Mark Basquill, and performed by Jay Sefton, UNRECONCILED takes audiences on a magic carpet ride through parental love and bewilderment during difficult times in a moving portrait of working-class life in a whiskey-drenched, sports-crazed, Irish Catholic suburb of Philadelphia in the 1980s. The story chronicles a survivor’s journey as he confronts his past, navigates a victims’ reparations program set up by the Catholic Church, and discovers the courage to use his voice.

Your support will help bring UNRECONCILED and the Project’s surrounding programs to new cities in 2026, deepening our partnerships with survivor organizations, igniting meaningful conversations that broaden the awareness of the effects of childhood sexual abuse on individuals and communities, and empowering survivors to share their stories.

Fresh off a tour in Ireland, UNRECONCILED is the winner of the Berkshire Theatre Critics Association Awards for Outstanding Solo Performance and Outstanding World Premiere, theatre critics are calling UNRECONCILED: “Theater at its finest,” “Simply artistry, extraordinary artistry,” and “Masterful. Lighting in a bottle on stage . . . a thunderously impactful one-man show.”

Photo One (from left): Jay Sefton (Performer and Playwright), Marty Baron (Journalist, former editor of The Washington Post), and Dave Madsen (Journalist) in conversation at the Majestic Theater in West Springfield, MA.

Photo Two: Marci Hamilton (CEO, CHILD USA), Mark Crawford (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests), Jay Sefton, and Mark Basquill (Playwright) in conversation at the University of Pennsylvania.

Photo Three: Patrick Jordan (Artistic Director of Barebones), Shawn Dougherty (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests), and Jay Sefton in conversation at Barebones Theatre in Braddock, PA.

Photo Four: Jay Sefton, Chris Moore (Author, Journalist, Advocate), and Melenie Freedom Flynn (Author and Production Stage Manager) in a post-show conversation at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast, Northern Ireland.