Denise Jones was addicted to heroin by age 12, dropped out of school in fifth grade, and ran burglaries, check fraud and robberies alongside her mother on Chicago's West Side before landing behind bars. Now the Lansing resident is bringing that story to the stage, self-funding three performances of her play “Beyond the Door” at a Humboldt Park church this weekend, in a production she hopes reaches people still living the life she left behind.
Jones grew up in Chicago's North Lawndale and East Garfield Park neighborhoods and achieved sobriety in 1986, according to Austin Weekly News. Today she is a playwright, author, producer and owner of a commercial cleaning company, and she told the Chicago Tribune that she wrote her memoir to share her story and offer hope to others. “Beyond the Door” has since been embraced by recovery organizations and faith communities, per the same account.
Jones turned her memoir, the 2010 book "Who Said It Couldn't Be Done?: A Diamond from the Rough", into the stage production now playing at New Life Covenant Church, 3400 W. Division St. Performances run at 7 p.m. this Friday and both 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. this Saturday, with tickets priced at $35 and available at beyondthedoorplay.com, the Tribune reports. Jones is producing the show independently and covering all production expenses herself, and she said she wanted to take the story back to Chicago's West Side.
A Story Reworked With Chicago Theater Veterans
The current adaptation is directed and created by Julisa Marcel, whose version focuses on the story's generational aspect — the relationship between Jones and her mother. Marcel decided to direct the show herself while working on the adaptation and told the Tribune that the story is meaningful and powerful, adding that speaking about difficult experiences can help people experience freedom from challenging lives. Marcel believes the play should be produced and says it offers relatable material for people from nearly any walk of life.
Jones found writing the memoir difficult but also therapeutic, she told the Tribune. Reaching that point took reaching out for help after she decided to change her life, and she has said that taking ownership of her condition made it easier to change. Tony-nominated actress Felicia P. Fields, known for *The Color Purple*, joined the production as artistic consultant and music director, while nine-time Jeff Award winner E. Faye Butler directed a 2024 staging, according to Austin Weekly News and the Chicago Defender.
Earlier productions of “Beyond the Door” sold out at the DuSable Black History Museum in 2019 and at the Beverly Arts Center in 2024, and the play won Best Play along with two other honors at the BroadwayWorld Chicago Awards, the Tribune notes. Jones has said those awards convinced her the play's message was reaching its intended audience. Feedback from Steppenwolf Theatre and Goodman Theatre following those earlier runs helped shape the 2026 script, per Austin Weekly News.
Why the Title, and What's Behind the Door
Jones and Marcel derived the title from the idea that her childhood trauma was kept hidden behind closed doors, where no one talked about what was happening inside — and the production uses the story to bring those experiences into open view, Austin Weekly News reports. Jones experienced addiction, incarceration and trauma across her early life, and she now mentors others through nonprofit organizations.
Among those ties, Jones serves as an advocate for Tender Touch Inc., a nonprofit that helps women transition to drug-free lives after leaving correctional facilities, and she founded her own commercial janitorial firm, Diamond 7 Enterprises, specifically to provide jobs and business training for formerly incarcerated women and young adults, according to Northwest Indiana Business Magazine. The outlet also reported that Jones previously appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show alongside Washington Post journalist Patrice Gaines to discuss overcoming addiction and incarceration, and that she is writing a second book, *The Prison In Me, Break Free*, about overcoming internal emotional barriers.
A West Side Backdrop of Ongoing Crisis
The Humboldt Park venue sits in a part of the city still grappling with the opioid crisis that shaped Jones' own youth. A July health alert from the Chicago Department of Public Health reported a 24-hour spike of 37 emergency medical responses for opioid overdoses citywide, with the heaviest concentration in West Side neighborhoods including Austin, Humboldt Park and West Garfield Park — well above the daily average of 19 such responses recorded in 2025.
Still, the city's public health department reported in April that citywide opioid-related fatalities fell 38% between 2023 and 2024, prompting officials to launch targeted summer opioid response initiatives across five West Side community areas, including Austin and Lawndale. Against that backdrop, Jones' self-funded production is staking its run on a single weekend of shows, with no word yet on whether the play will extend into a longer regional tour beyond this Humboldt Park engagement.
