THEATER IN ASYLUM
September 25, 2020

We're 10 years old!

Dear Friends,

We are thrilled and honored to reach this milestone, and grateful for the conversations, rehearsals, donations, volunteer hours, and heartfelt performances that made it possible.
We founded the company to “provide asylum to characters and subjects in need. With ensemble-driven performance we investigate to inspire curiosity, empathy, and action.”  In our first 10 years we’ve offered asylum to artists like Vaslav Nijinsky, Federico García Lorca, and the Brontë sisters, as well as to subjects like revolution and democratic debate. We’ve offered our stage to guest artists at our cabarets, and our love of play-reading to our community in our Cold Reading series. We’ve traveled to Chicago and Prague, and performed at theaters all over New York.

When we decided to formally organize as a company, we set out to create a space to play, explore, and learn with friends and collaborators who challenge and inspire us. We cannot thank you and this vibrant community enough for all the work and growth you’ve made possible.

10 years after our first piece–Nijinsky in Asylum–premiered, we pause to reflect on and celebrate our past, while imagining our future. We hope you enjoy this retrospective and are as eager for what’s next as we are. Onwards!

Peace, power, and love to you,
Paul, Katie, Kathryn, and Hilarie
DOWNLOAD A MAGAZINE ABOUT OUR 10 YEARS

Watch an interview about our first 10 years

Read about our first 10 years

  • Nijinsky, then Theater In Asylum -- Katie's memories about our first show and founding
  • Friends Everywhere-- appreciating those who shared space with us, by Kathryn
  • ¡Olé! -- Paul continues to wrestle with some of the questions behind ¡Olé!
  • Theme, Art, Go!-- we've made how many cabarets? Katie asks
  • Growing the Family – our expansion of artistic collaborators through The Brontës, Totally Wholesome Foods, and Hephaestus
  • Cold Readings -- Paul's version of why Cold Readings are so awesome
  • Debates -- Paul's summary of TIA's longest running project 

Theater in Asylum, 10 and counting...

PictureA Cold Reading, 2020. Photo by Theater in Asylum
  • Full-length Productions: 10
  • Cold Readings: 91
  • Public Readings: 12
  • Cabarets: 17
  • Theaters performed in: 16
  • Legitimate rehearsal spaces we’ve used: 9
  • After-hours workplaces used for rehearsal: 4
  • Ball pits we’ve had meetings in: 1
  • Total Fundraised for our work: $70,608.72
  • Eblasts Sent: 375
  • Company meetings: 216 + more before we started archiving everything in 2013...
  • Footnotes in Debates Scripts: 1,172

Theater in Asylum, through the years...

2010

September 25, 2010: Nijinsky in Asylum performs at Steps Theater
November 2010: We settle on our name, draft a mission, and really organize as a company.
  • Read about our first show and company founding
  • Learn more about Nijinsky in Asylum

2011

April 3, 2011: Our first cabaret The Death / Memory Project performs at New York Theatre Workshop's upstairs space
June 5, 2011: Our first "Five in Asylum" performs at Jimmy's No. 43
August 14, 2011: The Others Project performs at New York Theatre Workshop's upstairs space
November 11, 2011: Frankenstein premieres at the Looking Glass Theatre
  • Read about our cabaret series
  • Learn more about The Death / Memory Project
  • Learn more about Five in Asylum 2011
  • Learn more about The Others Project
  • Learn more about Frankenstein

2012

April 2, 2012: Our second "Five in Asylum" performs at Jimmy's No. 43
May 18, 2012: The Revolutions Project performs at Bar 82
June 12, 2012: Our first "Green Pages" series begins presenting new paper-free readings
October 2, 2012: Revolution in 1 premieres at The Red Room Theater
November 5, 2012: The Battlegrounds Project performs at Bar 82
  • Learn more about Five in Asylum 2012
  • Learn more about The Revolutions Project
  • Learn more about Green Pages 2012
  • Learn more about Revolution in 1
  • Learn more about The Battlegrounds Project

2013

January 31, 2013: ¡Olé! premieres at Under St. Marks Theater
April 14, 2013: Our third "Five in Asylum" performs at Jimmy's No. 43
May 9, 2013: Our first "Hootenanny" performs at Under St. Marks Theater
June 27, 2013: Our second "Green Pages" series begins presenting paper-free readings of new plays
July 5, 2013: #Coriolanus premieres at Under St. Marks Theater
September 5, 2013: Our ¡Olé! tour begins, opening at the Chicago Fringe Festival and winning the Audience Favorite Award
September 13, 2013: ¡Olé! opens in Hartford, CT (Paul's hometown!)
September 20, 2013: ¡Olé! opens at the Rochester Fringe Festival, winning Best Touring Production
  • Read an article Paul wrote about ¡Olé!
  • Learn more about ¡Olé!
  • Learn more about Five in Asylum 2013
  • Learn more about Hootenanny 2013
  • Learn more about Green Pages 2013
  • Learn more about #Coriolanus

2014

March 16, 2014: The Duende Project performs at The Kraine Theatre
April 28, 2014: We win our first grant! From the Puffin Foundation
May 27, 2014: Our ¡Olé! tour concludes with a run at the Prague International Fringe Festival
May 8, 2014: Our second "Hootenanny" performs at the Kraine Theatre
November 1, 2014: The Trending Imperatives Project performs at the Kraine Theatre
  • Learn more about The Duende Project
  • Learn more about ¡Olé!
  • Learn more about Hootenanny 2014
  • Learn more about The Trending Imperatives Project

2015

January 28, 2015: Our very first Cold Reading! We read Annie Baker's Circle Mirror Transformation
December 12, 2015: We present the first workshop of what will become The Debates 2016 at City Center
  • Read an article Paul wrote about Cold Readings
  • Learn more about our Cold Reading series
  • Learn more about The Debates 2016

2016

April 4, 2016: First full reading of The Brontës presented at The Old Stone House
April 18, 2016: The Debates 2016: Primary Edition premieres at The Kraine Theatre, before touring to Philadelphia and Hartford
July 7, 2016: The Primaries Project performs at The Kraine Theatre
November 6, 2016: The Debates 2016: General Election Edition premieres at Under St. Marks Theater
  • Read an article Paul wrote about The Debates series
  • Learn more about The Debates 2016
  • Learn more about The Brontës
  • Learn more about The Primaries Project

2017

February 27, 2017: Concert version of The Brontës presented at NY Theatre Barn
July 9, 2017: First full performance workshop of The Brontës at The Old Stone House
November 6, 2017: Staged reading of Sinclair Lewis's It Can't Happen Here presented at The Hive Theater
  • Read an article Katie wrote about The Brontës, Totally Wholesome Foods, Hephaestus, and working with lead artists
  • Learn more about The Brontës
  • Learn more about It Can't Happen Here

2018

June 18, 2018: First public reading of Totally Wholesome Foods presented at Pete's Candy Store
September, 2020: The Debates 2018, a workshop on the governor's race performs at the Drama League
  • Learn more about Totally Wholesome Foods

2019

February 17, 2019: Totally Wholesome Foods premieres at The Episcopal Actors' Guild
March 10, 2019: Campaign Kickoff Cabaret performs at South Oxford Space
June 6, 2019: Countdown Cabaret performs at the Episcopal Actors' Guild
October 20, 2019: The Healthcare Cabaret performs at South Oxford Space
December 9, 2019: Climate Crisis Cabaret performs at South Oxford Space
  • Learn more about Totally Wholesome Foods
  • Learn more about The Campaign Kickoff Cabaret
  • Learn more about The Countdown Cabaret
  • Learn more about The Healthcare Cabaret
  • Learn more about The Climate Crisis Cabaret

2020

February 8, 2020: The Electability Cabaret performs at South Oxford Space
March 11, 2020: Hephaestus premieres at LPAC's Rough Draft Festival
June 21, 2020: The Debates 2020 premieres on Zoom
September 25, 2020: Theater in Asylum turns 10 years old!
  • Learn more about The Electability Cabaret
  • Learn more about Hephaestus
  • Learn more about (and watch!) The Debates 2020

Onwards!

Taking the past few months to reflect on all Theater in Asylum accomplished in its first ten years has been dizzying and humbling. We are so grateful for the time, space, and trust we received this decade to make work and share stories with you, our community.

So much has changed since we’ve started, both in our company and the world. The need for empathy, solidarity, and investigation into history has only grown more urgent.

This year has been the perfect opportunity to reflect on our mission statement and reach for deeper clarity and purpose.To construct our new Mission, Vision, and Values, we are following the process we always use: thinking through every angle thoroughly, leaning on our community for feedback, engaging in some useful debate, and eventually making a leap of faith. We cannot wait to share a revised mission statement, and with it a renewed purpose. 

But first, a toast — to the asylum we’ve built. A sanctuary for theater and conversation where thinking deeply, rigorously, and empathically is hallowed. A shelter for our characters –– many of them victims of oppression in their lives –– who come into our space, where their art and stories may shine again.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for joining us on this ride so far. Without you we wouldn’t have gotten here.

Onward!

All our love,
Paul, Katie, Kathryn, and Hilarie

Thank you to everyone who made this milestone possible.

Thank you to everyone who made this milestone possible.

Thank you to those early and frequent collaborators, to our families and friends, who made these 10 years so sweet: Frankie Alicea, the Appletons, Laura Aristovulos, Jessie Atkinson, Christian Avíla, Ariella Axelbank, Andrew Balmer, Jake Beckhard, Sharlene and Joyce and all the Bedards, Randall Benichak, Judy “Cuz” Berger, Melissa Brading, Adrian Bridges, Theresa Burns, Matt Clemons, Jonas Cohen, Kelly Colburn, Mark Costello, Calandra Daby, Dan Daly, Christopher DeSantis, Nadia Diamond, Lawrence Dreyfuss, Karen Lehman Foster, Yonit Friedman, Rick Fudge, Kate Gazzaniga, Amanda Ghosh, Linnea Gregg, Arielle Hader, Ryan Haddad, Kara Hankard, Chris Harcum, Gethsemane Herron-Coward, Elizabeth Hess, Paul Hinkes, Colleen Hughes, Willie Johnson, Meghan Kennedy, Samantha Keogh, Alyssa Kim, Starr Kirkland, Esther Yumi Ko, Jacob Lasser, Marilyn Lawson, Amelia Lembeck, Rebekah Levin, Julia Levine, Diana Levy, Maggie Low, Sofia Lund, Andrea Marks, Hogan McLaughlin, Eric Mercado, Cynthia Meng, the Miliones, Makha Mthembu, Lucy Myrtue, Dylan Neely, Julia Nickerson, Patricia Noonan, Ben Otto, Lizzy and all the Palmers, Russell Peck, Alice Pencavel, Katie Polin, Zac Porter, Greg Redlawsk, Jacob Marx Rice, Mandy Robbins, Jonelle Robinson, Abby Schreer, Ramsey Scott, Manuela Sosa, Hilarie Spangler, Zach Stephens, Dani Stompor, Blake Sugarman, Lucas Tahiruzzaman Syed, Bessie Taliaferro, Valeska von Schirmeister, Dan Stearns, Jen Tash, Marchelle Thurman, Slats Toole, Alison Walter, Kelly Webb, the Wohlers, Ran Xia, and Sarah Ziegler.

Thank you to the Playwrights Horizons Theater School, to NYU and Columbia, to New York City for bringing us together. Thank you to Erez Ziv and everyone at FRIGID New York (Horse Trade Theater Group) for taking a chance on us and pushing us to become a company. Thank you to Piper Theatre and the Old Stone House, The Episcopal Actors’ Guild, the LaGuardia Performing Arts Center, and all the groups who have given us opportunities since. Thank you to Jimmy’s No. 43, Bar 82, and above all Dempsey’s, our dearly missed watering holes. Thank you to the Gray Mare, Cooper’s, and the 12th Street Ale House for taking care of us and hosting our events since! Thank you to the League of Independent Theater, Fractured Atlas, A.R.T./New York, and The Artist Co-op for supporting and advocating for us.

Thank you to everyone who has worked on or attended a Theater in Asylum project. We are so grateful for the love and support and ideas and energy you give. You make this company.
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Theater in Asylum (TIA) is a New York-based theater company founded in 2010 to challenge and empower our community. TIA joyfully pursues a rigorous research and an ensemble-driven approach to theater-making. We create performances to investigate our past, interpret our present, and imagine our future. We prize space to process, space to question—asylum—for ourselves and our community.

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