THEATER IN ASYLUM
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HEPHAESTUS
by Willie Johnson

God of fire, god of the forge, the worker god: Hephaestus. At once a meditation on labor, dis/ability, and beauty, Hephaestus interrogates our relationships to our bodies, and our ideas of beauty and divinity. Drawing on texts ancient and new, Hephaestus explores the limitations of the body and the self, and our desire to transcend them.

CAST

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Kai Kim
as Prometheus
​& Athena
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Starr Kirkland**
​as Aphrodite, Io, & Bia
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Dante Montgomery
as Dionysus & Ares
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Dani Stompor
as an Automaton
​& Kratos
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Patrick Tombs*
as Hephaestus
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Lauren Winder
as Hera, Thetis,
& an Automaton
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Miyu Yokota
​
as an Automaton
* Appearing courtesy of Actors' Equity Association, Equity Approved Showcase
**Starr Kirkland is also our incredible fight captain

CREW

Written by Willie Johnson
Directed by Paul Bedard
​Choreographed & Associate Directed by Katie Palmer
Composed & Sound Designed by Dylan Neely
Scenic Design by Lina Younes
Costume Design by Heather Freedman
Lighting Design by Dan Stearns
Stage Managed by Nicheal Gadson
​Costume & Design Assistance by Sarah Jane Schostack, Rebecca Kanach, and Lauren Carmen
Special props designed by Slinko
Produced by Kathryn Appleton & Theater in Asylum

PRODUCTION HISTORY

November 2017 - Staged reading at The Drawing Center
July 2019 - Staged reading at Laguardia Performing Arts Center
March 2020 - Workshop production LPAC's Rough Draft Festival

2020 Rough Draft Festival Photos

Photos by Ryan Prado, LaGuardia Performing Arts Center/Rough Draft Festival.

THANK YOU TO THE MIGHTY ARTISTS WHO HELPED DEVELOP THIS PIECE!

Thalia Beaty
​Inés del Castillo
Diane Chen

Mike Cotayo
Katherine Day
Hollis Duggans
​​Michael Flood
​Rick Fudge
Rebecca S'Manga Frank
​Ryan Haddad
​​Rachel Lynn Jackson
Benoit Johnson

Kai Kim
​Starr Kirkland
​Chase Knueven

​Jacob Lasser
​​Lee LeBreton
Diana Levy​
​Emma Orme
​Handan Ozbilgin​

​Nicki Pombier
Slinko
Sarah Stites

Jonelle Robinson

SPECIAL THANKS TO

Thank you Handan Ozbilgin and everyone at LPAC for hosting, supporting, and encouraging us. Thank you Karen Foster, Rebecca Lovett, Christine Bruno, and everyone who amplified and aided our casting effort. Thank you to Hilarie Spangler, Theater in Asylum's Community Engagement Manager, who goes above and beyond at every opportunity. Thank you Rick Fudge for baking us treats and for printing things and for being our last-minute-oops hero!

THANK YOU TO OUR MIGHTY DONORS WHO MADE THEATER IN ASYLUM'S 2020 SEASON POSSIBLE!

The Appleton Family
Dan Aprahamian
Jim Anderson  
Laura Aristovulos
Jessie Atkinson
Jaclyn Backhaus  
Andrew Balmer
Jake Beckhard
Joyce Bedard
Scott Bedard
Randall Benichak
Judy "Cuz" Berger
Rachel Berger
Quin Bommer
Kelly Butler
Farrah Crane
Katie Dagon
Justin Daniel
Lionel Dripps  
Jacqueline Eng
Joel Esher
Martha Ferguson
Karen Foster
​Ines Garcia
Amanda Ghosh
Kara Hankard
Elizabeth Hess
Corinne Hollar  

Kaitlyn Horpedahl
Colleen Hughes  
Ben Inbar  
Helen Johnson
Marc Johnson
Willie Johnson
Stephanie Kallos
Stefania de Kenessey
Ruth & Robert Keogh
George Keveson
Joshua Krugman  
Marilyn Lawson
Regan Leonard
Diana Levy
Rebecca Lovett
Maggie Low
Victor Milione
James Monaco 
Gary Patrick
Christopher Pearsall
Veronica Pickett
Maxine Phillips  
Rachel Quint
Austin Regan

Jacob Rice
Rebecca Rice
Mandy Robbins
Jonelle Robinson  
Jess & Bryan Rosenberg
Valeska von Schirmeister
Martha Snider
Steven Socha & Chelsea Langford
Justin Taylor
Elizabeth Taliaferro
Jordan Teicher
Joseph Therrien  
Annie Tippe
Tina Tom
Aria Umezawa  
Alison Walter
Kelly Webb  
Kevin Winebold
Wohler Family
and the 32 people who chose to support us anonymously!

THANK YOU TO THE ORGANIZATIONS WHO MADE THIS WORK POSSIBLE!


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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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