THEATER IN ASYLUM

Celebrate Spring with Theater in Asylum!

3/12/2023

 
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Over the last few weeks, we’ve continued to develop THE NOBODIES WHO WERE EVERYBODY (Working Title), our upcoming original play about the legacy of the Federal Theatre Project. We’ve held several readings, met with collaborators, and revised the script to get it ready for our full production this summer. We’re really enjoying this process and can’t wait to share this story with you. Watch this space for more updates!
SUPPORT THEATER IN ASYLUM

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Much like the squirrels and groundhogs in Prospect Park, we’re emerging from hibernation and ready for spring. And of course, we want to see all your lovely faces! Celebrate the new season with us at our Spring Happy Hour at 6pm on Thursday, March 16th at Tile Bar in the East Village. Enjoy a cocktail or two and talk theater (or whatever’s on your mind!) with the TIA Community at our favorite quarterly gathering. Can’t wait to see you all there!

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Our friends at Step1 Theatre Project are raising funds for their upcoming 8th season! Co-Founding Artistic Directors Jazmyn & Janelle started Step1 Theatre Project in 2016 with the goal of feeling free to create whatever theatre was in our hearts. Since then, their team has grown, their vision has gotten clearer, and their goals are more specific. Today, Step1's mission is to help local playwrights from communities experiencing marginalization through readings and workshop productions. They aspire to give folks a casual and joyful space to develop their work.

In 2023, they have already co-hosted another free Co-working & Networking session, they're planning to host 4 more R&D cold reading sessions, produce our 2023 staged reading and (...the big one...) co-produce our first Workshop Production since 2020! ... All of this on top of their goal of transitioning from a fiscally sponsored organization to 501(c)(3) non-profit!
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They hope you will consider becoming a supporter of their 2023 season—check out their website step1theatre.org to learn more about what they believe in, why they do what they do, and their past events/productions.
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Thank you to our donors!

3/12/2023

 
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We are so incredibly grateful to everyone who donated to Theater in Asylum’s 2023 Fundraiser over the past month. Together, we raised $11,578 for our 2023 season, which will go towards the world premiere production of The Nobodies Who Were Everybody (formerly known as The FTP Show), more Cold Readings, pay increases for our artists, and much, much more. We think this season is going to be our best yet thanks to you and your generosity. Thank you, thank you again! 
Missed your chance to donate to the fundraiser but still want to contribute? Learn how to support Theater in Asylum at theaterinasylum.com/supportand donate any time here.
Thank you to everyone who donated making our 2023 Season possible!

​Beverly Abegg
Laura Andersen
Eve & William Appleton
Trisha Beatty
Scott Bedard
Mike & Kelly Bedard
John Bell & Trudi Cohen
Judy Berger
The Boxcutter Collective
Farrah Crane
Andrew Boyd
Rachel Casparian
Colleen Christi
Katie Dagon
Alexis DePersia-Norelli
Jennifer Downes
Mary Downing
Martha Ferguson
Anastasia Fort
Lisa Fudge
Helen & Jeff Friedman
Kate Gazzaniga
Eric Grunin
Sarah Habib
Gethsemane Herron-Coward
Cody Hom
Willie Johnson
Martins Jukna-Parsons
Chad Kean
Samantha Keogh
Joshua Krugman
Marilyn Lawson
Marcia Lazer
Diana Levy
Maggie Low
Efrem Mallach
Victor Milione
Melissa Moschitto
Helen O'Rourke
Don Pflaster
Maxine Phillips
Austin Regan
Charles Rice
Jacob Rice
Mandy Robbins
Jess & Bryan Rosenberg
Bessie Taliaferro
Joseph Therrien
Aria Umezawa
Pandora & John Wohler
Anna Wright
Gennady Yusim

and

Thank you to the 28 anonymous heroes who donated.

and

Thank you for a donation made in loving memory of
​Jeff Stone.
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2022 Year in Review

12/30/2022

 
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We made it! As 2022 comes to a close, we want to reiterate our gratitude to the community who made this year possible. For the past few weeks we've been looking back at all we achieved this year. If you missed it, here are a few links:
  • Budget Transparency Report 2022
  • All the Organizations we supported in 2022
  • Our favorite things from 2022
  • Our 2023 plans and fundraiser

Below, find a review of all Theater in Asylum produced and accomplished this year. If you're in a position to do so, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to our dreams for 2023. Once again, thank you.

Reflections

2022 was a busy and fruitful year for Theater in Asylum. We continued developing our show about the Federal Theatre Project, currently known as The FTP Show. We plan to premiere this piece next summer, and this year’s work brought invaluable growth to the project. We presented a 20-minute excerpt at The FTP Cabaret, alongside new work from 6 invited guest groups. A few months later, we convened for a week of dedicated development and generated both a solid script draft and ample photos and video which were useful in our grant applications this year. The piece will continue development with a public reading in January and finally a full production in August 2023. We are still deeply committed and beyond excited to share this story. Hallie Flanagan’s unsung legacy continues to reverberate in the American Theatre, but her mission remains unfinished. Why? Artists lack the support they deserve and audiences frequently cannot afford to experience the art they deserve. Public funding of the arts in the United States (the wealthiest country on Earth) is urgently needed, and we hope our show can provoke a conversation to this end.
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The FTP Cabaret, photo by Shubhra Mishra
Cold Readings continued to transform this year. For the first time, a curation team led the program and brought new variety to the plays we read. We are still in transition, slowly scaling back from the frequency of Cold Readings during the pandemic (every week at its height) to normal times (7-10 readings per year). While we initially thought we would fully transition back to in-person readings, our online gatherings have continued to excel with a community beyond New York. Looking ahead, we plan to continue a mix of in-person and online readings. Having fallen a little short this year, we also plan to redouble our efforts in curating at least 50% of plays by women and 50% of plays by BIPOC artists.

2022 also brought extensive internal reorganization to the company. This was our first year with an annual staff whose responsibilities carried throughout the year. This staff was paid bi-monthly for their work and did not receive project stipends. We found this model very helpful to the overall health of the company and we plan to continue it next year.

After reconsidering non-profit status for the millionth time, TIA leadership decided to follow our tax advisor’s recommendation and forgo it, instead beginning a reincorporation process to make Theater in Asylum a multi-member LLC. This will not only better-protect Paul from tax liability (we were previously a sole proprietorship) but this also opens doors to pay our artists more with the ability to issue 1099’s as a company.

Overall, 2022 was fast and bright, busy and productive. The FTP Show is beginning to spread its wings, Cold Readings continued to delight, the company’s internal workings and finances are solidifying into a more sustainable place, and Theater in Asylum continues to be a home for many. The community grew this year and we eagerly reach for 2023 and all the good work it will bring.

Major events and Projects

The FTP Cabaret
  • Part of our ongoing cabaret series, guest artists were invited to create short pieces on a theme.
  • May 13-14, 2022 at the Jalopy Theater. 37 artists presented 7 short pieces to 120 in-person attendees and over 400 streaming online.
  • Featured work by Theater in Asylum, The Anthropologists, Alexis Atkinson, Andy Boyd, Dmitri Barcomi, Lila Rachel Becker, Roger Q. Mason.
  • For the first time, we were able to pay all participants in the cabaret. In all, 37 collaborators were paid for their work. 
  • Billed as “a night of theater, dance, music, and poetry inspired by the legacy of the Federal Theatre Project, the New Deal era program that put thousands of theater artists back to work from 1935-1939.”
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The FTP Cabaret, photo by Shubhra Mishra
The FTP Show workshop
  • A weeklong workshop to develop The FTP Show (working title). This culminated in an invited performance (and a finished draft of the show!).
  • We were able to take great photos and video of the workshop, which were invaluable for 2022 grant applications.
  • August 8-14, 2022 at the Jalopy Theater.

Cold Readings
  • This project is an ongoing play-reading group. Each week we gather to read and discuss a play without rehearsal. Facilitators introduce each reading and guide discussions. This project's goal is to encourage theater literacy as well as confidence in speaking about plays.
  • Each week we highlight an organization doing good work that we encourage attendees to donate to. We summarized this year's organizations in our Giving Tuesday post.
  • 17 readings in 2022, mostly on Wednesdays. 3 readings were held in person, the rest were on Zoom.
  • Approximately 15 people at each, 255 people total.
  • 6 guest facilitators ran a total of 7 readings. The rest were facilitated by Theater in Asylum.
  • 41% of plays were by women, 47% were by people of color. These figures are below our demographic goals and we will use this information to improve in 2023.
  • The oldest play we read was written in 1635. The newest play we read was written this year, in 2017.
  • We finished our project of reading and discussing the entire Golden Collection.

More highlights
  • The Brontës, co-created by Katie Palmer, performed in London.
  • Theater in Asylum reincorporated as a multi-member limited liability company, an essential step to protecting Paul from tax liability (we were previously a sole proprietorship) and also setting the stage to pay people more and issue 1099’s next year.
  • Theater in Asylum won three grants this year: one from the Brooklyn Arts Council and two from ART/NY.
  • We held a reading group to read Radical Black Theatre in the New Deal by Kate Dossett.
  • Our online community grew with the expansion of our social media presence. This is largely the good work of our PR and Marketing Manager Charlotte.
  • Personal highlight: Paul completed a cross-country tour with the Bread and Puppet Theater, with over 50 shows this fall.
  • Personal highlight: Kathryn walked the Paseo del Norte in Spain!
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The FTP Show workshop, photo by Shubhra Mishra

Timeline

  • January 12 - Cold Reading
  • January 26 - Cold Reading
  • February 9 - Cold Reading
  • February 23 - Cold Reading
  • March 12 - TIA Spring Happy Hour
  • March 23 - Cold Reading
  • April 6 - Cold Reading
  • April 20 - Cold Reading
  • May 13 & 14 - The FTP Cabaret
  • June 1 - Cold Reading
  • June 4 - TIA Summer Picnic
  • June 15 - Cold Reading
  • July 20 - Cold Reading
  • August 3 - Cold Reading
  • August 8-14 - The FTP Show workshop
  • August 16-20 - The Brontës in London
  • August 17 - Cold Reading
  • September 3 - TIA performs at Undiscovered Countries
  • September 5 - TIA Fall Picnic
  • September 14 - Cold Reading
  • September 28 - Cold Reading
  • October 12 - Cold Reading
  • October 26 - Cold Reading
  • November 30 - Cold Reading

By the numbers

  • Event attendees: approximately 775
  • 2022 Season Donors: 83
  • Paid artists: 57
  • Admin meetings: 59
  • Cold Readings: 17 (14 online, 3 in-person)
  • Rehearsals: 12 (5 for TIA’s contribution to The FTP Cabaret, 6 for The FTP Show workshop, 1 for our contribution to Undiscovered Countries’ show)
  • Live performances: 4

Thank you!

We are so grateful to the artists, audience, volunteers, donors, friends, and family who made Theater in Asylum's 2022 season possible. We are so lucky to have such a vibrant and supportive community.

As we turn the page on 2022, we look with hope to 2023. If you are in a position to do so, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to our 2023 season.

Happy New Year!
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Paul in Bread and Puppet's Apocalypse Defiance Circus, photo by Ben White
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2022 Budget Transparency Report

12/29/2022

 
Theater in Asylum believes that transparency enables the sharing of power and responsibility. We commit to being open with how company decisions are made and money is spent. Below please find an overview of our finances in 2022. This is also on our website’s transparency page, a page we launched last year as a way to showcase our finances and decision-making.

Big Picture Takeaways of Theater in Asylum’s 2022 Finances

  • We projected to spend ~$22,000 in 2022, but actually spent ~$19,000.
  • We projected to earn ~$15,000 in 2022, but we actually earned ~$21,000. We were much more successful with grants than we anticipated.
  • We netted about $2,000 this year, which we will save for next year when The FTP Show will premiere.
  • In all, our finances were healthy this year and we enter 2023 in a strong place.
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The FTP Show workshop, photo by Shubhra Mishra

2022’s Major Projects

  • The FTP Cabaret, produced by Theater in Asylum, presented live and on zoom May 13-14, 2022. 37 artists presented 7 short pieces to 120 in-person attendees and over 400 streaming online.
  • The FTP Show workshop. The team gathered for one week to develop the characters and script to our latest piece, culminating with an invited performance. This also generated photos and video that we were able to use in grant applications this year.
  • Cold Readings, held in-person and online throughout the year. We hosted 17 readings this year with approximately 15 people at each, 255 people total. 10 were facilitated by Theater in Asylum, with 7 facilitated by guest facilitators.

2022 Expenses

Budgeted Expenses
  • Personnel: $14,393
  • Production Costs: $1,750
  • Space: $2,085
  • Administrative: $2,061
  • Development: $600
  • Contingencies: $871
  • Total Budgeted Expenses: $21,760
Actual Expenses (as of 12/29/22)
  • Personnel: $12,944
  • Production Costs: $1,295
  • Space: $1,274
  • Administrative: $1,147
  • Development: $210
  • Contingencies: $1,085
  • Total Actual Expenses: $18,849
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2022 Revenues

Projected Revenue 
  • Donations: $11,000
  • Grants: $3,000
  • Tickets: $1,050
  • Total Projected Revenues: $15,050

Actual Revenue (as of 12/29/22)
  • Donations: $11,567 
  • Grants: $8,275 
  • Tickets: $1,380 
  • Total Actual Revenues: $21,222

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2022 Net

Projected Net
  • Projected Expenses: $21,760
  • Projected Revenue: $15,050
  • Projected Net: -$6,710 
  • Note: We had surplus from previous years if needed. Our large discrepancy here was in anticipation of not winning as many grants as we did.
Actual Net
  • Actual Expenses: $18,849
  • Projected Revenues: $21,222
  • Actual Net: $2,373
  • Note: We were very successful with grants this year and able to add to our surplus fund, which we plan to spend on The FTP Show in 2023.

How Theater in Asylum paid people in 2022

  • For The FTP Cabaret, 37 collaborators were paid an equal stipend of $150.
  • For The FTP Show workshop, 12 collaborators were paid an equal stipend of $325.
  • For Cold Readings, a curation team of 3 people were paid $399 each for their work throughout the year. 12 people were paid $50 facilitator stipends.
  • TIA’s annual staff (two artistic directors, one managing director, one PR and marketing manager) were paid $599 each for their work throughout the year. These people did not receive project or Cold Reading facilitator stipends.
  • TIA’s Fundraising and Grants coordinator was paid $150 for their work from August-December.
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Guests artists from The Anthropologists at The FTP Cabaret. Photo by Shubhra Mishra.

Looking ahead: 2023 Payment Structure

  • We are planning to pay significantly higher production and annual staff stipends next year.
  • For a developmental reading of The FTP Show, collaborators are budgeted to receive $50 each.
  • For The FTP Show production, collaborators are budgeted to receive $1,000 each. Collaborators with commitments that will require less time are budgeted to receive half stipends ($500 each). For hourly load-in and load-out labor, we are budgeting to pay people $25/hour.
  • For Cold Readings we plan to have one person on our annual staff, with guest facilitators receiving $50.
  • We are budgeting for a 6-person annual staff in 2023, with each person receiving $1,200 for their work throughout the year. Annual staff members do not receive project or Cold Reading facilitator stipends.
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A recent Cold Reading

Thank you

We are so appreciative of our community, who has helped us organize our company, our budgets, and our work. More of our transparency commitments, as well as previous years’ reports, maybe be found on our Transparency page. We also always invite feedback and contact info may be found on our Community page. Thank you all for making Theater in Asylum a vibrant community and fruitful for all involved.

Thank you,
Paul, Katie, and Kathryn
Theater in Asylum

Ps. We are currently fundraising for 2023! Please consider supporting us with a donation here.
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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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