Help us make theater in 2022!12/18/2021 Dear Friend, Can you believe that 2021 is nearly finished? As the pandemic continued and all of us have faced unrelenting challenges, we are proud and grateful to report that Theater in Asylum continued to bring artists and audiences together through it all. We are so grateful for your support that made our work possible. We humbly ask for your continued support of our work with a donation to our 2022 fundraiser.  The Debates 2021, photo by Theater in Asylum We began the year in lockdown, continuing our Cold Reading series, with 33 play readings in total, including three in-person. The spring brought a Zoom production (The Debates 2021) and its related events (four debate watch parties and analysis meetings, plus three “Civics Happy Hours”). In the fall, as we emerged from lockdown, we produced our first in-person play in over a year with Andy Boyd’s Occupy Prescott. In the midst of all this we shared a new mission statement, community agreements, and a transparency commitment with reporting mechanisms. We won grants from the Brooklyn Arts Council and the New York City Artist Corp. We returned to in-person work at ART/NY’s South Oxford Space and found a new home at the Jalopy Theater and Tavern. We met and worked with dozens of new artists and continued our anti-oppression work with Indie Theaters Dismantling Supremacy.  Occupy Prescott, photo by Shubhra Mishra As we continue to work towards a healed world, we look ahead to 2022, our 12th year, with hope. Cold Readings, our most consistent program, will continue and even expand, with new curatorial processes and team. The highlight of 2022, however, is beginning a multi-year process to explore and share the story of Hallie Flanagan and the Federal Theatre Project (FTP). If you’re unfamiliar, she’s a rarely-sung hero of the American Theater, leading the New Deal Era relief program to put theater people back to work. The Project was highly successful, reaching nearly one in four Americans in its brief four-year existence. Despite its popularity, the FTP was also the subject of great controversy, as was Hallie Flanagan herself - accused of being a Communist by the House Un-American Activities Committee. We at TIA have long been fascinated by the pioneering Hallie Flanagan and her Federal Theatre Project, our country’s only instance of federally funded theater. As believers in the arts as a public good, we want to investigate the success and pitfalls of the 1930s project and its legacy. We'll ask how FTP could ever exist again, and what would be its struggles in our contemporary world.  Hallie Flanagan, 1936. This image is a work of a Works Progress Administration employee, taken or made as part of that person's official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain. To explore this project, we'll host two events. In Spring 2022, we will present a cabaret of short works, our favorite way to invite artist-friends to our brainstorm. This FTP Cabaret will feature theater, music, dance, and poetry; we commit to paying the 40+ artists we plan to invite. In Summer 2022, we will hunker down for an extended workshop of this untitled Hallie Flanagan project, with plans to present the full production in early 2023. If you are in a position to donate, we humbly ask for your support of Theater in Asylum’s 2022 season. We are so grateful for all that’s been made possible this past year despite such difficulty. We look ahead to 2022 with gratitude, eagerness, and hope.  Learn more about our 2022 season and donate at
theaterinasylum.com/2022 Thank you so, so much. Peace, power, and love to you, Paul Bedard, Katie Palmer, and Kathryn Appleton TIA Co-Artistic Directors and Managing Director
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Hurray bread-bakers!3/25/2021 Dear friends, Thank you to everyone who joined us last week for Civics Happy Hour. Thank you also to our fearless bread bakers, who took Rick’s sourdough bread baking class this weekend as a "perk” from donating to our fundraiser. What delicious looking loaves! Next up, join us TONIGHT to discuss LIT's recent Meet-the-
Candidates Forum. Learn more and RSVP here. The Debates 2021 is sponsored, in part, by the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, administered by Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC). Hope to see you soon! Peace, power, and love to you, Paul, Katie, Kathryn, and Hilarie We won a BAC grant!3/16/2021  Dear friends,
We are THRILLED to announce that we have won funding from the Brooklyn Arts Council for The Debates 2021! “Brooklyn Arts Council grants strive to support local artists and small arts organizations whose work enhances the cultural climate of our borough, city, state, and nation. These awards encourage professional development, community growth, and fellowship among artists.” We are over the moon to share this news and for The Debates 2021’s events to begin this week! Before we remind you of those events, we must excitedly include this official text about the project: The Debates 2021 is sponsored, in part, by the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, administered by Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC). Upcoming:
Learn more about these upcoming events here. Hope to see you soon! Peace, power, and love to you, Paul, Katie, Kathryn, and Hilarie THANK YOU!2/9/2021 Dear friends, collaborators, supporters, and heroes, THANK YOU! Thank you so much to everyone who donated to our 2021 Season fundraiser. We are so humbled by the 115 people who donated. Together, we raised $11,985.94. Thank you, thank you, thank you: Jim Andrews Eve Appleton Jessie Atkinson Jake Beckhard Andrew Bedard Joyce Bedard Kelly & Mike Bedard Sharlene Bedard Kathleen Bemis Judith C Berger Sandra & Yoni Berkowitz Donna Blackmond Kathryn Bowman The Boxcutter Collective Fred Boyd Renee Carroll Inés del Castillo Emily Conley Katie Dagon Christopher DeSantis Connor Descheemaker Lawrence Dreyfuss Lionel Dripps Paul Feinberg Martha Ferguson Stephen Foglia Julia Foster Richard Fudge Kate Gazzaniga Amanda Ghosh Eric Grunin Sarah Habib Cody Hom Benjamin Inbar Ruth & Robert Keogh Samantha Keogh Esther Ko Martins Jukna-Parsons Marilyn Lawson Julia Levine Camden Louie Maggie Low Marisa Mackey Allen MacLeod Max Mondi Alyssa Montalvo-Rios Victor Milione Justin Nichols Julia Nickerson Torrie Ogilvie Alicia Outing Julie Pedtke Alice Pencavel Maxine Phillips Veronica Pickett Sue Ramsay Lauren Randall Austin Regan Chip Rice Jacob Rice Dana Rich Mandy Robbins Jonelle Robinson Jess & Bryan Rosenberg Dominique Salerno Alix Sobler Jamie Soltis Alyssa Stone Lucinda Stone Justin Taylor Kristina Tom Aria Umezawa Alison Walter Stephanie Warren Pandora & John Wohler Gennady Yusim Diana Zuluaga and 35 anonymous heroes. And thank you for a donation made in loving memory of Janet B. Milione. We hope you’ll join us in the coming year online and, hopefully soon, in person. To learn more about our 2021 Season, check out our announcement here.
Thank you so much, all of you, for making this work not just possible, but worth it. Peace, power, and love to you, Paul, Katie, Kathryn, and Hilarie Categories
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