Theater in Asylum is seeking an existing quartet (any vocal range) to join the cast of their upcoming production of Faust Syndrome, a new adaptation of the Faust myth. The piece follows three activists who strive to end the genocide in Gaza, abolish ICE, and bring an end to American imperialism. When they are approached by the Devil’s agent Mephistopheles and offered extraordinary –and terrifying!– power, the age-old Faustian bargain cycle unfurls yet again. The production will feature puppets, a choir, and urgently-need questions around movement building, individualism, and violence.

Music will include adaptations of music from The Sacred Harp, an early American singing tradition (example here), as well as vocal music in four parts composed for the show. The choir will form a kind of collective character in the show, and all music will be performed from the stage (there will be no pit).

REHEARSAL/PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:

• Preparation: Early Sept: singers receive scores, review and prepare music on own time
  
• Music rehearsals: Three 2hr. rehearsals in late Sept/ early Oct, scheduled according to singers’ availability
  
• Music & show rehearsals: Tuesdays Oct. 6, 13, & 20 + Wednesday, 10/21 (evenings)
  
• Tech: Friday Oct. 23 - Tuesday, Oct. 27 (weekday evenings & weekend afternoons + evenings)
  
• Dress rehearsal: Wednesday, Oct. 28 (evening)
  
• Performances: Thursday, Oct. 29 - Sunday, Nov. 15 (weekday evenings & weekend afternoons + evenings)
  

PAY:

• $900 stipend per performer for full collaborators (same amount to everyone, regardless or role). This is inclusive of AEA travel reimbursement (if applicable). We’re a pretty small theater company and we know we’re not able to pay anyone (including ourselves) what we’re worth.
• All collaborators working on the entire process (from first rehearsal to closing night) are paid the same full stipend. Collaborators coming in for just performances or for a short portion of the process are paid a half stipend or hourly. All collaborators are shared on the complete show budget. More on how Theater in Asylum works to share power, time, and money is here.
• Theater in Asylum is seeking an Equity Showcase Code for this production.
• Food: Theater in Asylum provides a snack at all activities longer than 3 hours and a meal at all activities longer than 6 hours.
• How we work together: Our community agreements are here and more on how we share power/time/money is here.

If your quartet is interested in participating, please email [email protected].

Please note: we would prefer to cast one existing quartet for the full production. If we are unable to cast an existing quartet, we will open up casting to individual singers.

Faust Syndrome is a new adaptation of the Faust myth, performing this fall in NYC. The piece follows three activists who strive to end the genocide in Gaza, abolish ICE, and bring an end to American imperialism. When they are approached by the Devil's agent Mephistopheles and offered extraordinary –and terrifying!– power, the age-old Faustian bargain cycle unfurls yet again. The production will feature puppets, a choir, and urgently-need questions around movement building, individualism, and violence.

THEATER IN ASYLUM:
Theater in Asylum makes rigorously-researched, ensemble-driven theater to challenge and empower. We prize the theater as a space — as an asylum — where we can process and question, where reality is temporarily suspended, and where we can create with joy. Since 2010, Theater in Asylum has brought New York artists and not-yet-artists together to read, research, devise, and perform politically charged, of-the-moment new plays.

To learn more about Theater in Asylum, see here.

WHERE:
The Episcopal Actors' Guild in midtown (29th & 5th Ave)

WHEN:

• Rehearsals: September 19-October 28, 2026
• Rehearsals will mostly be nights and weekends.
• Not every actor will be called to every rehearsal. We aim to schedule around people’s availability.
• Performances: October 29-November 15, 2026 (15 total)

PAY: 

• $900 stipend
• All collaborators working on the entire process (from first rehearsal to closing night) are paid the same full stipend. Collaborators coming in for just performances or for a short portion of the process are paid a half stipend or hourly. All collaborators are shared on the complete show budget. More on how Theater in Asylum works to share power, time, and money is here.
• Theater in Asylum is seeking an Equity Showcase Code for this production.
• Food: Theater in Asylum provides a snack at all activities longer than 3 hours and a meal at all activities longer than 6 hours.
• Theater in Asylum’s community agreements are here.

THE ROLE:

• Name: Inés
• Latina, in her 60's or older.
  
• An artist-activist puppeteer and sculptor. 
• She has seen a lot and knows –fully– who she is and what she is doing.
  
• She is sharp-tongued, sometimes even to the point of rudeness, but cares deeply for others and for the movement.
  
• She is an unstoppable force with little patience for stupidity and vanity.

TO SUBMIT:
If this project sounds exciting to you, please email a headshot and resume to Paul Bedard & Katie Palmer at [email protected].

Bookkeeping Job Description
Contractor Role
January–December, 2024

Theater in Asylum is looking for a skilled part-time Bookkeeper to maintain our financial records, including purchases, sales, receipts, and payments. This position is a one-year contract position, and we anticipate the person working five to ten hours a month. Bookkeeper job duties include working closely with our Managing Director to process accounts payable and receivable and manage invoices and payments. Our ideal candidate has bookkeeping experience for a non-profit and is familiar with QuickBooks accounting software.

Ultimately, the Bookkeeper’s responsibilities are to accurately record all day-to-day financial transactions of our company.

Responsibilities:

• Record financial transactions in Quickbooks and budgets
• Monitor TIA’s balances and cash flow
• Verify that transactions are recorded correctly
• Enter data and maintain records
• Process accounts receivable/payable 
• Catalogs receipts on all TIA expenditures to prepare for potential audits.

Requirements and skills:

• Proven bookkeeping experience
• Solid understanding of basic bookkeeping and accounting payable/receivable principles
• Proven ability to calculate, post, and manage accounting figures and financial records
• Data entry skills along with a knack for numbers
• Hands-on experience with spreadsheets and Quickbooks
• Proficiency in Google Suite
• High degree of accuracy and attention to detail
• Compliance with Theater in Asylum's Community Agreemetns

Compensation:
We are a very small fiscally sponsored theater company with an operating budget in 2024 of around $18,000. Everyone working as part of the administrative contracted staff (including the role of the Bookkeeper) is paid $1,200 for the year. See our budget transparency commitments here.

To apply:
Please email TIA Managing Director Kathryn Appleton.

Theater in Asylum (TIA) is a New York-based theater company founded in 2010 to challenge and empower our community. TIA joyfully pursues 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.


Core programs include original productions; themed cabarets, presenting new work from our community; and Cold Readings, a program to read and discuss published plays.

Community is of utmost importance to Theater in Asylum. Some of our strategies for community safety and empowerment may be found here. See Theater in Asylum’s transparency commitments and company pay structure here.

2023 will be a big year for Theater in Asylum, and we have a lot of money to raise in Fall 2022 to make it happen. With multiple grants due in September and October and our fundraising launching in December, we are looking to bring on a new staff member to help coordinate it all. We are not looking for someone with connections to funding, but instead someone who can help us make all our fundraising efforts happen. This includes keeping us on track with deadlines, helping pull together materials for grants applications, following up with perk-providers, and thanking donors. While this role could grow in the future to a more traditional development position, at present we are looking for a coordinator/project manager for our fundraising efforts.

Please send a resume and a cover letter to [email protected]. In the letter, please tell us:

• A little about yourself.
• What is your background, if any, with Theater in Asylum?
• What drew you to apply for this position? Or what excites you about it?

Theater in Asylum believes in Equal Opportunity Collaboration. We are committed to diversity in all areas of our work, on and offstage. We encourage applicants with a unique cultural perspective inclusive of race, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, class, physical ability, and sexual orientation to apply.

Thank you!