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Dear Friend, If you can believe it, September 25, 2025 will mark 15 years since our first production, Nijinsky in Asylum, premiered. We feel so old! But also so proud. We’ve come so far in these last 15 years with 13 full productions, 19 cabarets, 175 Cold Readings, as well as book clubs, voter guides, and many smaller events. Over 7,250 people have experienced our work, including you, and we’re so, so grateful.  2010’s Nijinsky in Asylum at Steps on Broadway Since 2010, we have used the theater to re-examine topics such as the role of the artist in society, the responsibility of the government to the arts, and the relationship between the individual and their community. We have looked to artist biographies for insight (Lorca, the Brontës, and Hallie Flanagan to name just a few). We've gathered with you in theaters, bars, dance studios, indoor playgrounds, living rooms, and kitchens to ask, “what stands out?”, “how does it all connect?", and “where do we go from here?” For us, theater is a tool for collective imagination, an essential breeding ground for vital ideas as we strive for a better world. The theater allows us to suspend our disbelief, question the past, interpret the present, and imagine a future together. Theater in Asylum has always been about making theater collectively, sharing ideas, asking big questions, and searching for new paths forward together. We want to continue this work with you for years to come.  2011’s The OTHERS Project team At each juncture, you have met us with enthusiasm and curiosity. You have volunteered, donated, bought tickets, joined us at venues from the Upper West Side to Red Hook, from Philadelphia to Prague. As artists, you have trusted us, challenged us, and strengthened our art. Without you, Theater in Asylum would never have made it past that first production, let alone the 13 we produced in 15 years. And we are so grateful.  A shot from last week’s workshop of FAUST (photo by Diana Zuluaga) We now turn to Faust. We’re not the first to hear Mephistopheles behind the words of world leaders, titans of industry, and “the American dream.” It’s a dire moment, for all of us, and our morals are straining. How can we survive when we know so many won’t? How do we exist when brutality is so widespread and even the concept of “empathy” is deemed suspect? What’s the way out of hell? How do we rescue our souls back from the bargains we’ve –knowingly and unknowingly– entered? These are questions we now gather collaborators to ask. In Fall 2026, we’ll present our biggest production yet, an adaptation of the centuries-old myth. We’re planning a 3-week run in Midtown Manhattan with a cast of 8. We’re stepping up artist stipends and design budgets. This show will be big. And expensive. We’re full steam ahead preparing for this massive endeavor. We ask for your help again, as we celebrate our 15th anniversary, to help us raise $15,000. If you are able, we would be so honored to have your support, be it $15 or $1,500 dollars.  2019’s Totally Wholesome Foods (photo by Ahron R. Foster) Why donate now?
At 15 years old, our company is experiencing some growing pains. As many of you know, we started on the long journey to becoming our own 501(c)3 nonprofit about two years ago. (Currently, we have a Fiscal Sponsor through which we are able to receive tax-deductible donations.) We did this in order to be eligible for more grants so we can pay our artistic collaborators closer to a living wage and have to rely less on individual donors. We had wished by this point to actually officially be a non-profit, but alas, bureaucracy had other plans. As a result of the delay, we continue to be ineligible for a wide pool of grants open only to nonprofits. The $15,000 we’re raising here will help us sustain the company creatively and logistically through the end of the year and into the beginning of the next as we await approval from the IRS. What will the $15,000 cover?These funds will help us pay for the following:
2019’s Totally Wholesome Foods (photo by Ahron R. Foster) How can I further support Theater in Asylum?
Thank you for making the last 15 years an incredible collaboration of theater, laughter, discovery, challenge, and joy. Thank you for being a part of this journey, and our next chapter! Paul Bedard, Katie Palmer, Kathryn Appleton, and Charlotte Dow Theater in Asylum
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