TRANSPARENCY

We believe transparency enables the sharing of power and responsibility. We commit to be open with how Theater in Asylum decisions are made and money is spent. This page was last updated on January 27, 2025. We invite our community to aid us in our effort to be transparent and accountable. You may email here or submit feedback anonymously here.

How decisions are made

The vast majority of Theater in Asylum’s decisions are made by consensus between Paul Bedard, Katie Palmer, and Kathryn Appleton. To read more about our leadership team, click here.
  • Company-wide structural and operational decisions are conducted with one to two meetings and countless emails between the Artistic and Managing Directors each week.
  • Artistic & Season planning decisions typically follow what Paul, and sometimes Katie, is interested in exploring artistically and personally. Currently, the selection of TIA’s pre-scripted plays is governed by the relationships Paul has cultivated with playwrights. 
  • Financial decisions are led by Kathryn, in collaboration with Paul and Katie.
  • Hiring and casting decisions are led by Paul and Katie, in collaboration with Kathryn and lead project collaborators (playwrights, dramaturgs, etc).
  • Marketing and messaging decisions are led by PR and Marketing Manager, Charlotte Dow, in collaboration with Kathryn, Katie, and Paul. 
  • Cold Reading curation decisions are made by the Artistic Directors. We aim to curate at least 50% of plays by female playwrights and at least 50% plays by BIPOC playwrights. Guest facilitators are invited to choose a play from a list, or invited to propose one. Roles are assigned by the facilitators. We aim to shuffle reading opportunities around, prioritizing new readers and BIPOC readers.

All leadership meeting notes are shared with the annual staff (Artistic Directors, Managing Director Marketing & PR Manager).

How we organize ourselves

Annual Staff
Other Administration
  • Our fiscal sponsor: Fractured Atlas holds donations and grant funds for us, releasing money to us in a way that aids our tax situation.
  • Services we use: Wells Fargo (our bank), Quickbooks (how we track our finances), Brass Taxes (for tax time), Zoom (how we often meet), Google (how we email and make documents), Weebly (our website host), CubeSmart (our storage unity), Philadelphia Insurance Company (our insurance)
  • Mentors: A number of people aid us (Eric our tax guy, Mr. Appleton our lawyer friend, The Anthropologists who we admire as a big sister company, and many more)
  • Accountability Circle: Beginning in 2020, Theater in Asylum joined a handful of other indie theaters to form Indie Theaters Dismantling Supremacy. The cohort has been invaluable to further questioning and strengthening of our internal processes.
  • Theater in Asylum is a member of the League of Independent Theater, ART/NY, and the IndieSpace community.

Productions
  • The Artistic Directors lead the productions
  • Production Collaborators: designers, actors, support staff
  • Audience: Tickets are always on a sliding scale, with a $0 ticket available to anyone who needs one.

Cabarets
  • The Artistic Directors lead the cabarets (both curating the full event and also leading Theater in Asylum's contribution to it)
  • Lead Artists: hired by Theater in Asylum to organize their own team and create a piece
  • Cabaret Collaborators: Hired by the Lead Artists and paid by Theater in Asylum to create and perform at the cabaret.
  • Audience: Tickets are always on a sliding scale, with a $0 ticket available to anyone who needs one.

Cold Readings
  • The Artistic Directors leads the program, curating the year, hiring the guest facilitators, and advising on reader assignments.
  • Readers: Readers volunteer and are cast in such a way that gives priority to new folks, POC, and women.
  • Listeners: Listeners attend Cold Readings for free.

How money is spent

2025 Payment Structure
  • Annual Staff: We are planning to keep our contracted, annual staff stipends at $1,200 for all work during the year (annual staff does not receive project stipends). The annual staff will consist of two Artistic Directors*, a Managing Director*, and PR & Marketing Manager. We are also looking  to hire a bookkeeper because our books will be under more scrutiny when we become a 501(c)3. 
  • Cabaret Collaborators: Collaborator stipends for the fall cabaret are dependent on grant funding, but we aim to match 2024 levels at $175 per person.
  • Faust Workshop: We are unsure yet how long this workshop needs to be and how many collaborators will be needed for it. But we aim for stipends to be at least $100.
  • Cold Readings: Facilitators will continue to receive $75 per Cold Reading facilitation. Readers and listeners will continue to be welcomed on a volunteer basis.

*With Theater in Asylum’s current legal framework, payment to Paul, Katie, and Kathryn (the three partners of the LLC) are paid the company’s “profit.” We align the profit disbursement to match the stipend amount for the annual staff.

Transparency Reports

In addition to a yearly audit, Theater in Asylum releases each project's financial details to all collaborators working on the project.

How time is spent

We work hard to keep our usage of folks' time sustainable and fulfilling.

Theater in Asylum's values

This page is part of our larger efforts to clarify and live up to our values: