Theater In Asylum Honors The Legacy Of The Federal Theatre Project With World Premiere Production Of THE NOBODIES WHO WERE EVERYBODY

Theater in Asylum (TIA), a New York-based ensemble-driven independent theater company, today announced that the upcoming world premiere of the company's original play THE NOBODIES WHO WERE EVERYBODY will run from August 3, 2023 through August 20, 2023 at the Jalopy Theatre and School of Music in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

The Nobodies Who Were Everybody is a new play by TIA that tells the story of the Federal Theatre Project (FTP): its participants, its obstacles, and its legacy. Operating from 1935-1939 and led by the incomparable Hallie Flanagan, the FTP was a federally funded enterprise, putting thousands of performers to work creating theater across the country. With this show, TIA looks back on the FTP to ask why it is still so difficult to give artists the support--and U.S. audiences the theater--they deserve.

"The characters in our story represent, in Hallie Flanagan's words, the 'ten thousand anonymous men and women who did the work, the somebodies who believed' in the Federal Theatre Project and brought it to life," said Paul Bedard, co-director of The Nobodies Who Were Everybody and Co-Artistic Director of Theater in Asylum. "The artists and workers of the FTP weren't big stars, but they brought new plays and new ideas to audiences across the country when they were most needed. By looking back on a time when the country made a robust commitment to the arts, we hope audiences will see the impact this can have on artists and on the nation as a whole."

The Nobodies Who Were Everybody centers on six actors employed by the Federal Theatre Project from its inception to its demise. These hard working--but not famous-- artists bond over their work on some of the FTP's great plays. Ultimately, the group splinters after a Congress spooked by Communism brings an end to their employment. Playing everybody from Macbeth to Mussolini on stage, these "nobodies" show just how valuable art and artists are, no matter what's going on in the world around them.

"Our work on The Nobodies Who Were Everybody was very much inspired by the Covid-19 lockdown, when many artists received relief grants to keep creating while theaters were shuttered," said Katie Palmer, the production's co-director and Co-Artistic Director of Theater in Asylum. "We looked back at many of the plays written for the FTP like The Cradle Will Rock and It Can't Happen Here and researched the lives of those involved in the project, specifically program director Hallie Flanagan. This production is the culmination of years of research, book clubs, workshops, and readings. We are so grateful to everyone who has helped bring the story of the 'nobodies' to the stage."

The Nobodies Who Were Everybody stars Marcella Adams, Jessie Atkinson, Liat Graf, Addy Jenkins, Adin Lenahan, and Arisael Rivera. The play was created by Theater in Asylum and was developed by Marcella Adams, Paul Bedard, Sarah Biery, Christopher DeSantis, Nadia Diamond, Ali Dineen, Addy Jenkins, Adin Lenahan, Katie Palmer, Al Parker, Francine Pinheiro, Arisael Rivera, Dan Stearns, and Cindy Wong. The production features stage management by Cody Hom and Sarah Biery, lighting design by Dan Stearns, scenic and prop design by Gizel Buxton, costume design by Brynne Oster-Bainnson, dramaturgy by Al Parker, and show graphics by Anita Rundles. The play is co-directed by Paul Bedard and Katie Palmer and produced by Kathryn Appleton.

Tickets are on sale now at theaterinasylum.com.

The Nobodies Who Were Everybody is presented with support from the Actors' Equity Foundation Board. The show is presented in partnership with Jalopy Theatre.

The Nobodies Who Were Everybody is an Equity Approved Showcase. Adin Lenahan and Arisael Rivera are appearing courtesy of Actors' Equity Association.

The Nobodies Who Were Everybody

 

by Theater in Asylum

August 3 (Preview), 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, and 19 at 8 PM; August 5, 6, 12, 13, 19, and 20 at 3 PM

Jalopy Theatre and School of Music, 315 Columbia Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231

Tickets: $30 General Admission, $40 Hero Admission, $20 Student/Artist/Low Income Admission. All performances will have a $0 ticket option for those who need it.

Theater in Asylum (TIA) is a New York-based theater company founded in 2010 to challenge and empower its community. TIA joyfully pursues rigorous research and an ensemble-driven approach to theater-making to create performances that investigate our past, interpret our present, and imagine our future. TIA prizes space to process, space to question-asylum-for its members and community. Past TIA productions include Occupy Prescott by Andy Boyd at The Jalopy Tavern, Hephaestus by Willie Johnson at LPAC's Rough Draft Festival; Totally Wholesome Foods by Alice Pencavel at the Episcopal Actors' Guild; The Brontës by Katie Palmer, Lucas Tahiruzzaman Syed and Sarah Ziegler at Brooklyn's Old Stone House; and ¡Olé!, conceived and directed by Paul Bedard, presented at the Prague, Rochester, and Chicago Fringe Festivals. Other ongoing TIA projects include The Debates, a series of plays inspired by local and national elections, a "Cold Reading" series, and original cabarets.