Theater in Asylum Presents THE DEBATES: GENERAL ELECTION

The New York-based devised theater company, Theater in Asylum (TIA), will present four performances of The Debates: General Election at Under St. Marks Theater in the East Village.

The Debates is an ensemble-created, stage adaptation of the 2016 Presidential Debates. With mimicry, abstraction, and earnest curiosity, The Debates aims to illuminate the candidates, their policies, and their characters. The work pushes through the language of politics and of politicians that can so often be opaque and exclusive. It encourages the audience to engage and debate, and to not just let the elites and insiders discourse on citizens' behalf.

Over the past year Theater in Asylum has immersed itself in presidential politics. The Company started experimenting in summer 2015 devising short works from the Kennedy/Nixon debates. The following fall and winter, the company expanded the project further with a series of shows based on the Democratic Primary debates. In an interview with Howlround, Theater in Asylum's co-artistic director Paul Bedard stated that, "There is so much information in an election year. I believe it is the artist's duty to help make sense of it all, not with more information, but with interpretation, narrative, color, sound, story. Art helps us understand the stakes, the context, and the humanity within the chaos."

The work surrounding the primaries culminated in a compilation piece presented at the Kraine Theater in NYC in April 2016 right before the New York State Primaries. New York Magazine's Bedford + Bowery hailed the show as "the perfect capsule of our surreal political culture... The actors seem to transform before your eyes, from a spot-on hunched-over Bernie impersonation to a frozen-lipped Hillary, swaying like a tipsy sailor." NY City Lens remarked, "Not only was The Debates-a play that amused and educated a full house at the Kraine Theater on the eve of the primary elections-about politics. It was politics."

Following the success of The Debates in New York, TIA held workshops of the piece at Muhlenberg College and Butler University and performed the complete work at the William Way LGBT Center in Philadelphia and The Hartford Carriage House in Hartford. The Hartford Courant wrote that, "This was the way to spend the nervous hours before voting began on Tuesday... Forthright, in-your-face, up-to-the-minute."

The Debates: General Election will run Sunday, November 6 and Monday, November 7 at 7pm and 9pm at Under St. Marks Theater (94 St Marks Pl, New York, NY).

Performed by Adrian Bridges, Kayla Catan, Farrah Crane, Calandra Daby, Sarah Eismann, Amanda Ghosh, Joe Marx, Camara McLaughlin, and Blake Sugarman.

The Team

Conceived and Directed by Paul Bedard

Choreographed by Katie Palmer

Dramaturgical Team lead by Samantha Keogh

Assistant Directed and Video Design by Jake Beckhard and Julia Levine

Lighting Design by Dan Stearns

Production Design by Yonit Friedman

Sound Design by Adrian Bridges

Free tickets will be distributed one hour before each performance, first-come, first-served. Reserved seats ($10-$30) are available online at www.theaterinasylum.com/debates. The show runs 60 minutes with no intermission.

PAUL BEDARD (Theater in Asylum Co-Artistic Director; conceiver, director The Debates) Paul Bedard is a New York City-based theater director and activist. Recent directing credits include The Glowing Boot at the United Solo Festival, The Infernal Machine at The Hangar Theatre, and ¡Olé! at the Prague International Fringe Festival. Paul is a Drama League Directing Fellow and graduated from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.

KATIE PALMER (Theater in Asylum Co-Artistic Director; choreographer The Debates)

Katie Palmer is a choreographer, theater maker, teaching artist, and advocate. A graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts with a BFA in Drama, recent NYC choreography credits include: In Fields Where They Lay (The New Ohio), Held Momentarily (The Sheen Center, NYC Fringe ENCORES Series), ¡Olé! (Prague International Fringe Festival, NYC: UNDER St Marks), Sweeney Todd, Falsettos, Once on This Island. Katie works with Disney Theatrical Group, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Center for Arts Education, and Together in Dance as a Dance and Musical Theater Teaching Artist in the public schools of New York. Katie is also Communications Director of The League of Independent Theater, an advocacy group for the makers of Independent Theater in New York City.

SAMANTHA KEOGH (Theater in Asylum Resident Dramaturg; Lead Dramaturg The Debates) Samantha Keogh is a performer, writer, and dramaturg. She is the Resident Dramaturg for Theater in Asylum and her previous credits with the company include ¡Olé! (dramaturg, Tour Manager for U.S. tour, Company Manager for Prague tour), #Coriolanus (dramaturg), Extraordinary (dramaturg, performer), and Revolution in 1 (performer). Other dramaturgy credits include Stoopdreamer, The McGowan Trilogy, Hard Times: An American Musical, and The Irish Cell with The Cell NYC. Previous performance credits include Love, NY (LaTiDo), Pirates of Penzance (Fiddlehead Theater Company), Oklahoma!, Hot L Baltimore, and Titus Andronicus. She trains in Butoh with The Ume Group and is a member of The Parish Choir at Grace Church in Union Square.

JAKE BECKHARD (Assistant Director and Video Designer The Debates) Jake Beckhard is a director, deviser, and the producing artistic director of Artilliers (www.artilliers.org). He is the 2016 Westport Country Playhouse Directing Fellow, and the Director of Performance at Chinatown Soup. He has developed work at Theater for the New City, The Flea, the Bridge, the Davenport, Atlantic Stage Two, Chinatown Soup, and apartments across Manhattan. Favorite credits: Artaud Artaud (TNC, Artilliers); A Dream Play (Chinatown Soup, Artilliers); Camelot (Assistant Direction, Westport Country Playhouse). Grateful to Paul, Katie, and every TIA regular to be a part of this impassioned incensed family.

JULIA LEVINE (Assistant Director and Video Designer The Debates) Julia Levine is a theater artist, educator, and producer based in New York City. As a director in NYC, Julia has assisted on various downtown projects, including TIA's The Debates: NY Primary Performance. Julia has also worked with other companies that consider political and cultural topics, including Manhattan Shakespeare Project, Honest Accomplice Theatre, and Superhero Clubhouse. Julia is the Marketing Fellow at HERE Arts Center, and has worked administratively for The Foundry Theatre, The TEAM, and others. She is the Assistant Producer of the 2017 International Human Rights Festival, co-hosted by the Institute of Prophetic Activist Art and Dixon Place, where she will premiere UPROOT, her new play on the American food system. Julia graduated summa cum laude from Butler University, where she studied Theatre and Anthropology.

DAN STEARNS (Theater in Asylum Resident Lighting Designer; Lighting Designer, Production Manager The Debates) Dan Stearns is a lighting designer, scenic designer, and production manager interested in the intersections of dance, theater, music, and video. With Theater in Asylum: #Coriolanus, ¡Olé!, Revolution in 1, and Frankenstein. Other recent collaborations include Kyle Abraham / Abraham.In.Motion, Jane Comfort and Company, Pavel Zuštiak/Palissimo, LeeSaar The Company, Scott Ebersold, Tara Ahmadinejad/Piehole, Sanaz Ghajarrahimi/Built for Collapse, and Tami Stronach. He has worked in venues such as BAM, The Joyce, New York Live Arts, La MaMa, Abrons Arts Center, HERE, Dixon Place, and 3LD in New York; and internationally from France to Korea and many places in between. He is a graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.

YONIT FRIEDMAN (Production Designer The Debates) Yonit Friedman is a NYC-based artist and activist. She has directed and performed with a variety of artists and companies, including Yesterday was Beautiful and Seven Minutes in Eternity with Mirror Dimly and The Sun Experiment with Helikon Rep. She has performed in previous iterations of The Debates, and is excited to design this one. She also organizes and rabblerouses around various progressive causes, and is delighted to have found a home for both her artistic and activist passions with Theater in Asylum. She graduated from NYU Tisch in 2014, where she studied at Playwrights Horizons Theatre School and the Experimental Theatre Wing.

ADRIAN BRIDGES (Sound Designer, Composer The Debates) Adrian Bridges is a guitarist and composer originally from Philadelphia and now living in New York City. He received both a Bachelor's and Master's degree from New York University's Jazz Studies program, with emphasis on guitar and composition, where he was honored a Presser Scholar. As a versatile instrumentalist, proficient in a wide variety of styles on guitar, mandolin, banjo, and bass, Adrian has found a home in the world of theater, playing for numerous productions, including Once We Lived Here (Australian Made Entertainment), Dreamgirls (The Gallery Players), and ¡Olé! (Theater In Asylum). As a music director, composer, and Sound Designer, he's also helped shape productions for Less Than Rent Theater (Little Town Blues, Diva-winner of Best Musical and Audience Favorite at The 2013 United Solo Theatre Festival) and Kaleid Theatre (Eurydice, Glow, Take/Sacrifice).

THEATER IN ASYLUM (TIA) is a New York-based theater company founded in 2010 to provide asylum to highly charged subjects and characters. With ensemble-driven performance we investigate to inspire engagement, empathy, and action. We seek a freer world and believe theater is both the means and the ends.

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