The Bushwick Starr presents:
demons.
written and directed by Keelay Gipson
Produced in association with JAG Productions and Oye Group
May 16 - June 10, 2023
At the Connelly Theater at 220 East 4th Street, NYC
Tuesdays - Saturdays at 7pm
The show runs 90 minutes, no intermission
FEATURING:
Donell James Foreman, Paige Gilbert, Joseph Lymous, Ashton Muniz, Christopher B. Portley, Gayle Samuels, and Jason Veasey
Placement Day video voiceover by Cedwan Hooks
CREATIVE TEAM:
Set design by Yu Shibagaki, lighting design by Minjoo Kim, sound design by Christopher Darbassie, puppet design by Cedwan Hooks, associate direction and costume design by Machel Ross, video production by Mike Hayhurst. The director of puppetry is Jon Riddleberger. Props by Devin McCallion Fletcher. Production stage manager is Nic Steffes, and assistant stage manager is Joseph Distl. Casting is by The Bushwick Starr.
ADDITIONAL STAFF:
Sekai Abeni (Associate Costume Designer), Adrian Yuen (Assistant Lighting Designer & Moving Lights Programmer), Alexis Attalla (Assistant Sound Designer), William Boles (Assistant Scenic Designer), Fay Simpson (Intimacy and Conflict Choreographer), Aaron Haskell (Puppet Technician)
Sabine Decatur & Kevin Hourigan (Line Producers), Devin McCallion Fletcher (Production Manager), Jay Maury (Technical Director), Mele Borges (Box Office Manager), Jen Williams (House Manager), Justin Allen (House Associate)
CREW:
Audio Engineer & Operator: Nicholas Cocks
Wardrobe: Matsy Stinson
Props & Production Assistant: Mele Borges
Head Electrician: Ayumu "Poe" Saegusa
Production Audio Supervisor: Jeffrey Rowell
Carpenters: Cole Montgomery, Justin Hill, Joe Pietropaolo, Jeffrey Rowell, Cyrus Kim, Pete Kobor, Adrienne Swan, Michael DeCaul
Scenic Artists: Colleen Combs, Yoonjin Kim
Upholstery: Matsy Stinson
Electricians: Kenneth Olguin, Cat Dawes, Jacqueline Scaletta, Sarazina Stein, Teddy Mueller, Mac Millan, Brian Soloweyko
Audio: Art Kopischke, Nicholas Cocks
Production Crew: Kedian Keohan, Loach Sample, Ann Marie Dorr, Samuel Taveras, Maggie Heath
Artwork by Felix Junior
demons. is made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, and Venturous Theater Fund of the Tides Foundation. Production design support for demons. provided by the Edith Lutyens and Norman Bel Geddes Design Enhancement Fund, a program of the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York (A.R.T./New York).
demons. was originally developed as part of JAGFest 2019 and New York Stage and Film’s 2022 Summer Season at Marist College, and received pre-production support from Evening Squire Productions.
BIOS:
Keelay Gipson (Playwright/Director) is an Afro Surrealist writer/director and professor whose plays include The Red and the Black (O’Neill Finalist), #NEWSLAVES (Princess Grace Finalist), imagine sisyphus happy (P73 Summer Residency @ Yale), Mary/Stuart, a dramatic queering of friederich schiller's classic play (BAM Next Wave Festival), The Lost Or, How to Just B (Kernodle New Play Award). AWARDS: NYSAF Founders’ Award, Barrington Stage Spark Grant. FELLOWSHIPS: Victory Gardens Playwrights Ensemble, Van Lier Fellowship at New Dramatists, Lambda Literary New Voices, Playwrights Realm, Dramatist Guild Foundation. RESIDENCIES: MacDowell, City of New York Public Artist in Residence (PAIR), The Hermitage Artist Retreat. Their work has been developed/supported by Roundabout, The Old Globe, Artist Repertory Theater, Bushwick Starr, New York Stage and Film, Ars Nova, National Black Theater, Rattlestick Playwrights' Theater, Classical Theater of Harlem, and New York Theatre Workshop.
Donell James Foreman (Bubba) Broadway: The Book of Mormon. Film: Fanatic (2023) and Dash (2022). TV: Grey’s Anatomy. International tours: Mamma Mia! and Hairspray. Donell has also created two one-man shows: The Dirty 30 Tour (54 Below) and Sign o’ the Times (The Duplex). Other credits include: 1776 (NYSTI), Myths and Hymns (Prospect Theater Company), A Motown Christmas (Casa Mañana), Disney in Concert (Boston Symphony Orchestra). @TheDJF_
Paige Gilbert (Sissy) Broadway: The Skin of Our Teeth, The Rose Tattoo. Off-Broadway: A Raisin In The Sun (The Public) School Girls; or, the African Mean Girls Play, BLKS (MCC); Street Children (New Ohio Theatre); Film: Late Night, Adam (independent). Choices. TV: "Russian Doll," "High Maintenance,' "The Deuce. Education: BFA, SUNY Purchase. Thank you Keelay for putting your heart on the page.
Joseph Lymous (Danily) is a New Orleans born actor, comedian, puppeteer, creator. His roots in puppetry sprouted through touring internationally with the Portland, Oregon based company, Imago Theatre. He has since puppeteered in many spaces including the meta verse with Double Eye Studios. In 2021 Joseph was the recipient of a Jim Henson Foundation development grant and named a Just For Laughs New Face of Comedy. Most recently he was featured in the 2023 CBS Showcase. Catch him in Season 2 of "Awkwafina is Nora From Queens" (Comedy Central), in the Season 3 premiere of "The other two." (HBO), and puppeteering retro futuristic robots in "Hello Tomorrow!" (Apple TV). Joseph is currently developing two of his original tv series with Just For Laughs TV and Abominable Pictures. Instagram: @jomiray
Ashton Muñiz (Bubba’s “Friend”) (they/he) is an actor, performance artist, activist and emerging producer whose artistic goal is to instill joy into the world by embracing the realities of the present. Recent acting credits include Andrew Rincon's I Wanna F*ck Like Romeo and Juliet, Matthew Lopez's The Inheritance on Broadway, Taylor Mac's 24-Decade History of Popular Music. Ashton has also been seen in productions Off-Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop, The Public Theatre, St. Ann’s Warehouse, Cherry Lane and more! Recently, Ashton has collaborated with various artists and curators thus being featured in their works at museums and galleries around the world including The Guggenheim, Art Institute Chicago, Swiss Institute, New Museum, CND(Paris), Lehmann Maupin and Pace Gallery. Additionally, Ashton has also danced for Karole Armitage//Marc Jacobs, A$AP Rocky, Rihanna and more. Training: Ithaca College, Moscow Arts Theatre School, Shakespeare & Co, Hillman Grad Mentee. @arshton
Christopher B. Portley (Bruh-in-Law) is a Dallas Texas native and based in Harlem New York. He recently made his Off-Broadway Debut this past fall in LA RACE as Trey, directed by Taylor Reynolds (Page 73/Working Theater). Other Theater Credits: Sweat( Northern Stage), American Prophet: Fredrick Douglass In His Own Words (Arena Stage), ANTIGONE (Cleveland Play House) , Blood At The Root (Chautauqua Theater Company), Commedia ( Chautauqua Theater Company), Father Comes Home From The Wars parts I,II, & III (African American Repertory Theater). He holds an MFA in Acting from the Case Western Reserve/ Cleveland Play House. Instagram: Christopherbportley.
Gayle Samuels (Mama) Broadway: Ohio State Murders, Children of a Lesser God, Sunset Blvd., Grind, Dancin’. Off-Broadway: MsTrial, Sistas, Little Shop of Horrors, The Dark Star From Harlem. Nat’l/Internat’l Tours: Harry Belafonte (featured vocalist), Little House on the Prairie, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Sophisticated Ladies. Regional: Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill – Best Actress Nomination (Conn. Critics Circle), A Raisin in the Sun (Sydney, Australia), Cyrano (starring Peter Dinklage), Fences, Seven Guitars, The Sunshine Boys, Crowns, Beehive, Chess TV/Film: Bull, The Equalizer, Queens, Girls5eva, The Flight Attendant, Madam Secretary, The Americans, Black Nativity, American Wisper – Best Supporting Actress Award
Jason Veasey (D.D.) Broadway/National Tours: A Strange Loop, The Lion King. Many Off-Broadway credits including the original production of A Strange Loop for which he won an Obie. TV/Film: Only Murders in the Building, Little Voice, Chicago Fire, High Maintenance, Flatbush Misdemeanors and more! He couldn’t be happier to be a part of this! He’s very proud of Keelay!!! @veaseyville
Yu Shibagaki (Scenic Designer) (she/her) is a NYC based set designer, originally from Nagoya, Japan. Recent designs include Exotic Deadly; or MSG play (The Old Globe); The Sound Inside (Everyman Theatre), Villette (Lookingglass Theatre); 1919 (Steppenwolf for Young Adults); Heroes of the Fourth Turning (Studio Theatre); Dishwasher Dreams (Hartford Stage); Her Honor Jane Byrne (Lookingglass Theatre); School Girls; Or the African Mean Girls Play (Goodman Theatre); I, Banquo, I, Cinna (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); and more. Upcoming designs include Lucy & Charlie’s Honeymoon (Lookingglass Theatre); Madama Butterfly (Boston Lyric Opera); Dishwasher Dreams (The Old Globe) and more. http://www.yushibagaki.com/
Minjoo Kim (Lighting Designer) is a lighting designer who’s been designing lights internationally including in Korea, China, and the United States. Her lighting design is dynamic and has diverse visual perspectives. Her collective lighting design credits include American Fast (City Theatre), English (Studio Theatre), The Great Leap (Round House Theatre), Twelfth Night (Synetic Theater), Henry V (Chesapeake Shakespeare Company), The Royale (KC Rep), The Chief (Pittsburgh Public Theater), A Few Good Men (Bristol Riverside Theatre), Sh-Boom! Life Could Be A Dream (Sierra Rep), Life Sucks (Cygnet Theatre), One in Two (Diversionary Theatre), Bette Davis Ain't for Sissies (Mile Square Theatre), The Two (Space Owul), Quiet No More (San Diego Women's Chorus), Qulili (The Blindspot), IDEAS-Cetacea (Calit2 Theater, Atkinson Hall). International: South Korea - The Two (Space Owu), Crimson Girl (Dongsoong Art Center), Die or Not (Seoul Art Space Mullae), China - Mask on/off (Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre). Her work The Royale was selected in the National Exhibit at Prague Quadrennial in 2023. Website: minjoo-design.com
Christopher Darbassie (Sound Designer) is an interdisciplinary artist. (Select Credits): A Bright New Boise (Signature Theater), Camp Siegfried (2nd Stage), Patience (2nd Stage), A Case for the Existence of God (Signature Theater), This Beautiful Future (Cherry Lane Theater, TheaterLab), PS (Ars Nova), Fly Away (Petzel Gallery), Preparedness, Black Exhibition (The Bushwick Starr). Chris has designed for installations, devised works and theatrical productions in collaboration with Alliance Theater, The Movement Theater Company, The Public, New York Theater Workshop, Playwrights Horizons, The TEAM, Theater for a New Audience, The Atlantic, and The Shed. Wingspace 2019-2020 Sound Design Fellow. www.darbassiedesign.com
Machel Ross (Associate Director/Costume Designer) (She/Her) is a director and creative collaborator based in NYC, who specializes in the development of new work and aesthetic world building. Regardless of medium, she’s invested in generating rigorous images, in support of framing stories to their fullest potential. She’s developed work with Melis Aker (HOUND DOG) Aziza Barnes (NANA), Agnes Borinsky (A Song of Songs) Daniella De Jesús (Mambo Sauce), Deaf West (T), PigPen Theatre Company (Phantom Folktales), Ellen Winter (This House Is your Home), and directed the world premiere of Jeremy O. Harris’ Black Exhibition at The Bushwick Starr, where she is now the Associate Artistic Director. Machel is a three time Mercury Store Artist in Residence, a 2022 Lily Award winner, a 2020-2022 WP Directing Fellow, a 2020 Sundance Theater Lab fellow, and a 2019 grant recipient of the Women's Fund for Film, TV and Theatre for her short film Signs He Made at Home. BFA-NYU Playwrights Horizons Theater School.
Cedwan Hooks (Puppet Designer) is a puppet artist from Kansas City, KS who has worked internationally. His puppeteering credits include Helpsters (Apple TV+/Sesame Workshop), Moon and Me (CBeebies), His History (fabric Workshop and Museum), Albie’s Elevator (PBS Kids), and Doom Patrol (DC Universe). He is the spokesperson for Primrose Schools in the role of Percy the Rooster. As a designer, Cedwan has created walkaround/puppet works for Aerosmith, Warner Brothers, Comedy Center, Georgia Aquarium, The Public Good Projects, and 20th Century Fox World in Malaysia. He also worked as a puppet designer and walkaround trainer for DreamWorks Experience in Macau. To find out more, visit www.cedwanhooks.com.
Jon Riddleberger (Director of Puppetry) is a NYC-based actor, puppeteer, filmmaker, director, and teacher. He has served as the director of puppetry on demons. since the developmental workshop at NYSAF. He has been a working puppeteer for over a decade. His work can be seen on-screen in the Clifford the Big Red Dog feature film, the BAFTA-nominated television show Moon and Me, and as puppeteer and puppet captain in the new Apple TV+ show Hello Tomorrow! He toured with the North American and Japanese tour of War Horse as a horse puppeteer and has continued travelling around the world with Handspring Puppet Company in the William Kentridge directed Il Ritorno D'Ulisse. He has worked many times with Dead Puppet Society most notably performing Laser Beak Man at the Sydney Opera House. Jon performed in Derek Fordjour and Nick Lehane’s collaborative piece, Fly Away, which has been turned into a film. He was in the original company of the NY Times Critic's Pick Bill's 44th which he continues to tour with. His award-winning film The Memory Trade was produced by Heather Henson’s Handmade Puppet Dreams and has been seen in festivals around the country. He is currently in development for a new puppet series titled friend. Jon is an adjunct teacher at NYU Tisch where he teaches puppetry to the drama students. You can find out more at: www.jonriddleberger.com
Nic Steffes (Production Stage Manager) BROADWAY: Company, Sweeney Todd, Peter Pan Goes Wrong, Network. OFF-BROADWAY: Octet, Scotland PA, Fireflies. REGIONAL: Lempicka, Where Storms Are Born. Love to family, Jack, McK & Kenz.
Joseph Distl (Assistant Stage Manager) Joseph is a queer Puerto Rican theater artist from Queens with dreams to produce unconventional theater for unconventional audiences. Recent credits include Eight Tales of Pedro(Queens Theatre) Truckers(INTAR), INTAR Presents: The 24 Hour Plays(INTAR) THIS AND THAT(Chocolate Factor & Bushwick Starr), CERCLE HERMAPHRODITOS (Breaking the Binary Festival), Let's Try That Again(The Working Theater), Bonnet Blues(Sol Project), Notes on Killing Seven Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Board Members(Soho Rep). Joseph would like to thank their incredible support system. Joseph would like to remind you that theater can be a force of activism. Take the time to celebrate and uplift marginalized communities that are losing their rights everyday. We are stronger together!
Devin McCallion Fletcher (Production Manager & Props) is a theater artist and administrator based in New York City and the coast of Maine. Some credits include: Ars Nova, Lincoln Center Education, The Assembly, Joe's Pub at The Public, Two River Theater, American Repertory Theater, Bluelaces, Trusty Sidekick, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Oye Group, Camden International Film Festival. Most recently, she joined the Starr as their production manager on Ryan J. Haddad's Dark Disabled Stories at The Public. She is a co-producer for Salty Brine's Living Record Collection, a member of The Assembly's current Deceleration Lab cohort for her project The Memory Game: A Ghost Story, and served as the Director of Programs at Maine Media Workshops + College from 2020-2022.
Sabine Decatur (Line Producer) (they/he) is an administrator, dramaturg, producer, and cultural worker currently working as Executive Chief of Staff at Baltimore Center Stage. Leading with a lens of antiracism, anti-oppression, and anti-capitalism, their administrative and artistic work seeks to drive theatermaking towards its liberatory potential. A graduate of the African-American Studies program at Yale, Sabine's other experience includes time as the editor of Yale's Dance Theatre Journal, as a researcher at OutHistory.org, as a Fellow at the Schomburg Center, and as an administrator at Semicolon Theater Company, Culture Project, and Oberlin Summer Theater Festival. He was a finalist for the 2018 Yale College Nakanishi Prize for leadership in advancing racial equity and was the 2019 recipient of Literary Mangers and Dramaturgs of the Americas' Early Career Dramaturgy Grant. Sabine’s written work has been published by American Theatre Magazine, the Yale School of Drama Annual Magazine, and Howlround.
Adrian Yuen (Assistant Lighting Designer) is a rising star in the world of lighting design, with an impressive portfolio of Off-Broadway and recent credits. Their talent, creative approach, and technical expertise make them a sought-after professional. From captivating Off-Broadway productions to projects at various venues, Adrian's meticulous attention to detail and ability to create immersive atmospheres leave audiences spellbound. Seamlessly navigating between traditional and cutting-edge lighting technologies, Adrian's work showcases their versatility and innovation. With a fresh perspective and unwavering commitment to exceptional results, Adrian is a rising figure in the field of lighting design, bringing brilliance to every production.
CONNELLY THEATER
The Connelly Theater is a historic jewelbox playhouse in the heart of NYC's East Village that now serves as a home for adventurous independent theater productions. Past productions include Talene Monahan’s The Good John Proctor and Zuzanna Szadkowski and Deborah Knox’s Fall River Fishing (Bedlam), Kate, created by Kate Berlant and Bo Burnham, Sasha Velour’s Nightgowns: The Musical, The Crucible (Bedlam), Will Arbery’s Plano (Clubbed Thumb; Drama Desk-nominated), Mandy Patinkin in Concert: Diaries 2018 (New York Theatre Workshop), The Bengson’s The Lucky Ones (Ars Nova; Lortel and Drama Desk-nominated), Sinking Ship's A Hunger Artist (as part of The Tank's Flint & Tinder series; Drama Desk-nominated), Mac Wellman's The Offending Gesture (as part of The Tank's Flint & Tinder series), Daniel Kitson's A Show for Christmas, The Lisps’ Futurity (Soho Rep. & Ars Nova; Lortel Award), Lyspinka! The Trilogy (TWEED), Mission Drift (The TEAM), Lucy Thurber's Monstrosity (13p), Anne Washburn's Apparition, and many others. The theater also serves as a location for film and television productions, including shows on HBO, Netflix, Amazon, FX, ABC, MTV, PBS, and many more. The building, originally an orphanage, dates back to the mid-1860s. The theater itself was once a choir hall, with the distinctive proscenium arch and raised stage added later.
CONNELLY THEATER General Manager: Josh Luxenberg
PRODUCER’S CIRCLE:
Allison and Mike Hayhurst
Joseph Legeleux
Noah Virgile
SPECIAL THANKS:
Jan Anaya, Chris Bert, BITE Brooklyn, Dria Brown, Dylan Brown, , Liz Carlson, HERE Arts Center, Martin Cohen, Jimmica Collins, Jordan E. Cooper, Ann Marie Dorr, Adi Eshman, Sarah Einspanier, Kelly Fenack/LIC Creative, Oscar Ginsberg, Network for Good, Sander Gusinow, Dillon Heape, David Hernandez III, Daniel K. Isaac, Jess Kazamel, N Keim, Grant Kretchik, Alicia Kroell, Johnny Lloyd, Eric Lockley, Dorothy Loechel, Josh Luxenberg, Lauren McCullough, Megyn Norbut, Naana Ohene, Rad Pereira, Stacey Rose, Matt Rosell, Logan Rummel, Samuel Salmond, Justin Sams, Isabella Sazak, Jason Schumacher, Natasha Sinha, Anthony Sireci, Aurin Squire, Molly Sullivan, The Tank, Tina Terry, Will Turner, Obehi Utubor, York Walker, TJ Weaver, Stephanie Ybarra
Lobby furniture from the Transport Group / NAATCO production of “A Delicate Balance.”