AWFUL EVENT! is an ongoing collaboration, work-in-progress.
Contact me if you are interested to know more about this endeavor!

AWFUL EVENT!
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​Co-created by Daniel Schlosberg, Kate Tarker, and Dustin Wills

Come, my love, to the theater, take a break from divisive partisan politics, watch a delightful escapist British comedy <BANG!> ..... oh no.

Looking back at the 19th Century and its concerns is like travelling through a broken looking glass. Shards of it still stick to our present-day open wounds: gun violence, a sensationalist press, a nation bitterly divided, and the double-bind of women in politics. This moment was a loss of innocence for the country -- a shock and loss that everyone felt personally. It’s also a fascinating moment in theater. Of course, there’s the awful truth that the President was shot by an actor, but beyond that – this was a period of time when the audience was boisterously in conversation with the work being presented to them. They threw tomatoes, they yelled, they clapped vigorously enough to bring the show to a standstill – they were unruly and obnoxious, or in other words: empowered and democratic. We want to weave this energy into our show, and empower our audience in turn.
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Princess Grace Foundation Works-in-Progress Residency
Baryshnikov Arts Center Spring Residency: May 14 - 25, 2018

Thanks to the Princess Grace Foundation Works-in-Progress Residency Grant, our team met for two weeks at the Baryshnikov Arts Center to continue development on our musical Awful Event! This edited video features performances by Chris Bannow, Jenelle Chu, Austin Durant, Birgit Huppuch, Jamilyn Manning-White, Sean Patrick Higgins, Ronald Peet, Emma Ramos, Zenzi Williams, Mitchell Winter; music performed by Daniel Schlosberg (Piano), Jonny Allen (Percussion), Madeleine Bouissou (Cello), and Graham Banfield (Guitars); and design consultation from Mariana Sanchez-Hernandez (sets), Montana Blanco (costumes), Kate Marvin (sound), Joey Moro (lights).

A coupl'a hastily recorded songs

A Discourse on Experience - Birgit Huppuch as Mary Todd Lincoln, Zenzi Williams as Elizabeth Keckley
Booth Booth Booth Booth Booth Booth - The company featuring Mitchell Winter as Harry Hawk
Sighing Song - Birgit Huppuch as Mary Todd Lincoln
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The History Dance - Full company featuring Sean Patrick Higgins and Ronald Peet

NYTW and Ars Nova Workshop 2016
Photography by Marielle Solan

AWFUL EVENT!
​Produced by ARS NOVA Ant Fest 2016
Workshopped with New York Theatre Workshop Adelphi Residency 
Written by Kate Tarker
Directed by Dustin Wills
Composed by Daniel Schlosberg
Resurrected from the dead by Dustin Wills, Kate Tarker, Daniel Schlosberg, Chris Bannow, Ngozi Anyanwu, Birgit Huppuch, Adina Verson, Jamilyn Manning-White, Mitchell Winter, and Daniel K. Isaac
Scenic and Lighting design by Joey Moro
Costume design by Martin Schnellinger

Featuring
Birgit Huppuch as Mary Todd Lincoln
Chris Bannow as John Wilkes Booth, et al
Ngozi Anyanwu as Elizabeth Keckley, et al
Adina Verson as Laura Keene, et al
Jamilyn Manning-White as Clara Harris, et al
Dustin Wills as Asa Trenchard, et al

Piano: Dan Schlosberg
Cello: Ian Gottlieb
Guitars: Brendon Randall-Myers
Percussion: Ben Wallace

An old Promo Video from yesteryear...