Or, An Astronaut Play
Written by Johnny G. Lloyd
Directed by William Steinberger
Jan 4 - 26
The Astronaut School has four students—but only one can actually make it to outer space. Who has what it takes? Does anyone even know what it takes? Following the experiences of Daria, an intense, focused student, Claire, a woman struggling to fully realize her own ambitions, Paul, a hobbyist, and Tom, a straight, white, American man, OR, AN ASTRONAUT PLAY explores who gets access to the space they want to enter, why, and what’s left for the rest of us. Featuring Caturah Brown (Good Friday) as Daria, Tay Bass (Hype Man) as Claire, Jonathan Cruz (Seance Machine) as Paul, and Harrison Unger (Broadway's The Play That Goes Wrong) as Tom.
Written by Johnny G. Lloyd
Directed by William Steinberger
Dramaturgy
Rebecca LeVine
Featuring
Caturah Brown, Jonathan Cruz, Tay Bass, and Harrison Unger
Stage Managed by Sarah Zerod
Costume Design by Barbara Delo
Lighting design by Bailey Costa
Sound Design by Brian Hickey
Production Managed by Frank Poon
Scenic Design by Izmir Ickbal
Casting by Sean Chia
ABOUT INVERSION THEATRE
InVersion Theatre excavates and liberates found and foundational texts, transforming them into raucous, unrecognizable new theatrical experiences. InVersion Theatre was founded in 2011in Philadelphia by Rebecca LeVine, Johnny G. Lloyd, and William Steinberger. Starting with an existing and often overdetermined text, we create weird, genre-bending work, that remixes the orthodox with the avant-garde. InVersion Theatre produces the WE READ BOOKS series at The Tank.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Johnny G. Lloyd is a New York-based writer and producer. As a playwright, his work has been seen and developed at The Corkscrew Festival, The Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival, 59E59, Dixon Place, The Tank, Judson Memorial Church, Theatre Lab at Florida Atlantic University, Fringe NYC and more. Johnny is a member of the 2019-2020 Liberation Theatre Company’s Writing Residency. Johnny was a semi-finalist for the 2018 Open-Application Commission at Clubbed Thumb and the 2017-2018 Shubert Fellow for Playwriting at Columbia University. He is the producing director of InVersion Theatre. jglloyd.weebly.com
William Steinberger has developed new plays at Hartford Stage, the Drama League, Berkshire Theatre Group, the Wilma, 59E59, Judson Church, Jewish Plays Project, Passage Theatre, Theatre Horizon, InterAct, FGP and Uglyrhino. He has directed productions at Columbia and Neumann universities as well as Quince, FringeArts and the Greenfield Collective. Will has assistant directed for Doug Hughes, Darko Tresnjak, David Auburn, Michael Wilson, Vivienne Benesch, Kip Fagan, Lee Sunday Evans and Robert O’Hara. He is a resident director at the Flea, MTC Directing Fellow and LCT Directors Lab member. Will recently produced Notes on My Mother’s Decline for PlayCo/ABTP at NYTW Next Door. Will is co-founder of InVersion Theatre. Wsteinberger.com
Rebecca LeVine has served as the in-house InVersion dramaturg since 2012. She holds a Master of Arts in Performance Studies from NYU’s Tisch School, where she wrote about photography and the performance of mourning and theater as labor versus theater as enchantment. She studied English at the University of Pennsylvania, where she also acted, directed, dramaturged, and designed for theatre. She also works in publishing and is a freelance graphic designer.
THE CAST
Tay Bass (Claire)Tay Bass is thrilled to be joining the InVersion team here at The Tank! She was last seen in Boo Killebrew's Summer's Soldier at Williamstown Theatre Festival. NY theatre credits include Hype Man: a break beat play (The Flea), 48 Hour Forum (Noor Theatre) and As You Like It (El Barrios Artspace). Regional Credits include: ORLANDO (Williamstown), RENT (Bristol Valley), and Much Ado About Nothing (Texas Shakes). Tay received her BFA in Acting from Long Island University Post '17. www.taybass.com
Caturah Brown (Daria) Caturah Brown is excited to be bringing the character of Daria to life in Or, An Astronaut Play. She is a New York City based actor/dancer who graduated from Marymount Manhattan College with her BFA in Acting. She then completed her classical training with a focus on Shakespeare in Oxford at the British American Dramatic Academy. Her previous credits include good friday (The Flea Theater), Almost Maimed (The Tank), Marc in Venice (Theatre at St. John’s), ms. estrada (The Flea Theater), and The Reality Plays (St. Clemente’s Theater). IG: @caturahdelores_ www.caturahbrown.com
Jonathan Cruz (Paul)Jonathan is thrilled to be a part of this production of Or, An Astronaut Play. Growing up in New York, he attended the Fame school (Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School) where he studied performing arts. His recent credits include The Seance Machine (The Tank) and a television appearance on Evil Lives Here (Investigation Discovery). Jonathan would like to thank his loving family, friends, and the entire Or, An Astronaut Play team. Follow Jonathan @yesiamjonathan.
Harrison Unger (Tom) Broadway: Dennis (aka Perkins the Butler) in The Play That Goes Wrong. Other NYC appearances at: 59E59, Joe’s Pub, Park Avenue Armory, HERE Arts Center, Dixon Place, The Wild Project, The Brick Theater, NY International Fringe Fest/Fringe Encore Series. Web includes: I Love You (NPR’s This American Life), web-series Good Cop Great Cop. TV: Hack My Life (truTV). Trained at London’s British American Drama Academy and NYC’s Atlantic Acting School; improv training at UCB and Second City. BA: University of Pennsylvania. He also makes short videos (and more!) under the name Harrington Plunger.