A DIY magic show for stay-at-home moms and anyone else who’s considered escape. “A sharp and compact spectacle. What begins as a conjuring of Harry Houdini grows and morphs before our very eyes until we're entering our own lives and thinking about the ways we all long to escape and astound one another. At the … Continue reading Instructions for a Seance
BWW Interview of director Devin Finn and I, led by Frank Benge.
Theatre Synesthesia has only been on the scene for a few short years, yet in that short time, they've managed to get on several award lists and have even walked away with a few of those awards. Their work has been exclusively dedicated to producing the writing of playwright Casey Wimpee... until now. On October … Continue reading BWW Interview of director Devin Finn and I, led by Frank Benge.
I love Robert Faires’ Review in the Chronicle
Words fly from her mouth like fireworks, rapid-fire bursts of thoughts and notions, some complete, some not, but all intense and vivid in their color, flash-flash-flash, pop-pop-pop, pink-pink-pink. This girl clutching the Hello Kitty notebook – could she even be in high school? – has so much energy. She's the first character to speak in … Continue reading I love Robert Faires’ Review in the Chronicle
Excellent BWW Review of The Fault by Joni Lorraine
As described by playwright Katie Bender, THE FAULT (currently produced by Theatre Synesthesia and running at Sky Candy Studios) is about the relationships of sisters living in an itinerant household, how the American dream doesn't apply to the impoverished, and how these impoverished, itinerant people find their way in the world. THE FAULT is indeed … Continue reading Excellent BWW Review of The Fault by Joni Lorraine
In Development
Instructions for a Séance A DIY magic show for stay-at-home moms and anyone else who’s considered escape. Part seance, part historical drag Instructions for a Seance is one woman’s attempt to contact and resurrect the late great escape artist Harry Houdini. Inspired by the Houdini archives at The Harry Ransom Center Instructions is a compact shiny diamond … Continue reading In Development
Plays
Survivors, an Alamo Play Survivors, an Alamo Play is based on the historically documented group of women, children and enslaved people who survived the battle of the Alamo. An epic historical drama told by a diverse ensemble of people who didn’t make it into the history books, it’s also an intimately drawn look at the … Continue reading Plays
In collaboration
NEXT YEAR PEOPLE Bender/Mars/Reisman Part choral narrative, part group fabulation, NEXT YEAR PEOPLE follows three people as they build a life together on an abandoned island in the Azores. Grappling with the ecstacy, ugliness, and awkward intimacy of collaboration, NEXT YEAR PEOPLE irreverently charts the making and unmaking of a new society: an interrogation of … Continue reading In collaboration
On Making Immersive Theatrical Experiences with Underbelly
For the last four years I’ve been working with Underbelly, a group of insanely talented artists: Stephanie Busing, Abe Koogler Gabrielle Reisman and Kristian Pina (designer, playwrights and stage manager) to create immersive journey plays that lead audiences into the unexplored parts of the theatre. Like many good collaborations, ours came out of friendships and … Continue reading On Making Immersive Theatrical Experiences with Underbelly
Chronicle Review of Alice by Robert Faires
Down the rabbit hole. Anyone who's toured the realm of the Red and White Queens and Mad Hatter and March Hare will know what that means. It's how Alice tumbles from a world of logic and reason into one of nonsense and irrationality. Typically, we've observed her fall from the comfortable remove of an easy … Continue reading Chronicle Review of Alice by Robert Faires
Katie Bender 