"The extremely imaginative staging, using acrobatics, aerial choreography, original music and abstract projections, creates a wordless, dream-like world... Poetic artistry spawning striking images and evoking powerful emotions... Uniquely thought-provoking." - Raleigh News & Observer

asylum (noun) \əˈ-sīl-əm\

1. a place of retreat and security: SANCTUARY, SHELTER, REFUGE
2. an institution for the care of the destitute or sick and especially the insane: MADHOUSE, BEDLAM, INSTITUTION

Described as "extremely imaginative" (Raleigh News & Observer) and "haunting" (Independent Weekly), Only Child Aerial Theatre's  ASYLUM unearths the forgotten lives of patients and employees in a state mental institution that was shuttered in the 1970s. Six multi-skilled performers balance poetic storytelling with aerial acrobatics, live music, projection, and shadow work. An original song written for the show by Grammy nominee Sophie B. Hawkins echoes throughout this heightened theatrical world.

Authors: Kendall Rileigh & Nicki Miller
Director: Nicki Miller
Choreographed by the performers
Primary Composer: Walken Schweigert
Original Song: Sophie B. Hawkins
Costumes: Jan Chambers
Lighting: John Wilder
Sound: Laura Sisskin Fernandez
Projections: Jesse Garrison
Aerial Rigging: Benjamin E. Oyzon
Production Stage Manager: William Vann Carlton
Creative Collaborators: Craig Whitehouse, Rowen Haigh, Mikaela Saccoccio

Cast: Sloan Bradford, Nicki Miller, Deon Releford-Lee, Kendall Rileigh, Shannon Spicer & Samantha Sterman

ASYLUM has been made possible by Brooklyn Arts Council, Burning Coal Theatre, Circus Warehouse, The Muse Brooklyn, Constellation Moving Company, The Hybrid Movement Creative Lab and the support of individual donors.

Photos by Andrew T. Foster: