WEIGHTLESS
By The Kilbanes
Directed by Tamilla Woodard
LIVE Performance
THE LIVE PERFORMANCE HAS CONCLUDED
ON DEMAND
Through January 3
24-Hour Access Window
About the play
TheatreSquared's 2020 Arkansas New Play Festival reaches its thrilling conclusion with a, live, can’t-miss, bi-coastal theatrical event. Live and on-demand streaming performances of The Kilbanes’ acclaimed rock opera—Weightless—caps an intensive 10-day workshop developing the script.
"To watch this show is to be reanimated with a childlike sense that our choices have magical origins and magical ripple effects," wrote San Francisco Chronicle lead critic Lily Janiak of an earlier version of the work, describing the "expansive, soaring" new musical as "the future of theatre."
Weightless is an astonishing blend of propulsive rock ballads, driving rhythms and intimate storytelling. Inspired by the tale of Procne and Philomela from Ovid's Metamorphoses, Weightless weaves ancient myth with indie rock to tell a story of a woman who refuses to be silenced.
About the playwrightS
The Kilbanes are Kate Kilbane and Dan Moses, a married songwriting and performing duo. Their band has performed in rock clubs all over the United States. Their works for theater include Weightless (WP Theater), American Conservatory Theater, Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival, Z Space SF), The Code (upcoming – commissioned by American Conservatory Theater’s Youth Conservatory), a musical adaptation of As You Like It (San Francisco Shakespeare Festival), Eddie the Marvelous Who Will Save the World (O’Neill National Music Theater Conference, Theatreworks New Works Festival, Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor). They recently received the Next Generation Commission from Theater Latte Da in Minneapolis, along with their collaborators Jessie Austrian and Noah Brody of Fiasco Theater. Other collaborators include Jaime Casteneda, Lynn Rosen and Lauren Gunderson. They have been finalists for the Glickman Award and the Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Awards.
Developed in collaboration with the acclaimed off-Broadway company WP Theater, in anticipation of a full filmed production in April & May of 2021. Commissioned by Z Space and Encore Theater Company, Weightless had its world premiere in 2018 at Z Space in a co-production with piece by piece productions. The companies remounted Weightless in May 2019, presented by A.C.T. at the Strand Theater.
LILA BLUE (Philomela) makes her TheatreSquared debut. Her Off-Broadway credits include Anya in Cherry Orchard (Lake Lucille Chekov Project), Philomela in Weightless (Z Space), and Lila in Live From the Basement (New Conservatory Theatre Center). Television and film credits include her original music in the film Story of A Girl (Lifetime), as well as original music in the upcoming documentary Each and Every Day (MTV). She is currently pursuing a B.A. at Sarah Lawrence.
KOFY BROWN (God) makes her TheatreSquared debut. An Oakland, Calif. musician, singer and songwriter, she has been a pioneering force in the Bay Area’s hip-hop soul/rock scene. She’s played the prestigious North Sea Jazz Festival, toured with Iggy Pop, and played with Boosty Collins, Maceo Parker, Macy Gray and others as well as placing music on MTV, OWN and other independent films. Her band, the KBB (Kofy Brown Band), have spread the gospel of Brown’s unique style of soul, rock, funk and more all-over North America, Canada and Europe while on tour. She is also the drummer/singer for Skip the Needle and bassist/singer for Sistas in the Pit. Her new release, Child of Providence, an homage to her great, great grandfather Providence Powers, is released on her indie label Simba Music. This is her 10th release – available on all electronic formats.
DAN HARRIS (Percussion/Chorus) makes his TheatreSquared debut. He has been the drummer with the Kilbanes for over 10 years. He also plays with San Francisco rock band Society of Rockets. In the early and mid-2000s he produced hip hop with various rappers in St. Louis, and played drums with the St. Louis hip hop band Sac Lunch. When not drumming, he develops cutting-edge digital audio technologies for consumer electronics and professional audio companies. He received his Master of Science degree in Music Engineering Technology from the University of Miami Frost School of Music.
KATE KILBANE (Procne/Bass) makes her TheatreSquared debut. The Kilbanes began as a theatrical rock band led by married songwriting duo Kate Kilbane and Dan Moses. Weightless was previously featured at NYC’s Public Theater at Under the Radar in January 2019 and had runs at ACT in 2019 and Z Space in 2018. Their musical adaptation of As You Like It, commissioned by SF Shakespeare Festival, played throughout the Bay Area in summer 2019. Their intergalactic rock epic Eddie the Marvelous, Who Will Save the World, has been developed at the O’Neill National Music Conference, Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor and Theatreworks’ New Works Festival. In collaboration with Jessie Austrian and Noah Brody of Fiasco Theater, the Kilbanes were awarded the Next Generation Commission by Theater Latte Da in Minneapolis. They are also under commission with ACT’s Youth Conservatory and Theatreworks Silicon Valley.
DAN MOSES (Keyboards/Chorus) makes his TheatreSquared debut. The Kilbanes began as a theatrical rock band led by married songwriting duo Kate Kilbane and Dan Moses. Weightless was previously featured at NYC’s Public Theater at Under the Radar in January 2019 and had runs at ACT in 2019 and Z Space in 2018. Their musical adaptation of As You Like It, commissioned by SF Shakespeare Festival, played throughout the Bay Area in summer 2019. Their intergalactic rock epic Eddie the Marvelous, Who Will Save the World, has been developed at the O’Neill National Music Conference, Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor and Theatreworks’ New Works Festival. In collaboration with Jessie Austrian and Noah Brody of Fiasco Theater, the Kilbanes were awarded the Next Generation Commission by Theater Latte Da in Minneapolis. They are also under commission with ACT’s Youth Conservatory and Theatreworks Silicon Valley.
JOSH POLLOCK (Tereus/Guitar) makes his TheatreSquared debut. A Bay Area-based actor, playwright, composer, and musician, his recent theater credits include Catesby in The War Of the Roses (CalShakes); The Carnival Barker in Woyzeck (Shotgun Players); and Gallifet in The Red Virgin (Central Works). Film credits include Coughing Man in Steven Soderbergh's Contagion, and on television, Wolverine #2 on the series Trauma (NBC). He can also be heard narrating the audiobook of I'm Your Man: The Life Of Leonard Cohen, by Sylvie Simmons.
TAMILLA WOODARD (Director) makes her TheatreSquared debut. Recently named one of 50 Women to Watch on Broadway, she is the co-artistic director of Working Theater in New York; the founder of the site specific international partnership, PopUP Theatrics; and the associate director of Tony Award-winning Hadestown on Broadway. Prior to joining Working Theater, she served as the BOLD associate artistic director at WP Theater. She has directed at theaters nationally and internationally, including at WP Theater, Baltimore Center Stage, American Conservatory Theater, Classical Theater of Harlem, The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts with TheaterWorksUSA, and The Cleveland Public Theatre, among others. Recent highlights include the world premiere of Donetta Lavinia Gray’s award-winning Where We Stand at WP Theatre, Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls at A.C.T.’s Geary Theater, and the critically acclaimed immersive off-Broadway production of 3/Fifths, by James Scruggs. Currently, she is represented online with the visionary, interactive digital tour of American Dreams, which she directs and developed with Leila Buck. Her work has been recognized with an Off-Broadway Alliance Award and Lucille Lortel Nomination. She is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama, where she also teaches.
GUY BRENNER (Sound Engineer and Designer) makes his TheatreSquared debut. He was sound engineer at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco for 20 years. Recent design credits include Still Standing, Joe Goode Performance Works in San Francisco. He toured with Michael Franti and Charlie Hunter. He received the Bay Area Theater Critics Circle Award for Sound Design for Right Mind, produced by George Coates and ACT, San Francisco. He studied at UC Berkeley and SF State University.
WOLFGANG WACHALOVSKY (Videographer) makes his TheatreSquared debut.
KATHERINE FREER (Animator) makes her TheatreSquared debut.
HANNAH ROSENZWEIG (Production Stage Manager) makes her TheatreSquared debut.
ELI GOODMAN (ASM & COVID-19 Safety Monitor) makes his TheatreSquared debut.
ERICKA SOKOLOWER-SHAIN (Camera Operator) makes her TheatreSquared debut.
ROBERT FORD (Artistic Director) co-founded TheatreSquared in 2005. Unusual among artistic directors in the American theatre, he is chiefly a playwright. Most recently, with Amy Herzberg, he co-adapted T2's A Christmas Carol; past seasons have included Fault, The Spiritualist (also New Harmony Project and Stages Rep in Houston), The Fall of the House (also Alabama Shakespeare Festival—Edgar Award nominee), Look Away (also Southern Writers Project), and 'Twas the Night. My Father’s War (T2, 2008 and upcoming in 2020) has appeared in the UK, Italy, and Germany. He is winner of the Stanley Drama Award and the Best Theatre Award in the Hollywood Fringe, among others. His critically acclaimed first novel, The Student Conductor, was a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers pick. He holds a M.Mus. degree from Yale and M.F.A.'s in acting from Rutgers and in playwriting & screenwriting from the Michener Center for Writers, University of Texas at Austin.
MARTIN MILLER (Executive Director) joined T2 in 2009, where he has produced more than 100 plays and developmental works, grew the theatre's annual budget from $160,000 to over $4MM, and expanded its audience more than twentyfold. He managed the design and construction of T2's new $31MM theatre center, housing two intimate venues, an open-all-day café/bar, artist housing, production shops, rehearsal space, and offices. He established the National Stages Program (nationalstages.org), a consortium of producing theatres offering reciprocal member benefits, and has served as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts. As associate producer at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, he produced a variety of projects including the bilingual Romeo y Julieta with Karen Zacarías. He is a graduate of Carleton College and holds an M.F.A. in arts leadership from The Theatre School at DePaul.
DEXTER J. SINGLETON (Director of New Play Development) joined T2 in 2020 as its director of new play development after directing The Royale in 2019 and Among the Western Dinka and Black Book in the 2018 Arkansas New Play Festival. He is a director, actor, activist, playwright, educator and producer. He is the founding executive artistic director of Collective Consciousness Theatre, a multicultural theatre for social change in New Haven, Connecticut. Since 2007, this company has reached thousands of youth and adults with plays and workshops across the U.S. and Europe. They have produced the work of playwrights Dominique Morisseau, Idris Goodwin, Jackie Sibblies Drury, Katori Hall and many others. As a director, his work has recently been seen at T2, University of Michigan, University of Arkansas, Flea Theatre (NYC), Long Wharf Theatre, Passage Theatre and many others. Recent credits include Flint, Jesus Hopped The A Train, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, Topdog/Underdog, The Mountaintop, and She Kills Monsters. He is also an assistant professor of performance at the University of Connecticut, board member for TYA/USA and co-chair of the TYA National Task Force for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. He was recently awarded the 2019 Artistic Excellence Award from the State of Connecticut and Distinguished Director of a Play for Black Book from The Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival. Upcoming projects: Skeleton Crew (Collective Consciousness Theatre), Little Shop of Horrors (Connecticut Repertory Theatre).