“A fascinating, formidable production… You won’t receive a salary for seeing The Employees, but the experience is payment enough.” — Thinking Theatre NYC

“Both fascinating and frightening. Director Jaclyn Biskup is glad to leave us in a plaintive wonder, rather ąthan create a playing field of explanations to make the elusive obvious.” –The Theatre Times

“Seamlessly directed by Biskup (Venus, The Private of Lives of Eskimos [Or 16 Words for Snow]), The Employees is an intimate and intriguing look at where we might be heading a hundred years from now; whether escape will be possible has yet to be decided.” – This Week In New York

“While The Employees echoes common and timely, fears about AI’s rising sentience and encroachment on human-dominated fields, the play makes deeper points about the fundamental nature of “humanity,” particularly in environments that seek to undermine or squelch it.” – Theatre Is Easy

It’s the 22nd century and the human and humanoid crew on board the Six-Thousand ship are on a mission in search of a new home. When the ship takes on a number of strange objects from the planet New Discovery, the crew becomes strangely and deeply attached to them, even as tensions boil toward mutiny. 

An intimate and immersive performance in Theaterlab’s gallery space based on the critically acclaimed novel shortlisted for the International Booker Prize and the Ursula K. Le Guin Prize.

[A]n unforgettable novel about the psychic costs of labor under capitalism…Dreamlike and sensual, The Employees shouldn’t be missed.
— Esquire

Photo Credit Pelenguino Photo

Featuring Paul Budraitis, Molly Leland*, Christopher McLinden*, Aurea Tomeski*

Production Stage Manager Sam Kersnick
Scenic Design by Nora Marlow Smith
Lighting Design by Jackie Fox
Sound Design by Sabina Mariam Ali
Costume Design by Kristy Hall
Assistant Costume Design by Kana Seiki
Assistant Director Axel Fink

Sliding Scale Ticket Price: $25-$50

90 minutes

Theaterlab Gallery
357 W 36th St, 3rd floor, New York, NY 10018

Extremely limited seating

*these Actors are appearing courtesy of Actors' Equity Association

Olga Ravn’s The Employees unpacks like a miraculous gift, alive with changes. Peeling off the first wrap, things look eerie, then at the next mundane, and while the crackle might sound like laughter, it also shivers with terror or poignancy. Short as the novel is, some chapters just a few lines, it’s intense, sumptuous, and utterly distinctive. 
— John Domini, The Brooklyn Rail

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Jaclyn Biskup (Adaptation and Director) is a Chicago-born, NYC-based director and producer with over two decades of experience working in theatre, television, and film. She received an Emmy nomination and was a Peabody Finalist for her work on the digital series The Secret Life Of Muslims and currently works as the Associate Artistic Director at The Brick. She was the assistant director to Tony Award-winning director Anna D. Shapiro on the Broadway productions of The Minutes (Tracy Letts) and Straight White Men (Young Jean Lee). As the founding artistic director of The Mill, she has directed and produced over 20 productions, including the Chicago premiere of Venus (Suzan-Lori Parks) and The Private Of Lives Of Eskimos (Or 16 Words For Snow) (Ken Urban). Her work has been seen at New Ohio Theatre (where she also served as Creative Producer), Theaterlab, MCC Playlabs, New Dramatists, Rattlestick, Dixon Place, Town Stages, and the NYC International Fringe Festival. Jaclyn has assisted on productions at Steppenwolf, The Public, and The American Musical Theatre Workshop. Her digital projects include work for PBS NOVA, Vox, Delta Air Lines, Caltech, Harvard, and others. She is a New Georges affiliated artist and a first-generation college graduate with a BA in Theater from Northern Illinois University and an MFA in Directing and Theatrical Production from Northwestern University. www.jaclynbiskup.com

Lauren Holmes (Adaptation) is a writer based in NYC. Her work has been supported by LPAC’s Rough Draft Festival, the Woodward Residency, The Brick’s Quick + Dirty, and Hunter College, and recognized by The Playwrights Realm, The Civilians, WP Lab, The Bushwick Starr Reading Series, and the Risk Theatre Prize. Before playwriting, Lauren worked for UN agencies in Rome and New York, as well as a stint in corporate America. Hunter College MFA in Playwriting in 2023. laurenholm.es

Paul Budraitis (Performer) is a director, performer, and generative artist, based in Berlin. With the support of a Fulbright grant, he studied directing at the Lithuanian Music and Theatre Academy under the mentorship of visionary director Jonas Vaitkus. Paul worked with many acclaimed Lithuanian institutions, including the National Drama Theatre, the State Youth Theatre, the Kaunas State Drama Theatre, and more. While based in Seattle, Paul directed the world premieres of Elizabeth Heffron's Bo-Nita (Seattle Repertory Theatre) and Kristen Kosmas’ The People’s Republic of Valerie (On the Boards), as well as the Northwest premieres of Will Eno’s The Realistic Joneses (New Century Theatre Company), among others. As a founding member of Seattle performance collective The Violet Triangle, he collaborated with lead artist Timothy White Eagle to co-create the world premiere of The Indigo Room at La MaMa E.T.C., where it returned in 2023 as part of the Under the Radar Festival. His most recent work, an intimate solo performance called I Love That For You, premiered at Acker Stadt Palast Theater in Berlin last fall and will have its U.S. premiere at La MaMa E.T.C. in December, followed by performances at On the Boards in Seattle in January 2025. www.paulbudraitis.com

Molly Leland (Performer) is a TV, film, and theatre actress. Her TV credits include FBI: Most Wanted, The Missing, Ozark, Grey’s Anatomy, Legends, Law and Order: SVU, and The Player. Her favorite theater roles include Hennie Burger in Awake and Sing! ( A Noise Within Theater Company), Christina Mundy in Brian Friel’s award-winning Irish drama Dancing at Lughnasa (Chrysalis Theatre Company), and the title role in Candida, by George Bernard Shaw. Molly received her degree in Theatre Arts from Brandeis University. Molly is also a filmmaker who has won festival awards for her short films Signal Problems and Bruise Hunters. https://www.mollyleland.com

Christopher McLinden (Performer) New York theater credits: Red Hills (En Garde Arts) Tempest (LaMaMa) Everything That Rises Must Converge (Compagnia de Colombari) Nicholas, Maeve, Marianne (New York Fringe). Regional: Merchant of Venice (Peak Performances); Ibsen in Chicago (Seattle Repertory Theater); King Charles III (A.C.T., The Shakespeare Theater Co., Seattle Repertory Theater); Last of the Boys and Diary of Anne Frank (Steppenwolf Theater Co.); The Lion in Winter, Seagull, and Duchess of Malfi (Writer’s Theatre); Taming of the Shrew (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre); Twelfth Night and Cymbeline (Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival); Speak American (City Theatre, Pittsburgh); Celebrity Row (American Theatre Company); Vincent in Brixton (Appletree Theatre); Midsummer Night’s Dream (First Folio Shakespeare); The Lady From the Sea (Greasy Joan & Co.); The Vortex (Boxer Rebellion). Film and TV: The Night Agent; FBI: Most Wanted; Blacklist; Law and Order: SVU; Boardwalk Empire; Alpha House, Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight, 5-25-77. Member of The Actors Center. www.chrismclinden.com

Aurea Tomeski (Performer) is a New York-based actor, voiceover artist, and teaching artist. She has performed on stages across New York City, as well as regionally, and has appeared in numerous national web series, independent films, and commercials. Since 2015, Aurea has toured all over the United States, performing a one-woman version of Lois Lowry’s classic young adult novel The Giver, and in conjunction, has led numerous workshops centered around solo storytelling and empowerment through personal narrative. She has done extensive work in underserved communities, including correctional facilities and juvenile detention centers, in partnership with Literature to Life and Freedom Reads. In 2020, Aurea completed a theatrical co-adaptation of the acclaimed autobiography The Latehomecomer, which is currently touring across the United States. She previously collaborated with Jaclyn Biskup in a production of Untitled Ukraine Project at the New Ohio Theatre. Aurea holds a B.S. degree in Pre-Med/Psychology from NYU and an M.F.A. in Acting from the New School. She is also a Drama Curriculum Specialist and teaching artist at The Juilliard School. www.aureatomeski.com

Nora Marlow Smith (Scenic Design) is a Brooklyn-based scenic and costume designer, scenic painter, educator, and performance artist, working predominantly in Chicago and NYC. She teaches Design at the University at Albany (SUNY) in the Department of Music and Theatre. She received her MFA in Stage and Costume design from Northwestern University, as well as a BA in Set Design and English Literature from Mount Holyoke College. She also holds a Teaching Certificate from the Searle Center for Teaching and Learning at Northwestern University. Nora is a member of the Communications Honor Society Lambda Pi Eta and the 2022 recipient of the Michael E. Merritt Award for Excellence in Design and Collaboration. www.noramarlowsmith.com

Kristy Leigh Hall (Costume Design) has worked in Chicago, Washington, DC, New York, and regionally. She is the Costume Director with Chicago’s Definition Theatre Company. Her previous designs include: An Octoroon (Goodman Theatre and Definition Theatre), The Play About My Dad (Raven Theatre), I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, Tosca and The Wizard of Oz (Skylight Music Theatre), The Who and the What and Pipeline (Victory Gardens), Byhalia, Mississippi, (Steppenwolf Theatre Company), Stick Fly, This and Apartment 3A (Windy City Playhouse), Pygmalion (Joseph Jefferson Award Winner), Frankenstein (Joseph Jefferson Award Nomination) and Howards End (Remy Bumppo Theatre Company). Off-Broadway designs include Woody Harrelson's Bullet for Adolf, Feather: A Musical Portrait and I Forgive You, Ronald Reagan at Theatre Row. In Washington, DC, she has designed: The Illusion (Forum Theatre), Minnie the Moocher (Pointless Theatre), Genesis Reboot (Synetic Theatre), and That Face with the Studio Theatre. Her designs have been seen internationally in the Czech Republic and Brazil. She designed the film Holy Irresistible with Local Cinema Studios. Upcoming design: Catching the Moon with Children’s Theatre of Charlotte. Kristy has been featured in American Theatre Magazine and holds degrees from Northwestern University and the University of Maryland. www.kristyleighhall.com

Jackie Fox (Lighting Design) is a Brooklyn-based artist and lighting, scenic, and projection designer. Jackie has designed both regionally and internationally. She earned her MFA in Stage Design at Northwestern University where she was awarded the Merritt Academic Prize and the John Woodbridge Award. Selected credits include The Who and The What (The Juilliard School), The Wolves (McCarter Theatre Center), Dear Jack, Dear Louise (Northlight Theatre), Comedy of Errors (Wagon Wheel Theatre), Untold (PARA/MAR Dance Theatre), Sister Act (Mercury Theater), re: CLICK (American Music Theatre Project). Select scenic credits include: House of Desires and Do You Feel Anger (Grinnell College), Pride and Prejudice, and Comedy of Errors (Wagon Wheel Theatre). www.jackiefoxdesigns.com

Sabina Mariam Ali (Sound Design) is a sound designer based in New York City. Her credits include Fordham University Mainstage: Water by the Spoonful (Assistant Sound Designer), Everybody (Assistant Sound Designer), Continuity (Assistant Sound Designer), The Drag (Assistant Sound Designer), La Cocina (Sound Designer), The Wedding Gift (Sound Designer). Educational Sound Designs: Jumbee and Rum (MICA), Winter Break (PPAS), [BLANK] (PPAS), Dog SeeI's God (AADA). sabinamariamali.com

Sam Kersnick (Production Stage Manager) is a NYC-based stage manager, originally from Colorado. She graduated from The University of Northern Colorado in 2019 with a BA in Theatre Arts. Selected credits: ASM at Northern Stage 2022-23 season; ASM for The Railway Children by Carol Dunne and Eric Love, PSM for Jar of Fat by Seayoung Yim; PSM for Bonefruit by Leah Plante-Wiener; and ASM for The Dastardly Thornes v. The Town of Goldhaven by Ben Holbrook and Nate Weida.

Actors' Equity Association (AEA), founded in 1913, represents more than 50,000 actors and stage managers in the United States. Equity seeks to advance, promote and foster the art of live theatre as an essential component of our society. Equity negotiates wages and working conditions, providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans. AEA is a member of the AFL-CIO, and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions. The Equity emblem is our mark of excellence. www.actorsequity.org

Ravn asks us to envision a future in which the machines, rather than the humans that create and maintain them, lead the workers’ revolution.
— Lauren Nelson, LARB

This project is made possible in part with funds from Creative Engagement, a regrant program supported by The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) in partnership with the City Council, The New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature:, and the Howard Gilman Foundation and administered by LMCC.