“Hit the lights! speaks to all ages and all sensibilities, not unlike a Disney, and or Pixar film does.  HTl! asks us to be imaginative in a way we were capable of as children, but with the understanding that these stories are truly about things we don’t experience until we’re adults.”

HIT THE LIGHTS! CO. is an ensemble born from an artistic agreement to create and perform stories through collaborative non-hierarchy. We follow the motto ‘Less Talk, More Rock.’ in the creative, administrative, and producing processes. This culminates in work that is often:

• Hyper-theatrical: Where performers multitask onstage in real time to create the technical, musical, and narrative components of a story simultaneously. 

• Hand-made: Shows are meticulously built by the performers themselves, often including shadow puppets, direct manipulation puppetry, vintage overhead projectors, flashlights, original live music and immersive techniques. 

• Dialogue-light: Believing that motion, color, sound, and atmosphere are more evocative and experiential than spoken text, a heavy emphasis is placed on dialogue-less, action-oriented storytelling. Consequently, this allows the work to connect with audience members of varying theatrical experience and physical ability. All HTL shows are accessible, offering audio description, ASL, and other elements that help bring the work to life.

Our core company is comprised of four multidisciplinary artists who write, perform, puppet, direct, and produce the work as a collective. They are: 

• Samantha Blain

• Claron Hayden

• Casey Scott Leach

• Mikayla Stanley

PRODUCTION HISTORY: 

Original works include DUNGEON (Audience Pick of the Fringe at the Cincinnati Fringe; Editors’ Pick at the Minnesota Fringe); WHALES (nominated for three New York Innovative Theatre Awards—Outstanding Innovative Design, Outstanding Original Music, and Outstanding Premiere Production of a Play—and recipient of the Artist Pick and Venue Award at the Minnesota Fringe); and THE OTHER RHINE, a site-specific immersive experience created with the Know Theatre of Cincinnati.

Additional projects include creating original shadow puppets for Vogue Magazine’s March 2021 cover shoot featuring Gigi Hadid; a live cinematic puppet adaptation of Gimlet Media’s hit podcast The Habitat; an original adaptation of Hamlet with Portland Stage Company; a collaboration with the New York Botanical Garden’s Spooky Pumpkin Nights; and a live music video for Grammy-nominated Sammy Miller and the Congregation.

HTL! was also nominated for an Off-Broadway Alliance Award for “Best Family Show” for TASTE THE CLOUDS, commissioned by New York City Children’s Theater. Their Off-Broadway credits include performances at the New Ohio Theatre, Dixon Place, La MaMa ETC, New Victory Theater LabWorks, The Flea Theater, Franklin Stage Company, and Ars Nova, where they served as Company-in-Residence in 2018 and 2019. 

EDUCATION

A core expression of HTL!’s mission, vision, and values is our Education Series. For as long as we’ve been creating theater, we’ve also been teaching artists of all ages—sharing our practice in shadow puppetry, shadow play, nonverbal storytelling, collaboration, and ensemble-devised theater. Guided by our “Less Talk, More Rock” motto, we cultivate fun, energizing learning environments where students learn to communicate their ideas clearly, work together collaboratively, and imagine a future in which they are empowered to create and perform their own stories.

Hit The Lights! has led masterclasses at New York University (NYU), the University of Cincinnati College–Conservatory of Music, Elefante Music School, The Barrow Group, and CO/LAB Theater Group in New York City. We also served as Company-in-Residence at Williams College’s STUDIO62 summer theater program, teaching intensive workshops as guest artist faculty in 2018 and 2019.

Most recently, HTL! completed its collaboration with New Victory Theater and The New School of Drama, directing our adaptation of Taste the Clouds.