by Jack Calk
The Time I had with you
Meet the Team
Two friends connect, play, and battle trolls in this wordless musical clown play.
Ania Upstill - DIRECTOR
Ania (they/them) is a queer and trans educator, theatre maker and clown. They hold a Masters in Applied Theater from the City University of New York, and are a graduate of the Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre (Professional Training Program). As a teaching artist and facilitator, they work for Lincoln Center Theatre, New York Theater Workshop, Theater of the Oppressed NYC and New Victory Theater. Ania also co-owns GenderWise, a gender diversity training company that aims to upskill educators, administrators and arts workers to better support gender diverse young people and audiences.
In addition to their teaching work, as a theater maker Ania's work celebrates LGBTQIA+ artists with a focus on gender diversity. Ania frequently creates work under their company Butch Mermaid Productions (BMP), where their mission is to make queer joy irresistible and contagious, envisioning a world where all queer people experience joy and belonging. Recent BMP shows include Antonio! a new punk pirate musical about Shakespeare’s queerest character; Too Much Hair, a musical cabaret about gender euphoria (2022); Into the Bush, a queer circus-theatre project (2021); Proud Voices, an audio festival that played internationally in three major cities (2020, 2021), and Transhumance, Ania’s solo clown show about the experience of being transgender which was programmed at the Kennedy Center in June 2024. Ania has also toured to Palestine with Clowns Without Borders USA, and has performed clown and drag acts at venues in New York City including House of Yes, The Duplex and The Tank.
TWIG TWK - PUPPET
Born of the arts, my first mural was in my first habitat: my mom's womb. I'm a minimalist human, who dwells on a rock in space called Earth.
I dig creating music, poetry, short stories, and visual art of all sorts. Nature is my natural dwelling and would gladly live in a tree. Studied at various schools here in New York including SVA, The New School, and The Guitar Study Center. My home away from home is the Moore Jackson Community Garden. A quaint little spot nestled within Woodside, NY; sharing creativity with the neighborhood families, friends and critters of all ages...
James Smart - CAST
James Smart (he/they) is a performing artist based in Brooklyn, NY. Credits include As You Wish It, A Shot Rang Out (C.A.G.E. Theatre), Airness, As You Like It (Chautauqua Theatre), Haymarket: the Anarchist’s Songbook (Underscore Theatre), and A Midsummer Night's Dream (First Folio Theater). James is a teaching artist with Treasure Trunk Theatre Company and the reigning Brooklyn air guitar champion per the official US Air Guitar organization.
Olga Putilina - CAST
Olga Putilina is a theater-maker, performer and primary residence of a mischievous clown that lives within. She’s performed at Clown Flex, The Idiot’s Hour, La MaMa, and FailSafe Festival. She has a small collection of funny little rocks, a growing collection of degrees from institutions of higher education, and a son named Lucien, her favorite clown teacher and longtime collaborator in joy, play, nostalgia and whimsy.
