Directing
Abigail has directed one full-length play (Timon of Athens, The Elif Collective). She has also co-directed two full plays (Camp Cattywampus, The Columbia University Performing Arts League) (Possession, The Tank), and assistant directed one musical (Fun Home, The Barnard Theatre Department, dir. Lisa Rothe).
As a director, Abigail strives to create work that is intimate, explorative, and wholly new; she also works to create a truly collaborative community between artists and audience members along the way.
TIMON OF ATHENS
TIMON OF ATHENS
Timon of Athens is a new adaptation of Shakespeare’s unfinished play, directed by Abigail Duclos.
Timon of Athens is regarded as one of Shakespeare’s “Most difficult plays.” There is no record of it ever being performed during Shakespeare’s lifetime, and it is often considered to be an unfinished collaboration (likely with Thomas Middleton).
This new version of the play, adapted by Abigail Duclos and Isabel Beatriz Tongson, brings the rarely-performed story to life in new and exciting ways, enriching the story of greed, false friendship, excess, and misanthropy through a reimagined modern setting, gender-swapped characters, discussions of class and rainbow capitalism, an added background of youth and grief, and original moments of song and dance.
Adaptation: Abigail Duclos (Lead Adaptor), Isabel Tongson (Lead Adaptor), Shayan Hooshmand (Contributor), Henry Alper (Contributor), Andrés Goldzsmidt (Original Devisor), Allison Letterman (Original Devisor), Santiago Mallan (Original Devisor), Niraj Nair (Original Devisor), Maya Weed (Original Devisor)
Timon of Athens is the story of a young, rich, and fabulous Manhattanite whose fortune dwindles after the sudden death of both of his parents.
This adaptation of Shakespeare's unfinished play drops you into Timon's world of luxury and longing. Dive head first into the meretricious tatters, plastic food, false friends, glittering masks, and nepo-baby debauchery.
Timon of Athens was performed at Alchemical Studios (50 W 17th St., New York, NY).
Creative Team: Abigail Duclos (Director), Isabel Beatriz Tongson (Dramaturg), Ellie Houlihan (Choreographer), Sabrina Carlier (Intimacy Director)
Cast: Jason Maina (Timon), Kiana Mottahedan (Flavius), Marvelyn Ramirez (Apemantus), Melody Chen (Lucullus & Others), and John R. Howley (Ventidius & Others)
Design Team: Maya Weed (Scenic Designer), Zee Hanna (Lighting Designer), Jasmine Richards (Co-Sound Designer, Lyricist, & Composer), Zoe Stanton-Savitz (Co-Sound Designer), Bella Williams (Co-Costume Designer), Aly Hernandez (Co-Costume Designer), Sophie Craig (Co-Mask Designer), Mimi Wu (Co-Mask Designer), and Abigail Duclos (Co-Mask Designer & Lyricist).
Production Team: Abigail Duclos (Director, Lead Adaptor, & Lyricist), Shayan Hooshmand (Producer & Marketing Team Member), Sophie Craig (Producer & Graphic Designer), Marie-Josée Bourelly (Producer), Zoe Stanton-Savitz (Stage Manager), Allison Letterman (Assistant Stage Manager), Sabrina Carlier (Marketing Team Member), and Elsa Hana Chung (Marketing Team Member)
You can read more about our production of Timon of Athens here.
Timon (Jason Maina) calls out his false friends. Photo by Sabrina Carlier.
Lucullus (Melody Chen) approaches Flavius (Kiana Mottahedan). Photo by Sabrina Carlier.
Flavius (Kiana Mottahendan), distraught by the excess and waste of the world around her, sings a song. Photo by Sabrina Carlier.
Timon (Jason Maina) and Ventidius (John R. Howley) canoodle. Photo by Sabrina Carlier.
Apemantus (Marvelyn Ramirez) watches as her friend, Timon, allows vultures into his life. Photo by Sabrina Carlier.
Cupid (Melody Chen) and Ventidius (John R. Howley) begin their dance of seduction. Photo by Sabrina Carlier.
Flavius (Kiana Mottahedan) watches on. Photo by Sabrina Carlier.
Ventidius (John R. Howley) realizes what he's done. Photo by Sabrina Carlier.
Lucullus (Melody Chen) is consumed by hunger and hatred. Photo by Sabrina Carlier.
Scamandrius (John R. Howley) dances in Basement NY. Photo by Sabrina Carlier.
Timon (Jason Maina) reminds his personal assistant, Flavius (Kiana Mottahendan), not to worry, even though his wealth is waning day by day. Photo by Sabrina Carlier.
Ventidius (John R. Howley) visits an automated indoor golfing range. Photo by Sabrina Carlier.
Ventidius (John R. Howley) confuses friendship with sex and sex with friendship, along with Timon (Jason Maina). Photo by Sabrina Carlier.
Flavius (Kiana Mottahedan) begins her dance. Photo by Sabrina Carlier.
CAMP CATTYWAMPUS
CAMP CATTYWAMPUS
Camp Cattywampus is a two-act play co-directed by Abigail Duclos and Tess Inderbitzin.
Camp Cattywampus is set at a performing arts summer camp in North Carolina. The present.
Cast: Lilly Gasterland-Gustafsson (Poppy), Jaeden Riley Juarez (Brie), Isabel Beatriz Tongson (Noah), Ruth Weaver (Sacha), and Bella Williams (Olive).
You can read more about Camp Cattywampus here.
Camp Cattywampus is a full-length play with music, poetry, painting, and dance. It is about being a teenage girl, about grief, about love, and about rage.
A full-scale production of Camp Cattywampus was produced by the Columbia University Performing Arts League and was performed on November 11th and 12th of 2022.
Production Team: Abigail Duclos (Co-Playwright & Co-Director), Tess Inderbitzin (Co-Playwright, Co-Director, & Composer), Skylar Hudson (Stage Manager), Sydney Johnson (Assistant Stage Manager & Co-Costume Designer), Frankie DeGiorgio (Producer), Ryan Puterbaugh (Production Manager), Maylla Patrick (Production Assistant), and Alexis Buncich (Dramaturg).
Creative Team: Olivia Barbieri (Co-Lighting Designer), Haven Capone (Wellbeing Coordinator), Laurel Carpenter (Props Designer), Lily Collier (Sound Designer), Olivia Kuan-Romano (Assistant Sound Designer), Lily Mooney (Set Designer), Jules Gross (Co-Lighting Designer), Rainier Harris (Co-Costume Designer), Ellie Houlihan (Choreographer), Is Perlman (Artistic Coordinator), and Jaella Wengel (Social Media Manager).
Reviews of Camp Cattywampus
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Camp Cattywampus…brings together the goofiness and tragedy of teenage girlhood in an original play that’s equal parts funny and heartbreaking.
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The show is so big-hearted, so empathetic, that it’s hard not to love it… Camp Cattywampus makes the progression between different registers of emotion look and feel as natural as it does in real life—a true artistic accomplishment.
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Duclos and Inderbitzin imbue ordinary speech with small details that feel like something you could overhear outside a teenager’s cabin door… It is refreshing to see young, talented playwrights who are part of those generations capture this dialogue realistically.
All the characters sing an original song by Tess Inderbitzin together. Photographed by Judy Goldstein.
Noah (Isabel Beatriz Tongson) sings an original song—written by Tess Inderbitzin—while the other characters dance. Photographed by Judy Goldstein.
Olive (Bella Williams) paints on stage in a movement piece choreographed by Bella, Tess Inderbitzin, and Is Perlman. Photographed by Judy Goldstein.
Poppy (Lilly Gasterland-Gustafsson) delivers the beginning of a monologue. Photographed by Judy Goldstein.
Brie (Jaeden Riley Juarez) and Noah (Isabel Beatriz Tongson) embrace. Photographed by Judy Goldstein.
Sacha (Ruth Weaver) reads one of her poems to the other characters. Photographed by Judy Goldstein.
Brie (Jaeden Riley Juarez) dances. Photographed by Judy Goldstein.
Noah (Isabel Beatriz Tongson) watches Brie leave. Photographed by Judy Goldstein.
Olive (Bella Williams) laughs at Sacha’s joke. Photographed by Judy Goldstein.
Poppy (Lilly Gasterland-Gustafsson) monologues. Photographed by Judy Goldstein.
Tess Inderbitzin and Abigail Duclos deliver their pre-show directors’ speech. Photographed by Judy Goldstein.
An interview with Abigail Duclos and Tess Inderbitzin about Camp Cattywampus
Conducted by Jake Malavsky and the Glicker-Milstein Theatre
POSSESSION
POSSESSION
Possession is an 80-minute play co-directed by Abigail Duclos and Caroline Egler.
Possession is set in the basement of Russell Hall at Carolina Southern College, during the weekly meetings of the Jewish Students’ Association.
Cast: Tess Inderbitzin (Stevie), Jamie-Ann Palmer (Kit), Adelina Correa (Ellis), and Sydney Gerlach (Ginger).
Camp Cattywampus is a full-length comedy-drama about the dybbuk myth, healing from violence in lesbian relationships, and queer identity and religion in the Southern United States.
An abridged production of Possession was produced by The Tank, an Off-Broadway venue in Manhattan. It was performed on June 21, 2022, as part of The Tank’s PrideFest.
Production & Creative Team: Abigail Duclos (Playwright & Co-Director), Caroline Egler (Co-Director, Sound Designer, & Dramaturg), Katie Cherven (Stage Manager), Susannah Abrams (Lighting Designer), Heidi Atlas (Costume Designer), and Alexis Buncich (Props Master).
Additional information about Possession can be found here.
Stevie (Tess Inderbitzin) battles with her dybbuk.
Some of the cast and team of “Possession.” Top row, from right to left: Adelina Correa, Caroline Egler, Jamie-Ann Palmer, and Katie Cherven. Bottom row, from right to left: Sydney Gerlach, Tess Inderbitzin, Abigail Duclos, and Susannah Abrams.
Jamie-Ann Palmer as Kathy “Kit” Campbell.
Sydney Gerlach as Genevieve “Ginger” Lazar.
Tess Inderbitzin as Stevie Sackler.
Ellis (Adelina Correa) and Stevie (Tess Inderbitzin) embrace.
The cast poses as Sydney Gerlach (on computer) joins virtually from Paris, France.
FUN HOME
FUN HOME
Fun Home was directed by Lisa Rothe and assistant directed by Abigail Duclos.
Book and Lyrics by Lisa Kron
Music by Jeanine Tesori
Based on the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel
Cast: Erin Hilgartner (Alison Bechdel), Tommy Doyle (Bruce Bechdel), Jaeden Riley Juarez (Helen Bechdel), Chloë Roe (Small Alison), Catherine Herrera (Medium Alison), Izabella Lizarazo (Christian Bechdel), Adelina Correa (John Bechdel), Skylar Hudson (Joan), and Nick Meyers (Roy/Mark/Pete/Bobby/Jeremy)
Inspired by Alison Bechdel’s best-selling graphic novel, in this moving drama Alison recounts her upbringing with her brilliant and volatile father–a man whose secrets defined the family–while discovering her own sexuality. A refreshingly honest and intimate musical, Fun Home leads diverse audiences on a provocative journey toward acceptance and understanding.
A production of Fun Home was produced by Barnard College’s Department of Theatre in March 2022.
Production & Creative Team: Lisa Rothe (Director), Shoshana Seid-Green (Music Director), Tanya Orellana (Scenic Designer), Nicole Wee (Costume Designer), Cat Tate Starmer (Lighting Designer), Broken Chord/Daniel Baker (Sound Designer), Abigail Duclos (Assistant Director), James Pecore (Assistant Music Director), Emily Martin (Stage Manager), and Amritha Anupindi (Assistant Stage Manager)
The cast of "Fun Home" performs "Raincoat of Love." Photo by Hunter Canning.
Helen (Jaeden Riley Juarez) speaks with her children (Izabella Lizarazo, Adelina Correa, and Chloë Roe). Photo by Hunter Canning.
From left to right: Small Alison (Chloë Roe), John (Adelina Correa), and Christian (Izabella Lizarazo) perform "Come to the Fun Home." Photo by Hunter Canning.
Christian (Izabella Lizarazo) and John (Adelina Correa) watch television while Small Alison (Chloë Roe) reads in the background. Photo by Hunter Canning.
Bruce (Tommy Doyle) draws a map for his daughter, Small Alison (Chloë Roe). Photo by Hunter Canning.
From left to right: Medium Alison (Chattering Herrera), Alison (Erin Hilgartner), and Small Alison (Chloë Roe), sing and reminisce together. Photo by Hunter Canning.
Jeremy (Nick Meyers) performs "Raincoat of Love," flanked on either side by Medium Alison (Catherine Herrera) and Joan (Skylar Hudson). Photo by Hunter Canning.