KASSANDRA AT THE TOP OF THE WORLD with Fat Theatre Project

Last weekend, we did archival photography for Fat Theatre Project’s Kassandra at the Top of the World, written and directed by Eileen Tull as her graduate school thesis, just prior to the show’s closing performance.

Kassandra at the Top of the World places Troy’s prophet on a rock in the midst of rising waters as she reflects on her life in Troy and her relationship with the gods, occasionally visited by a fourth-wall-breaking trio of comic bird characters, and eventually, Apollo.

Produced in collaboration with the Terror Cottas experimental theatre group and the Chicago Park District, Kassandra at the Top of the World played at Berger Park, where we photographed the Terror Cottas production of Wendy A. Schmidt’s play The Ostrich in 2025, which Eileen Tull also directed.

Here’s a little bit about Fat Theatre Project:

Fat Theatre Project Mission Statement

Fat Theatre Project seeks to tell stories by/about/for/with fat artists. Sometimes we do plays that are about being fat. Sometimes we do plays that are about being a person.

Our work is imaginative, compassionate, and bold. We strive to pay artists for their work while also keeping art accessible for audiences.
Mission statement from Fat Theatre Project website

Photography

Behind-the-scenes shot from Shellie DiSalvo.

For this archival photography session, the team had a menu of different moments from the play for us to capture. Shellie DiSalvo, who served as makeup and wardrobe designer on Kassandra at the Top of the World, ran production photography calls with me for many years with Idle Muse Theatre Company, so the shoot had a casual, familiar rhythm that was natural for us.

Portraits

We started with individual portraits of each character. This year, I’ve been challenging myself to travel lighter and shoot more portraits on location, mixing ambient light with flash. With the Kassandra character portraits, I used the beautifully painted background designed by Mary Aurora Moore and painted by Shellie. For most of the portraits, I used a mix of available light and flash, but by the time I got to Kassandra, I restricted the light to only the flash.

The cast: Ethan Carlson, Joél Cordova, Jacque Bischoff, Jonathan Crabtree, Maya Moreau.

Scenes

After the portraits, we captured various moments from the show. For these, we moved around and photographed the action from various angles. We also made sure to capture some of the cool projections designed by Annie A, notably the scene where there’s an eclipse onstage. And we got some dynamic shots of the fight and intimacy work choreographed by Bianca Thompson (seen in the digital pages of The All Worlds Traveller in Three of Cups’s Macbeth).

Many thanks to the cast of Kassandra at the Top of the World for their flexibility and playful spirt. The session was a great time that went by all too quickly.

After we had finished the photography, Distant Era MVP Elizabeth and I grabbed a quick bite to eat and then returned to the theater to watch the show, accompanied by Idle Muse Theatre Company’s artistic director, Evan Jackson.

Any way the wind blows doesn’t really matter to the birds.

Gratitude

Thanks again to the cast and creative team of Kassandra at the Top of the World. Thanks to Eileen Tull, Wendy A. Schmidt, and Shellie DiSalvo for having me back. It was, as always, a delight. Thanks to Elizabeth for coming along and holding the light for all the Kassandra portraits.

As an aside, I thought it was very cool that in their review of Kassandra at the Top of the World, the Chicago Reader linked the review of Eos Theatre Company’s The Trojan Women, which also features the character; and in their review of Eos’s The Trojan Women, the Reader linked their review of Kassandra at the Top of the World. That kind of cross reference encourages audience to check out both (very different) shows and promotes awareness of related theatre happening in the city.

Cast and Creative Team

The following is a list of the cast, creative, and production teams as per the Terror Cottas website.

Cast and Crew

Maya Moreau…………….Kassandra

Ethan Carlson…………….Apollo

Jonathan Crabtree……..A Bird

Jacque Bischoff…………A Second Bird

Joél Cordova…………….Another Bird

Carleigh Ray……………..US/Kassandra

Grace Griego…………….US/Birds

Dani Major…………………US/Apollo

Stage Manager: Tricia Carver-Horner

Assistant Stage Manager: Shayla Woolsey

Artistic Team

Fight & Intimacy Choreography: Bianca Thompson

Lighting Design: Leland Culver

Makeup & Wardrobe Design: Shellie DiSalvo

Projections Design: Annie A

Props Design: Taylor Stageberg

Sound Design: Aaron Woodstein

Scenic Design: Mary Aurora Moore

Scenic Assistant: Justin Wojtysiak

Dramaturg: Jules Dreitzer

Production Manager: Taria Abram

Assistant Director: Melissa Golden

Casting Director: Taylor Pasche

Marketing Director: Melody DeRogatis

Graphic Design: Wendy Schmidt

Production Team

Eileen Tull, Artistic Director, Fat Theatre Project

Lou McNaughton, Fat Theatre Project Liaison

Morgan Manasa, Associate Producer

Wendy Schmidt, Executive Director, The Terror Cottas

Latham Zearfoss, Cultural Liaison for the Arts & Culture Unit of The Chicago Park District

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Steven Townshend is a fine art/portrait photographer and writer with a background in theatre, written narrative, and award-winning game design. As a young artist, Steven toured the US and Canada performing in Shakespeare companies while journaling their moments on paper and film. In his transition from stage to page, Steven continued to work as a theatre photographer, capturing dramatic scenes while incorporating elements of costume, makeup, and theatrical lighting in his work. Drawn to stories set in other times and places, Steven creates works through which fellow dreamers and time travelers might examine their own humanity or find familiar comfort in the reflections of the people and places of a distant era.