BY KATYA YURKOVSKAYA ’26 AND PENELOPE GIBEAU ’27

This semester, the Skidmore Theater Department hosted a professional residency in partnership with the Bushwick Starr Theater in New York City. Two artists, playwright and actress Layla Khoshnoudi and director Machel Ross, came to Skidmore for five days to develop a new play, I’m Not Even Half. This one-person show is a story of a woman’s road to recovery after a possibly brain-altering car accident dovetails with Women Life Freedom movement in Iran, inciting a period of intense self-reflection. This piece will be produced at the Bushwick Starr in October 2026, and this residency served as a great opportunity for the artists to dive into text development, analysis, and rewriting, in anticipation of the production. Chris Darbassie, the production sound designer, joined Layla and Machel for half of the residency, bringing their design perspective and ideas into the process.  

We, Katya Yurkovskaya ’26 and Penelope Gibeau ’27, worked as residency assistants, both observing and participating in the process. Our responsibilities ranged from stage management duties (setting up the rehearsal space, printing out new copies of the script, recording tech/design notes, etc.) to creative participation. A large part of the residency included free-form discussions of the text, and both Layla and Machel graciously included us in the conversation. Additionally, we facilitated student observerships and the participation of Sydney Mann ’27, who visited rehearsal to cold read the script, providing the artists a chance to hear the text from a new perspective. Finally, we supported the outstanding public reading of I’m Not Even Half, which was well-received by the Skidmore community and was followed by a productive post-show discussion.  

This residency was an incredibly valuable professional development opportunity for us. We got to experience a professional rehearsal room, which gave us a new perspective of how theater can be created. Additionally, new play development is essential in the theater industry, yet we rarely get a chance to engage with this type of process within the Theater Department’s curriculum. Watching Layla and Machel collaborate allowed us to broaden our knowledge, preparing us for new play development opportunities in the future. On top of that, one-person shows are highly popular in New York City right now, yet they are rarely getting produced at Skidmore. Finally, through both department wide Q&A sessions and casual conversations with the artists, we learned about the realities of the current theater industry and got a lot of helpful advice from working professionals. At the end of the residency, Layla and Machel encouraged us to stay in touch, so this experience has also proved to be a wonderful networking opportunity. 

Assisting on this residency was one of the most valuable experiences for us this semester. Not only did it expand our understanding of how professional theater gets made, but it also allowed us to connect with professionals who might serve as a valuable resource as we begin our careers. We highly recommend all Theater students to participate in any similar opportunities in the future! 

Photos by Sue Kessler

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Katya Yurkovskaya ’26 and Penelope Gibeau ’27 are staff writers for the Skidmore Theater Living Newsletter