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Our Show
Tasha Builds A Desk is a new experimental one act, one woman play. Tasha, a recent college dropout, has to assemble a frightfully complicated piece of furniture as she snaps in and out of lucidity. Her relationships with herself, her friends and family, and higher education all come into question as she tries to assess her own culpability for an atrocity she’s been publicly accused of.
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Our mission
Tasha Builds a Desk is devised and performed by Grace Steckler, directed by Sofie Berg, and produced by Jack Eld. The three of us are finishing up our third year at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and are itching to join the exciting world of playwriting and self produced theater. Working on a story as intimate and personal as Tasha is a rare opportunity so early in our careers. Your support would help us to reach new audiences and continue developing our skills as artists, writers, and theater makers, all while giving us valuable experience in the production of our own original material.
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Why Fringe?
Fringe Festivals are a family of independent theater festivals that take place across the world, the likes of which have produced critically acclaimed plays like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, SIX: the Musical, Stomp, and Fleabag. We hope to take our play to new audiences at the Fringe Festival in Hollywood, California but we need your help to do so. Despite being an ideal proving ground for new, exciting independent productions like ours, there are still costs associated with taking a show to Fringe that would otherwise be prohibitively expensive to young college students. Your donations are what will make our dreams of bringing Tasha across the country a reality.
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Where do your donations go?
After speaking with potential venues and making projections based on advice from festival support staff, we arrived at a fundraising goal of $3,000. This will cover the costs of a venue, insurance, festival registration, marketing, travel expenses, the construction of our set, and other production costs, as well as compensation for those involved. Any funds raised that are not used in this years production, will go to funding future productions of Tasha. Hollywood Fringe Festival 2023 is only the beginning of our goals for this show. Ultimately, our dream is to take this piece internationally to the acclaimed Edinburgh Fringe Festival so we can introduce Tasha to the world. Again, this show could not happen without your support, and we appreciate any and all help you can provide.
The Tasha Team
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Grace Steckler (she/her) is the writer and performer of Tasha Builds A Desk. Her recent stage work includes Dangerous Corner, Sweeney Todd (UNCSA), How I Learned to Drive (Cinnabar Theater). She also recently appeared on screen in Lovesong (UNCSA). She is thrilled to be debuting her first play, and hopes to self-produce tons more work in the future!
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Sofie Berg (she/they) is a current third year Drama student at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Their recent stagework includes Dangerous Corner (Freda), Polaroid Stories (Philomel), The Normal Heart (Dr. Emma Brookner), and Pericles, Prince of Tyre (Helicanus). Sofie has also appeared on screen in UNCSA films including Perfect Fit and Over the Parapet. Sofie first began directing in high school, with a production of The Stonewater Rapture, and is thrilled to continue that journey with Tasha Builds a Desk. She is incredibly grateful for her friends and family as she begins her career in artistry.
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Jack Eld (he/him) is originally from Leicester, England and was raised in Los Angeles, California. He started his acting career when he was 19 as a member of the ensemble in Frozen: Live at the Hyperion at Disney's California Adventure. He later appeared as Ethan Girard in The Full Monty at San Diego Musical Theatre and Anthony Marston in And Then There Were None at the Morgan-Wixson Theatre. Since joining the undergraduate acting program at University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Jack has appeared as Judge Turpin in Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. This is Jack's first time producing a show and is excited to bring Tasha to Hollywood!
Special Thanks
Clover Ivey (they/them) took all of our beautiful promo photos for this project! You can find them on Instagram at @poisonclover.
Grant Kaufman (he/him) shot our fantastic interviews at the top of this campaign! You can find him on Instagram at @grant.kaufman.
Joe Mills (he/him) is Grace's faculty advisor on this project, and the show wouldn't be happening without him!
Krisha Marcano (she/her) is the Dean of Student Affairs and Entrepreneurship at the UNCSA School of Drama has been a key figure in giving us the skills to develop this project both from a creative and business standpoint.
This really is only the beginning of our journey, but starting at all would not have ben possible without the folks listed above, so we are incredibly grateful for all of their contributions.
Other Ways You Can Help
Outside of a monetary donation, the best thing you can do to help is to get the word out! Any shout out that you can give us on any of your social media platforms, either for the show itself or this campaign, would go a long way to making our dreams a reality. Also, if you’re in Los Angeles this summer, buy a ticket and come see the show! It’s not theatre without an audience and we would love to have you!
