The Asylum Theatre
Artistic Director and Associates
Sarah O'Connell
Artistic Director
Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area where she served as the Associate Artistic Director of Impact Theatre, Sarah O'Connell holds a Master of Drama degree in Directing from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Her work has performed internationally and includes several regional and world premiere productions. She is an alumnus of the West Coast and Chicago Director's Labs, and La Mama ETC in Umbria. In addition to teaching at UNLV, she has worked at a variety of professional companies including American Conservatory Theatre , TheatreWorks, the San Francisco Mime Troupe, and Glasgow's Theatre Cryptic. Since 2003 she has served as Artistic Director of The Asylum, and co-owner of Axislights Inc, a production lighting services company. In 2015 she founded EatMoreArtVegas.com, a platform dedicated to the promotion of the Las Vegas arts community and creative economy. She is a Member of the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA) and an Associate Member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC). She became an opinion columnist for the Nevada Independent and served on the Americans for the Arts Policy Committee in 2020.
Gigi Guizado
Artistic Associate, Resident Playwright
Gigi Guizado is an actor, writer and theatre translator based in Las Vegas. She earned her BA in Drama at San Francisco State University and plays “The Boar” in the audio drama We’re Alive: Descendants. She is the Resident Playwright at The Asylum Theatre. Her micro-play, Letter to a Clone Manufacturer, has been translated into Hungarian. Her poetry is published in The Emerson Review, Rogue Agent Journal, Salamander Ink Magazine, The Bluebird Word, among others and has been nominated for Best of the Net. Her translations have been published in Another Chicago Magazine, Asymptote Journal, The Mercurian, and featured on Performing International Plays.
