Lissa was in London in 1986 and happened upon an exhibit at the Public Records Office that marked the 900th anniversary of the Domesday Book’s completion. Having graduated from UT Austin with a degree in world history, and with fond memories of her medieval English history class, she was fascinated especially by a display that listed many of the occupations that appear in the work; at the bottom of the list was “female jester 1”. Ever since then, Lissa has wondered who this person was, how she got the job, what her jokes were like, and what happened to her. She finally decided to do something about these questions and, thanks to some happy accidents, was able to recruit the super-talented Andrew and Katie to develop some answers in musical and theatrical form.

Katie Bender (she/her/hers) is a playwright, performer, and theater maker. Her plays include Judith, SHE WOLF, The Survivors/Los Sobrevivientes and Instructions for a Séance, to name a few. Her work has been developed and produced all over the country, including at Hyde Park Theater, ZACH, The Alley, Shrewds, EST, Kitchen Dog, The Playwrights’ Center, LAUNCH PAD, and Fusebox Festival. She is the co-creator of Underbelly, with whom she made ecstatic site-specific performances such as Slip River, for which she received the Austin Chronicle’s Critics Table Award for Best New Comedy. Her play Judith received the B. Iden Payne Award for Best New Script. Katie was a Jerome Fellow at the Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis and received her MFA from The University of Texas at Austin. She is thrilled to be working with Andy and Lissa. Find more information here: Katie Bender

Andrew Grainger is an English composer, pianist, organist and teacher now living in Austin, Texas. He holds degrees in Piano Performance from Surrey University, UK and a Masters degree in Composition from Kingston University, UK. Andrew has been involved in many genres of music over his career, ranging from classical to jazz and pop and includes writing, producing and engineering. As a multimedia composer he has written music for television and film, but now focuses on purely classical composition including orchestral, chamber and solo works, many of which have been performed in the central texas region. He also performs with his wife, cellist Annette Eicker. Andrew is excited to be working with Katie and Lissa to make this brand new chamber oratorio into a wonderful and compelling production. Find more information here: Andrew Grainger

Kendra Wiley (Lighting Designer) holds an M.F.A. in lighting design from the University of Texas at Austin. Kendra is a non-binary theatre designer, dancer, and choreographer who explores the intersection of dance and design in their creative work. During the academic year, Kendra teaches theatre technology and design at Concordia University Texas. Their notable lighting design credits include the world premier of the new opera Lardo Weeping (LOLA 2022), The Addams Family (Brentwood Christian School 2022), In the Ether (ARCOS Dance 2021), 12 Ophelias (UT Austin 2019), and Good Country (UT Austin New Works Festival 2019). In 2020, Kendra also designed their own M.F.A. thesis performance, in which they performed a twenty-minute solo dance while controlling the lights from the stage.

Andy came to Austin to attend UT and just never left. A college internship at a downtown recording studio turned into a full time engineering/producing job for 20 years until he bought the business and relocated it to a house in north Austin. He has been working on commercial records, jingles, audio books, video games, movies, tv shows and live productions for over 25 years.

Carlee Abschneider holds a BM in Vocal Performance from Houston Baptist University and an MM in Vocal Performance from Texas A&M University- Commerce. She enjoys working both on and off the stage. As a singer, Carlee was named the 2019 Vocal Division Winner of the New Texas Symphony Orchestra's Community Concerto & Aria competition. Most recently she has performed with Queer Opera and Gilbert & Sullivan Austin. Carlee has also previously performed with Opera San Antonio, ATX Musical Theatre Collective, Music On Site, Inc., Texas State Opera, Spotlight on Opera, Varna International Music Academy, Resonance Opera, TAMUC Opera Ensemble, and HBU Opera Workshop. She especially enjoys comedic roles and some of her favorite shows to perform in were Gianni Schicci and Gallantry. Off stage, Carlee has worked as a stage director, music director, and stage manager. She previously served as an AM for LOLA's world premiere of Lardo Weeping. She is excited to stage manage Adelina the Jester

It started with Walt Disney’s Fantasia — that scene where a glamorous lady plays Waltz of the Flowers on a gold harp; young Shana was smitten. Grownup Shana went on to study harp with Julia Herrmann Edwards (Dallas Symphony Orchestra) and with Eileen Malone at the Eastman School of Music.

Shana is the harp-playing half of the Chaski flute & harp duo. What began by playing together on an all-Fauré concert in 1985 grew into a career-long collaboration. Now Chaski draws on a genre-fluid repertoire of Latin American, Sephardic, and Celtic music; of classical music, both old and new; and of projects with a wide array of colleagues.

Texas is blessed with many symphony orchestras. Shana has worked as a traveling orchestral harpist, seeing miles and miles of Texas while playing in its far-flung symphonies: Abilene, College Station, Corpus Christi, Kerrville, Lubbock, Midland, New Braunfels, Odessa, Roundtop, San Antonio, San Angelo, Seguin, Victoria, Waco.

Shana works with Oliver Rajamani’s Flamenco India project, the Western Swing band Diminished 7, and is a frequent guest with the contemporary choral group, Inversion Ensemble. She also performs a solo house concert program: There’s a Dance in the Old Dame Yet.

Throughout his career, Slobodan Vujisic has performed with top musicians including Yugoslav Guitar Duo (Ivanovic/Vujisic), The University of Texas Early Music Ensemble, Musica Antiqua Consort, Ensemble Renaissance, and many more. In 1981 Mr. Vujisic began traveling throughout Europe to perform with the early music group, Ensemble Renaissance. While part of the group, Slobodan and the Ensemble Renaissance released several CDs that became bestsellers in the Art Music category in Eastern Europe for years. His career in Europe included performing in major concert halls including the famous Schauspielhous in Berlin, St. Marten Theatre in Paris, and The Dubrovnik Festival. After his performing days, Slobodan spent 15 years as a Professor of Guitar Studies in Belgrade at Vladimir Djordjevic and Josip Slavenski School of Music, where he led his students to win over 16 national competitions. In 1994, Slobodan's guitar instructing career brought him and his family to Austin, Texas, where he has been teaching for last 27 years. His students have claimed titles at many Regional and National competitions, including the very prestigious Guitar Foundation of America Youth Competition. In January of 2009 Slobodan formed The Austin Troubadours where he is currently the Business Manager and Artistic Director. Under Slobodan's lead, The Austin Troubadours performed hundreds of concerts in Texas, held multiple appearances on both NPR radio programs, FOX News and Austin local Chanel 8 News. The Austin Troubadours released their first CD, Mediterranean Journey in the Fall of 2012.

Victor Eijkhout is a long-time multi-instrumentalist with a history of playing in, and writing for, wind ensembles, jazz and pop bands, choir, and other instrument combinations. Currently he plays recorder in the early music ensemble The Austin Troubadours, and bass guitar in the 1001 Nights Orchestra. In addition to performing, he composes music for the recorder, writing both faux-Renaissance pieces and more intuitive pantonal pieces. His “Quo Vadis?” was the official 2023 “Play the Recorder Month” composition of the American Recorder Society.