Work samples

  • Crocodile Fever
    Crocodile Fever

    Crocodile Fever by Meghan Tyler, directed by Tessara Morgan Farley. Fianna crashes back into Alannah's life through a farmhouse window. Forced together after years apart, they must confront the dark legacy of their tyrannical father. The production featured a large quantity of stage blood and a gruesome, monstrous crocodile puppet. Pictured: Frank Mancino and Pablo Akira Richter on the puppet, and Caitlin Weaver at the Strand Theatre, 2024. Picture by Shealyn Jae. 

  • Lyra and the Ferocious Beast
    Lyra and the Ferocious Beast

    Lyra and the Ferocious Beast by Chad Short, directed by Tessara Morgan Farley. Isolated on the planet Minerva, Lyra is desperately seeking for a magical gemstone that will grant her wish for penance. She is kept company by her adopted sigma jupiaryllis and her android, Hattie. Soon the three realize that they are not alone... there is an evil lurking in the shadows, searching for Lyra and hunting the coveted gemstone. The production featured a large two-person bird puppet as well as a bunch of sci-fi design elements. Right before Act 2, there was a 5-minute fable portrayed by hand puppets. Pictured: Francesco Leandri and Alex Mungo at The Voxel, 2023. Photo by Dave Iden. 

  • Salty
    Salty

    Salty by AJ Clauss, directed by Tessara Morgan Farley. A darkly funny queer fable set in one of the last remaining conservation zoos on the planet. As climate collapse renders the future unbearable, two male Adélie penguins defy the odds by raising an egg in their Antarctic exhibit.​ The cast was double cast and had to play both human zookeepers and penguins. The set featured four panels that moved around the stage to depict different settings of the zoo. Pictured: David Brasington and Griffin DeLisle at The Voxel, 2025. Photo by Chris Ashworth. 



     

  • Squidsbury
    Squidsbury

    Squidsbury by Chad Short, directed by Tessara Morgan Farley. Tina the squid is miserable living as a sea creature forced into a human suit by her neurotic husband, until she reveals her true squiddy self to her closest friend, and the two hatch a plan to get her out of Squidsbury for good. The production featured two tentacle puppets embodying Tina's squid side, a six-foot squid puppet, a seahorse puppet, and other deep-sea creature puppets. Pictured: Shana Herndon, Maria Ortiz-Marquez, Isaiah Harvey, and Jess Rassp. Mercury Theatre, 2022. Photo by Dave Iden."

About Tessara

Tessara Morgan Farley is a theater director, producer, and stage manager originally from Minnesota, now based in Baltimore. The worlds she is interested in building onstage are remarkably uncanny. They are familiar enough to recognize and yet strange enough to leave room in them for an audience to see themselves without being told how. Her work is entertaining and grounded in strong storytelling and theatrical craft, resisting the urge towards the overly cerebral or high-concept. What she… more

The Long Christmas Ride Home by Paula Vogel

The Long Christmas Ride Home by Paula Vogel, directed by Tessara Morgan Farley, produced by The Strand Theatre: Past, present and future collide on a snowy Christmas Eve for a troubled family of five in the humorous and heart-wrenching play utilizing puppetry.

  • The Long Christmas Ride Home by Paula Vogel
    The Long Christmas Ride Home by Paula Vogel

    Pictured: Jamie Virostko as Woman Narrator, Jose Rufino as Man Narrator, Cat Bustos as Claire, Vicky as Rebecca, Pablo Akira Richter as Stephen. Photo by Shaelyn Jae. 

  • The Long Christmas Ride Home by Paula Vogel
    The Long Christmas Ride Home by Paula Vogel

    Pictured: Jamie Virostko as Woman Narrator, Jose Rufino as Man Narrator, Cat Bustos as Claire, Vicky Graham as Rebecca, and Pablo Akira Richter as Stephen. Photo by Shaelyn Jae. 

  • The Long Christmas Ride Home by Paula Vogel
    The Long Christmas Ride Home by Paula Vogel

Salty by AJ Clauss

Salty by AJ Clauss, directed by Tessara Morgan Farley, produced by Truepenny Projects in 2025: A darkly funny queer fable set in one of the last remaining conservation zoos on the planet. As climate collapse renders the future unbearable, two male Adélie penguins defy the odds by raising an egg in their Antarctic exhibit.​

  • Salty - production photo
    Salty - production photo

    Pictured: Will Murphy and Caitlin Weaver. Photo by Chris Ashworth.

  • Salty - production photo
    Salty - production photo

    Pictured: Sydney Marks and David Brasington at The Voxel in Baltimore, 2025. Photo by Chris Ashworth. 

  • Salty - Production Photo
    Salty - Production Photo

    Vicky Graham and Sydney Marks at The Voxel, 2025. Photo by Chris Ashworth.

  • Salty - production photo
    Salty - production photo

    Pictured: Griffin DeLisle and David Brasington. Photo by Chris Ashworth. 

  • Salty - production photo
    Salty - production photo

    Pictured: Nigel Semaj as FOX. Photo by Chris Ashworth.

  • Salty - production photo
    Salty - production photo

    Pictured: Sydney Marks as DES/FLORA and Vicky Graham as FAUNA. Picture by Chris Ashworth.

  • Salty - production photo
    Salty - production photo

    Pictured: Nigel Semaj as FOX. Photo by Chris Ashworth. 

  • Salty - production photo
    Salty - production photo

    Pictured: David Brasington as BOWIE/TOUR GUIDE. Photo by Chris Ashworth. 

  • Salty - production photo
    Salty - production photo

    Pictured: Griffin DeLisle as BOWIE/ZACH, Vicky Graham as FAUNA, Will Murphy as EDWARD/MASON, and Caitlin Weaver as SNICKERS/STEPH. Photo by Chris Ashworth. 

Crocodile Fever by Meghan Tyler

Directed by Tessara Morgan Farley, produced by The Strand Theater Company in 2024:  

Dali's Liquid Ladies by Savannah Reich

Directed by Tessara Morgan Farley, produced by Truepenny Projects in 2016.