Asa Benally

“My childhood was spent on the Navajo Reservation. I was raised in a family of artists, weavers, and silversmiths. My grandmother wove traditional Navajo rugs, and some of her designs took up to six months to complete. She taught me my first lessons in color theory and composition. The quality of her work was dependent on her ability to be patient. These early lessons laid the foundation for my work as a costume designer.”

ASA BENALLY (COSTUME DESIGNER) is a third-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama, where his credits include Coriolanus and The Seagull and Cymbeline at the Yale Repertory Theater. Other design credits include Tricks the Devil Taught Me (Minetta Lane Theatre); A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Measure for Measure, The Taming of the Shrew (West End Theater); Far Away, Platonov (Columbia University); The Crazy Shepherds of Rebellion, The Secretaries, Roberto Zucco, Trouble in Tahiti (Yale Cabaret). Musical theatre credits include Chicago, Beauty and the Beast, Anything Goes, Cinderella, Hello Dolly!, Miss Saigon, Guys and Dolls, and at the New York Musical Theatre Festival, Zapata! The Musical. Opera credits include The Marriage of Figaro and La Bohème. Asa received his BFA in fashion design from Parsons School of Design.  He is originally from the Navajo Nation in northern Arizona.

Coriolanus
Yale School of Drama
By William Shakespeare 
Director: Yagil Eliraz 
Set Design: Jungah Han
Lighting Design: Caitlin Smith-Rapoport

The Seagull
Yale School of Drama
By Anton Chekov
Director: Jessica Holt
Set Design: Jean Kim
Lighting Design: Elizabeth Mak

Cymbeline
Yale Repertory Theater
By William Shakespeare
Director: Evan Yionoulis
Set Design: Jean Kim
Lighting Design: Elizabeth Mak

The Seagull
Yale School of Drama
By Anton Chekov
Director: Jessica Holt
Set Design: Jean Kim
Lighting Design: Elizabeth Mak