The Bushwick Starr closed its 2025-26 season with “Have You Ever Thought About,” a solo show written and performed by Michael Oluokun and directed by Andrew Scoville, which the theater said began previews April 29 and ran through May 16 at its Bushwick venue. The Starr presented the production, which it billed as the final show of the season, and which TheaterMania described as a world premiere by the comedian.
The piece casts Oluokun as a mad scientist named Michael who presents a workshop on “thinking about,” which the theater described as a technique for untethering yourself from linear thought and expanding the mind’s ideation possibilities. Using notebooks and a whiteboard as a guide, Michael and the audience become co-conspirators in what the Starr called the creation of comedic chaos, moving through a series of jokes, crowd games, monologues, creative exercises and real-time “thought experiments.” The theater said Oluokun leads the audience down a winding road of absurdist and associative thought meant to bring the room back to its connection to itself and the people around it. The show is recommended for ages 13 and older, according to the theater.
Oluokun, in materials distributed by the Starr, described the work’s origins. “Born from the impulse to create a show that develops in real time with the audience every night, this piece is meant to evoke the feeling of that rabbit hole you go down at 11:54pm on a Sunday night (when you really have more pressing things to do) that takes you to a place you’d long forgotten and reminds you that maybe there is joy to be found in the information age,” he said.
The run was anchored by several themed performances. The theater said opening night was May 2, an American Sign Language-interpreted performance was scheduled for May 9, and a second ASL-interpreted performance was set for May 14. A Black Community Night, which the earlier announcements referred to as Black Theater Night, was scheduled for May 7 with a post-show reception and bar discount, and a Queer Community Night was set for May 13, according to the theater. The Starr said students and seniors could use the code STUSEN0526 for $5 off, with additional discount codes offered for the themed nights.
The creative team, as listed by the theater, includes associate director Myles Madden, scenic designer Emmie Finckel, lighting designer Ebony Burton, costume designer Nia Safarr Banks, sound designer Ariana Cardoza and props supervisor and scenic associate Sean Frank. Pau served as production stage manager, with Delaney Jordan as assistant stage manager and Alverneq Lindsay as line producer. BroadwayWorld reported the same April 29 through May 16 run.
The Starr also pointed to three of its past premieres returning to other stages this spring, noting in its newsletter that “Rheology” was running at Playwrights Horizons, “Animal Wisdom” at Signature Theatre and “A Woman Among Women” at LCT3. As a developer of new work, the theater said it found it meaningful to see those productions return, and it invited audiences to a Bushwick Starr Night at “Animal Wisdom.”
