Emily Sombra
in the Land of Phobos

When Emily’s mother falls into a coma with an uncertain fate, she is visited by her estranged grandfather, who offers an opportunity to save her mother’s life. Emily soon discovers her grandfather is in fact The Fear of the Dark, and to save her mother, she must travel with him to his homeland, Phobos. Emily must be fearless to face the dangerous Fears that await her arrival and the unsolved questions of her past. But just who truly is a threat in Phobos? And more importantly, who is an ally?

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Emily Sombra was initially intended to be a project that would come much later in Park Lytle's career. Having just successfully staged Jimmy Jenkneheimer the prior Fall, and with his final semester of grad school on the horizon, Park Lytle saw a final opportunity to stage an idea that he had been softly developing for a little more than half a year.

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Inspired by urgency to finish one final project before graduation, Park began building a team and finalizing the Emily Sombra script in December of 2025. The goal was to create a new adventure story, one that could exist in the same space as Jimmy Jenkenheimer but tackle darker themes with more mature stakes. Emily Sombra would be a story about nightmares, and specifically the fears and dreams that Park Lytle has suffered from for the bulk of his life.

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Casting began in late January of 2025, where Park was fortunate enough to connect with actor Alexandra Tejada, who would become the first Emily Sombra. Park would also bring back Jimmy Jenkenheimer actor Maddison Rivera to play Kieran, and reconnect with drip actor Sadie Luce to play Arachna. Park brought back is long time lighting designer Emma McManus to bring the vibrant shadowy world of Phobos, while bringing his long time producing partner Fina Zhou to helm the sound design. This team overall would be a strong mix of new collaborators and established partners, with many of them being shortlisted as future collaborators who would come back to the Shackleton brand.

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The rehearsal process was a first for Park Lytle, who prior to Emily Sombra, had only directed virtual theatre in the midst of the COVD-19 Pandemic. It was a sharp learning curve for Park, who had to quickly adapt to a tighter schedule with shorter rehearsals than he was accustomed to, pushing actors to make discoveries while also being quick to give more specific direction for the sake of time. Rehearsals lasted roughly one month before Emily Sombra opened its workshop performance in the CalArts Coffeehouse Theatre in April of 2025.

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Emily Sombra performed to packed houses for each of its performances. The performances of Alexandra Tejada, Maddison Rivera, and Savannah Coyne were particularly lauded for their energy and gravity. This production marked the first large cast performance marketed under the Shackleton branding, and would be the marker for all future productions as a classic reflection of the spirit of adventure Park Lytle is trying to capture in his work.