Off-Broadway's The Tank will stage six new plays by emerging playwrights this fall for its 20th anniversary season. The six plays comprise the Core Production series, which helps emerging artists create new works.
Directed by Sarah Shin, Jadhwani's one-performer play The Sitayana (or “How to Make an Exit”) will kick off the season adapting the Sanskrit epic poem, The Ramayana, from Ram's wife, Sita's point-of-view. Kendra Jain will star in the production, which is presented in association with Waves of Love. Bea Perez-Arche serves as stage manager, and Hanna Yurfest serves as assistant producer. Kyra Tantao provides graphic design, and advertising and marketing is by Cause Lab. The Sitayana (or “How to Make an Exit”) will run at The Tank’s 56 Seat Theater from August 4 through August 26.
Running concurrently, Amelia Bethel and Karen Loewy Movilla's Tia Talk will be performed by Bethel and Movilla, with performances beginning August 5 in The Tank’s 56 Seat Theater. The work shows two Latinas, Amelia and Karen, exploring their identity as they try to prove their Latinidad to themselves and the audience by embodying every stereotype they've ever been fed by the world. With a talk show structure, Tia Talk invites audiences to participate in their exploration of identity with interactive segments, advice sessions, and (unanswerable) questions. Tia Talk will run through August 27.
Next up will be Chloe Xtina's Joan of Arc in a Supermarket in California, an epic daydream as Frances searches for the California supermarket where she once received a prophecy. Performances begin August 17 at E’s Wholesome Foods in Brooklyn for a run through September 2. With Kaycie Sweeney at the helm, the production will feature Healy Knight, Maaike Laanstra-Corn, Izabel Mar, and Madeline Wasson. Amelia Evans provides choreography, Cat Pfingst provides scenic and costume design, and Ryan Gamblin provides sound design. Music is by Caroline Strickland and Mikaela Jane, and dramaturgy is by Anna Mader. Maya Rajan serves as assistant director, and Tabitha Davidson serves as stage manager.
Beginning September 8, Christine Stoddard's Mi Abuela, Queen of Nightmares will run at The Tank’s 98 Seat Proscenium Theater through October 1. Stoddard's play follows a young Salvadoran-American, Maya, as she navigates her trauma and family mythology through fantasy and folklore.
Jerry Lieblich's Mahinerator will begin performances at The Tank’s 56 Seat Theater September 28, for a run scheduled through October 22. Lieblich's play stars two-time Obie winner Steve Mellor speaking in a quasi-English pseudolect as he tells his life story.
Closing out the season will be As I Eat the World, written and performed by Luis Roberto Herrera. In it, a Latine man has reached a breaking point that threatens to completely destroy him. Exploring forced masculinity and avoidance of mental health practices within Latine culture, he confronts his eating disorders and mental health by attempting to literally eat the world. The production, directed by Scout Davis, will run from November 30 through December 17 at The Tank’s 56 Seat Theater.
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