ABBY AND JUNE Plays 1/11/2010, 1/13/2010 At The Tank

"Abby and June" Monday, January 11th, 2010; 7:30pm - $12, Wednesday, January 13th, 2010; 7:30pm - $12 The Tank at 354 W. 45th Street, New York, NY 10036

About The Show

Starring: Kimberly Dilts and Joanna Strange

Directed by: Elena Araoz

Abby thinks the world's imploding. Her boyfriend nauseates her, Botox ads make her sob, and Malawi's orphans are keeping her up at night.

June's boyfriend is cheating on her with the perfect-assed Italian sommelier at the Miami Grand Windsor Hotel.

Abby and June chronicles two women's global quest for God, Revenge, and the Great American Novel. A theatrical event that takes us to ten countries, four continents, across the ocean and back, this two-person tour de force examines the ridiculous, bizarre, and often hilarious gifts that lie just outside of the comfort zone.

Abby & June began as the playwright's MFA thesis at the University of Texas at Austin and was further developed through the Seaside Escape to Create artist residency. The play has also received staged readings and development time in FL, NY and LA.

http://www.abbyandjune.com

Presale tickets are available here:
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/90767

Kimberly Dilts (playwright/performer): is an actor, director/choreographer, and writer based in Los Angeles and New York. Recent projects include choreography for the short film Three Minutes, a finalist in Film Independent's Project: Involve, currently playing in W Hotels worldwide, and performing in Air Guitar High as part of the Hothouse Series at Pasadena Playhouse. Favorite Theatre Projects include choreographing War Music, an adaptation of Christopher Logue's poetic take on the Iliad for FirstWorksProv, The Chicago Humanities Festival and the NY Council for the Humanities; and co-directing Faust for Aurea (Providence, RI), in which she played the role of Mephistopheles. New York theatre credits include assistant-directing and understudying for The Revenger's Tragedy (Off-B'way), and performing in Alice2, The Information She Carried, and readings at the Pearl Theatre, NYTW and The Directors Company. As a playwright, she co-created House of Sweets, a movement-theatre rendition of the Hansel and Gretel story which was produced in the David Mark Cohen New Works Festival and developed her first scripted play, Abby & June, as a part the Escape to Create artist residency. TV: Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Dirty Sexy Money, 90210. Kim is also a teaching artist for the Pasadena Playhouse. BA (Theatre) University of South Florida; MFA (Acting) University of Texas at Austin.

Joanna Strange (performer): is a New York based actress and director. She has directed in New York for the Three Graces Theatre Company and the Samuel French Short Play Competition. She has Assistant Directed for Francis Matthews (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead at the National) on The Three Musketeers (by George Stiles) at the North Shore Music Theatre and Lucky You at the Edinburgh Fringe and Waterfront Playhouse. She has appeared in shows at the New York Fringe Fest and regionally, and played Mary in the independent film Slow Jam King, winner of the "Emerging Director Award" from Asian Cinevision and "Official Selection" of New York Asian American Film Festival, among several others. BA (Theatre), University of South Florida.

Elena Araoz (Director): is a theatre and opera director and an actress. Most recently, she directed Monika Bustamante's Thirst: a spell for Christabel, which received critical acclaim from The New York Times among others. She also served on the directing staff for the 2009 season at Glimmerglass Opera where she choreographed Steven Blier's "Latin Lovers" concert, and she recently sat on a panel alongside John Guare discussing The Tempest for The NY Institute for the Humanities.

Elena has directed on the international, Off-Broadway and LORT levels. (The Power by Li Tong Chen in Beijing, Off-Broadway productions of Carl Djerassi's Phallacy starring Simon Jones and Lisa Harrow and Three on a Couch, The Price at Northern Stage starring Kenneth Tigar.) Her theatrical adaptation of Christopher Logue's War Music, which she created with Kim Dilts, has toured throughout New England and to Chicago.

Among her opera credits, Elena directed the semi-staged concert of Falstaff starring Sir Thomas Allen with Maestro Robert Spano for the Brooklyn Philharmonic at BAM. She regularly serves as Associate or Assistant Director to Sir Jonathan Miller (King Lear on Broadway starring Christopher Plummer, operas at Lincoln Center, Seattle Opera, BAM, Glimmerglass Opera and upcoming at Vancouver Opera).

Directing Awards: B. Iden Payne (Titus Andronicus, Austin Shakespeare Festival), four Austin Critics Table Award nominations, including Best Production of a Musical (Monika Bustamante's Io: a myth about you).

Most recent acting credits include The Rant (Interact Theatre), Amelia in House of Bernarda Alba (Pearl Theatre), and upcoming, Around the World in 80 Days (Triad Stage). MFA in Acting, University of Texas at Austin.

About The Tank
Founded in 2003, The Tank is a non-profit arts presenter whose mission is to provide a welcoming, creative, collaborative, and affordable environment for artists and activists engaged in the pursuit of new ideas. Through a wide range of low-cost, high-concept arts and public affairs programming, The Tank seeks to cultivate a new generation of audience for live performance, civic discourse, and the work of emerging artists.