The Tank Presents a Puppet Performance About The Lower East Side Tenements

40 layers! There are 40 layers of wallpaper on the walls of an aging New York City tenement building. 40 Layers plastered to the walls by the hundreds of immigrant families who called this building home. Each layer contains stories of everyday Italian, Jewish and Irish immigrants surviving storms, building bridges, creating new policies and shaping a new American identity. The steady walls of this aging building have been keeping these stories safe for over 100 years, but soon the building will be torn down. What will happen to these extraordinary stories of ordinary immigrants when the wrecking ball arrives? The building is determined to save the stories even if it can't save itself. Brought to life with puppetry, mask, live action and music. Appropriate for ages 7 and up.

Creative Team: Assistant Director/Production Stage Manager: Margaret Baughman; Puppetry Design by Spica Wobbe; Set Design by Peiyi Wong; Lighting Design by Sarah Johnston; Costume Design by Cat Fisher; Original Music by Vlada Yaneva; Sound Design by Caroline Eng.

About the Show: Layer the Walls was part of New Victory LabWorks in 2016 and is generously supported by a Jim Henson Foundation Family Grant. The show began with a trip to the NYC Tenement museum when the creators learned of the layers of wallpaper found on the tenement walls - layers that contained stories of the families who inhabited the apartments long ago. Utilizing shadow puppetry, Bunraku puppets, masks and toy theater, the show is able to bring the immigrants' stories to life and stimulate an investigation about immigration in today's world.