Laurizarry Presents OPEN By Jaixa Irizarry In August

Laurizarry will present OPEN written by Jaixa Irizarry and directed by Zoe Mintz. The staged reading will be presented as part of LimeFest 2024 at The Tank (312 W 36th St, New York, NY 10018) on Monday, August 5 at 7:00pm. Tickets ($15, $20, or $30) are available for advance purchase at https://thetanknyc.org/calendar-1/2024-open. The performance will run approximately 90 minutes. 

OPEN follows Ivy and the string of hookups she orchestrates through the subreddit R/Random-Acts-Of-Blowjobs on Reddit.com. Chronicling the befores and afters of those hookups, the connections we share when we know each other very, very briefly, and what men reveal to women they don't feel emotionally accountable to. Come Open up with Ivy about hookup culture, oral sex, and dating on the internet!

The cast will feature Jaixa Irizarry (Emojiland, ¡Americano!), Sadi Bimwala (Sentence to Life Without Music, Lifetime Achievements, The Black That I Am, The Gulp Tree), Padraig Bond (The Climate Fables, Hamlet, The Good Story Murders), Liam McGowan (Casualty at the Commack Comic Con, Darkness After Night: Ukraine), Pedro Vierre (If I Did, You Deserved It, The Threepenny Opera, Replaced!), Nick Fawwaz (The Tempest, A Midsummer Night's Dream), and Luis Feliciano (The Climate Fables, Flock the Vote, Hispanic Whiteboy, Sonnets for and Old Century). 

The creative team includes Jaixa Irizarry (playwright/costume designer), Zoe Mintz (director), Laurizarry (producer), Mariela Andrade-Angel (Stage Manager), Hunter McIlvain (Assistant Stage Manager), Jack Jewell (Lighting Designer), Claudia Zajic (Sound and Projection Designer), and Monika Orzelowski (Production Manager). 

Jaixa Irizarry (playwright) is an NYC native and multi-hyphenate theatre-maker that specializes in playwriting, acting, makeup artistry and wardrobe styling. Her work usually explores human connection, the human condition, unabashed sexuality, the internet, and her own relationship with womanist ideas and feminism. Her first play Open was produced by the lovely Jess Lauricello and debuted at the Chain Theater's 2023 Summer Festival. She is currently pursuing a BA in theatre at Hunter College. Some acting credits include; Jasmine in Pipeline, Joyce in Top Girls, Marcia in Our Lady of 121st st., Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, Audrey in As You Like It, and Curan in King Lear. Off-Broadway wardrobe and makeup credits include; ¡Americano!, Rescue Rue, Turtle on a Fence Post, and Emojiland. @Jinxyoureit 

Zoe Mintz (director) is a NYC-based theater artist and filmmaker with a passion for truthful, boundary-pushing storytelling about women's sexuality. She produced, wrote, and starred in the short horror film Vibrator Girl (SXSW ‘23 World Premiere) which went on to screen at international film festivals around the world. Zoe's latest short film Suckers will be released later this year, and she most recently directed a production of John Patrick Shanley's A Lonely Impulse of Delight. Recent stage credits as an actor include Daughter (Replaced!, Teatro Latea), Ivy (Open, Chain Theatre), and Gertrude (Hamlet, HTD). // zoeelysemintz.com

Laurizarry is an indie theatre company founded by emerging playwright/producers Jaixa Irizarry, Jess Lauricello, and Pedro Vierre to create the next generation of theatre on a dime. They met at Hunter College when Lauricello cast Irizarry and Vierre in her production of Harold Pinter's PARTY TIME, and have chosen to work together ever since. Lauricello produced OPEN, the first workshop production of a play-in-progress written by Irizarry unabashedly and unapologetically exploring female sexuality, and this marked the beginning of a producer-writer team dedicated to uplifting, supporting, and producing new, subversive, and refreshing work from playwrights of underrepresented and marginalized groups. Since then, they have produced Lauricello's play “snappy,” “vibrant,” and “quick-witted” (Theatre Beyond Broadway) play IF I DID, YOU DESERVED IT (dir. Casey Kelly) at UNDER St Marks in the Queerly Festival - which sold out and extended. Follow us at @laurizarry on Instagram and TikTok, and sign up for our mailing list by emailing laurizarry@gmail.com.

The Tank's LimeFest invites new works by emerging artists and creative teams who identify as women, nonbinary or gender non-conforming to make way for more gender parity in the performing arts.

The Tank is a small, Manhattan-based non-profit arts presenter and producer serving emerging artists. Our goal is to remove economic barriers from the creation of new work for artists launching their careers or experimenting within their art form, while being inclusive and accessible. We keep ticket prices affordable, expanding the creation and attendance of the arts for a broad and diverse community. thetanknyc.org

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