Theater In Quarantine Presents Tristan Tzara's THE GAS HEART On April 8

Theater in Quarantine, a pandemic performance laboratory from writer, director, and performer Joshua William Gelb and choreographer Katie Rose McLaughlin, is proud to present a new adaptation of Tristan Tzara's The Gas Heart that marks the centennial of the Dada masterpiece. Set to premiere on April 8 on YouTube, The Gas Heart is directed and adapted by Gelb from his own loose translation of the original French text. The production features movement direction by McLaughlin, original music by Alex Weston (Lulu Wang's The Farewell), visual design by Marika Kent, and video design by Gelb.

In an ambitious departure from previous Theater in Quarantine productions, The Gas Heart will feature zero pre-recorded videos. Gelb will attempt to embody all six characters (Eye, Mouth, Nose, Ear, Neck, and Eyebrow) in real-time and in dialogue with each other via a series of live-captured video loops and live performance.

Romanian-born, French poet and essayist Tzara, known mainly as a founder of Dada, wrote The Gas Heart with no discernible plot. The play, along with the Dadaist movement, was a reaction to the horror of World War I and the 1918 influenza pandemic. In The Gas Heart, characters named after body parts interact with each other and their surroundings in complete incoherence. The play creates a world where rules are non-existent and inherent meaning is absent. For Theater in Quarantine, The Gas Heart asks a timely question, "Can we find meaning in meaninglessness?"

Live-streamed performances of The Gas Heart will take place on Thursday, April 8 at 7 PM ET and 9 PM ET on Theater in Quarantine's YouTube page. Following the live broadcast, the on-demand recording of The Gas Heart will be available at www.youtube.com/theaterinquarantine, along with the complete Theater in Quarantine archive, in perpetuity.

Theater in Quarantine is Joshua William Gelb (founder and co-creative director), Katie Rose McLaughlin (co-creative director), Morgan Lindsey Tachco (creative producer), Brian Bose (social media), and Everyman Agency (public relations).

Theater in Quarantine is made possible in part with public funds from Creative Engagement, supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by LMCC. Theater in Quarantine's work is generously supported by a Creative Residency with La Mama Experimental Theatre Club, as participants in LaMaMa and CultureHub's Experiments in Digital Storytelling program, the Mental Insight Foundation, and by their many individual donors.

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