The Tank Announces Director's Showcase

The Tank will feature a Director's Showcase produced by Dennis Corsi (Artistic Director of The Fresh Fruit Festival and Director of New Works at Live & In Color) featuring excerpts from bold new work from five directors and six emerging playwrights.

Corsi is among 3,000 New York City-based artists to receive $5,000 through the City Artist Corps Grants program, launched in June 2021 by The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA), with support from the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME) as well as Queens Theatre. The grants are intended to support NYC-based working artists who have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.

"Directors have the challenge of lacking an effective way to share a sample of their work to those in a position to hire them. Actors have auditions, designers have portfolios, and writers have script excerpts. I wanted to produce this showcase to provide myself and fellow directors an opportunity to give industry members a taste of our work," adds Dennis Corsi.

The evening will feature the following works:

Silueta by Robi Hager (Little Duende, NAMT 2021) and Erlina Ortiz (Morir Sonyando, Powerstreet Theater Company) directed by Rebecca Aparicio (Beastgirl, Kennedy Center).

"This stunning musical by Robi Hager and Erlina Ortiz is about the friendship of a Cuban refugee and a Syrian immigrant during the 2016 election. As a Cuban-American, I am drawn to this musical because it beautifully goes beyond the headlines of both the Cuban and Syrian experience to show what happens when you are forced to leave your home behind."

They Might Hear Us by Charlie O'Leary (24 Hour Plays), directed by Dennis Corsi (Siren's Den, The Cutting Room).

"As a gay man who grew up Catholic but left religion in my early 20's, I'm very interested in exploring the unique trauma of queer relationships, especially when it is rooted in religious shame. It has been a dream to direct a piece by Charlie O'Leary, whose work is always haunting but full of heart," adds director/producer Dennis Corsi.

The Spirit of Martha Graham by Eliana Theologides Rodriguez (Winner of the John Golden Award for Excellence in Playwriting), directed by Michaela Escarcega (Birthday in the Bronx, Paul Hufker).

"Eliana is a young playwright that I've been keeping an eye on - her work loves to use humor and the absurd to create the kind of dream-like storytelling that gets an audience thinking on their own, while still maintaining a narrative, " says director Michaela Escarcega.

Hold Me When I'm Gone directed and written by Kimille Howard (The Passion of Mary Cardwell Dawson, Glimmerglass Opera).

"I'm eager to explore comedies and dramas about Black people that have absolutely nothing to do with racial trauma (because we are so much more than that), so I wrote about a young black woman who fled life in the Midwest for the city and is thrust into an awkward situation that she has to figure out how to navigate back home with the help of her friends," says writer/director Kimille Howard.

Upstream/Downstream by Sam Hamashima (American Spies and Other Homegrown Fables, Winner of 2018 Kennedy Center Undergraduate Playwrights' Award), directed by Blayze Teicher (Trainspotting Live!, Off Broadway).

"I was drawn to Sam Hamashima's original dark comedy because it's sprinkled with just enough magical realism to question everything around us. For me, this piece combats loneliness with folklore and I found that intriguing after so much isolation," says director Blayze Teicher.

The cast features Jesse Reid, John McGowan, Rosalind Brown, Angel Alzeidan, Marquise Hitchcock, Anna Falvey, Jennifer Paredes, Haley Fortune, Melissa Mahoney, DeAnna Supplee, Yvonne Pruitt, Danté Jeanfelix, Michael Amendola, and Liz Neitge.

The Director's Showcase will take place Monday October 25th and Tuesday October 26th at 7pm at The Tank, 312 W 36th St, New York, NY.

To make a reservation, email denniscorsi@gmail.com with your name, performance date, and number of requested tickets.

 

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