Theater at the Tank And warner|shaw Present Six Seeds June 2-11

GREEK MYTH AS GROUP THERAPY KIDNAPPED GIRL SPEAKS OUT- Classic story of Persephone reexamined at The Tank 354 W. 45th Street (between 8th and 9th Avenues)

Nearest Subway Stops: A,C,E to 42nd Street/Times Square.
Online: theateratthetank.thetanknyc.org/six-seeds/ and warnershaw.com

About The Show
Thousands of years before Patty Hearst, Elizabeth Smart and Jaycee Lee Dugard were the subjects of primetime specials and made-for-TV movies; a young girl named Persephone was violently abducted by a man who forcibly made her his wife. SIX SEEDS: The Persephone Project, conceived and directed by Annie G. Levy, finds Persephone herself in group therapy, telling her own story in her own words for the first time. A modern retelling of a celebrated Greek myth, SIX SEEDS has been chosen for Theater at the Tank's curated series at The Tank, 354 W. 45th Street for a two week run from June 2-4, 2011 and June 9-11, 2011.

Dates and Times
Thursday, June 2 at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, June 3 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 4 at 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, June 9 at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, June 10 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 11 at 7:30 p.m.

Ticket Information
Tickets are $15. Students with valid ID can purchase tickets for $12. Advanced tickets are available at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/137860 and 800-838-3006. Cash only at the door. For information on group sales, please email Trey Tatum, trey@thetanknyc.org or call (212) 563-6269.

More About The Show

The Greek myth of Persephone, traditionally called "The Rape of Persephone," tells the story of a beautiful, privileged young girl who, while innocently picking flowers in a field, is snatched by Hades, god of the Underworld. Her protective and stubborn mother, Demeter, goddess of harvests, fights long and hard to bring her back: refusing to let anything grow, causing cold, famine and misery. Finally, Persephone's father, Zeus, commands Hades to return the girl to her mother, but Persephone ate the forbidden food of the Underworld... six seeds of a pomegranate. Demeter's compromise is a shared custody agreement, of sorts, where Persephone spends part of the year on Earth with her mother and part of the year in the Underworld with her now husband, Hades, beginning a seasonal cycle of blooming growth and decay. SIX SEEDS begins where this story ends: Was Persephone coerced by her abductor or did she eat those seeds by her own free will? Is she the first recorded case of Stockholm syndrome, a brave victim, or a clever Lolita who loves being both a princess and a queen? Most importantly, how does she understand what has happened to her? Her story has been written and rewritten time and time again, but this is the first time her own perception of the story is examined.

Annie G. Levy, an Adjunct Professor of Theater Arts at Pace University, remembers being fascinated by the story as a child when it was read to her from D'aulaire's Book of Greek Myths. A cautionary tale about a girl who was taken from her mother, it was both frightening and intriguing. "I loved this book so much it fell apart. Years later, I had a theory that this was a shared narrative about growing up female and the relationship between mothers and daughters," says the creator and director. "After last year's successful, but short, run at The Space on White, it's gratifying to be able to continue to test this theory by reaching a wider audience through The Tank."

The script for SIX SEEDS was created in Levy's distinctive, multi-disciplinary, collaborative style. In 2002, Levy began researching versions and interpretations of the story and then in 2005, she gathered a diverse group of nine women to generate material in workshop-style improv and writing sessions. These sessions created a collaborative draft that culminated with a reading at The Old Stone House in Brooklyn. Between many other projects throughout the next five years, the piece was workshopped with different groups of women and sometimes men, including a group of graduate students at Sarah Lawrence College. Two members of the current cast have been involved in the project since its beginning.

SIX SEEDS will resonate with people who remember breakfasts spent reading the stories of missing children on milk cartons; people who have impulsively purchased an issue of People magazine with "exclusive details" of a tragically triumphant rescue of a kidnapped girl; women who in their younger years scared their parents by running away with an older man or the older boys who chased after them; people interested in gender, power and coming of age journeys; and people who are attracted to modern interpretations of ancient stories. SIX SEEDS is a narrative exploration of an ancient myth and a reflection of how the story continues to inform the feminine collective unconscious.

SIX SEEDS is an entertaining and thought-provoking piece of theater staring Haley Channing* as Persephone (Estella in Great Expectations, dir. Will Pomerantz) and Ean Sheehy*, (Forensic Accountant Joshua Simmons on Law & Order Criminal Intent) playing both Hades and a group therapy leader.

This production has been funded, in part, by a successful crowdfunding campaign on IndieGoGo.com, where more than 100 funders contributed to the production. It was a featured campaign on the IndieGoGo.com front page and reached its financial goal ahead of schedule.

Calendar Listing
In SIX SEEDS: The Persephone Project, Greek goddess Persephone finds herself in group therapy, telling her own story in her own words for the first time. Is she the first case of Stockholm syndrome, innocent victim, or a Lolita who loves her new life as wife and Queen of the Underworld? A new play reexamines the ancient Greek myth about a girl kidnapped by Hades, god of the Underworld, as a universal journey from girlhood to womanhood. Conceived and directed by Annie G. Levy, Six Seeds is part of Theater at The Tank's curated series at The Tank, 354 W. 45th Street June 2-4, 2011 and June 9-11, 2011.

Cast
Persephone-Haley Channing* (Estella in Great Expectations, dir. Will Pomerantz; The Gentleman Dancing Master, Pearl Theatre Company; Mud, John Houseman Theatre)
Hades-Ean Sheehy*, (Chautauqua!, NTUSA at Under the Radar, Forensic Accountant Joshua Simmons on Law & Order Criminal Intent)
Ensemble-Emily Asaro, Emily Taplin Boyd (emilytaplinboyd.com), Joya Mia Italiano (Some Girls, Michael Chekhov Theater Co), Franny Silverman* (The American Clock, Brave New World Rep; Strangers, The Ontological, frannysilverman.com), Emily Warshaw

* Appearing courtesy of Actors' Equity Association.

Creator and Director
Annie G. Levy is a New York-based director, collaborative artist and educator. Selected New York credits include The Jose Quintero Theatre, Space on White, HERE Arts Center, The 78th Street Theatre Lab, Stanford Meisner Theatre, Untitled Theater Company #61, Estrogenius, The Manhattan Theater Source, and Vital Theatre. Annie's devised work includes SIX SEEDS: The Persephone Project at the Old Stone House and The White Box Theatre and The Creation of Comfort and Chance at the Makor Visionaries Festival. Annie's international credits include The Assembly Rooms (Edinburgh, Scotland), Discoteca di Storia (Rome, Italy) and Acadia University (Nova Scotia, Canada).

Annie is the former resident director of Storahtelling where she has directed more than 10 traveling shows that continue to tour nationally. Annie is also a founding member and the resident director of the Northwoods Theatre Company; past credits include The Jewish Wife, by Bertolt Brecht, The Hero of Kabul by Marc Goldsmith and company created The Underwater Palace, (based on a kabalistic folk tale), The Jewbird (based on the short story by Bernard Malamud) Garden. Walk. Wonder. (based on the poetry of Ra'hel, Charles Reznikoff and Shel Silverstein), Knight of Onions and Knight of Garlic (based on the short story of Chaim Nachman Bialik) and Harvest (based on the mythology of Bob Dylan).

Annie is the recipient of a Steven Spielberg Fellowship in Theatre Arts Education, an Oregon Shakespeare Festival directing assistantship and is a member of the Lincoln Center Theatre Directors Lab. She is co-founder of "Sweet: Actors Reading Writers," a monthly series featuring actors reading poetry and prose by New York-based writers. She is currently an adjunct professor of theatre at Pace University and SUNY-WCC and a teaching artist with the Manhattan New Music Project. She holds an MFA in Theatre with a concentration in directing from Sarah Lawrence. (annieglevy.com)

Creative Team
Stage Manager-Anna Kroup
Dramaturge-Will Fulton
Set Designer-Jonathan Collins (jonwcollins.com)
Lighting Designer-Kate Ashton (kateashtonlighting.com)
Sound Designer-Kate Marvin
Costume Designer -Lara de Bruijn (laradawndesign.com)
Props Designer-Chris Jensen
Assistant Director-Samantha Hirsch
Assistant Stage Manager-Chad Chenail

About the Production Company
warner | shaw creates theatre inspired by the fragments of collective narrative found in the changing of the seasons, the cycles of the moon, stories of gods and goddesses and firsts. Exploring the extremes of every small story, we create theatre that resonates on both intimately personal and universally epic scales. For more information, visit warnershaw.com and follow warner | shaw on Twitter (@warnershaw) and Facebook.

About The Tank
Theater at The Tank is a new, curated series of innovative performances. These eight productions feature a group of exceptionally talented theater artists-performer/creators, director/writers, entire ensembles, all of whom are creating new and exciting work. The performances range from classical theater to clown and puppetry. Curated by Jon Levin and Josh Luxenberg of Sinking Ship Productions. T@TT is also offering a series of three workshops for theater artists, led by three of our presenting artists. For complete information please visit http://theateratthetank.thetanknyc.org

 

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