February 1st, 2nd, 4th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 12th, 15th, 16th, 20th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, and 25th at 7pm
February 3rd, 11th, and 25th at 3pm
A playful and provocative exploration of pregnancy and childbirth, Primordial distills 1100 pages of women and birthing people’s first-hand accounts of the most common event in the world that is rarely discussed. Conceived and created by up-and-coming theater artist, Lillian Isabella (How We Love/F*ck), the work is co-directed by Tank Artistic Director Meghan Finn (MAHINERATOR) and Grammy-Nominated choreographer/director, Leslie Galán Guyton. With music performed live by solo violinist, singer-songwriter, composer Adrianna Mateo the work unfolds within an immersive installation.
Join us for a special joint benefit evening with Mama Glow Foundation on Thursday, February 15th.
Benefit Includes:
6pm drinks, bites, & mingling
7pm Primordial
8:40pm talkback & raffle
Raffle includes items donated from partner orgs: Mama Glow Foundation, NY Milk Bank, Chiyo, The Business of Life, Mahamama, THE MAT with Nicole Katz, and more. Benefit tickets are $125 and are only available for February 15.
Content / Trigger Warning: pregnancy, childbirth, miscarriage, abortion, death, body dysmorphia, obstetric violence, blood
Featuring
Nina Fry
Marisela Grajeda Gonzalez*
Adrianna Mateo
Jordan Mosley
Rebekah Rawhouser*
Paula Sim
*these Actors are appearing courtesy of Actors' Equity Association
Creative Team
Lillian Isabella, Playwright
Meghan Finn, Director
Leslie Galán Guyton, Co-Director and Choreographer
Adrianna Mateo, Composer-performer, M.D.
Max Mooney, Stage Manager
Patricia Marjorie, Costume and Set Designer
David Pym, Projections Designer
Linda Jones, Dialect Coach
MEET THE TEAM
Lillian Isabella (Playwright) Lillian Isabella is a Cuban-American playwright and actor. She is the first known playwright with the rare disorder Phenylketonuria (PKU). Her plays have been produced and developed in NYC at The Tank, Cherry Lane Theatre, Metropolitan Playhouse, NYC Fringe Fest, Nuyorican Poets Cafe, and the United Nations. She grew up in The Bronx, NY and has a BFA in Theatre from NYU, Tisch School of the Arts. Lillian's plays include, PRIMORDIAL, THAT'S HOW ANGELS ARRANGED, HOW WE LOVE/F*CK (Finalist, Screencraft Film Fund) and CONVO-GENEOLOGY. Lillian is a member of the Dramatists Guild. Lillian has also acted in numerous independent films and NYC theatre productions. @Lillian.Isabella
Meghan Finn (Director) is the Artistic Director of The Tank. Her directorial work has been seen at the Tank, 3LD Art & Technology Center, CSC, the V&A, Serpentine Galleries London, The Wexner Center, SCAD, The Logan Center for the Arts in Chicago, Museo Jumex Mexico City, The Power Plant, Canadian Stage, The Silos at Sawyer Yards Houston, Powerhouse Theater, Clubbed Thumb, HERE, The Brick, The Bushwick Starr, Soho Gallery, PS122, Dixon Place, Soho Rep, Ars Nova, Montclair State, New Georges, The Flea, The Brooklyn Army Terminal for Creative Time, The Roes Theater Athens Greece, and the OnStage! Festival in Rome and Milan. BA Theater USC, MFA Directing Brooklyn College.
Leslie Galán Guyton (Co-Director and Choreographer) is a Brooklyn-based Choreographer, Director and Producer. Her work includes choreographing for the band Foster the People's Grammy-nominated music video Houdini, Chadwick Stokes' Mother Maple and Our Lives Our Times, sElf's Top 10 Music Videos for Rolling Stone Runaway, a dance mash-up advertisement for Adidas, and an ad for NRG featuring NFL athletes among many others. She's the Co-Founder and Artistic Director of The MoveShop. She choreographs, directs and teaches throughout the US and internationally. The MoveShop's Racine D'or, toured the US and was funded in part by South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. Her works have been presented at such institutions as The Tank, La MaMa ETC, Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Samford University in Birmingham, AL, University Settlement, Long Island University's Kumble Theater, The Forum in Hazard, KY, Dixon Place, John Hancock Hall in Boston, MA, the A.R.T.'s Club Oberon in Cambridge, MA, Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center, The Brecht Forum in NYC, Montauk's Sole East and Movement Research at Dance Theater Workshop in NYC. Guyton assistant directed Under Construction with Anne Bogart and SITI Company at New York Live Arts.
Adrianna Mateo (Composer-Performer, M.D.) is a unique multitalent: solo violinist, singer-songwriter, and actress. She is known for her depth, nuance, and appeal to both commercial and classical audiences. Her credits include solo violinist at a sold-out Carnegie Hall (conductor, Lidiya Yankovskaya), Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Bang on a Can Marathon, and on Emmy-winning fashion designer Alantude’s Fall 2023 show in a couture gown; singer-songwriter at MCU Park for an audience of more than 40,000 people, Jungle City Studios, and on the same online gala lineup as Alan Menken, Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, Desmond Child, and Joshua Bell; singer on MTV and the Late Show with Stephen Colbert; and actress at the Met Opera (stage and film versions, “Manon Lescaut” with Anna Netrebko), in the New York Times-featured AAPI musical play, “Specially Processed American Me,” and on HBO’s “Succession.” She has opened solo for Alicia Keys, premiered a violin concerto written for her with a 50-piece orchestra, concertmastered on Broadway, been profiled in 25A Luxury Magazine (John Lennon cover edition), toured internationally, and performed on the same, slightly random house concert as Jon Batiste. She has been listed by Google three different ways - pop violinist, pop singer, and singer-songwriter - and looks forward to more. / @adriannamateo, linktr.ee/adriannamateo
Max Mooney (Stage Manager) (he/him/she/her) is a playwright, director, stage manager, producer, dramaturg and theatre educator who works primarily in New York City and the greater Philadelphia area. Max graduated from NYU Tisch's Playwrights Horizons Theatre School, studying directing and playwriting. Within all of his practices, Max focuses his energy on developing language-based new work in collaborative settings that find the intersections between poetry and theater. He has worked in various roles with Ars Nova, New Victory Theatre, Little Island, Playwrights Downtown, HERE Arts Center, Fake Friends Theater Company, The Tank, SoHo Playhouse, New Georges, Immediate Medium, Theater Mitu, Powerhouse Theater, The Wild Project, Art House Productions, Baryshnikov Arts Center, Rooted Theater Company and Garden Level Theatre to create new work. Currently, Max is the Director of Programming at Sanguine Theatre in Brooklyn.
Patricia Marjorie (Costume and Set Designer) is a Brazilian Multidisciplinary theatre artist based in New York with focus on directing, costume and props design. Recent works: costume designer for; Simon and his Shoes’ and Modern Swimwear” directed by Meghan Finn; costume designer for The Time Machine directed by Joshua Gelb (playwrights horizons theatre school) set design for Re MEMORI by Nambi E. Kelley (WP theater); props for: Public Obscenities by Misha Chowdhury at Soho rep; Wolf Play directed by Dustin Wills at MCC and SoHO REp; YOU WILL GET SICK directed by Sam Pinkelton at Roundabout; Montag directed by Dustin Wills by Soho Rep.; Ulysses and The Seagull by Elevator Repair Service, Eva Luna by Repertório Espanhol; Notes on Killing Seven Oversight” by Mara Velez Melendez (Soho Rep.) 7 Minutes (Waterwell, dir. Mei Ann Teo); Black Exhibition by Jeremy O. Harris dir by Machel Ross. Patricia has also recently Performed on -Mrs Loman directed by Meghan Finn (the Tank) and directed What Will Become of Kaaron? (The Tank) and her own work as a playwright A Song to Keep the Wolves Awake (The Tank).
David Pym (Projections Designer) David Pym is a filmmaker & video designer for live performance. Recent video designs: The Making of King Kong by Lisa Clair, directed by Eugene Ma (Target Margin), Bonnie’s Last Flight by Eliza Bent, directed by Annie Tippe (New York Theatre Workshop), Madame Lynchby Normandy Sherwood & Craig Flanagin (New Ohio)
Linda Jones (Dialect Coach) voice and dialect coaching credits include past work with the California Shakespeare Festival, the Magic Theatre, and Marin Theatre Company in San Francisco; the Organic Theatre in Chicago; and a host of companies in NYC. She was a lead artist and award-winning actor with Crowded Fire, where she also served as resident voice coach and 'Voiceographer', specializing in devising and coaching the language work on new plays by linguistically complex authors including Erik Ehn, Caryl Churchill, Naomi Wallace, Liz Duffy Adams, Trevor Allen and Edward Bond. She spent several years coaching voice and voice over at Edge Studio in NYC, where her focus was acting, voice and speech, and accent work. She is also an award-winning audiobook narrator, recording out of her home studio in Brooklyn. She has a BFA in Acting from Ithaca College, and is a proud member of SAG-AFTRA and Actors' Equity. Discover more at lindajonesnyc.com.
Jordan Mosley (Actor 1) Jordan Antonette Mosley is an NYC based Actor and Performer from The suburbs outside of Detroit, Michigan. She is excited to be working with The Tank for their 2024 season! Jordan began her Acting Career with Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit and since received her Masters in Fine Arts from The New School for Drama and her Bachelors in Fine Arts from Western Michigan University. Recent Credits include: Bloodshot (SheNYC Arts), Three Sisters, Four Women (Soho Shakes), At God's Back (Sanguine Theatre), Someone Else's Bullet (The Civilians R&D Group), Sunset Baby (BACC), In The Blood (BACC), Spell #7 (NSD), Last Days of Judas Iscariot (NSD). Special Thanks to her Family and Friends for their love and support. IG: @jordanantonette www.jordanantonettemosley.com
Rebekah Rawhouser (Actor 2) is incredibly honored to help bring the experiences of so many birthing people to the NYC stage. She is the mother of 3 amazing children, and she has also trained and worked as a birth doula. Favorite stage credits include: Dear Mom, I’m Gay! (Off-Broadway), Next to Normal, Jesus Christ Superstar; film: 15 To Sunrise, Retreat! Thank you to my incredibly supportive partner and kids. @literallybekah - www.rebekahrawhouser.com
Paula Sim (Actor 3) Paula Sim is a Singaporean actress/dancer. She is grateful to be able to tell these stories and be a part of The Tank's 2024 season. Credits include: Titus Andronicus, Coriolanus, Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare in the Woods), Richard II (Shakespeare's Globe) and Vinegar Tom (Rutgers Theatre Company). MFA: Mason Gross School of the Arts (Rutgers University). Big thanks to all her loved ones and amazing husband Ben. IG: @itsmepaulasim www.itsmepaulasim.com
Nina Fry (Actor 4) is a director/actor/producer living in Brooklyn, NY who searches for creative and interesting opportunities to showcase unheard stories and experience. She focuses heavily on projects that balance out the under/mis-representation of the female experience. For that reason, she is delighted to be part of Primordial and is very grateful to all the women who offered their very personal stories to this project. Nina is currently working on a collection of short operas based on the history of women’s reproductive rights and a Cabaret/Podcast (The wHole Story) which uses artists in comedy to educate and inspire young women around their childbirth options and rights (www.ninafry.com).
Marisela Grajeda Gonzalez (Actor 5) is an actor and comedian. She has appeared in several NYC productions at numerous theaters including: Jack, New Ohio Theatre, The Public Theater, Dixon Place and many others. Marisela wrote, co-directed, acted in and edited her first short film in 2021. She co-hosts a monthly stand-up show called We Put Jokes in Your Face in Bushwick, Bk. Marisela holds a BFA in acting from Brooklyn College. For more please visit: mariselagg.com.
Yang Yu (lighting designer) is a New York based lighting designer for performing arts. She is interested in using light, space, and timing to create an emotionally charged environment, as well as visualizing music. The Tank: Simon and His Shoes, Prometheus Bound. Other recent credits: Unresolved Rage Game (Soho Rep Writer Director Lab); Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill (Crossroads Theatre Company); Lewberger and the Wizard of Friendship (Theater Row); Take Shape (Broken Box Mime Theater); The Sacrifice of Cassamba Becker (Scenic Design, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, nom: 2023 Broadwayworld Off-Broadway Awards for Best Scenic Design); This Stretch of Montpelier (Scenic and Lighting Design, Parity Productions, nom: 2023 Broadwayworld Off-Off-Broadway Awards for Best Scenic Design and Best Lighting Design). MFA from Brooklyn College. Yangyudesign.com
Carson Robles (Assistant Stage Manager) (any/all) is a Mexican-American stage manager, playwright and director based in the Brooklyn area. They are thrilled to be working at the Tank for the first time on this beautiful production! As a multidisciplinary artist, Carson has worked in various capacities at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Broke People Play Festival, T.V. Eye Performance & Event Venue, Playwrights Downtown, and NYU Tisch, where she currently attends school for Drama. When not working as a stage manager, Carson works on writing their own plays and interacts with as much independent and experimental theatre as they can