The Tank Hosts First-Ever NOIR FEST, Now thru 7/27

The Tank, a non-profit arts presenter located in the heart of midtown, will present its first-ever Noir Fest: two weekends of eclectic events that are all in some way inspired by film noir. New plays, short films, clowning, improv, and a panel discussion are all included. The Festival features both new work and tributes to noir classics. It runs today, July 18-27, at The Tank, 151 West 46th Street, 8th Floor, NY, NY 10036.

THEATER:

The Font of Knowledge: A reading of this original, retro play where language is the villain.

By Jonathan A. Goldberg (My Father is a Tetris Game at the HERE Arts Center)

Featuring: Will Brill (Act One at Lincoln Center; Tribes at the Mark Taper Forum), Nathaniel Kent, Gabriel Levey (King Lear at La Mama, The Octaroon at P.S. 122), Kate MacCluggage (The 39 Steps Off Broadway, The Farnsworth Invention on Broadway), and Jennifer Joan Thompson (Dividing the Estate at Lincoln Center, Look Back In Anger at Roundabout)

Directed by Tom Ridgely (Drama Desk nomination for Marco Millions)

July 26 at 8pm

The Faltese Malcon: A gender-reversed reading of the Dashiel Hammett classic.

Featuring: Jane Bradley, Caitlin Goldie, Ellyn Heald, Andy Ingalls, Aaron Matteson, Louise Oliver, Sarah Quigley, Jeff Ronan (The Mysteries at The Flea), Elaine Stetson, and Emma Walton

July 18 at 7pm and July 27 at 8pm

A Simple Art: An original piece exploring noir's place in the world, utilizing verbatim interviews surrounding a murder and Raymond Chandler's non-fiction work.

Written, directed, and performed by Alex Vlahov (Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey, Richard II at Secret Theatre)

Produced by Cliff House (Furniture Porn at The Tank, The Beckett Project at The
Brick)

July 18, 19, and 20 at 8pm and July 26 at 7pm

COMEDY:

A Bio-Pic Noir Edition & once upon a noir: A double-bill of (respectively) improved biographical storytelling with music by sketch comedy troupe The Pin-Up Squirrels and clowns from The MindShip Group ready for their big break.

July 19 at 7pm

Desert Noir: An improvised crime story full of evil deeds under the arid sun. Featuring: Pat Grizzard, Matt Walsh, Jon Clinkenbeard, Hannah Hudson, Mike Smith Rivera, Joel Straley, and Dani Grace.

July 25 at 8pm

FILM:

Film Fatale, A Festival of Short Films: A double-header of two contemporary short noir films.

Glass City - It all started with a wrong number. Follow an author-cum-private-eye as he stalks his mark through New York's Upper West Side in GLASS CITY, an 8mm-film animation and audio presentation of a classic post-modern noir.

By Andy Sowers (MEDEAstories by SITI Co.'s J. Ed Araiza, Sound Designer), Dream of the Red Chamber, Production Assistant)

SMUSHKISS - Three private eyes, with not the best legs I'd ever seen but not the worst either, are about to crack this caper wide open.

By New Saloon (Cooking to Me Is Poetry at Galapagos Art Space)

July 20 and July 25 at 7pm

PUBLIC AFFAIRS

How Is Noir Still Relevant? A Panel Discussion: Join authors Reed Farrel Coleman (author of the the acclaimed Moe Prager series) and Tim McLoughlin (author of the award-winning anthology Brooklyn Noir) for a discussion on why this genre/style has persisted, how it has morphed, and what we can learn from the mystery novel.

July 27 at 7pm
More information and ticket links can be found here: http://thetanknyc.org/series/noir_fest_2014/

The Tank is a Manhattan-based non-profit arts presenter. We serve emerging and established artists engaged in the pursuit of new ideas and forms of expression. Our goal is to foster an environment of inclusiveness and remove the burden of cost from the creation of new work for artists working to launch their careers and experiment within their art form. The heart of our services is providing free performance space in the 62-seat black box that we operate in Manhattan, and we also offer a suite of other services such as free rehearsal space and promotional support. We present performances across a range of disciplines: theater, music, dance, comedy, film, and public affairs. We keep ticket prices affordable and view our work as democratic, opening up both the creation and attendance of the arts to all and positioning the arts within civic and socio-political discourse.

Founded in 2003 by nine emerging artists, The Tank has since provided an artistic home for thousands of New York City-based performers. Artists who have presented work at The Tank early on in their careers include Alex Timbers (Tony-nominated theater director), Reggie Watts (theater performer/ comedian/ musician currently on the IFC TV show Comedy Bang! Bang!), Amy Herzog (Pulitzer Prize- nominated playwright), Lucy Alibar (whose one-act play Juicy and Delicious premiered at The Tank and was adapted to be the Oscar-nominated Beasts of the Southern Wild), and We Are Scientists (rock band). The Tank has been honored with an official City Council proclamation, chosen for the WNYC *STAR* initiative, and featured on CNN, BBC, ABC World News Now, the NY Times, and more.

The Tank is currently preparing for several summer festivals, including Dark Fest, for which performers receive no ancillary power and must provide their own light and sound sources.

For information, visit www.thetanknyc.org.