The Tank Presents Bodylogue 4/14, 4/18, 4/21

BODYLOGUE is Sonu's story of growing up in India surrounded by negative messages about dark skin, weight and being a woman. Follow her as she travels to Singapore and America where the messages become even more complicated.

Written and Performed by Deepti Gupta
Directed by Francesca Mantani Arkus

Wednesday, April 14, 2010; 7:30pm - $15
Sunday, April 18, 2010; 7:30pm - $15
Wednesday, April 21, 2010; 7:30pm - $15
Location: The Tank at 354 W. 45th Street, New York, NY 10036
A, C, E, to 42nd Street; 1, 2, 3, S, 7 to Time Square

An auto-biographical character based on the author's life, Sonu grows up in India exploring her sexuality at the age of 7, and travels to America as a young woman in search of her dream. Writer and performer Deepti Gupta believes that the body stores life stories, and by sharing these libraries collectively we can create a safe space of synergy- which can be used as a platform to help women move towards appreciation of their own bodies instead of images offered by the media for their consumption.

Arkus, the director of the play, recalls, "I learned from my immediate family, the community in which I spent my early years, the television set, pop music, my school friends - both female and male, and from the media that would penetrate my life. I was taught to be thin, to be on display for boys, to be a good girl and well-behaved. To be polite when I didn't want to be, to be nice when I didn't feel it was deserving, always catering to outside forces rather than acknowledging my own needs. Automatic obedience. Where did this training leave me? Where does this training leave many women?"

Through theatrical exploration, director and writer/performer help each other bear the confusion and take part in an evolution not just as women, but as members of society.

http://www.bodylogue.com

Presale tickets:
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/101756

Deepti Gupta wants the April performances at The Tank to be a way to introduce this work to high-school Arts- in-Education programs & organizations that work with teenage girls and young women. Her goal is to take this play to young women across the country. A very important aspect of the play is the post-performance workshop that will incorporate creative drama techniques to encourage the young women to express how they feel about their bodies and to take the first few steps towards a more positive self-image. Gupta believes that it is in these formative years that teenagers start to look for role-models in their homes, communities and societies at large in order to understand their own roles as women and adults. Young women are most susceptible to the images media projects. There is great need to engage this demographic and encourage them to change not only their own lives but also affect change around them.

Deepti Gupta (writer/performer) was born & brought up in India. She earned her MFA (Acting) from UT Austin. She has an MA in Theatre Studies from National University of Singapore & a BA in English Literature from Delhi University. She is an actress & voiceover artist. American TV: FOX-Fringe, ABC-Knights of Prosperity, NBC-Kidnapped, NBC-Third Watch. International TV: Malaal, Ishq Junoon Deewangi, Maaney Na Ye Dil, Pehchaan, New York Stories (Hum TV). Film: Its All Been Arranged (Feature-Lead), The Call Center (Comedic short- Lead), Sita Sings The Blues (Animated Feature- Supporting), Nirankush (Feature- Lead), Tapish (Feature- Lead). New York Theatre: The Domestic Crusaders (Nuyorican Café), Sad Mad Glad Bad (New Perspectives Theatre), Red Hands (Manhattan Repertory Theatre), Mass/Person (Manhattan Theatre Source), There or Here (Hypothetical Theatre), Ivanov (Mint Theatre & NAATCO), Harvest (East Coast Artists), Merchant of Venice (American Globe Theatre), Baghdad Burning (Sixfigures Theatre Company), Julius Caesar (National Black Theatre), Spontaneous Combustion (Manhattan Theatre Source). Voiceover credits & demos, please see www.deeptigupta.com

Francesca Mantani Arkus (Director) most recently directed "Words of Choice," pro-choice theatre created and developed by Cindy Cooper. Francesca directed a workshop of "Sisters Outside and A Brother Who Know Where", an adaptation of Chekhov's "Three Sisters" by Jaye Austin Williams, presented at the Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum, and a reading of "Ghosting" by MS. Williams at the Joseph Papp Public Theatre. In collaboration with Stacey Linnartz, Francesca developed and directed "50 Women" a performance piece with 50 women, at the Belt Theatre presented by Alive Process Theatre Company. Francesca has directed, collaborated and assisted on numerous pieces at New York Theatre Workshop (reading series), HERE, Six Figures Theatre, Emerging Artists Theatre, TACT, Blue Heron Arts Center, Phil Bosakowski Theatre, Access Theatre, 78th Street Theatre Lab, The Director's Company, Barrow Group, Pulse Ensemble Theatre, and Joseph Papp Public Theatre. She has served as Assistant Director to Tina Landau on "Floyd Collins" at Playwrights Horizons and "Time of Your Life", at Steppenwolf, Seattle Rep, and A.C.T. in San Francisco. Francesca is a director with New York University's First Look Theatre Company, and is a board member of Alive Process Theatre.

About The Tank
Founded in 2003, The Tank is a non-profit arts presenter whose mission is to provide a welcoming, creative, collaborative, and affordable environment for artists and activists engaged in the pursuit of new ideas. Through a wide range of low-cost, high-concept arts and public affairs programming, The Tank seeks to cultivate a new generation of audience for live performance, civic discourse, and the work of emerging artists.

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