CLOSE DISTANCE DISAPPEARING ACTS to Premiere at The Tank
The new production blends dark comedy and romance for its debut at the downtown venue.
Close Distance Disappearing Acts by Cassie M. Seinuk is being presented by The Tank, a home for emerging artists. Described as 'Dexter' meets When Harry Met Sally, this suspenseful, sexy 90-minute two-hander asks the most relatable questions of all: who deserves love — and what do you owe the person who made you who you are?
This 'deliciously dangerous' dark romantic comedy makes its NYC premiere starring Michael James Underhill* (WITCH Huntington Theatre, AS YOU LIKE IT Commonwealth Shakespeare) and Emma Svitil* (HENRY 6 & AS YOU LIKE IT Old Globe), directed by Kelly Letourneau (COMEDY OF ERRORS Fiasco Theater, THREE SISTERS Two River Theater). Sound Design by Caroline Eng. Lighting Design by Sara Hansen. Stage Manager by Erin Baglole.
In Close Distance Disappearing Acts, Andy (Svitil) is a quirky vigilante on a mission: clearing nerd conventions of 'bad bad men.' Peter (Underhill) is the kind of man who shouldn't exist — unapologetically Irish, built like a god, and offering his very specific services on the dark web. She hired him. Somewhere between the blood and the bodies, it became something else entirely.
National Playwrights Conference Eugene O'Neill Theater Center Semi-Finalist (2026), New Comedies Festival B Street Theatre Semi-Finalist (2026), Terrence McNally New Works Incubator Rattlestick Theater Semi-Finalist (2026), SheNYC Festival She NYC Arts Semi-Finalist (2026), Best Stage Play (Script) WRPN Women's International Film Festival Winner (2026), 2025 New Play Competition The Echo Theater Company Semi-Finalist (2025), Close Distance Disappearing Acts runs for a limited time at The Tank in NYC, August 27-30.
TOUR DATES
Close Distance Disappearing Acts plays at The Tank August 27-30.
Thursday, August 27 @ 9:30 PM
Friday, August 28 @ 9:30 PM
Saturday, August 29 @ 7 PM
Sunday, August 30 @ 3 PM
TICKETS: https://thetanknyc.org/calendar-1/2026/4/24/closedistance
*Actors Equity Association Approved Showcase
ABOUT THE CAST AND CREATIVES
Cassie M. Seinuk (Playwright) is a Jewish Cuban playwright, stage manager, and educator based in Boston. Her plays wrestle with survival, memory, and the blurry lines between love and fear, often fusing raw intimacy with bold theatrical magic. From the Deep won The Kennedy Center's Latinidad Playwrights Award, the Pestalozzi New Play Prize, and appeared on the 2015 Kilroys List. Her play Eyes Shut. Door Open. ('ESDO') won the 2016 OnStage Critics Award for Outstanding New Work and received support from the Bob Jolly Charitable Trust. Dream House, developed through the Next Voices Fellowship at New Repertory Theatre, was a finalist for Bay Street Theater's Title Wave Festival (2023) and for the Mass Cultural Council Fellowship (2017). Her trilingual play Una Me Da Leche was a Semi-Finalist for the Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference. Her short play Occupy Hallmark won the Gary Garrison Ten-Minute Play Award and has been produced internationally. Cassie teaches at Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Lesley University, and Wheaton College, and serves as Region 1 Co-Chair for the Kennedy Center's National Playwrights Program.
Emma Svitil, Andy
Regional: As You Like It, Henry 6, Merry Wives of Windsor, Twelfth Night, Ebenezer Scrooge's Christmas Show, The Age of Innocence, The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (Old Globe); Close Distance Disappearing Acts (The Tank). Other: Space Babe (Various); MFA - The Old Globe/University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program; BFA - NYU Tisch New Studio on Broadway. www.emmasvitil.com
Michael Underhill, Peter
Regional: Witch, Man In The Ring, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (Huntington) The Age of Innocence, Henry 6, Merry Wives of Windsor (Old Globe) Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, A Midsummer Night's Dream (The Gamm) As You Like It, The Tempest, Much Ado About Nothing, Cymbeline, Richard III, Othello (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company) Betrayal (Gloucester Stage) The Play That Goes Wrong (Arts Center of Coastal Carolina), Eyes Shut. Door Open (Wax Wings Productions) Close Distance Disappearing Acts (The Tank) Other: MFA - The Old Globe / University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program (Group 36) BA - Northeastern University. www.michaeljunderhill.com Big thanks to Mom, Dad, Brian, Meghan and Emma for being the wind at my back.
Kelly Letourneau (Director) is a NYC-based actor, director, playwright, and producer. Her acting credits include: THE COMEDY OF ERRORS (Fiasco Theater/ Actors Theatre of Louisville), THREE SISTERS (Two River Theater), A VALENTINE FOR SONDHEIM (Fiasco Theater), MIDSUMMER (Tiltyard), MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (THTRep), MS. HOLMES & MS. WATSON — Apt 2B and PRIDE AND PREJUDICE by Kate Hamill (Playhouse on Park), THE APPLE BOYS (HERE Arts Center), and THE COMPLETE WORKS OF Jane Austen, ABRIDGED (Theater at Monmouth). Directing credits include: A Charles Dickens CHRISTMAS (Roxy Regional Theatre) and THE JUMP SHOT (World Premiere Production). When not onstage, Kelly is a proud tentacle of Octopus Theatricals, where she works as Creative Operations Manager. Kelly has trained with Fiasco Theater, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, and she holds a BFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. www.kellyletourneau.com
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