Look at the Fish Theatre Co Makes Debut With Seascape with Sharks & Dancer

Look at the Fish Theatre presents playwright Don Nigro's Seascape with Sharks and Dancer at the Red Room Theatre at 85 East 4th Street in Manhattan. Starring Look at the Fish Theatre co-founders Thomas J. Lombardo and Toni-Ann Gardiner, Seascape with Sharks and Dancer is directed by Scott Lakoff and opens November 3 at 8pm with performances on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm through November 19. The show closes on Sunday, November 20 with a performance at 2pm. Tickets are $20 ($15 for students with ID), available through smarttix.com or by calling 212-868-4444.

Seascape with Sharks and Dancer follows the relationship between Ben (Lombardo) and Tracy (Gardiner). They meet when Ben rescues Tracy from an apparent suicide attempt in the ocean outside his bungalow. Far from being grateful, Tracy is abrasive and ungrateful for Ben's intervention. Their verbal sparring turns to flirtation and Ben is charmed by Tracy in spite of herself. The two become lovers but when Tracy moves in, the off-beat romance takes a dysfunctional turn. "Its boy meets girl turned on its head," says Lombardo, who in addition to starring as Ben also serves as artistic director for Look at the Fish Theatre. "She's got some dreadful behavior that masks inner troubles."

Seascape with Sharks and Dancer is the first production from the recently formed Look at the Fish Theatre Company, comprised of graduates from New York City's Professional Performing Arts School. "It's an environment geared towards fun and experimentation," explains Lombardo. "We have an individualized rehearsal period, all with the long-term goal of only presenting a work for performance when the company feels it is ready." Lombardo and Gardiner were inspired by the New York-based Caffé Cino and La MaMa theatrical movements of the 1960's. "Look at the Fish Theatre was founded to produce plays that are magical and say something important about humanity, but that don't find a home in the commercial world," Lombardo remarks.

When the curtain goes up on Seascape with Sharks and Dancer, the co-founders of Look at the Fish Theatre are confident Ben and Tracy's battle to marry love with trust will resonate with their audience. "I think the relationship is more true to life than any other human relationship in theatre," says Lombardo. "There's uncertainty and they do awful things, but they still love each other."