My Shows
News on your favorite shows, specials & more!

Photos: Darwin Del Fabro's LILI / DARWIN at The Tank

Lili / Darwin will play a limited, 12-performance engagement starting this week, Saturday, August 2,

By:

Lili / Darwin, a new play written and performed by Darwin Del Fabro, will play a limited, 12-performance engagement starting this week, Saturday, August 2, at The Tank. See photos here! 

Presented by Madalena Productions, Lili / Darwin is directed by The Tank’s Artistic Director, Meghan Finn, and runs through August 23. For tickets and information, visit lilidarwin.com or .

A poetic solo performance exploring the intimate, overlapping journeys of Lili Elbe and Darwin Del Fabro, Lili / Darwin invites the audience into a raw, unflinching world of identity, memory, and becoming. Through voice, projection, and powerful language, Darwin brings to life the blurred lines of self and story, history and present.

Darwin Del Fabro is a Brazilian writer, performer, and producer based in New York. After years of creative work in theater and music, Lili / Darwin marks her return to the stage following her gender transition. Drawing from an inspiring lifelong connection to the story of Lili Elbe, Darwin intertwines personal narrative with historical record in this deeply intimate, genre-defying piece. The play traces the evolution of identity through language, history, and transformation.
 
Lili Elbe was a Danish painter who was assigned male at birth, experienced what is now called gender dysphoria, and underwent the world's first documented sex reassignment surgery in 1930. Her life inspired the 2015 Academy Award-winning film The Danish Girl starring Eddie Redmayne, and a 2023 opera by Tobias Picker. 
 
“I’ve always written to survive, to see myself clearly," says Darwin Del Fabro. “Lili / Darwin is the most personal work I’ve ever brought to the stage. It’s not just a play — it’s a reintroduction to myself, and an homage to the woman who helped me find the courage to begin.”

Lili / Darwin will be a featured mainstage show as part of The Tank's annual LimeFest, which invites new works by creative teams who identify as women, nonbinary, or gender non-conforming to make way for more gender parity in the performing arts. Produced by McKenna McQueen, the festival is good, old-fashioned summer art fun and runs August 2 - 24, 2025 at The Tank NYC.
 

Photo credit: Mari Eimas-Dietrich

Photos: Darwin Del Fabro's LILI / DARWIN at The Tank  Image
Darwin Del Fabro

Photos: Darwin Del Fabro's LILI / DARWIN at The Tank  Image
Darwin Del Fabro

Photos: Darwin Del Fabro's LILI / DARWIN at The Tank  Image
Darwin Del Fabro

Photos: Darwin Del Fabro's LILI / DARWIN at The Tank  Image
Darwin Del Fabro

Photos: Darwin Del Fabro's LILI / DARWIN at The Tank  Image
Darwin Del Fabro

Photos: Darwin Del Fabro's LILI / DARWIN at The Tank  Image
Darwin Del Fabro

Photos: Darwin Del Fabro's LILI / DARWIN at The Tank  Image
Darwin Del Fabro



Theater Fans' Choice Awards
2026 Theater Fans' Choice Awards - Live Stats
Best Direction of a Play - Top 3
1. Duncan MacMillan, Jeremy Herrin - Every Brilliant Thing
19.9% of votes
2. Joe Mantello - Death of a Salesman
17.4% of votes
3. Whitney White - Liberation
10.9% of votes

Need more Off-Broadway Theatre News in your life?
Sign up for all the news on the Spring season, discounts & more...


Videos


Spirit of the Game: The Ultimate Musical in Off-Broadway Spirit of the Game: The Ultimate Musical
Asylum NYC (5/14-5/17)
LAGNIAPPE | Stage & Film Summer Season at Marist University in Off-Broadway LAGNIAPPE | Stage & Film Summer Season at Marist University
Marist University Symphonic Hall (7/11-7/11)
EN EL TIEMPO DE LAS MARIPOSAS in Off-Broadway EN EL TIEMPO DE LAS MARIPOSAS
Repertorio (1/07-12/31)
LA GRINGA in Off-Broadway LA GRINGA
Repertorio (2/08-12/31)
UNMOORED | Stage & Film Summer Season at Marist University in Off-Broadway UNMOORED | Stage & Film Summer Season at Marist University
Marist University Symphonic Hall (7/12-7/12)
Once Upon A Mattress in Off-Broadway Once Upon A Mattress
Gremlin Theatre (5/14-5/24)
International Human Rights Art Festival in Off-Broadway International Human Rights Art Festival
30th Street theater (6/05-6/07)
PAPER MENAGERIE | Stage & Film Summer Season at the Bardavon in Off-Broadway PAPER MENAGERIE | Stage & Film Summer Season at the Bardavon
Bardavon 1869 Opera House (7/19-7/19)
LA CASA DE BERNARDA ALBA in Off-Broadway LA CASA DE BERNARDA ALBA
Repertorio (11/15-12/31)
TRIP AROUND THE SUN | Stage & Film Summer Season at Marist University in Off-Broadway TRIP AROUND THE SUN | Stage & Film Summer Season at Marist University
Marist University Symphonic Hall (7/26-7/26)