The Tank to Launch 'Save & Print' Series with HOTTENTOTTED This February

The Tank will present HOTTENTOTTED written by Charly Evon Simpson, directed by Colette Robert.

Part of The Tank's Save & Print series, Hottentotted begins performances on Thursday, February 2 for a limited engagement through Sunday, February 12. The performance schedule is Thursday - Sunday at 7 PM. Performances are at The Tank (151 West 46th Street, between 6th and 7th Avenues). Tickets are $18. To purchase tickets, visit www.thetanknyc.org.

Fresh from ArsNova's ANTFest HOTTENTOTTED yarns together imagined moments in the life of Saartjie "Sarah" Baartman, the Hottentott Venus, with the lives and experiences of contemporary black American women, learned through interviews and conversations over the last two years.

The cast features Monica Jones, Starr Kirkland, Crystal Lucas-Perry, Christina Pitter, Erin Roche, Akyiaa Wilson, and Jehan O. Young.

Charly Evon Simpson (playwright) is a playwright and performer. Her plays include HOTTENTOTTED, who we let in, While We Wait, Scratching the Surface, and more. Her work has been seen, heard, and/or developed at Ensemble Studio Theatre, Ars Nova, The Flea, The Brick, The Tank, Crashbox Theater Company, SPACE on Ryder Farm, and HERE. Charly is a member of Pipeline's 2017 PlayLab and is an alum of Youngblood and Fresh Ground Pepper's 2015 PlayGround PlayGroup. Charly received her A.B. from Brown, a master's in Women's Studies from Oxford, and is currently pursuing her MFA in Playwriting at Hunter College.

Colette Robert (director) is a Los Angeles native currently living and working in New York. Recent directing credits include: THE ASH GIRL (Alfred University), THE MOUNTAINTOP (Chester Theatre Company), ICONS/IDOLS (The New Ohio/Ice Factory Festival), HOTTENTOTTED (Ars Nova/ANT Fest), FLOPS, FAILURES, AND FIASCOS (The Civilians/Let Me Ascertain You), SOMETHING LIKE LONELINESS (EST Marathon), and WHEN LAST WE FLEW (Diversionary Theatre and FringeNYC, GLAAD Media Award). Colette is a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre and co-facilitator of the New Georges Jam. Alumnus of Lincoln Center Directors Lab, Mabou Mines Resident Artist Program, and The Civilians R&D Group. Colette was a 2015-2016 Audrey Resident at New Georges and The Public Theater's 2009 Van Lier Directing Fellow. M.A., RADA and King's College, London. B.A., Yale University.

The Tank is a Manhattan-based non-profit arts presenter and producer. We serve emerging artists engaged in the pursuit of new ideas and forms of expression. Our goal is to foster an environment of inclusiveness and remove the economic barriers from the creation of new work for artists launching their careers and experimenting within their art form. The heart of our services is providing free performance space in the 62-seat blackbox that we operate in Manhattan, and we also offer a suite of other resources such as free rehearsal space, promotional support, and artist fees. Our programming is multi-disciplinary, representing disciplines including theater, music, dance, comedy, film, and storytelling. 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 tens of thousands of New York City-based performers. Recent successes produced by The Tank as part of Flint & Tinder include Manual Cinema's Ada/Ava (Drama Desk nomination for Unique Theatrical Experience, New York Times Critics' Pick), Mac Wellman's The Offending Gesture (New York Times Critics' Pick), Andrew Schneider's youarenowhere (Drama Desk nomination for Unique Theatrical Experience, New York Times Critics' Pick), and Torry Bend's The Paper Hat Game (New York Times Critics' Pick). 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 the bandleader on The Late Late Show with James Corden), 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), Andrew Bujalski (film director, Computer Chess), and We Are Scientists (rock band). The Tank also presented the premiere of A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant by Kyle Jarrow, which won an Obie Award and went on to a national tour. The Tank has been honored with an official City Council proclamation, chosen for the WNYC *STAR* initiative, and featured on CNN, BBC, the New York Times, and more.