ACTION开拍 at The Tank

NEW YORK, NY: Emerging theatre artist Yuchen Ye will premiere her newest original work, ACTION, on Saturday, August 22, 2026, at 7 PM at The Tank (312 W. 36th Street, New York). Presented as part of LimeFest, the bilingual documentary performance draws from family archives, historical research, and live storytelling to examine the intersections of war, migration, family, and art.

"When I was eighteen, I discovered that my great-grandfather directed twenty-one films in 1930s China. Why did nobody ever tell me? Where can I find his films? What did he believe in as an artist? Now I step onstage, searching through fragments for answers—in a world still falling apart."

Part investigation, part performance, ACTION follows Yuchen's search to reconstruct the interrupted life of her great-grandfather, a filmmaker whose artistic career was profoundly shaped by war and displacement. Blending live performance, archival materials, documentary footage, audience interaction, and bilingual storytelling, the piece asks what it means to keep making art during war and migration.

Created and performed by Yuchen Ye, the production is developed in collaboration with Gideon Lazarus, Sheridan Merrick, Alec Welhouse, and Jieru Wang. ACTION connects one artist's search to urgent questions facing our present moment: How do wars erase cultural memory? What does it mean to continue making art during political uncertainty and migration? Can performance become an act of historical repair?

Tickets to ACTION are currently on sale by visiting https://thetanknyc.org/calendar-1/action. General admission is $10.

Yuchen Ye (she/her) is a Chinese-born, New York–based interdisciplinary theatre-maker. Her theatre practice is rooted in real historical events and Chinese cultural memory, integrating oral histories, documentary materials, and archival research to bring unheard stories from history to the stage. Through this practice, she seeks to transform individual voices into a collective force for reflection and change. She is a recipient of the Contemporary Performance Award from Big Art Group and an alumna of Directors Lab North(Toronto, Canada). Her work has been presented across China, the U.K., and the U.S. MFA, Sarah Lawrence College; BA, Shanghai Theatre Academy.

Playwright, Performer: Yuchen Ye

Producer: Sheridan Merrick

Director: Gideon Lazarus

Tech Director: Alec Welhouse

Dramaturg: Jieru Wang