The Tank has announced its 2022 Homecoming season will feature the world premiere of War Stories by Marthe Rachel Gold. The Off-Broadway run will include a preview performance May 20 ahead of opening night May 21, and is set through June 12 at The Tank's Proscenium Theater.
Set in New York City during World War II, the new drama presents a coming-of-age story through Ruth, a young, pro-war musician from a working-class, immigrant family whose perspective is challenged by Nat, who holds anti-war views and comes from a wealthy, industrial Jewish family. Through their journeys, War Stories delves into workers' struggles and labor action, racism, antisemitism, the ethics of war, and conscientious objection.
Christina Roussos will direct the cast which will feature Sophia DeLeo (Sleepy Hollow), Jorge Sánchez Díaz (The Skin of Our Teeth), Lenny Grossman (Blackbird), Maia Karo (Anarchy), Max Katz (the devil smokes American Spirits), Arlene A. McGruder (Elizabeth’s Precious Kitty), J. Ryan (Harmony in A Flat), and Kaya Simmons (Two-Fifths).
"War Stories is a play about people who are engaged in the fight for a more just world while they go about living their lives,” said Gold in a statement. “Idealists in every generation wrestle with choices, both personal and political. In writing this play I hope to have given a nod to those who came before and help us see them in ourselves."
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War Stories will feature scenic design by Maryam Khosravi, costume design by Lui Konno, lighting design by Jon DeGaetano, sound design by Hannah Birch Carl, projection design by Lacey Erb, props design by Sean Devare, hair design by Skipper Silberberg-Edwards, and compositions by Zach Catron. The stage manager is TaTyana Smith, and the line producer is Frank Nicholas Poon.
Talkbacks will be presented following the May 26 performance, featuring Gold and Greg Neumann who are both children of conscientious objectors, and following the June 2 performance, featuring Professor Ruth Milkman from the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies and CUNY Graduate Center who will speak about U.S. women workers in the 1930s and 1940s.
For tickets and more information, visit TheTankNYC.org.
