The Tank Presents FLINT & TINDER Series, 1/18-7/21

Flint & Tinder is a curated series of exciting new independent theater presented by The Tank in the heart of Manhattan's theater district. The series showcases ferociously imaginative emerging artists making work that spans (and often flagrantly combines) physical theater, puppetry, dance, clowning, and more. They are storytellers, relentless risk-takers, and theatrical alchemists shaping the future of the medium.

Now in its second season, this year's Flint & Tinder (formerly Theater at The Tank) will feature performances from across the country and around the world: returning artists Kyle Loven (My Dear Lewis in 2010) and Split Knuckle Theatre (Endurance in 2010), as well as St. Ann's Puppet Lab artist Marta Mozelle MacRostie, renowned clown performer Summer Shapiro, and the bouffant clown company La Piarra from Mexico City. Flint & Tinder is curated by Josh Luxenberg and Jon Levin of Sinking Ship Productions. Maggie Baker is the series coordinator.

Flint & Tinder will run January 18-July 21 at The Tank (151 West 46th Street between 6th and 7th Avenue, 8th Floor). Tickets ($15; 3 shows for $33; 5 for $45) may be purchased in advance at http://flintandtinder.thetanknyc.org or by calling 1-800-838-3006.

East Coast Premiere of Loss Machine
Created & Performed by Kyle Loven – Seattle, WA
Supported Artist of the Jim Henson Foundation
Everything is somewhere. Part installation, part image-driven theater, Loss Machine unearths a world of lost items, misplaced thoughts, and fractured journeys all housed within an intricately detailed set. Intimate in scale, this wistful one-man show combines puppets, objects, sound, and original music, in a visual exploration of loss and discovery. Kyle Loven returns to Flint & Tinder after his acclaimed 2010 work, My Dear Lewis.
Fri 1/18 @ 7pm, Sat 1/19 @ 7pm, Fri 1/25 @ 7pm, Sat 1/26 @ 7pm, Sun 1/27 @ 7pm, Fri 2/1 @ 7pm, Sat 2/2 @ 7pm, Sun 2/3 @ 3pm & 7pm

World Premiere of Close to Decline
Created & Performed by Marta Mozelle MacRostie – New York, NY
Supported Artist of the Jim Henson Foundation
Puppetry, masks, and object theater bring a woman's nursing home visit to the stage, and illuminate the emotional landscape she crosses on this tiny everyday voyage. What does it take to connect with someone who's on their way out? Close to Decline invites the audience to laugh at what makes this so hard, and cry about what makes this so easy. Deep sadness, absurd joy, comedic failure, beauty in the mundane, and a dancing chair. MacRostie brings this new work to The Tank after a highly praised workshop performance in the 2012 Puppet Lab at St. Ann's Warehouse.
Fri 3/22 @ 7pm, Sat 3/23 @ 7pm, Fri 4/5 @ 9:30pm, Sat 4/6 @ 7pm, Sun 4/7 @ 3pm, Wed 4/10 @ 7pm, Thu 4/11 @ 7pm, Sat 4/13 @ 3pm & 7pm

Kinds of Light
Created & Performed by Summer Shapiro – New York, NY
Inspired by the work of Carl Sagan, supernovae, New York City's general public and unbridled joy, KINDS OF LIGHT wraps its arms around the unknown within and without to find that light is everywhere, even in the darkest spaces. KINDS OF LIGHT was postponed during its development at the TANK in 2011 when Summer Shapiro learned she had cancer. Now, two years later and healthier than ever, this comedienne returns with a highly physical, visually rich stage production charting the all too futile need for certainty and the beauty in being a hapless human.
Thu 5/2 @ 7pm, Sat 5/4 @ 7pm, Fri 5/10 @ 9:30pm, Sun 5/12 @ 7pm, Thu 5/16 @ 9:30pm, Fri 5/17 @ 7pm, Sat 5/18 @ 3pm & 7pm

World Premiere of The Curious Case of Phineas Gage
Created & Performed by Split Knuckle Theatre – New York, NY
A Vermont railroad worker in 1848, a veteran of the War in Afghanistan, and a band of mercenaries stationed on the water planet of the Cortica Galaxy... All faced with the same question: Who am I? An adventure of self-discovery through the inner space of the mind to the outer reaches of the universe by Split Knuckle, which returns to Flint & Tinder on the heels of its heralded 2010 presentation of Endurance.
Thu 6/6 @ 7pm, Fri 6/7 @ 7pm, Thu 6/13 @ 7pm, Fri 6/14 @ 7pm, Sat 6/15 @ 7pm, Thu 6/20 @ 7pm, Fri 6/21 @ 7pm, Sat 6/22 @7pm, & Sun 6/23 @ 2pm

Guerra
Created by La Piara, Seth Bockley, & Devon de Mayo - Mexico City, Mexico
Guerra: A Clown Play combines slapstick, clown, dance, bouffant and farce to tell the story of a military outpost's last stand. Created by the Mexico City-based company La Piara with writers/directors Seth Bockley and Devon de Mayo, Guerra is performed in three languages and features a trio of incompetent officers engaged in a struggle against a vast unseen enemy. Their epic yet intimate journey features a Price-Is-Right style recruitment lottery, a bloodthirsty rendition of a French nursery rhyme, and a climactic aerial bombardment.
Thu 7/11 @ 7:30pm, Fri 7/12 @ 7:30pm, Sat 7/13 @ 3pm & 7:30pm, Sun 7/14 @ 3pm, Thu 7/18 @ 7:30pm, Fri 7/19 @ 7:30pm, Sat 7/20 @ 7:30pm, & Sun 7/21 @ 3pm