Unbroken
Written by M.D. Schaffer
Directed by M. Hatten
September 29th at 7pm at The Tank NYC
In this adaptation of Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None," 9 Black long-term friends go to a villa in the Sonoran Desert to celebrate the recent financial success of entrepreneur Owen Christianson. However, when Owen doesn't come because of the recent murder of his twin brother, the situation turns perilous when a mysterious assailant appears, trapping and killing each of the friends for the skeletons that they've each kept in the closet. As their numbers dwindle, they try to unite and discover why they're being murdered, who is behind the vicious killings, and, more importantly, try to survive.
grease my chin
Written by Jude Cramer
Directed by Peter Charney
October 13th at 7pm at The Tank NYC
Tensions are running high on an annual family camping trip — and the onset of the zombie apocalypse sure doesn’t help. Disputes over parenting, pronouns, and privacy give way to a fight for survival as a family wrestles with its own monstrosity. In Jude Cramer's hereditary horror grease my chin, family secrets and passed-down prejudices come to light around the campfire in a blood-splattered battle between three generations.
The Scouts
Written by Alice Nora and Emmy Kuperschmid
Directed by Amanda Nyarko
October 27th at 7pm at The Tank NYC
Let’s go, Scouts! Skippy, Rascal, Tiny, and Pup are off on their scout hiking weekend. Led by Scoutmaster Waldo, these next 36-48 hours will contain tests of courage, trust, and brotherhood that will change them forever. But there's something watching them in the woods. Are any of them prepared?
Thank you everyone who joined us for Tier5’s Summer at Sea.
We are so very proud of the casts, creatives, and crews that brought both
TREASURE ISLAND and MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING to life this summer, and very grateful to every patron who either came out to support these shows in person, or donated to our Summer at Sea fundraiser.
MISSION
Through process, performance, and exploration, Tier5 elevates the traditional theatrical experience and turns it on its head. By using moments in history, well-worn tropes, and classic tales, the company reflects those stories through a modern lens to reveal truths of the current world around us. We hope to encourage our performers, audiences, and creatives to take what has come before to build a better yet to come. After all, the past never felt so now.
VALUES
Tier5 believes any bit of our cultural, physical, and theatrical history is worth exploring, deconstructing, and rebuilding to include those who have been disenfranchised from the longstanding narrative. With a focus on bringing female, queer, and BIPOC storytelling to the forefront, we hope to enrich our theatrical landscape, moving the social standard forward.
As a company, Tier5 seeks to create an inclusive, safe, intersectional, and anti-racist space for artists to grow, devise, learn, and feel joy. We strive to build a strong sense of ensemble, produce thought-provoking works, and cultivate new skills, insights, and perspectives through stories past and present; all while bringing top-quality entertainment and educational experiences to our audiences.
Oh, and having a lot of fun doing it.
Catalogue of Shows
meg beth jo amy & louisa
Assigned with the super boring task of writing a novel for young girls, Louisa May Alcott finds herself in a state of writer’s block. That is until she turns to figures and stories from her own life. The lines between fact and fiction begin to blur, as her novel, Little Women, is played out upon the stage.
Julius: Harlem’s Caesar
A new reinterpretation of Shakespeare’s political tragedy
set in the Harlem Renaissance.
The Harlem of the 1930s was a place of hustle, bustle, and black magic at its finest. Once Henry Pompey, a local bootlegger, is murdered, Julius Baptiste is catapulted as his replacement. A year later, as he sets to open the first Black and queer supper club, all of Harlem is thrown into a frenzied civil war as many, who once followed Julius, question his ambitions, his sexuality, and what it means to be a Black man in a white man's world.
Ladies in Waiting:
The Judgement of Henry VIII
We find King Henry VIII in a purgatory-like situation, where one by one he must confront and face off with each of his wives. Through dark humour, devastating truths, sexy seductions, and powerful revelations, Henry comes face to face with what his legacy has become: one entirely defined by women.
The Christmas Carol:
A Queer Fantasia
Ebenezer Scrooge is the literal worst. And it’s going to take some serious fabulosity to turn this ChristMESS into a ChristYAS. Can three otherworldly spectres show this humbug the true meaning of Christmas? The iconic Dickens Ghost Story of Christmas gets turned on its head in this inclusive, timely adaptation of the classic.
Legend of the Chalk Circle
A revolution has erupted in Grusinia, the governor has been beheaded, his wife, Natella, has fled, their newborn has been left behind. Vash, a servant boy, discovers the child, and begins an adventure across the Caucus Mountains to save the baby and his own life, all while guided by visions of variants from previous versions of his own story. Meanwhile, Azdak, a hapless peasant and the reincarnation of King Solomon, finds himself as the new judge of Grusinia. When the child's biological mother returns to claim the baby, Vash, Azdak, and Natella, come head to head in an ultimate showdown for custody of the child.