THE GALLERY SERIES
MATRILINE
a new work by Katie Zaffrann
directed by Jen Pitt
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Testing the boundaries of solo performance and new artistic territory, early, never-before-seen experimental work finds a home in front of an audiences for the first time,
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THE GALLERY SERIES champions the unique potential of the individual performer and challenges artists to craft ambitious explorations of the specific and intimate relationship between solo performers and spectators.
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Artists with highly experimental, combustible, pliable works receive up to 25 hours of rehearsal and two nights of performances in our intimate Gallery, for audiences of no more than 20 people as a catalyst for future development
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Theaterlab invites you to join Katie Zaffrann as she develops her never before seen work, Matriline.
Matriline is a somatic ritual with a time-traveling mother and her laundry. In this moment when the world we have known is shifting before our eyes and even the air we breathe is at risk, American mothers are at the front lines. It’s a journey asking those who came before us: How did they survive the times of upheaval in which they lived? — and ask our children and grandchildren: how can we best guide them into a future we cannot see? Our immediate ancestors, perhaps, did not face the particular challenges we do. But others in history have seen similarly difficult, wild times. What could we learn from these women, if we knew their stories, about how to meet this moment for our own children?Â
PERFORMANCES
Friday, May 8 at 7:30pmÂ
Sunday, May, 10 at 5:00pm
Approx. total time : 60 minutes
All ticket tiers provide the same level of access to the performance.
Please make your purchase according to your needs.
General Admission: $25.00Â
True Cost : $45.00
Access : $20.00Â
Click HERE to purchase your ticket.
If you are able to financially support The Gallery Series, or any of our programs supporting NYC’s most daring artists, click here to give a tax-deductible gift of any amount.Â
MEET THE ARTISTS
KATIE ZAFFRANN (Creator/Performer)
Katie Zaffrann is a New York-based actor and crossover soprano.Â
Favorite theatre credits include a summer season at Shakespeare & Co., A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder (Shakespeare Theatre of NJ), john and jen and Grey Gardens (freeFall Theatre), Disgraced (Cape May Stage), and numerous world premieres. She was the recipient of a New York City Artist Corps grant for her art song recital “Of Life and Love and Wings: Great American Poets in Song,” which has been featured at the New York Public Library for National Poetry Month, the Stonington Opera House, and throughout NYC.Â
Her award-winning musical short film NAKED, a whimsical romp about living life to the fullest, played at festivals worldwide and is now streaming on iNDIEFLiX. Katie is currently pursuing her MFA at the Guildford School of Acting in the UK. She holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from Syracuse University, and is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association. Katie is also a certified mindfulness meditation teacher and writes the Substack drama/dharma.
JEN PITT (Director)
Jen Pitt (she/her) is a Brazilian-American theatre and opera director. Born and raised in SĂŁo Paulo, Brazil Jen now lives in New York where she makes devised performance work and directs classical and non-classical pieces.
Jen strives to create environments that are boldly daring and wholly equitable. She seeks to make inquisitive work that is visually arresting and viscerally engaging by blending “low” and “high” brow references that question hierarchies of perception. Her work investigates themes around generational female trauma— suicide and addiction, ritual, and desire. She has worked with classic texts, new plays, and her own generative-devised pieces. She approaches each piece, whether classic or new, from a collaborative, movement-based practice.
Jen earned her MFA in theatre directing from Columbia University in 2020, trained as a performer at Lecoq in France, and was a loving member of The Living Theatre from 2012-2015 under the leadership of Judith Malina. She served as Juilliard’s Directing Fellow whereupon completion she continued working as a teacher and director. She is currently part-time faculty at Mannes (The New School).
NICOLE FOX DAVIS (Production Assistant)
Nicole Fox Davis (she/her) is a bi-coastal performer, teaching artist, and dance director with a passion for art through movement and story telling. A proud NJ Native, Fox is a proud Penn State University alum where she studied Dance Stage Management. Fox has had the privilege of touring with the LA Based Dance Company Liberate Artists where she choreographed and stage managed their shows around the world. As an east coast based choreographer, Fox is on faculty at Molloy University where she teaches Jazz. On the west side, you can find her work with Loyola Marymount University where she teaches Heels and Hip Hop. Some of Fox’s dance and staging commercial credits include, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, Choreographer’s Carnival, BrickHouse NYC, New York Fashion Week, BreezyLyn, and Sybarite Productions NYC. Fox’s life motto is, “never let the dreams you had as a child be forgotten, you have more time than you think; continue to seize the moment.
COVID-19 policy: In guidance with the city and state COVID-19 policies, we will no longer be requiring masks, but strongly recommend them.