Tariq’s Interlude
Conceived, written, and performed by Antonyio Artis and developed with and directed by Tessa Bagby
Beep…beep….beeeeeeeep…….An NYC train singer named Tariq wakes up in Purgatory with no memory of his death. Despite a rocky past and with big plans for the future – including an impending proposal to his pregnant girlfriend, Marissa – Tariq convinces God to let him live one more day to prove his life deserves more living. Except God is a bad communicator, the music of the city is loud, and there’s something going on with Marissa that everyone except Tariq seems to know about…
Tariq’s Interlude is a physical, joyous, visceral solo show that explores personal responsibility, perseverance, faith, and what it means to choose how we express love. With only his body and a chair, Antonyio channels the sounds and motion of New York City, transforming between six characters and transporting the audience through purgatory, the park, the subway, and even a McDonalds in Queens. This show is hilarious, soulful, and serves as a love letter to NYC and to the born-and-bred underground artists who populate it.
Performances:
Wednesday, August 20th: Performance #1 at 7 pm
Thursday, August 21st: Performance #2 at 7 pm
Friday, August 22nd: Performance #3 at 7 pm
Saturday, August 23rd: Performance #4 at 2 pm (Pay-What-You-Can) and 7 pm
Sunday, August 24th: Performance #5 at 2 pm (Pay What You Can)
Venue: HERE Dorothy B. Williams Theater (DOT)
Runtime: 60 minutes
Ticket Price:
10 for $10
Discount: $20
Standard: $30
Pay It Forward: $50
About the Artists:
Antonyio Artis (he/him) – Creator, Playwright, Performer
Antonyio Artis is a multifaceted NYC artist who graduated with his BFA in Acting from Brooklyn College. Since graduating, Artis has performed in the record-breaking national tour of New Jack City, ’24 NYTF Winning musical production of Underground, and has self-produced three short film adaptations of the plays Thoughts of a Colored Man (Keenan Scott II), Boy’s Life (Howard Korder), and Jitney (August Wilson), to name a few things. At 16, he wrote an original rap song for Eduham, a program started by the Broadway musical Hamilton, and performed the song on stage at the Richard Rodgers Theater for the original cast and an audience of 1300 people. He is currently a member of the Actors Center’s first-ever cohort of mentees, which began in October ‘24. His solo show, Tariq’s Interlude, is currently in development as The Village’s ‘24 Artist-In-Residence, with a full production planned for later this year. He is about to embark on embodying the roles of Thomas and Billy Strayhorn in the new plays Odds and Storme, respectively, having played the latter in October ‘23.
Tessa Bagby (she/they) – Director
Tessa Bagby is a Bay Area-born, Brooklyn-based director, dramaturg, and nurturer of original live performance. Proscenium-averse in practice, Tessa collaborates with candor, rigor, and care to develop and present new work. They’re interested in questions about the dissonant relationships between the spiritual and the corporal, desire, personal responsibility, environment, transformation, embodied queerness, and unbalanced power.
Recent directing credits include MAiD in America (Dramatists Guild Foundation, NYU), Spew’s Little Baby (The Tank), The Angry Brigade (Drew University), God and Abraham Play Ping Pong (Minnesota Fringe Festival). As an assistant/associate director, Tessa has worked with Will Frears, Jolie Tong, Jack Serio on his hyper-intimate production of Uncle Vanya (3 Drama Desk Nominations, including Outstanding Revival of a Play), and Emma Went, whose world-premiere production of Else Went’s Initiative she will be assistant directing at The Public this fall. Tessa and performer-deviser Antonyio Artis were The Village’s 2024 Performance Artists-in-Residence, developing Antonyio’s solo show Tariq’s Interlude. Wearing many different hats, they have supported processes on and off-Broadway with The Public, The Apothetae, HVSF, Juniper Street Productions, The Tank, Mercury Store, Ensemble Studio Theatre, The Gym at Judson, Brooklyn College, and, best of all, in basements/roofs/living rooms across the city.