Who We Are

Hi, we're the Wise Fish Theater Collective! Thank you for visiting our campaign page. As an intro, here are the fundamental tenants of our collective, or, what makes us Wise Fish and not fishbrains: 

Collaborative Theater (equality!): At Wise Fish, EVERY member gets a voice. That means that each show contains a variety of perspectives within it, allowing our productions to grow and change as we do and ensuring that no one way of looking at the world ever dominates our work.
Diversity (reality!): We strive to maintain a diverse collective. However, there is always room for improvement, and we are always on the lookout for new members who can offer new perspectives.  Keep an eye out for our member profiles, coming soon, where each member shares a little about where they grew up, be it Brooklyn, Argentina, Slovenia, Nebraska...
Absurdism (getting weird!): We love absurdist theater! No, we don't only produce theater by absurdist playwrights. But yes, it always gets a little weird.  Absurdism is where (wo)man's search for meaning and the fundamental chaos of the universe meet.  We think it makes a lot of sense to use an absurdist framework when creating art about today's world.

We are: Anthony Abdo, Dinah Berkeley, Martina Bonolis, Meghan Ginley, Danny Gomez, Alen Kolenovic, Victoria Myrthil, Franco Pedicini, Conrad Shaw, Colleen Slattery, Bianca Soto, Natasa Warasch.

We are currently trying to raise money for our first production:

Six Characters in Search of an Author by Luigi Pirandello, newly adapted by the Wise Fish Theater Collective

Robert Moss Theater
440 Lafayette Street, 3rd Floor
(between Astor Place and E. 4th Street) 
Fri 5/6, Sat 5/7, Mon 5/9 at 8pm
Thurs 5/12, Fri 5/13, Sat 5/14 at 8pm 
Sun 5/8 and Sun 5/15 at 3pm 

Before we could explore all the issues we're interested in, we needed to explore the medium of theater itself. We needed a piece to serve as our foundation. In Six Characters in Search of an Author, six characters enter a theater...and they won't leave. They demand that their story be told, and, more than that, told correctly. When they ask a group of career-savvy actors to portray their drama, the heart and soul of theater confronts its logistics, bottom lines, and egos. We are asked to reconsider the timeless question: Does art imitate life, or does life imitate art? Or, more importantly, is this whole art thing a sham to begin with?

Six Characters in Search of an Author is an absurdist exploration of theater and, more broadly, of art. Of what it can and cannot do, of what it means, of where it fails. As we explore theater's limitations, we explore our own, and we make fun of ourselves a lot. Really, a lot.  

                              "This is the cause of all this trouble. It's the words!"

What We Need 

Holy mackerel, theater is expensive! (Or, as company member and adorable schoolteacher Meghan Ginley would say, "Geez oh man!")  We need your help to ensure that we can pay all the fees associated with this production, and hopefully to put a little away for productions to come.  Help us to promote a theater that is not only an activity for the already moneyed, but something in which we all can participate. Theater for all! As we are a nonprofit, all of your donations are tax deductible. 

Here's a breakdown:
Rehearsal spaces: $1224
Renting the theater: $6600
Paying the Production Team (lighting designer, set consultant, costume designer, sound designer, stage manager): $2800
Advertising: $565.39
Set: $200
Lights: $300
Insurance: $450
Actors/Director: fueled entirely by coffee and Swedish Fish

The Impact
With your help, we hope to make this production a success and plan for our future productions. Our goal is to eventually have the funds to pay our actors and directors fair wages and to hire more people with something to say. As our collective grows, we want to give voice to new playwrights, directors, actors, and designers. We are especially interested in promoting the works of people who are underrepresented in theater today. Help us to ensure that New York theater artists have a collaborative, supportive environment in which they can make their art and share it with  you! Help us to grow our community and keep creative people working. Thank you, thank you, thank you! We are incredibly grateful.

Other Ways You Can Help