Eric Marlin’s "WHAT A WORLD! WHAT A WORLD!" Premieres at The Tank NYC

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Eric Marlin's new play stars Queen-Tiye Akamefula and Annie Hoeg, directed by Ilana Khanin.

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The Tank NYC will present the World Premiere of What a World! What a World! written by Eric Marlin (bad things happen here, 2018 Edinburgh Fringe Festival) and directed by Ilana Khanin (We Need Your Listening at Ice Factory/New Ohio) at The Tank (312 W 36th St., New York, NY 10018), July 9-August 2.

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The 1943 melodrama The Pearl of My Oyster could be a camp masterpiece, an erotic transfixion, a flicker of joy amidst utter terror, or it might just be a dumb old movie. Two performers try to sort it out and things get heated...does anyone need an Altoid?

What a World! What a World! was workshopped at ANT Fest 2019 and Prelude Festival 2023 (supported by the Puffin Foundation).

The cast will feature Queen-Tiye Akamefula (Black Girl Magic Show at JACK) and Annie Hoeg (Slow Field at Theaterlab) with Costume Design by Megan Rutherford (Smart at EST), Dramaturgy by Luke Daniel White, and Stage Manager/Assistant Director Madelyn Barkocy.

Tickets ($28-$53) are available for advance purchase. The performance will run approximately 65 minutes, with no intermission.

Eric Marlin (Playwright) has been produced and developed by The Public Theater , Theatertreffen Stückemarkt, Ars Nova's ANT Fest, PRELUDE, The Civilians , Dutch Kills Theater Company, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, The Tank, Dixon Place, Samuel French, HOT! Festival, Exquisite Corpse Company, and PTP/NYC. Winner of the Samuel French OOB Short Play Festival. Finalist for SPACE at Ryder Farm, the Jewish Plays Project, FMM Fellowship for Works in Heightened Language, and four-time finalist for the O'Neill National Playwrights Conference. Residencies: Baryshnikov Arts Center, Civilians' R&D Group, Montclair's New Works Initiative. He has worked as a producer and stage manager for the Bushwick Starr, New Georges, WP Theater, Red Bull Theatre, CTown, PTP/NYC, Public Theater, and the New Ohio Ice Factory Festival. MFA: Iowa Playwrights Workshop. BA: Bennington College

Ilana Khanin (Director) is a director based between New York and Toronto. With Eric Marlin: Shot List (Baryshnikov Arts Center); How to Mourn the Dead: a tragedy (in flux) (Montclair New Works Initiative); Breakfast Scene (Samuel French OOB Short Play Festival); The Book of Jonah [The Interim Years] (Exquisite Corpse Company/ Governors Island). Other recent work include Lyndsey Bourne and Sam Kaseta's I Was Unbecoming Then (ANT Fest; Toronto's Next Stage); we need your listening (New Ohio Ice Factory); Stephen Smith 's Ancient Greek Corn (HERE); Jordan Baum's Gobstopper (The Tank), and at Prelude, Theaterlab, Judson, Mercury Store, The Brick, Centre at West Park, Primary Stages, Dixon Place. Artist-in-residence at Baryshnikov Arts and Montclair State University. 2025 Toronto Theatre Critics' Award for Best Direction of a Musical. BFA and MA: NYU. PhD: University of Toronto.

Founded in 2003, The Tank is an Obie Award-winning, multi-disciplinary non-profit arts presenter and producer, which provides a home to emerging artists working across all disciplines, including theater, comedy, dance, film, music, puppetry, and storytelling. Led by Artistic Directors Meghan Finn and Johnny G. Lloyd , with Managing Producer Molly FitzMaurice, The Tank champions emerging artists engaged in the pursuit of new ideas and forms of expression. In doing so the company removes the economic barriers from the creation of new work for artists launching their careers and experimenting within their art form. From the company's home with two theaters on 36th Street, The Tank serves over 2,500 artists every year, presents over 1,000 performances, and welcomes 36,000 audience members annually. The company fully produces a curated season of 8-12 theatrical World or New York premieres each season.

In addition to a 2020 OBIE Award for Institutional Recognition celebrating our Extraordinary Support of Emerging Artists, The Tank has been honored with 6 Drama Desk nominations for our co-produced work, and an official New York City Council proclamation. Recent work includes hit productions of Berlindia! by Daniel Holzman (2025), Lobster by Kallan Dana (2025), Kara & Emma & Barbara & Miranda by Ariel Stess (2024, OBIE Award), Invasive Species by Maia Novi (2023), Joan of Arc in a Supermarket in California by Chloe Xtina (2023), Mahinerator by Jerry Lieblich (2023), New York Times Critics' Picks Simon and His Shoes (2022), Taxilandia (2021, 2023 OBIE Award), OPEN by Crystal Skillman (2019), Red Emma & The Mad Monk by Alexis Roblan (2018), and The Offending Gesture by Mac Wellman (2016); as well as Drama Desk Award-nominated productions The Hunger Artist (2018), The Paper Hat Game (2017), the ephemera trilogy (2017), Ada/Ava (2016) and youarenowhere (2016).

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_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/off-off-broadway/article/WHAT-A-WORLD-WHAT-A-WORLD-to-Make-World-Premiere-at-The-Tank-NYC-20260519)._