Writer and Play Group resident Lyndsay Bourne is bringing the teenage dream – and nightmare – to the stage in I Was Unbecoming Then. This concert piece, with music by Sam Kaseta and under the direction of Katie Brook, follows twelve teenage choir girls (6 sopranos, 6 altos) as they navigate the everyday minefield of girlhood. I Was Unbecoming Then features an all-star ensemble of Ars Nova fan favorites, including Laura Dadap, Keyana Hemphill, Lucy Kaminsky, Haruna Lee, Erin Markey, Grace McLean, Susannah Perkins, Jessie Shelton, Maya Sharpe, Julia Sirna-Frest, Nedra Marie Taylor & Shannon Tyo.
Suggested Tix Price: $15
Tix to this show are Name Your Price starting at $5, meaning you decide what you pay! We pass on 100% of the single ticket revenue directly to the show’s lead artists, and give them an opportunity to suggest the ticket price that they’d prefer. You can learn more about What’s Ars Is Yours: Name Your Price Tix by visiting our How We Do It page.
I Was Unbecoming Then will stream live from Ars Nova on December 15 @ 7:30pm on Ars Nova Supra. Following the live stream, you’ll be able to watch the show on-demand for up to a year. Get a cancel-anytime $15/mo subscription to stream live or on-demand.
I Was Unbecoming Then was made with support from The NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre by the City of New York Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment in association with The New York Foundation for the Arts
Lyndsey Bourne (she/they) is a Canadian playwright, teacher and doula. Her plays have been developed with La Mama, New Georges, Rattlestick, The Hearth, Ojai Playwrights Conference, New York Stage and Film, Ars Nova, Manhattan Theater Club and The Public. They are a member of the New Georges Jam, a 2022 New Georges Audrey Resident, A 2022 Writer in Residence at The Ojai Playwrights Conference, a member of the Obie award winning writers group EST/Youngblood, and a member of Ars Nova’s Play Group. Lyndsey teaches Writing and Devising for Performance at Playwrights Horizons Theater School (NYU). She is also a beekeeper at her community garden in Flatbush, Brooklyn. BFA NYU, MFA Brooklyn College (with Mac Wellman and Erin Courtney)
Katie Brook is an experimental theater director and producer. Notable directing credits include ISLANDER (Televiolet, HERE) The Cherry Orchard (Quantum Theatre, Pittsburgh), the serial audio play The MS Phoenix Rising (Playwrights Horizons), and Liza Birkenmeier’s Dr. Ride’s American Beach House (Ars Nova). Katie received her MFA in Directing from Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama in 2012 and is currently a Lecturer in Directing at Tufts University’s School of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies. She is originally from Toronto, Canada.
Sam Kaseta (they/he) is a composer, sound designer, conductor, vocalist, and teacher. They grew up in central Connecticut and attended university at Princeton, where they graduated cum laude with a Bachelor in Arts in music, as well as certificates in theater and German. After moving to New York City in 2015, they began working as a composer, sound designer, and music director or music assistant at various venues, including Soho Rep., New Dramatists, The Tank, Frigid, The Players’ Theater, ART N.Y., Ars Nova, The Brick, Dixon Place, and many more. In 2019, they graduated from New York University’s Steinhardt School of Music, where they majored in concert composition and studied with Caroline Shaw and Joan La Barbara. Sam also performs as their drag king alter ego, Mr. Sam Bam Thankyoumaam.
This show will take place at Ars Nova, located at 511 W 54th Street, New York, NY 10019.
Seating is general admission and first-come first-served. So, the earlier you arrive at the theater, the more choice you’ll have about where you sit! (Bonus: cheapest drinks in Midtown are at Bars Nova!)
The only way to guarantee you reserved seats is to become a Super Nova. Super Novas never hear “sold out,” get reserved seats in prime locations, and make fair wages and accessible tickets possible. Learn more about becoming a Super Nova here!
Tix to this show are Name Your Price starting at $5, meaning you decide what you pay! Best of all, when you name your price, 100% of the single ticket revenue is passed on directly to the show’s lead artists! You can learn more about What’s Ars Is Yours: Name Your Price Tix by visiting our How We Do It page.
Once you’ve selected your performance date and time at check-out, you’ll see a number of ticket price options ranging from $5 to $100. Select the price point you want to pay and the number of tickets you’d like to purchase and they’ll be added to your cart. After that, continue through the check-out process and you’ll be all set!
Yes. The processing fees are charged by our ticketing and credit card processors, and increase along with the base price of your ticket.
Yes! Ars Nova Supra is our digital platform where you can live stream all of our one-night shows and watch premieres from the past year on-demand. For the low price of $15/mo, you can access an entire seasons worth of comedy, music and theater from our groundbreaking artists, and additionally you can cancel your subscription anytime!
All sales are final – there are no refunds or exchanges.
If you’re unable to use your tickets, you may donate them in exchange for a letter of tax credit by emailing tix@arsnovanyc.com.
We ask that you stay home if you aren’t feeling well or are awaiting the results of a COVID test. Please let us know prior to your ticketed performance, and we will work with you to find a solution if you’re unable to attend.
We welcome and encourage mask-wearing to protect yourself and others. However, as mask mandates have lifted and city, state and federal guidelines have changed, we will not be requiring them at performances.
We no longer require proof of vaccination, but we strongly encourage all audience members to get vaccinated and boosted in accordance with public health guidelines.
Our staff will clean and sanitize the theater and common areas and we’ll continue to provide hand sanitizer for your personal use.
Signage is posted in all spaces encouraging washing or sanitizing hands frequently.
Ars Nova is uncensored. We provide content advisories — to the best of our ability — to inform audiences when shows contain racial violence, racist language, sexual violence or nudity. We provide information about this type of content in advance, based on our core values, so that each audience member can make an informed decision about if and how they’d like to engage with that content. We welcome artists to share additional information about their shows based on their own core values.
