Two identical women – unrelated and unknown to each other – meet by chance. As their lives circle each other (and the drain), memories mutate, identities blur, and co-dependency turns to cross-contamination. Written by and starring Emerson and Murphy Smith, identical twin transgender women, get ready for a razor-sharp black comedy and a psychological thriller like Single White Female meets Persona with a sprinkling of Fiona Apple.
Tix to this show are Name Your Price starting at $15, meaning you decide what you pay! We pass on 100% of the single ticket revenue 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.
WATCHDOG will stream live from Ars Nova on June 6 @ 7pm 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.
Mack Brown builds precise new musicals, plays that challenge our collective moral compass, and theatre that is trans-genre and transsexual. They were the ‘22-23 Roundabout Directing Fellow, and currently serve as Lead Facilitator of the Roundabout Directors Group. Associate: PICTURES FROM HOME (Broadway), THE BIG GAY JAMBOREE (Off-Broadway), I CAN GET IT FROM YOU WHOLESALE (Classic Stage). Mack is a current NYU Tisch Drama Gender Expansive Mentor, an NYCLU Artist Ambassador, and works at Convergence Magazine with grassroots organizers and activists to produce media that sharpens our collective practice. Proud SDC member. mack-brown.com
Murphy Taylor Smith is an actress and songwriter. She originated the roles of Rabbi Raquel and Gittel in A TRANSPARENT MUSICAL (Centre Theatre Group, dir. by Tina Landau), and Greer Lankton in DOLL/GIRL (Joe’s Pub). She is set to play Ashley Curtis in the upcoming film OH SUGAR! (dir. by Gabe Dunn). She wrote the music and lyrics for: WATCHDOG, a doppelgänger psycho thriller; ELEKTRIC, a trans woman-centered Oresteia; and RADIO: A MUSICAL GHOST STORY, a lesbian horror film. The RADIO original soundtrack and her latest single Monster are available to stream on Spotify and Apple Music. @msmurphysmith // MurphyTaylorSmith.com
Emerson Mae Smith is an actress and writer based in Brooklyn. She is a frequent collaborator with her siblings and takes an interest in doomed queer protagonists. Her horror play ‘WHO PUT BELLA IN THE WYCH ELM?’ will make its NYC premiere at Theater for the New City this November. She wrote ‘ELEKTRIC’, a trans retelling of the Oresteia and the lesbian horror romance ‘RADIO’, with her twin sister Murphy. @emersonmaesmith
Devon Kish Is a Brooklyn-based Producer who works mainly on trans new works in development! He is passionate about helping to tell our stories, especially when they’re really strange and beautiful. They are currently working on TRANS AM (to Joe’s Pub this September), Having Fun with Esther Fallick (a weekly comedy podcast available on Spotify and Apple Music), and his quarterly trans dyke party, Hard Candy. Find him on instagram @devonjudekish, or his drag alter-ego @dirty.drag. Love to the Darlings!
L.D. Kelley is a multidisciplinary butch lesbian theatre artist with a craving for American stages which understand the transexual journey as one not of politics, but of pilgrimage. He creates highly stylized and absurd theatrical worlds where character reigns supreme, with an approach to theatremaking which is at once bizarre, intense, and sublime. He’s directed at Columbia University (On the Evolutionary Function of Shame by D.A. Mindell), Theatre MITU580 (Missionary Woman by Meg Rosensweet), and in basements, dive bars, classrooms, and parks around New York. L.D. is the sole director of Dram-o-rama, a free script reading circle and theatre salon which performs staged cold readings of curated plays every single Monday night. @l.d.kelley @dramoramanyc
Katie-James Rushin is a composer/producer/Music Director, ice cream connoisseur, and multi-instrumentalist living in Queens. Her favorite theater credits include Freestyle Love Supreme (Conductor/MD, Booth Theater and National Tour), Third Sex: 1930’s Transvestite Lieder (Bass, Ars Nova), Maybe She Dies (Composer, Kennedy Center), Tapestries (Composer, Baryshnikov Dance Center) and the twice-a-month Broadway Sessions with Ben Cameron. As bandleader Katie has joined The Deftones’ 2012 Scars on Broadway tour with the math rock band Ribbons and joined Nicki Minaj’s 2015 Pinkprint tour as part of Lyndsey Smith and Soul Distribution. James has regularly taught music theory, improv, and text analysis at various institutions including CMU, NYU, and Point Park. Coming soon: onstage bassist in My Son’s a Queer at New York City Center and headlining Detroit Pride with Jenna Devries. IG: not_dragging
Adam J. Rineer (they/xe/he) is a composer, writer, and music director focused on interdisciplinary work. Their projects include Third Sex: 1930s Transvestite Lieder, A Trip to the Moon, Obscene, Lewd, Lascivious, and Filthy!, and Branded™️. Their works have been performed or developed at Ars Nova, HERE Arts Center, CAP21 and the New York Musical Festival. They’ve music directed for institutions like Goodspeed Musicals, MCC Theatre, NAMT, and TheatreWorks Hartford, and have performed at venues including Joe’s Pub and 54 Below. Adam is a co-founder of the UNTITLED Musical Project, holds an M.F.A. from Temple University, and is an Adjunct Associate Professor at Pace University’s Sands College of Performing Arts. @adamjrineer
MIRIT SKEEN is a director and designer of many disciplines. Their past work includes lighting design, sound design, practical effects, stage gore, fight coordination, and slapstick operation. Their design work has appeared in several theaters around the city and can often be seen at Soho Playhouse. Their past directing work includes working on the Michigan premiere of the opera “Elizabeth Cree”, the past three years of Theater for the New City’s Street Theater Tour, and the upcoming New York City premiere of Emerson Mae Smith’s WHO PUT BELLA IN THE WYCH ELM? @miritskeen / miritskeen.com
Joe Boyce is an actor and writer based in Brooklyn. He is a supporter of new works and collaborative storytelling, be it on stage or around a kitchen table. Live long and prosper.
Jessica Scout Malone (she/her) is a New York-based choreographer and dramaturg. Whether working with playwrights, actors, or creative teams, her focus is always on building confidence and fostering joy. She is a member of the Society of American Fight Directors (SAFD), and holds a BFA in Theatre Arts from Boston University. Learn more at jessicascoutmalone.com.
Kyle Spekter is an animation student at the School Of Visual Arts. Their focus is on character animation and storytelling, delving into themes of queerness and neurodiversity. They’re looking to become a storywriter and character designer in the animation industry.
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 $15, 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.
If a performance is sold out, you can join a standby line for day-of-show tix made available by minute cancellations and no-shows. Standby will begin 1 hour prior to curtain and will form outsideFolks from the standby line will be admitted into the show on a rolling basis as availability is confirmed. Standby tix are name-your-price starting at $15 + fees.
Additionally, Supra is never sold out! If you can’t make the show in-person, you can always stream online for only $15/mo, which gets you unlimited streaming access to performances from the last year. You can cancel your membership anytime by emailing contact@arsnovanyc.com.
Once you’ve selected your performance date and time at check-out, you’ll see a number of ticket price options ranging from $15 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.
Ars Nova is wheelchair accessible. If you wish or need to remain in your wheelchair throughout the show, our staff will remove the theater chair. This can be done by letting us know your needs/plans in advance; just email Declan Zhang. It can also be done without prior notice when you arrive! If you wish to transfer to the theater seat from your wheelchair, we are happy to store your wheelchair or motorized mobility aid in the lobby during the performance. The House Manager will return your mobility device to you at the end of the performance as this show has no intermission.
About 25% of the seating is on the ground floor of the theater and does not require using stairs to access. There are five six-inch steps to get into the building.
All remaining seats require no less than one and no more than three steps to access.
Licensed service animals (any dogs that are trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities) are welcome at Ars Nova. They must rest in your seating area throughout the performance and are unable to occupy the aisle. Please bring proof of certification or a license for your service animal and be prepared to present it to the House Manager upon request. You can send advance notice to tix@arsnovanyc.com, which is appreciated, but not required.
Our bathrooms are stalled, all gender restrooms – everyone is welcome to use any bathroom of their choice. We have two single-person restrooms in the lobby; with the wheelchair accessible option located right outside the theater on the first floor (doors 7 feet 10 inches x 3 feet 10.5 inches).
We have space that can be made to offer privacy for feeding should you need at any time. See the House Manager onsite and they will arrange a comfortable space, with storage and refrigeration for your materials.
The audience seating locations could be in, around and throughout the playing area. Performers will be within 3’ of you.
The seating is a combination of chairs.
Black Chairs with back: 19” wide x 32.25” high x 21.75” deep with a 500lb capacity
Black Counter height: 16.5” wide x 38” high x 18” deep with a 500lb capacity
The doors for entry into the building are 7 feet 10.5 inches x 3 feet 7 inches (external) and 7 feet 10 inches x feet 10.5 inches (internal).
Box Office height is 3 feet 6 inches and the Bar height is 3 feet 8.5 inches.
ANT Fest is our annual festival of All New Talent showcasing new work from New York’s most adventurous emerging artists. Learn more and get into our other ANT Fest shows here!
Charlene Jean, Regi Angelou, Star Mitchell, Dria Brown
ANT Fest 25
Mack Brown, Murphy Taylor Smith, Emerson Mae Smith
ANT Fest 25
Xhloe Rice, Natasha Roland
ANT Fest 25
kanishk pandey, Milo Tucker-Meyer, Lauren Serafica, Katie Walenta
ANT Fest 25
Carsen Joenk, Molly Bicks, Rat Queen Theatre Company
ANT Fest 25
Dalia Ashurina and Go Home
ANT Fest 25
