The Tank

The Tank is a nonprofit off-off-Broadway performance venue and producer in Manhattan, New York. The organization was founded in May 2003 by a group of young artists and has since moved several times, residing on 36th Street . The Tank presents art across several disciplines (comedy, dance, theater, music, film), produced at no fee for use of the venue to the presenting artists. The Tank houses two performance spaces (a 56-seat black box and a 98-seat proscenium) and five rehearsal studios. Beyond presenting work at its resident home in Manhattan, the theater has also produced shows performed elsewhere throughout New York City, collectively presenting over 1,000 performances each year. Between 2016 and 2018, five of the theater's shows were nominated for a total of six Drama Desk Awards and in 2020, the theater itself received an Obie Award for its work supporting emerging artists. History The Tank was founded in May 2003 in Manhattan, New York, by eight artists, all recent college graduates in their mid-20s. Its founders, mostly graduates of Yale University, Oberlin College, and Harvard University, included playwright Amy Herzog, playwright and director Alex Timbers, Justin Krebs, Rachel Levy, Mike Rosenthal, and Randy Bell, who collectively expressed the goal of offering young artists across disciplines the space to create work in the center of New York City. The organization was first housed on 42nd Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues. It leased the space on a month-to-month basis from a landlord who intended to sell the building in which the theater was housed. Presenting "an obscure but growing lineup of indie bands, underground films, and performances ranging from comedy to puppetry", within 10 months, the company had repaid their startup loans. The theater derived its name from the architecture of its first space: three large windows overlooking 42nd Street led to someone calling the space "the Fishtank"; later the "Fish" was dropped in favor of the shortened "the Tank".