Kea and the Ark

Through puppetry, dance, electric cello and storytelling Sebastienne Mundheim/White Box Theatre share the story of independent, revolutionary thinker and maker, Kea Tawana, a woman who built an 86-foot long, three-story tall ark in the Central Ward of Newark as an act of protest, tenacity, and imagination.  Kea’s declaration that: there’s no place left on land for me, launched her incredible project. This arresting performance has been presented by multiple colleges, theatres, and museums in the United States since it was commissioned by ArtYard in 2023.  Kea and the Ark will be presented in conjunction with discussions and workshops that reflect on the story and the questions it provokes - many of which speak to many themes we still confront in 2026.

In addition to Kea and the Ark, White Box theatre will share their discovery process for a new performance: Twist the Grid, as they explore myth, science, history, and imagination around the life of the Delaware River and the language of independence. In praise of floods and reimagining history-telling -- with collaborators Harlee Trautman, Daniel de Jesús, Kennedy Candra, Payton Smith, Ain Gordon - this new work-in-development invites you to a process-sharing and workshop series rooted in these historic words and the environment from which they came.