
UnTethered Program
Written and performed by: Tana Sirois
Directed by Polina Ionina
Assistant Director: Skyler Reid
Puppeteer: Miles Lizak
Sound Design: Polina Ionina/Tana Sirois
Composer: Toy Factor / Tyler Agnew
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Tana Sirois
UnTethered Playwright/Performer
Theatre-maker, director, creative producer & coach
Tana holds a BA in Acting from The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, and an MSc in Creative Arts & Mental Health from Queen Mary University of London. She is co-founder of the non-profit arts & culture center, Culture Lab LIC and Artistic Director of Dirt [contained] Theatre Company, which has been producing socially conscious theatre with an absurd twist since 2010. Tana is a member of the international movement theatre collective The How, and of the feminist musical comedy troupe Broad Comedy, where she has helped raise over $2,500,000 for Planned Parenthood and The ACLU. Her original play "Crushing Baby Animals" played at The IRT theatre in NYC, and her two-person movement theatre piece, "My Favorite Person" ran in NYC at HERE Arts, and in Istanbul at Thuafier. She has been acting since 1994, producing theatre since 2007, has directed Off-Broadway, and performed in over 100 theatrical productions across the USA, UK, and Turkey. She utilizes improvisation to devise movement-based work that strives for eloquence in absurdity and authenticity in chaos. The research she has undertaken at the intersection of art and mental health has inspired her to create work centered around issues of equality and identity, and the ever-changing nature of the self. She believes in the efficacy of art for social justice, and holds a deep respect for the profound healing power of the theatre.
ig: tana_sirois
www.tanasirois.com
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Polina Ionina
Founder of the How Theater and Director of UnTetherd
Actor, Mover, Teacher
Polina is a Russian-American director/actor born and raised in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Classically trained at Pace University BFA Acting program in NYC, Polina has also studied abroad in Kyrgyzstan and at the Grotowski Institut in Poland. In NY she’s worked with Interactive PlayLab led by improv pioneer and master clown Jeff Wirth, and with the experimental theater group Dzieci. Polina is a founder of The How, and has performed with and directed the ensemble at celebrated venues such as HERE Arts Center, IRT, The Tank NYC, Dixon Place, and Tuhafier (Istanbul). Work with The How includes: The Vyuga Project, Vandals, Hunger, What We Do, I Am the Wind, 5 Hour Piece, My Favorite Person, and Rat King which recently performed at Culture Lab in LIC. Polina has also worked with up and coming film-makers in NYC such as Alex Blackstorm, Sonoko Ogata, and Steve Perterson as well as industry giants such as Bob Balaban, and Lisa Robinson.
ig: @mspyaari
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Miles Lizak
UnTethered Puppeteer and Bag Monster
Miles Lizak is a theater artist, writer, and science communicator from the US, based in Barcelona, Spain. He is currently studying physical theatre in the pedagogy of Jacques Lecoq at Teatracció International Theatre School. Besides theatre-making, Miles works as a science journalist, hosts multilingual storytelling events (/Story Machine Barcelona/), and enjoys quality time with his cat. His fiction has appeared in /Nature, Society for Misfit Stories, Five2One Magazine/, and others.
Miles is engaged in the lifelong process of learning to live with his own OCD-monsters, and he looks forward to bringing some of them to the stage.
UnTethered
A note from the director, Polina Ionina:
UnTethered is a very special piece. It is one that takes a lot of courage. I am truly in awe of the dedication and bravery of Tana Sirois. She has put her heart and soul into this piece. It is not easy to bare your inner most, hidden self in front of an audience over and over and over again. It was my job to hold space during this process. Since this story is so delicate and specific, I had to approach it with grace and patience, helping it unfold in the way that it wanted to unfold. It has been a joy to see it evolve and for it to have such a profound effect on the audience. Our intention with this piece has always been to bring awareness to OCD and to show folks that they are not alone. I hope that you enjoy this show as much as we have enjoyed making it.
All my love,
-P

We have been so fortunate to take this show to Istanbul, NYC and London.
In July, we will perform at Sweet @ The Yellow Book in Brighton before going to The Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August.
If you would like to help support our Edinburgh adventure, we would be incredibly grateful. Live art takes extreme dedication to make in today’s society, and needs support to thrive. We are grateful for every dollar/pound/lira.
If you would like to support us in another way, you can post about the show and tag us on ig @untethered_the_play. We are so grateful for your support.