Nelle Tankus

Nelle Tankus

Nelle Tankus (she/her) is a playwright & performer whose work explores queerness, the absurd, and metamorphosis. Her full-length work has been seen in Seattle at Annex Theatre (Tenderness, dir. Grace Carmack and E. Pike), The Umbrella Project (Slack Water, dir. QuiQui Dominguez), and Parley Productions (Yom Kippur, dir. Rebecca Tourino Collinsworth). Her shorter works have been seen most recently at 12...
Nelle Tankus (she/her) is a playwright & performer whose work explores queerness, the absurd, and metamorphosis. Her full-length work has been seen in Seattle at Annex Theatre (Tenderness, dir. Grace Carmack and E. Pike), The Umbrella Project (Slack Water, dir. QuiQui Dominguez), and Parley Productions (Yom Kippur, dir. Rebecca Tourino Collinsworth). Her shorter works have been seen most recently at 12 Minutes Max, Parley, and MirrorStage. She was a semi-finalist for the Jerome Fellowship (2021/2022), Playwrights Realm Scratchpad Series (2019), and the Eugene O'Neil National Playwright's Conference 2018). Most recently, she was a cohort of the 2021 María Irene Fornés Playwriting Workshop. She holds a BFA from Cornish College of the Arts. She is based on Duwamish Land [aka Seattle], and is a proud member of Parley Playwrights Group.

Plays

  • ROCHEFORT girls by Nelle Tankus
    Recommendations: 2
    ·
    Cast: 
    3–10
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: friendship, LGBTQ + 2 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, experimental, science fiction
    Keyword: friendship, LGBTQ, fantasy/science fiction, experimental narrative structure
    FULL LENGTH. Animate and Brim have both survived massive loss. And now, they're in The Hole, literally and figuratively. Animate can no longer feel pain, Brim forgot what happened to them, and The Hole is newborn and has no idea how to even exist. Their old way of living is gone. Now that these three have been thrust together, they must remember who they are, what happened to them, and how to grieve a pain...
    FULL LENGTH. Animate and Brim have both survived massive loss. And now, they're in The Hole, literally and figuratively. Animate can no longer feel pain, Brim forgot what happened to them, and The Hole is newborn and has no idea how to even exist. Their old way of living is gone. Now that these three have been thrust together, they must remember who they are, what happened to them, and how to grieve a pain they've never felt before.
  • Tenderness by Nelle Tankus
    Recommendations: 2
    ·
    Cast: 
    7–8
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, musical + 3 more
    ·
    Keyword: cyberpunk, anti-capitalism + 4 more
    Genre: dark comedy, musical, political, satire, science fiction
    Keyword: cyberpunk, anti-capitalism, science fiction, LGBTQ, friendship, multimedia
    FULL LENGTH. At the dawn of a new swine flu pandemic, Lemon Lymes is a retired pop star and aspiring fascist looking to collaborate on a secret project with an adoring fan. Meanwhile, three Queerdos are planning for their uncertain futures as artificial intelligence renders their jobs obsolete. When a parasocial Lymes fan takes things too far and billionaire industries begin to collapse, the queerdos have to...
    FULL LENGTH. At the dawn of a new swine flu pandemic, Lemon Lymes is a retired pop star and aspiring fascist looking to collaborate on a secret project with an adoring fan. Meanwhile, three Queerdos are planning for their uncertain futures as artificial intelligence renders their jobs obsolete. When a parasocial Lymes fan takes things too far and billionaire industries begin to collapse, the queerdos have to outsmart the state and keep their loved ones cared for. Tenderness is an anticapitalist cyberpunk experience you can enjoy from the comfort of your home computer or the theatre. This is the second play in the Pig Lung Trilogy.
  • Deep Veins by Nelle Tankus
    Cast: 
    7
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, science fiction
    ·
    Keyword: science fiction, American capitalism + 3 more
    Genre: dark comedy, science fiction
    Keyword: science fiction, American capitalism, LGBTQ, friendship, new pandemic
    ONE ACT. Three queerdos attempt to navigate the plasma donation industry at the dawn of a new swine flu aka "pig lung" pandemic. Their doctors are out of touch, their friends are all sick, and even time and place have given up. The only thing keeping these folks steady is their need for community. This is the first play in the Pig Lung Trilogy.
  • Slack Water by Nelle Tankus
    Recommendations: 2
    ·
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: LGBTQ, family + 2 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, fantasy, science fiction
    Keyword: LGBTQ, family, queer science fiction, contemporary fantasy
    FULL LENGTH. Semmie, an elder trans woman, is pregnant, and she wasn’t yesterday. Demanding a natural birth or nothing, her children Pearl and Marge are forced to care for her for fear of her life. As the hospital begins to flood and the lives they've built and rebuilt are lost to sea, this strange kind of family must permanently redefine their relationships.
  • Yom Kippur by Nelle Tankus
    Recommendations: 3
    ·
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, fable/folktale + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: LGBTQ, broken friendship + 2 more
    Genre: dark comedy, fable/folktale, horror, mystery/thriller
    Keyword: LGBTQ, broken friendship, Me Too Movement, accountability
    FULL LENGTH. Four homos party hard for the high holy days on the anniversary of a traumatic event. But guilt hangs over them like a curse. It lives in the walls, in the food they eat, their every breath, and they’re all complicit in different ways. As the night wears on, they all must come together and begin the messy work of atonement, moving beyond blame towards uncertainty and repair.
  • untitled eggsperiment by Nelle Tankus
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    1–5
    ·
    Genre: experimental, movement/physical
    ·
    Keyword: LGBTQ, trans women + 1 more
    Genre: experimental, movement/physical
    Keyword: LGBTQ, trans women, experimental theater
    INSTALLATION-PERFORMANCE ART. Part amateur body awareness, part love letter to my grandmother, part The Penis Game.
  • The Untitled Play About Art School by Nelle Tankus
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    7
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, dark comedy + 3 more
    ·
    Keyword: Greek mythology, parallel dimensions + 1 more
    Genre: adaptation, dark comedy, drama, experimental, fantasy
    Keyword: Greek mythology, parallel dimensions, meta comedy
    FULL LENGTH. When Amy’s failure to show up for her thesis presentation is blamed on her depression/anxiety, she is threatened with expulsion from Whetmore’s College of Performing Arts. Meanwhile, in Ancient Greece, a carnivorous beast has escaped Echo’s watchful eye and is hungry for blood. As Echo and Amy’s friends continue to betray them and bystanders are devoured, they must decide whether to give up on...
    FULL LENGTH. When Amy’s failure to show up for her thesis presentation is blamed on her depression/anxiety, she is threatened with expulsion from Whetmore’s College of Performing Arts. Meanwhile, in Ancient Greece, a carnivorous beast has escaped Echo’s watchful eye and is hungry for blood. As Echo and Amy’s friends continue to betray them and bystanders are devoured, they must decide whether to give up on theater while they still can, or burn everything to the fucking ground and start over. The Untitled Play About Art School is a very harsh comedy following an unbreakable friendship that tries to find a way to heal when all hope seems lost.