In an ego-driven and narcissistic world, two women possess the distinct anxiety of calling themselves artists. In a last ditch effort before they throw in the proverbial towel and become accountants, the pair begin work on what they hope will be their magnum opus, an ambitious and hellish physical-theatre adaptation of Dante’s Inferno. Crushing Baby Animals follows two traumatized women growing up in the millennial age as they accidentally open a cosmic wormhole that sucks them through space, time and the human mind. This meta work takes us on an uncharted and timely adventure through parallel dimensions and personal hells, bringing us face to face with our own antagonistic Dopplegangers, the perils of the human psyche, and the absurd pitfalls of human identity. The play blends physical theatre, multimedia and a healthy dose of humor in a unique artistic experience.

“Crushing Baby Animals reflects our real shared experience as women making theatre in New York City, our real shared nightmare, and the discovery of what that coincidence could possibly mean,” states playwrights Tana Sirois and Maria Swisher. “Through a sci-fi theatrical device, we explore how to live, make art, and not go crazy in this mad world. It’s challenging to feel sane and/or connected to one another right now; we are trying to approach these topics with bravery, vulnerability, and humor, baring our souls and taming our egos.”

-Maria Swisher and Tana Sirois

Crushing Baby Animals premiered with support from the Queens Council On The Arts at The Plaxall Gallery in July, 2019, and transferred to The IRT Theatre in Manhattan in August, 2019.

Garden Of Delights by Fernando Arrabal

Diving head first into the psyche of a tortured artist, Dirt [contained] Theatre Company takes you on a promenade immersive journey through a transformed warehouse gallery and into the surreal depths of human imagination. 

"Garden of Delights" follows Lais, a charming, yet self-loathing actress, through a bizarre and unflinching look at her sadomasochistic experience of love and art. Isolated in her home with only her caged beast-like partner and flock of childish sheep to protect her from the outside world, she spirals down into painful memories and erotic fantasies that blur the line between reality and imagination.

 People Are People, (performed just after the presidential election) uses satire to accentuate the extreme difference in the two primary political parties, and asks what will happen if/when we are forced to work together. 

Pragmatic Species explores the "pragma" of longterm relationships as a naturalistic, romantic relationship reaches absurd levels of multi-media and dance, after one half of the couple identifies her spouse as "a different species".

Original, devised work created in collaboration with Long Island City Artists (LICA), at The Plaxall Gallery, 2016/2017.

Easy Laughter

A Sunday Times Award-winning play written by Robert Shearman, a Shirley Jackson and World Fantasy award winning author and Hugo-nominated writer for the hit BBC series Doctor Who.

In this expertly executed satire, we join the Simpson family as they frantically prepare for their annual celebration of “Christtide”. Christtide is almost like Christmas, in very much the same way that the world of Shearman’s play is almost the world we live in today: mothers worry about wrinkles, fathers drink whiskey, and children play, but something is amiss.  

Easy Laughter premiered in New York on April 30th, at The Alchemical Theatre Laboratory, 2015.

The Last Eden

The story of a young girl who escapes a harsh concrete dystopian world to embark on a journey in search of the last place on earth with trees.

The Last Eden, an original science fiction play written by Maria Swisher and directed by Tana Sirois, premiered with support from the Arts Council England at the Kazimier in Liverpool, September of 2011. 

TANA SIROIS               MARIA SWISHER                                                                     

Tana Sirois is an NYC-based Actor, Director and Producer. She graduated from The Liverpool Institute For Performing Arts, with a BA (1 class hons) in Acting. She co-founded Dirt [contained] Theatre Company in 2011, and directed the company’s first production in 2011 titled The Last Eden. Other directing credits include Tomorrow In The Battle (An Ars Nova Fling), Alice In Wonderland (The Players’ Ring), The Yellow Wallpaper (Edinburgh Fringe Festival), A Slight Ache (Jimmy’s No. 43), co-director for The Chairs (The Players’ Ring), Seascape With Sharks And Dancer (W.E.S.T. and CAP21), and AD for A Clockwork Orange (LIPA).

Acting credits include Nina (The Nina Variations), Froggy (Blackbird), Jill (Equus), Tracy (Seascape With Sharks And Dancer), Judy (Easy Laughter) Nina (Stupid Fucking Bird) Alice (Painted Alice) and Lais in Garden Of Delights, which she also co-produced under Dirt [contained] Theatre Company at The Plaxall Gallery. 

Tana works as the Performing Arts Director for Long Island City Artists, Inc. and as the Associate Artistic Director for the theatre company Stripped Scripts.

Tana is a proud company member in the feminist, musical comedy troupe, Broad Comedy, and can be found touring the country (often in a vagina headdress) raising money for Planned Parenthood and The ACLU. 

Maria Swisher is an actor, writer and theatre-maker originally from Marshall, Missouri. Maria studied at New York University and Strasberg Studio for Theatre and Film. She then moved to the United Kingdom where she graduated with a first class degree from the Liverpool Institute for Peforming Arts. While at LIPA, she completed her dissertation on science fiction in the theatre, and wrote her first play, The Last Eden, which was produced with support from the Arts Council England under Dirt [contained] in 2011. While in England, she has trained with the RSC and Complicite. Most recently, she worked with Craft Theatre Company in devising a physical theatre rendition of Dante's Inferno. Her short play, The Trip, was produced at the Lyric Hammersmith and was shortlisted this year for the John Petherbridge Award for New Writing.

Acting credits include Elizabeth (When the Rain Stops Falling), Freda Caplan (Dangerous Corner), Mrs. Lovett (Sweeney Todd), Lady (Orpheus Descending.)