More About Rat King
A Rat King is a folkloric creature that is born when a number of rats are entwined by their tails, which have been stuck together by blood, dirt, ice, or shit.
Rat King Theatre was born in the sticky New York summer of 2013 when an east coast Aussie and a west coast American discovered their shared love for beautiful and absurd storytelling and food. Since a serendipitous lunch of cart food and leftovers by the Washington Square Fountain Tessa and Krystalla have been collaborating and feasting together.
Rat King Theatre is about getting tangled up in deep and silly shit. By intertwining theatre, dance, puppetry, film, food, illustration, political action, and satire, we highlight the impossibility of detangling out stories, memories, and identities. Rat King Theatre blurs the lines of who we are in the hope of expanding what we may become.
Photo by Jon Vachon
Tessa Allen
Co-Founder
Krystalla Pearce
co-founder
Tessa is a West Coast native now Brooklyn based writer, performer, dancer, choreographer, and illustrator. After receiving her BA in European History from Willamette University, working in an office, a coffee shop, and the wilds of Oregon and Costa Rica she moved to New York to receive her MA from Performance Studies NYU, Tisch. She has been a dancer since the age of 3, a choreographer since the age of 4, and a playwright since age 7. She also works as an arts educator and illustrates from time to time. Her favorite food in ketchup.
Krystalla is an Australian theatre maker and teaching artist based in Brooklyn, New York. While completing her BA in Italian and Social Theory at Melbourne University she was involved in the founding of two theatre groups - The Melbourne University Absurdist Theatre Society and Throwback Players. Upon graduating, she got a serious government job but continued to write and direct. She then got an even more serious government job that moved her to New York. Soon realizing it wasn't for her, she returned to theatre making and completed her MA in Performance Studies at NYU. After graduating she spent some time in New Delhi, India, leading devised theatre workshops on social justice issues with adolescents and graduate students. In addition to co-founding, creating, and cooking with Rat King Theatre, her current work includes curating an arts education showcase at Lincoln Center Education, and teaching theatre to elementary students across New York City.
