As the co-founder, director, and producer of the company One Whale’s Tale, Ellpetha Tsivicos has created work with and at Lincoln Center, The Public Theater, The SHED, the Bushwick Starr, the TEAM, Onassis Stegi, Phaneromenis 70, the cell Theatre, the Goethe Institute, Double Edge Theatre, We Are Here, and as part of the Exponential Festival. She has also directed a number of films, music videos, documentaries and has developed projects for the Art in Embassies Gala, the MoMa PS1 Gala, PS 1, and Art Basel. 

 

Ellpetha exhibits her work as a dialogical artist through public programming in community gardens, public parks, and New York City waterways. She founded a creative arts healing program I Wish I Knew How where she leads and mentors a community of formerly incarcerated people. Additionally, Ellpetha has continued her lifelong advocacy for her homeland of Cyprus as the Vice President of Cultural Affairs for the Federation of Cypriot American Organizations and as the founder of the Cyprus Foundation. 

 

Ellpetha’s work has been featured in the NY Times, WNYC, the Washington Post, the Dramatist, American Theatre Magazine, Playbill, BroadwayWorld, CBS Local, NY 1, alongside local publications. She studied at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and received a BFA in Drama with a Minor in Art & Public Policy. 

Notably, her 2020 workshop of QUINCE became the first live theatre to happen in New York City during the COVID pandemic, establishing her as a leading voice in immersive, site-specific and large-scale performance. Most recently Ellpetha is serving as the Head Curator and Artistic Director for the inaugural season of performance festival Sugar, Sugar at the Domino Park Amphitheater. If there is one thing she can leave you with, it is that there is magic everywhere, even in the darkest moments.