The Day Intuition Died
A live theatrical work by Talya Dayan
A portrait takes shape in real time. As it does, two women confront the history between them.
Circle Theater Festival · AMT Theater, New York City · 45 minutes
About the play
Ella books a portrait session under a false name. The painter, Nicole, is her former teacher, and the person Ella once walked away from.
One of them chose safety. The other chose the work. Over the course of one sitting, they ask what each choice cost, and what each one saved.
A painting is made live on stage as the play unfolds, so the audience watches an image form and change in front of them. The Day Intuition Died is a new play by Talya Dayan, for anyone who has made something and wondered whether they chose right.
Content
This production contains mature themes, references to drug use and sex work. Recommended for ages 21 and up.
About the work
Written by Talya Dayan in the final weeks of her pregnancy, The Day Intuition Died grew out of a question that felt both personal and urgent. What happens to a woman's creative self when her body, and her future, are about to change forever?
The piece began as a screenplay and was later reimagined for the stage, where the live act of painting could embody, moment by moment, the very change the story explores.
The play is not a literal account of pregnancy. Instead, it inhabits the emotional space around becoming - the fear of growing unrecognizable to yourself, the pull of an earlier self, and the possibility that creation and loss are inseparable.
Meet the cast
Shiraz Tzarfati is an Israeli-French actor born and raised in Tel Aviv. She studied at the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute in New York and at Studio Pygmalion in Paris, and works in Hebrew, French, and English. She appears in Prime Video's The Terminal List: Dark Wolf and returns in season two of The Terminal List, premiering October 21, 2026. Her other credits include The Serpent Queen and Theodosia, and onstage, Dolores and Sunbreak.
Shiraz Tzarfati - ELLA
Nahar Aminov is an Israeli-born, New York-based actress, dancer, and singer working across stage and screen. Her screen credits include HBO's The Other Two, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Netflix's Black Rabbit, American Sports Story, and Nicole in the screen version of The Day Intuition Died. Onstage, she has appeared in The Cherry Orchard, Night at the Diner at The Tank, and Six Characters at La MaMa. She has developed work at Columbia University under Anne Bogart and Brian Kulick.
Nahar Aminov - Nicole
Michael Segal is a theatre director and a method actor. After graduating the LSTFI Michael immediately started to direct theater. After directing two plays in Brooklyn, WUNDERLAND will be his Off Broadway debut. Michael arrived to New York this August after completing shooting a film in Europe wrote and acted by him.
Michael is a big fan of Brecht and Chekov and strongly believes that, it is not real but always should be TRUE.
Michael Segal - The Man
Kiara Stuart
Live painter
During every performance, a painting is created live on stage. Kiara paints while the play unfolds, so the image on the canvas changes with the story.
Artist statement
My work explores vulnerability and the connection between the body and nature through surreal figurative oil paintings. Inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic, I began creating psychological portraits that reflect the interconnectedness of humanity and the environment.
Initially, I drew wood grain patterns in my backyard, symbolizing our dependence on nature and the striking visual similarities between organic patterns and the human body. This led to incorporating these patterns into my figurative work. I often use myself as a model, with the selfie mode on my phone offering control and introspection in my process.
Painting women in nature is central to my practice, where their nude forms symbolize liberation, safety, and a departure from gender norms. Nature serves as a shelter for these women, representing the intertwined destruction of the planet and ourselves.
My work is an expression of the sensitivity of the human condition, and an exploration of our connection to the natural world, while offering a space for healing and introspection.
Earlier paintings by Kiara. The painting you see at the performance is made live
