NPTC Presents
NOW OR NEVER
the 12th Annual
Women's Work Short Play Festival
June 26-30, 2021
via NPTC YouTube Channel
Premiere begins at 12pm on Saturday, June 26 and available through midnight on Wednesday, June 30
Like so many other things missed during 2020, our Short Play LAB writers were not able to see their work produced live in our annual festival.
We have waited almost a year to share these gems with the public. An in-person festival is still not possible, but before we close out the 2020-2021 Season, we can share them virtually in anticipation of welcoming audiences back to our studio before the end of the year, where they can be experienced fully realized!
As seen via Broadway World!
TICKETS:
$15 per program, $25 for a Festival Pass to see all programs
Programming
PRogram a- Premieres at 12 pm
Program A begins with The Empress of Jupiter by Laura ZlatoS; as an absurdist farce it asks, how far one woman will go to find the change she is seeking? Running Out Of Time, Zakeia Tyson-Cross' dark comedy, is set in the near future where escape from Planet Earth is the only option for survival. One African American family must heal their internal wounds before they can overcome their external reality.
The Empress of Jupiter by Laura Zlatos, directed by Karin Crighton
with: Cate Bottiglione*, Kea Trevett*, Lindsley Howard*, Tami Swartz*
Running Out of Time by Zakeia Tyson-Cross, directed by Karin Crighton
with: B. Alexander, Robert Johnson, Laura E. Johnston*, Andrew Manning*, Daniel Neusom*, Sandra Parris*
Program b- premieres at 2 pm
Program B opens with Foul Line by K. Alexa Mavromatis who juxtaposes the early days of the COVID lockdown with two high school seniors' struggle to come out. Brett & Ashley by Jennifer Rowland imagines a different outcome to the Kavanaugh Supreme Court appointment by examining the actions of his wife, an overlooked figure in the confirmation circus.
Foul line by K. Alexa Mavromatis, directed by Dani Ortiz
with: Emma Sarah Davis, Eliana Weiss
Brett & Ashley by Jennifer Rowland, directed by Chanon & Cherita Judson
with: Ellen Lindsay*, Adam J. Smith*
program c - premieres at 4 pm
Program C offers a heart-breaking example of our Now or Never theme with Frosting on Top by Uma Paranjpe, in which two best friends and soul mates are forced to confront a future without each other in a world that is literally crumbling around them. Cold Turkey by Yuliya Tsukerman lets two misfits find hope in the fleeting nature of the modern news cycle in the face of personal tragedy
Frosting on top by Uma Paranjpe, directed by Melody Brooks
with: Anita Ganesan, Roy Reyes Scandela
Cold turkey by Yuliya Tsukerman, directed by Jenny Greeman
with: Meghan Martin, Melissa Skirboll
VIDEO EDITOR: LUISA BATTISTA
* Member of Actors’ Equity
Playwrights
K. ALEXA MAVROMATIS is a Boston-based playwright whose award-winning short plays and one-acts have been produced by theatres throughout the U.S. and internationally. Her work is published in numerous anthologies, textbooks, and acting editions. Alexa’s full-length plays include The Back Room (third place winner of the David Mark Cohen National Playwriting Award), Gravity, and Pirate Radio. She is a past playwriting fellow at New Repertory Theatre, and a member of the Dramatists Guild and Rhombus Playwrights. In addition to her work as a playwright, Alexa proudly serves on the staff of Boston Playwrights’ Theatre. MFA: Boston University.
A native San Franciscan, JENNIFER ROWLAND is a playwright who landed in Los Angeles by way of the East Coast. Her plays have been produced and/or developed at Skylight Theater, Pacific Resident Theatre, Antaeus Theatre Company, The Road Theatre, Rogue Machine as well as at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Jennifer is an alumnus of Harvard College and American Conservatory Theatre’s Young Conservatory in San Francisco. Her play Jamal (Ditmas Park) was named a semi-finalist in the Garry Marshall New Works Festival, 2020. Recent projects include Still Waiting which played around West Hollywood as part of the virtual play series “While You Wait”, as well as the audio play, The Changeling and an adaptation of Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth. https://www.jenniferwrowland.com
YULIYA TSUKERMAN is a Brooklyn-based play-maker who works with words, puppetry, and moving images to make sense out of nonsense and nonsense out of sense. Yuliya's short films have screened in festivals around the world - in the U.S., Japan, France, Germany, and Colombia. Her work has been performed at St. Ann's Warehouse, The Brick, Nouveau 47, and the Actors Studio Drama School.
ZAKEIA TYSON-CROSS is a Brooklyn-based creative writer. Her poetry and other creative writings have appeared on numerous blogs such as Harlem World Magazine, Opportunity Agenda, BK Nation and BRIC TV. Zakeia was recognized by The Billie Holiday Theater, 50in50: Women’s Voices Initiative, curated by playwright Dominique Morriseau. When she is not writing, Zakeia spends most of her time reading, cooking, and catching up on her favorite Netflix shows. You can visit her online at www.zakeiawrites.com
LAURA ZLATOS’ plays include The Even More Lamentable Tragedy of Lavinia (2020 Women are Funny Prize), The Blue Whale (2019 Dr. R.J. Rodriguez Emerging Playwrights Contest), Happily After Ever (2017 Woodward/Newman Drama Award, 59E59 Theaters, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Bloomington Playwrights Project), Three Hours (HERE Arts Center), Exposure (Gene Frankel Theatre), and the musical A Problem with the Pattersons with composer/lyricist Andre Catrini. Laura is a 2021 playwriting fellow with Playhouse Creatures Theatre Company. She was a member of The Orchard Project’s Greenhouse and was a resident playwright with the Exquisite Corpse Company. MFA: Playwriting, Columbia University; MA: Performance Studies, NYU. www.laurazlatos.com.
Directors
MELODY BROOKS is the founder and Artistic Director of NPTC. She is an award-winning producer, director and dramaturg who has been working in the professional theatre and various educational institutions for 40 years. She was dramaturg for She Calls Me Firefly by Teresa Lotz, which won the 2019 NY Innovative Theatre Award for Best Short Play, co-produced by NPTC and Parity Productions. Brooks has developed and directed a number of notable and award-winning original scripts and innovative classical productions with NPTC since its founding. She was also a director for NJ Rep's Theatre Brut series for the three years prior to the pandemic, and previously directed works in the Downtown Urban Theatre Festival, Queer at HERE Festival, Edinburgh Fringe Festival and at LIU and the New School, among other credits.
KARIN CRIGHTON has been directing for nearly 20 years. Graduating magna cum laude from Towson University, she produced, directed, and acted in and around Baltimore before moving to New York to continue her passion. Discovering her love of new works, she joined New Perspectives Theatre Company’s Short Play LAB in 2019 and is ever grateful and glad for this time with emerging writers and seasoned dramaturgs. Recent work includes Fast Forward for the Kansas City Fringe Festival (kcfringe.org). @dammitkarin, facebook.com/karin.crighton.
JENNY GREEMAN is an artist and educator currently serving as Program Manager for the Women’s Work Short Play LAB. She joined NPTC in 2007 as Administrator of Youth & Community Development, and has been a resident director for the Women's Work, World Voices and Apprenticeship programs. Jenny helmed the World Premiere production of Screenplay by Scott Brooks, which was awarded “Outstanding Production of a Play” at the 2010 Midtown International Theatre Festival and subsequently moved to an Off Broadway run at 59E59. For the 2008 MITF, Jenny and her writing partner, Elliot Lanes, won “Best Staged Reading” for their original children’s piece, The Raggedy Ann and Andy Musical. She is currently the Director of Programming at Pathways to Leadership/The Leadership Program.
CHANON JUDSON is Co-Artistic Director of the critically acclaimed Urban Bush Women. Founded in 1984 by choreographer Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, Urban Bush Women (UBW) seeks to bring the untold and under-told histories and stories of disenfranchised people to light through dance. UBW does this from a woman-centered perspective and as members of the African Diaspora community in order to create a more equitable balance of power in the dance world and beyond. Chanon is a 2018 Director’s Lab Fellow (Chicago) and an APAP Leadership Fellow, Cohort II. She joined the WW LAB in 2019, directing It's Not So Bad in My Brain by Amalia Oliva Rojas in the Festival. Other credits include Chronicle X, Cannibbis, Taylor Mac’s 24Hour Spectacular, Cotton Club Parade and Fela!
CHERITA JUDSON is an educator, performing artist, and choreographer. A native of Buffalo, NY, she currently resides in Houston, TX. Ms. Judson was a member of the 1995 North American Tap Dance Championship Gold Medal Team and spent 5 years with Alvin Ailey Education/Outreach department as dance instructor/choreographer for Ailey Camp. She worked for Earl Mosley’s Institute of the Arts as facilitator for their summer dance lecture series. Currently, Cherita provides dance education through school partnership programming. She is the resident choreographer & co director for Vincent Victoria Presents theatre company. BUT her most fulfilling job is being a mom to her 2 beautiful daughters, Anaya & Sarai.
DANI ORTIZ has loved theater since her first day at Performing Arts camp. In high school, her ten-minute play, Learning to Trust, was a finalist in the Fidelity Future Stage playwrighting contest which was published by Samuel French in a collection of student plays. She graduated from SUNY Purchase with a BA in Theater Performance and Arts Management. She currently works at a community-based organization supporting after-school programs throughout NYC. Dani served as the Women’s Work Short Play LAB Directing Apprentice for the last two years and can't wait for you all to watch Foul Line, her directing debut with NPTC!
Actors
B ALEXANDER (RUNNING OUT OF TIME/Jewl) is an example of the premiere talent hailing from Washington, DC. As a non-binary actor, B brings a bit of the East to the West with spontaneous hints of southern charm and a Mid-West smile. Having started their Hollywood career in commercials, B continues their acting journey in films such as Love in a Parking Lot, television (Love at First Glance), contributing their voice to Nine Years to Neptune, stand-up comedy at the Comedy Store, narrating children's books, gracing theatre stages locally and virtually, and an upcoming debut in music. Some notable credits include A Very Special Holiday Special, Little Me, and recently an award winning short film, Starling.
CATE BOTTIGLIONE (EMPRESS OF JUPITER/Cynthia). With New Perspectives: Lili in The Last Daughter by Rachel Shroeder, Linda in Jennifer's Coming Out Party by Sherry Freidman, Grace in workshops of Leda's Children by Joan Castagnone. Most recently seen on: Netflix's Orange is the New Black, The Politician. CBS' God Friended Me; HBO's The Deuce, Succession. Upcoming episode of HBO Max's The Other Two. Thanks and love to my A Team! Contact: cate.bottiglione@gmail.com SAG-AFTRA, AEA.
EMMA SARAH DAVIS (FOUL LINE/Sam) (she/her/hers) is a New York based actor. She recently graduated from Emerson College with an Acting BFA. Her credits include the principal role in EmersonStage’s Everybody. She made her directorial debut with her play, A Hanukkah Story. Other recent credits include EmersonStage’s Measure for Measure in the role of Isabella. Emma also starred in a TYA piece, Women Who Weave, in the role of Atalanta for which she received an EVVY award for Outstanding Lead Performance. Emma would like to thank the NPTC family for welcoming her in with open arms and open hearts.
ANITA GANESAN (FROSTING ON TOP/Sonali) is an actor, screenwriter, and very amateur card magician residing in Brooklyn, NY. Anita graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering while studying improvisational comedy with The Groundings. Post-graduation, she landed a high-profile corporate job, which she eventually quit to pursue her childhood dream of acting. She quickly landed a series of national commercials and her most recent film as lead actor, Bloom, has been accepted into multiple film festivals around the country. Anita loves watching Edgar Wright films, baking key lime pies, and is a trained Carnatic Vocalist.
LINDSLEY HOWARD (EMPRESS OF JUPITER/Skyler) is a Texas-born, Brooklyn-based actor and storyteller. Select New York credits include developmental workshops and collaborations with Playwright’s Realm, The Lark, Dutch Kills Theatre and Ensemble Studio Theatre. In 2018 she was nominated for a Helen Hayes award for her work in The Wolves with Studio Theatre in Washington DC. She holds a BFA in Acting from St. Edward's University.
ROBERT JOHNSON (RUNNING OUT OF TIME/Percy) is a versatile actor striving to conquer the acting/modeling industry. NOW OR NEVER marks his professional acting debut. He is a student at Georgia State University working towards his bachelor's degree in Theatre, fulfilling a life-long dream. He is currently signed to @knownmanagementgroup but hopes he will become his own entrepreneur someday. @robj27won_
LAURA E. JOHNSTON (RUNNING OUT OF TIME/Gayle): Virtual: As Henrietta Vinton Davis (StatueFest Four), The Frontline (KQPlaywrights), GABRIEL (NPTC), The Nonessentials (Planet Connections Theatre Festivity), The Land of Camaan (TATCo), Raisin in the Sun (RAC), Julius Caesar (SW Shakespeare Co.). Theater: Revolution’s Smite(NPTC), I Feel Good (Polaris North), Much Ado About Nothing (Classics-in-Color), The House on Poe Street (14th St. Alliance), Clover (La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club), To Kill a Mockingbird (Arkansas Rep). TV: “Believe” (NBC); “The Sopranos” (HBO); The Bronx is Burning (ESPN), “Law & Order: SVU” (NBC). Film: James White, The Quiet, Harlem Grace. Always for J.J.
ELLEN LINDSAY (BRETT & ASHLEY/Ashley)
ANDREW D. MANNING (RUNNING OUT OF TIME/David) is a Jamaican-American actor, model, dancer, director and entrepreneur. He began acting on television in 2015 on "Madam Secretary" and continued on and made guest star appearances on Elementary, The Code, and the Emmy-winning show Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. He also starred in the films, Another Shot, The Black Experience, & Not Black Enough. Catch him this fall in Season 2 of "WUTANG: An American Saga" on Hulu.
MEGHAN MARTIN (COLD TURKEY/Shelby) is a New York based actor, line producer, and pocaster. As an actor she held supporting roles in the Amazon feature film The Dirty Kind as well as several shorts, and a leading role in the award winning short film Lola in May. She has line produced several award-winning projects screening in the U.S. and internationally such as Fresh Air, The Della Morte Sisters, and Like Daughter, Like Mother. She is a proud member of Brazen Giants Ensemble, NYWIFT, and the All Ports Open Network, where she hosts Cause and Creation (Featured in Feedspots top 20 creative podcasts).
DANIEL NEUSOM (RUNNING OUT OF TIME/Virgle) is appearing in his third production with NPTC., with previous roles in Revolution's Smite in 2018 and last year's virtual production of Love Lost and Found: A Harlem Triptych of Plays. After a seventeen year hiatus from acting, he returned in the AND Theatre company's production ofMapplethorpe's Flowers. That same year he acted in Before The Fall at the London Fringe Festival and in 2019 in Washington DC's Capital Fringe Festival. This spring he did his first audio drama, Flashpoint, which will debut on July 12 on WDIY radio. Daniel is also a singer/songwriter http://www.neusong.net
SANDRA PARRIS' (RUNNING OUT OF TIME/Simone) belief in the magic of the stage and its life transforming power has led her to perform in a variety of plays, musicals and operas in the United States and Europe. It was so much fun working with the cast and she looks forward to seeing Zakeia’s work done again- Live!
ROY REYES SCANDELA (FROSTING ON TOP/Matias) is a Venezuelan-born actor and artist based in New York City. He has trained in several studios throughout the city, and most recently in Meisner technique at the Terry Knickerbocker Studio in Brooklyn. He has worked on several readings for NPTC’s development lab, including Tribe. Stage credits include Measure for Measureat the TriBeCa Performing Arts Center, Max Frisch’s The Arsonists, and the one-act The Funeral at the Manhattan Repertory Theater. Currently, he’s focused on transitioning into TV & Film, and perfecting his self-tape setup. When he’s not on camera, he’s most likely boxing or painting.
TAMI Swartz (EMPRESS OF JUPITER/Carla): Off Broadway credits include - Polly: Beggar’s Holiday, York Theatre Company. Regional theatre credits include - Lady Thiang: The King and I, Sharon: Master Class with Dallas Summer Musicals, Sacramento Music Circus, MT Wichita, Caldwell Theatre Company, Zach Theatre. Film credits include – Forensics Officer: Ice-T’s Equal Standard, The Guest: The Owner Is In. Opera credits include - Cho-cho-san: Madama Butterfly, Musetta: La Bohème, Heloise in Offenbach’s Bluebeard with Metro Lyric, Late Evening Productions (Dallas Opera), Connecticut, Ft. Lauderdale, Long Beach opera companies. Ms. Swartz is thrilled to be included in the 12th Annual Women’s Work Short Play Festival! http://www.tamiswartz.com Instagram:@tamiswartz1
MELISSA SKIRBOLL (COLD TURKEY/Linda) is grateful to NPTC for this opportunity! Recent theatrical roles include Judith in Carpenter's Boy and Lauren in Full Effect (both at NyLon Fusion), Audrey in The Woman's Follow Your Dream Club at Urban Stages, and Alex in Show & Tell Tango at the Abingdon Theater. She was nominated as best actress for her role in Blizzard: A Love Story at Planet Connections Theater Festivity. She reprised her role of Alex in Show & Tell Tango when it was adapted to film. Other on camera roles include: The Spy Who Scratched Me, Magpie In the Mirror, Definition of Insanity. She's also a director, writer, producer and acting coach.
ADAM J. SMITH (BRETT & ASHLEY/Brett)is an award-winning LA-based actor, director, teacher, and coach. He’s been a faculty member at CalArts School of Theater for over a decade. For 20 years, he’s acted professionally Off-Broadway, in major regional theaters, site-specific works, made dozens of appearances in TV/film, and has done voiceovers in TV, video games, promos, and web series. He was honored with a 2006 Emmy Award (regional), in addition to numerous LA theater awards. He’s a Company Member at Antaeus Theater Company, and also serves on their Board of Directors. MFA: UC-San Diego/La Jolla Playhouse, BA: Duke University (magna cum laude).
KEA TREVETT (EMPRESS OF JULIPTER/Miranda) is a Brooklyn-based actor, writer, teaching artist, plant mom, and 2020 Outfest Screenwriting Fellow. NY theater credits include Roundabout, Classic Stage Company, The Sheen Center, The Barrow Group, The Lark, Ars Nova, Ensemble Studio Theater, Page 73, Cherry Lane, and Lincoln Center; Film & TV credits include Fosse/Verdon, Mordeo, and over a dozen films at festivals including Frameline, Newfest, Outfest, Atlanta Film Festival, LA Shorts, Chicago Reeling, Clexacon, Hollyshorts, and Iris Prize. Kea is a founding member of Apocalyptic Artists, which provides free theater education to NYC schools. Kea teaches Theater in Performance and Playwriting at TFANA, and is a Story Pirate.
VINCENT VICTORIA (BRETT & ASHLEY/Voice over) is a Director, Playwright, and Producer. He is notable for writing plays about famous African Americans such as Josephine Baker, Florence Ballard, and Hattie MC Daniel. His play about Booker T. Washington, Mr. Booker T. at the Door, was chosen to be read at the National Back Theater Festival in 2019. He has directed award winning plays and was voted "Director of the Decade of a Musical" by Broadway World Houston in 2020 for his play Hattie's Big Night. His first feature film Blaque Tcherie about the founding of the first all black girlie magazine was completed in 2021. https://vincentvictoriapresents.com
ELIANA WEISS (FOUL LINE/Jess) Credits: Advice to the Players: Montague and Capulet (reading, Valentina); British American Drama Academy: Hamlet (Horatio); Brandeis University: Margaret My Name (Duchess Eleanor, Prince Edward, Queen Elizabeth), Dream A Little Dream, Lucid (River), Arcadia (Thomasina Coverly); Hold Thy Peace: Twelfth Night (Viola), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Mustardseed), Hamlet (Gravedigger, Guildenstern); Shakespeare Theatre Company Advanced Camp: Richard III (Buckingham). Eliana has trained in London at the British American Drama Academy, and at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, MA. Thank you to Dani, Alexa, Emma, and the whole NPTC team! As always, thank you to my family.