2022 Meganne George Women's Work Short Play Festival

New Perspectives Theatre Company (NPTC) is pleased to announce ENDGAME, our 14th Annual Women's Work Short Play Festival, running live Monday, August 8 to Saturday, August 13, 2022.

The Festival performs in two programs on an alternating schedule of 4:00pm and 8:00pm, with a combined program on August 13th at 2pm and 5pm. All performances are at NPTC Studio, 458 West 37th Street (at 10th Avenue.) The festival is comprised of six plays in two programs.

Named after Meganne George, who served as Resident Production Designer at NPTC for 19 years and was instrumental in creating its structure and design elements, the festival presents original 30-minute plays developed in NPTC's Women's Work LAB which takes writers from the first impulse for their plays to a rehearsed and staged performance for live audiences, all within six months. There is no other program of its kind in New York City. The theme of ENDGAME was inspired (as all themes have been) by the social and political discourse percolating in the U.S. at the start of a new LAB. The 2022 theme had much to draw on, from the continued presence of COVID, the aftermath of January 6th, and increasingly dire climate conditions. As always, each writer found her own take on this theme, and the resulting plays are as unique and diverse as the talented writers who created them.

Tickets: $20 /$15 students and seniors (65+) w/ID; TDF accepted for select performances; FESTIVAL PASS $30 (both programs)

Program A includes: Cassie Goes to Congress by Sonya Hayden, directed by Dani Ortiz; The End Game by Joanna Pickering, directed by Illana Stein; and Boys Go to Mars by ALlison Merkel, directed by Jenny Greeman.

Program A begins with Cassie Goes to Congress, which considers the “endgame” for endangered animals when, in the wake of tragedy, an emperor penguin journeys from Antarctica to Washington DC to demand an answer to climate change. The Endgame explores one woman's struggle to piece together her memories of a sexual assault and decide what to do about it, while playing a game of chess against her abuser, and Boys Go To Mars offers a darkly comic and existential dilemma as two childhood friends spend their last Halloween on Earth discussing horror movies, candy, the future of humanity, and their own destinies.

content warning: Program A includes references to Animal cruelty/death and rape/sexual violence. this program is not suitable for anyone under 16.

PROGRAM A ACTORS

Celia Berk*, Emma Davis, Penelope Deen, Nadia Diamond, Gustavo Ferrari, William Franke*, Jonon Gansukh, Marie Elena O'Brien*, Taylor Petracek

**read an interview about the endgame here.**

Tickets for program A

Program B includes: Just Before Sunrise by Gena Bardwell, directed by Kubbi; The Reunion by Molly Horan, directed by Sydney Prince, and Post Scarcity Possibilities by Leela Velautham, directed by Melody Brooks.

Program B opens with Just Before Sunrise, in which an African American executive must reckon with her roots and the risk to her hard-earned career if she does the right thing amidst simmering racial tensions in her company. In The Reunion, one man’s 10-year obsession with his high school sweetheart takes a dark turn when he finally reconnects with her at their high school reunion. Post Scarcity Possibilities explores the absurdity of the everyday struggle to stay afloat in the midst of economic chaos and begs the question: is another way possible?