NOW OR NEVER
the inaugural
Meganne George Women's Work Short Play Festival
TICKETS: $20 per program, $15 for students and seniors, $28 for a Festival Pass to see all programs
SEATING IS EXTREMELY LIMITED; SEATS GUARANTEED ONLY VIA ADVANCE PURCHASE
AUDIENCES MUST PROVIDE PROOF OF VACCINATION AND REMAIN MASKED THROUGHOUT
Cash is only accepted at the door. please email newper37@gmail.com in advance.
December 6-11, 2021 @ New Perspectives Theatre Company
We’re pleased to announce that we are renaming our annual Short Play Festival of pieces created in the Women's Work LAB to reflect the contributions of our late and dearly beloved Meganne George to the success of the festival over 14 years. Meganne served as the Resident Production Designer at NPTC for 19 years and, since 2008, was instrumental in creating the structure and design elements of the festival.
The 2020 plays were not able to receive a live performance last year, but with a recent grant from the Restart NY program we are pleased to now present Now or Never, running Monday, December 6th through Saturday, December 11, 2021.
NPTC's Women’s Work LAB develops plays created from scratch in a unique process that begins anew each February. The theme of Now or Never 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 2020 theme was influenced by impeachment hearings, climate disasters and the danger posed by increasing anti-democracy forces. Although selected pre-pandemic, our theme became even more relevant as we headed into March. 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. The Festival is comprised of six plays in two programs with alternating performance times.
Read about the event on Broadway World!
Find the festival playbill here
Schedule
Program A
December 6, 8, 10 @ 4:00pm
December 7, 9 @ 8:00pm
Saturday, December 11 @ 2:00pm
Program B
December 6, 8 & 10 @ 8:00 PM
December 7, 9 @ 4:00 PM
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 11 @ 5:00 PM
Program A begins with Cold Turkey by Yuliya Tsukerman, a study of two misfits who find hope in the fleeting nature of the modern news cycle in the face of personal tragedy. 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 that confirmation circus. The Empress of Jupiter by Laura Zlatos is an absurdist farce which asks how far will one woman go to find the change she is seeking?
Program B opens with Running Out Of Time, Zakeia Tyson-Cross' dark comedy 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. In Foul Line, K. Alexa Mavromatis juxtaposes the early days of the COVID lockdown with two middle schoolers' struggle to come out. Finally, Uma Paranjpe offers a heart-breaking example of our Now or Never theme with Frosting on Top, 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.
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 Blue Whale (2021 Marsha A. Croyle Award, 2019 Dr. R.J. Rodriguez Emerging Playwrights Contest), The Even More Lamentable Tragedy of Lavinia (2020 Women are Funny Prize), Happily After Ever (2017 Woodward/Newman Drama Award, 59E59 Theaters, Bloomington Playwrights Project, Edinburgh Fringe), Three Hours (HERE Arts), Exposure (Gene Frankel Theatre), and the musical A Problem with the Pattersons with composer/lyricist Andre Catrini. Laura is a 2021-2022 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, designers, & staff
MELODY BROOKS (Frosting on Top and Cold Turkey) 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 has developed and directed a number of notable and award-winning original scripts and innovative classical productions with NPTC since its founding. Brooks 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. She has also directed for NJ Rep's Theatre Brut series, and previously directed works in the Downtown Urban Theatre Festival, Queer at HERE Festival, Edinburgh Fringe Festival and at LIU/Brooklyn and the New School. Brooks received the 2018 "Trailblazing Women and Arts Institutions Award" from Rhythm Color Associates and the "Spirit of Hope Award" in 2015 from Speranza Theatre Company for her career-long support of women theatre artists. She is a Board Member with the League of Professional Theatre Women, and was Co-chair of the triennial LPTW Gilder/Coigney International Theatre Award in 2014 & 2017 and Executive Producer of the virtual 2020 program. Brooks is a co-founder of 50/50 in 2020: Parity for Women Theatre Artists.
Karin Crighton (Empress of Jupiter) has been directing and producing around New York for 9 years. A graduate of Towson University, her most recent shows are a staged reading of Sincerely Held Beliefs with Kef Productions, and earthshine, part of the Emergence short play lab with NPTC in August. This is her fourth play with the Women’s Work Lab, and her first year in the Full Length Lab. She lives in Brooklyn with her cat Scott, who likes to eat her scripts. You can contact her at karin.crighton@gmail.com.
KM Jones (Running Out of Time) is a NYC Based Director and Producer. Proud Member of AEA (Actors Equity Association) and Associate Member of SDC (Stage Directors and Choreographers). KM is on the Board of Directors of LPTW ( League of Professional Theatre Women) for the 2020-2021 season. Member of Planet Connections Theatre Festivity, Workshop Theatre Company, and TRU (Theatre Resources Unlimited). Alumni of St. John's University and The American Academy of Dramatic Arts/NY. Recent Live and In-Person Directing Projects include Leviathan Lab's Reading of "Romeo and Juliet" at Madame X; "Separation Anxiety" by Mark Alvarado (Part of Emerging Artists Theatre New Work Series) at TADA!; "Smartphone Love" by Carmel Lohtan at The Tank; and "Dead Wives Dance the Mambo" by Desi Moreno-Penson (Presented by The Chain One Act Festival). Recent Virtual/Online Projects include "Genesister" By Desi Moreno-Penson (Part of K/Q Playwrights Online Festival); and "American Slavery 101" (Awarded 2nd Place in the Nuyorican Poets Cafe 2021 Online Festival) by Nia Akilah Robinson. Socials: FB: @KM Jones; Twitter: @nyfit; LinkedIn: Kim-Marie-Jones
DANI ORTIZ (Foul Line) 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!
Kubbi (Brett & Ashley) spent her summer playing Lorrell Robinson in Dreamgirls at the Tulsa, Performing Arts Center, it was a one of her dream roles to make Lorrell unforgettable, & according to a local critic it was a job well done. Kubbi is very well rounded as she is an actor, director, producer, singer, commercial print-model and screenwriter, she has over 25 years of experience in the industry, her career started with the famed NY children’s musical theatre company TADA! The highlights of Kubbi’s career is when she had 3 NYC Billboards, her 1st Screenplay was a finalist in the Beverly Hills film festival and she’s performed at some of the top venues in the country: The Public Theatre, The Apollo, Caroline’s on Broadway, The Fox Theatre and The Grand Ole Opry. She was also the 1st Black woman apprentice of the Atlanta Shakespeare Company at the Shakespeare Tavern in Atlanta, GA. Kubbi received her certification in directing from Yale University, also studied and received her certification from The Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in Contemporary Drama, & her BA from Clark Atlanta University.
JOE DINOZZI (Fight Director, Running Out Of Time) has choreographed stage violence in many New York shows, including A Sketch of New York, Lady Macbeth, Lenin's Embalmers, Star Wars: The Trade Federation, Duck Hunter Shoots Angel, Star Wars: Eclipse of the Force, Mary V, Homage, Dark Play or: Stories for Boys, Lilly Riggs, Satire Off-Broadway, Breakdown, Fool's Gold, Theophany, and the New York Renaissance Faire. He has also assisted Fight Master J. David Brimmer on Gnit, Target, Wolf Play, Drift,Hamlet, Fairview, Is God Is, Hangmen, Yen, Animal, Artificial Jungle, Samara, Tis Pity She's A Whore, Futurity, and the Broadway productions of Pass Over, Hangmen, and Be More Chill. Thanks to my backbone, my gem. Couldn't do it without you.
SAM LANE (Intimacy Coach, Foul Line) is a Brooklyn-based theatre maker who enjoys devised work that acknowledges the little absurdities of life. Sam studied Acting at Emerson College and also enjoys cooking, walking in Prospect Park, and skateboarding.
RYCHARD CURTISS (Production Design) is an Associate Professor of Drama at Hofstra University. Degrees: M.F.A. in Theatre Design and Technology, Northern Illinois University; B.A. in Art History, Eastern Connecticut State University. At Hofstra he is Director of Lighting and Managing Director for the Department of Drama & Dance. Professionally, Rychard designs sound, lighting and multimedia projections for the stage in NYC (Off-Off and Off-Broadway) and at regional theatre companies. Most recently he was the Equity Stage Manager and Sound Designer for the Off-Broadway debut of Beloved, a Swedish play produced by the Scandinavian American Theater Company. He is Managing Director of Renaissance Now Theatre & Film, producing film and theatre in NYC and regionally. Renaissance Now regularly produces an outdoor Shakespeare production at an historic amphitheater on the side of the mountains in Provo, Utah and he recently designed their set for 12th Night. NPTC credits: Lighting for The Ritual (revival) and the Approval Pending short play festival, Video for Our Lady of Broad Street and Production Design for the EMERGENCE short play festival. Other credits include: The Bronx Opera, Double Helix Theater, Protean Theater, and Hypothetical Theater. He has stage managed Equity productions for Jaradoa Theater and Brave New World Theater of Brooklyn. As a Stage Manager, he is a member of Actors Equity Association.
MICHAEL ARTUSO (Sound Design) is a Sound Design student finishing his final year at Hofstra University where he has worked in Theatrical Sound Design, Music Production, Live Event Mixing as well as General Audio Engineering. He's very happy to be a part of the NPTC Family! His recent at Hofstra include: Barefoot in the Park (Designer), WORKING (Asst. Designer/Engineer), Everybody (Asst. Designer/Composer), This Bud of Love: A One Hour Romeo & Juliet (Designer/Composer) and Daydreamer Media (Audio Engineering Intern).
SYDNEY PRINCE (Production Stage Manager) is thrilled to be working with the New Perspectives Theatre Company for the first time! She is a NYC-based stage manager and director and has worked as a production assistant or intern at The Public, Signature Theatre, New 42, and New York City Center. Most recently, she stage managed two productions at the Broadway Bound Theater Festival, as well as a few projects at The Tank. During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Sydney has worked virtually on many productions and readings with Planet Connections, The Outer Loop, and LAByrinth Theatre Company. Sydney is so glad to be back in a theater again and able to share art with audiences. Go Blue. sydneyhprince.com