New Perspective’s 33rd Season
BECOME A SUSTAINING DONOR AND KEEP THE DOORS OPEN!
Our 33rd Season began on July 1, 2024. We are now one of the longest operating Off-Off Broadway Theatre Companies with our own space in New York City!
NPTC's accomplishments are many since our founding in 1991. We have never wavered from our primary mission—supporting women and artists of color and serving communities in need— and those impacted by NPTC now number in the thousands.
We could not have achieved this without the support of the entire NPTC Family of affiliated artists and audience members who have provided multi-faceted support: financial, attendance, in-kind gifts and services, morale boosts and more.
SEASON 33- a hugely significant number in Astronomy, Math, Religion and Science!
WOMEN'S WORK: This season marks 30 years of the Women's Work Project!
The Women's Work Short Play LAB will be accepting applications for the 2025 cohort from July 1 to September 30, with a Finalist interview scheduled in December. LABs will be conducted from February to June with the dramaturgical team guiding the creation of original short scripts (20-30 minutes) in preparation for the 18th Annual Festival in August 2025.
HOT SPOT, the Meganne George Short Play Festival, kicks off the season with performances of six scripts developed in the Women's Work Short Play LAB from February to June. This year's festival takes place August 5-10, 2024 and will once again involve the talents of more than 40 artists and technical staff: 6 Playwrights, 6 Directors, 22 Actors, 2 Designers, 3 Stage Managers and our annual team of interns!
This year's festival marks a major milestone, with the Short Play LAB now having developed and produced 80 scripts since 2008! We have also been named one of the 10 Best Summer Festivals by Time Out!
The Women's Work Full-length LAB continues its transformation under the leadership of Program Manager Uzunma Udeh. We start the season with 13 active members and will be inviting this year's Short Play LAB cohort to submit proposals for joining in September. Public presentations will take place during two Sweet Noise Reading Festivals in November 2024 and May 2025.
On Her Shoulders
Reading Series: We are offering 4 quarterly readings of plays by women from the past: Jacob Slovak by Mercedes de Acosta (September 17); The Discovery by Frances Sheridan (December 5) with scripts for March and June TBD.
Database: "1,000 Years of Women Writing Plays", our international database, continues to grow with 500 entries at the end of the last season. We currently have a list of a few hundred to add and ongoing research is introducing us to many more women from around the world who wrote plays.
Publication: In 2017, NPTC published a book of biographies and dramaturgical essays of the women whose plays had been featured in the reading series. The goal was to introduce directors, educators, and producers to the existence of these plays, and offer some preliminary "homework" through the dramaturgical essays to encourage more productions of plays by women in classical repertories and theatre curricula. An updated edition of the book is planned for Fall 2024 to coincide with the 30th Anniversary Celebration of Women's Work!
WORLD VOICES: we are delighted to have been invited to perform at the Harriet Tubman National Park in Maryland on September 14, 2024. STEAL AWAY: The Living History of Harriet Tubman, written by Rick Balian in 1999 for our World Voices series, has been performed in schools and parks throughout NYC, in Philadelphia and Maine, and now, in the most significant location of all!
GILDER/COIGNEY INTERNATIONAL THEATRE FORUM: We are launching a new international program that grows out of our successful Theatre From the Streets initiative. The Forum is designed to engage international theatre women and their allies in networking and activism by facilitating conversation and artistic collaboration on a global basis. Planning is currently underway and we will be launching a new portal to host all Forum activities by the end of the summer. Theatre From the Streets will now be a part of the Forum.
HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE: December 15, 2024
ENTER HALLIE: tells the story of Hallie Flanagan, who was Director of the Federal Theatre Project during the Depression, the only time a National Theatre has been attempted. Performances will be March 6-20, 2025 at The Culture Lab LIC in Queens. A team of artists is working on a multi-media, immersive script and more details will be announced at the end of the summer.
Simply sign-up to become a sustaining donor at the top of the page through PayPal and a monthly donation will automatically be credited to our account.
$10 monthly donation = listing in all publications
$15 monthly donation = listing plus NPTC tote bag
$25 monthly donation = listing, tote bag, and a free box of Holiday Cookies
$50 monthly donation = all of the above PLUS a copy of the ON HER SHOULDERS book of essays
$100* monthly donation = all of the above PLUS two Festival Passes to the annual Women's Work Short Play festival
All NPTC Patrons are regularly invited to FREE programming, including the Holiday Open House and ON HER SHOULDERS readings. Sustaining Donors at all levels will receive additional invitations throughout the year for special events!
THANKS TO OUR CURRENT SUSTAINING DONORS!
Celia Braxton, gena bardwell, Maureen Brooks, Joan Castagnone, Jennie contuzzi, Colavin Ortiz Giving Fund, Paula Ewin, Teresa Fischer, Anne Fizzard, Mikaela Lynn Johnson, William Kareem, MALINI SINGH MCDONALD/THEATRE BEYOND BROADWAY, MJ Perrin, IZZY SCHILLER, Jane Denitz Smith, M. George Stevenson, Elizabeth Van Dyke, Marsha Zeitlin
* If you are not in NYC on a regular basis, we will design a special package of goodies for you
Don't use Pay Pal? Send a check made payable to New Perspectives Theatre Company, 456 West 37 Street, NY, NY 10018. Gifts are 100% tax-deductible. OR we can do a direct deposit.
AS OF 2022-2023 SEASON
SERVED more than 30,000 public school students and hundreds of teachers throughout the five boroughs of NYC and Tri-state area
PROVIDED over 90 residencies to women playwrights, and developed and produced 70 Original Short Plays in the Women’s Work Short Play LAB
MOUNTED 94 productions of original and classic plays (with 40 original plays, 5 US Premieres, 7 NY Premieres with 1 Barbour Award and 2 Barbour Finalists, 2 OOBR Awards, 2 AUDELCO Awards, 1 "Outstanding New Play" Indie Theatre Award, 1 "Best Plays" citation from Backstage, 2 Princess Grace Foundation Finalists) and dozens of works-in-progress.
NAMED by the NY Foundation for the Arts as a “Community Asset”
PRESENTED 80 new works by African American writers and performers through VOICES FROM THE EDGE
PIONEERED multi-racial and non-traditional casting, working with almost 100 artists per year
NAMED “Person of the Year” by NY Theatre Experience as co-founders of 50/50 in 2020: Parity for Women Theatre Artists