2023 Meganne George Women's Work Short Play Festival
Look for the SILVER LININGS in our 15th Annual Women's Work Short Play Festival.
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 short plays developed in NPTC’s Women 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 Silver Linings 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 2023 theme was motivated by an attempt at optimism after emerging from the COVID epidemic and what seemed, at the time, like the stirrings of more progressive policies. 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: $22 /$16 students and seniors (65+) w/ID; TDF accepted for select performances; FESTIVAL PASS $35 (both programs)
Program A includes: Night Shift by Emma Lefkowitz, directed by My Le; Delphi Falls by Emily Welty, directed by Kaelani Burja; and A Coup Against Resilience by Uzunma Udeh, directed by Jenny Greeman.
Program A begins with Night Shift, an absurdist modern morality play examining how the inexhaustible capitalist system corrupts even our most cherished values. In Delphi Falls, Savannah spends her senior year accepting that her mundane suburban life is unworthy of a college essay, until Mara enlists her help in starting a cult. A Coup Against Resilience questions whether "resilience" is a good thing, when those long oppressed want something better for themselves and their communities.
Program A Actors: Jahsiah Augúste, Ally Cachay Narva, M. Carter, Emma Sarah DaviS, Nijah Dent, Jalen Ford, Anna Frankl-DuvaL, Jenni Lawson, Steven MICHAEL Martin*, Khandis MerritT, Marvelyn Ramirez
Program B includes: Automated Response by Deniz Khateri, directed by Dani Ortiz; The Pledge by Daphne Greaves, directed by Kubbi, and The Great Bluffer by Ledia Xhoga, directed by Melody Brooks.
Program B opens with Automated Response, in which the bounds of humanity and artificial intelligence are blurred when struggling artist, Sara, attempts to get in contact with her employer. In The Pledge, Greaves boldly highlights the American education system’s preservation of systemic oppression, and its impact on one African American family. Opposites attract in The Great Bluffer, but when two best friends are confronted with life-changing secrets, both must acknowledge the need for honesty if they wish to maintain their friendship.
PROGRAM B ACTORS: Patricia Cancio*, Megan Lomax, Chandler Mczorn, Marie Elena O’Brien*, TIMMY ONG, Brian Reilly, RonNetta Renay, Sammy Smedley
All performances at New Perspectives Studio, 458 West 37th Street @10th Avenue
Schedule
Program A:
August 7, 9,11 @ 4:00pm
August 8, 10 @ 8:00pm
Saturday, August 12 @ 5:00pm
Program B:
August 7, 9,11 @ 8:00pm
August 8, 10 @ 4:00pm
Saturday, August 12 @ 2:00pm
SEATING IS EXTREMELY LIMITED; SEATS GUARANTEED ONLY VIA ADVANCE PURCHASE
AUDIENCES MUST REMAIN MASKED THROUGHOUT PERFORMANCES