New Perspectives Theatre Company Presents 12th Annual Women's Work Short Play Festival

New Perspectives Theatre Company has announced Now or Never, our 12th Annual Women's Work Short Play Festival, running virtually Saturday, June 26 at 12:00pm to Wednesday, June 30, 2021 at midnight. The Festival is comprised of six plays in three programs and will be available on NPTC's YouTube Channel.

NPTC's Women's Work LAB offers a festival each summer with plays created from scratch in a unique process that begins anew each February. LAB Program Manager Jenny Greeman provided a theme to 2020 members, then resident directors collectively dramaturged the scripts to bring them to production quality over a five-month period. 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. This Virtual Benefit supports Women's Work as we work toward again offering a live production of the plays, which is a crucial part of the Short Play LAB.

Program A begins with The Empress of Jupiter by Laura Zlatos an absurdist farce which asks, how far will one woman 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.

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.

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.

The plays are directed by Melody Brooks, Karin Crighton, Jenny Greeman, Chanon Judson, Cherita Judson and Dani Ortiz. Luisa Battista is the Video Editor.

Tickets can be purchased on Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/158660105647. For more information visit www.nptnyc.org.