Previews: NUWORKS PRESENTS TIGHT at The Studio@620

On Thursday, August 14 at 7pm, Studio@620 debuts NuWorks, a bold new series championing plays in progress. First up: Tight, a smart, emotionally charged comedy by Tina Esper, a Lebanese-Brazilian-American playwright whose accolades span the National Partners of the American Theatre, The New Harmony Project, and the Sewanee Writers Conference.

Esper’s voice is fearless, funny, and fiercely feminist—and Tight is no exception. Centering on May, a 78-year-old widow with a libido as lively as her wit, the play explodes stereotypes around aging, beauty, and desire. “Society has a nasty habit of convincing older women that they’re past the point of feeling desire—and being desirable,” says Esper. “But women at any age don’t stop wanting things, including intimacy, connection and love.”

May isn’t fading quietly into the night—she’s setting off metaphorical fireworks. And as Esper warns, “someone’s bound to get hurt with even small explosives.” With a younger handyman in her sights and a full-body rejuvenation on the horizon, May’s journey is provocative, poignant, and laugh-out-loud funny.

“Comedy allows us to hold a mirror to the absurdity of what we often accept as normal,” Esper explains. “I believe audiences are more inclined to reconsider their biases when they’re in the throes of laughter.”

Tight doesn’t shy away from the cosmetic culture that pressures women to chase youth. “We live in a culture that celebrates youth—so much so that aging is often seen as a failure, especially for women,” says Esper. “Does she trust her inner guru who tells her that beauty is so much deeper than what’s on the surface? Or does she buckle to the cosmetic beauty culture that tells her a nip here and a tuck there is all you need to be loved again?”

At the heart of Tight is the charged relationship between May and her daughter Ophelia. Both women are grappling with visibility, desirability, and the ache of being unseen. “They are both reflecting back to each other the same fears and insecurities,” says Esper. “But all they seem to see are the charged mother/daughter conflicts.”

Esper’s layered heritage—Lebanese, Brazilian, Portuguese—infuses her storytelling with nuance and empathy. “I’m drawn to writing characters who don’t quite fit in, who are forced to navigate systems that weren’t built with them in mind,” she shares. That outsider lens gives Tight its edge—and its heart.

NuWorks isn’t just a showcase—it’s a laboratory. Esper is eager to hear what lands, what lingers, and what surprises. “Audience response is such a gift,” she says. “It’s the perfect chance to fine-tune the story and make sure the play is doing what I hope it’s doing.”

Though Tight is a comedy, its mission is clear: to challenge the American theater’s blind spot around aging women. “I’m hoping to start a little fire in an industry that is notorious for overlooking a woman’s worth once she hits 50,” Esper declares. “There is a great deal of female talent that’s getting sidelined. And it’s time for all of that to stop. I hope it sparks conversations about desire and desirability, about what we’re allowed to want—and when.”