UNHINGED: Women's Work Festival Announced for August

New Perspectives Theatre Company (NPTC) is pleased to announce UNHINGED, our Annual Women's Work Short Play Festival, running Monday, August 7 to Saturday, August 12, 2017. The Festival performs in two programs on an alternating schedule of 4:00pm and 8:00pm, with a combined program on August 12th at NPTC Studio, 458 West 37th Street (at 10th Avenue.)

The festival is comprised of six plays in two programs. Program A includes: Doors of Perception by Cara Hall, directed by Melissa Skirboll; Daughters of the Evolution by Rae Binstock, directed by Melody Brooks; Sex With Robots by Holly Hepp-Galván, directed by Mary Hodges. Program B includes The Call of the Void by Kendra Augustin and Oh My, Goodness by Cayenne Douglass, directed by Mary McGinley; and Sublet by Alissa Zhulina, directed by Alex Keegan.

Now celebrating its 10th year, NPTC's Women's Work LAB offers a festival each year with plays created from scratch starting in February. Artistic Director Melody Brooks provides a theme to new members, then resident directors collectively dramaturge the scripts and bring them to production quality over a five-month period. The festival then provides the critical development tool of putting scripts on their feet, fully rehearsed in a simple production style. The theme of UNHINGED 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. This year our theme selected itself! After an intensive and wide-ranging discussion of the topic each writer found her own take on this theme-from literal perspectives to more metaphorical explorations of things broken and coming apart. The resulting plays are as unique and diverse as the talented writers who created them.

Program A begins with Doors of Perception, by Cara Hall, which uses a seemingly familiar tale of hubris gone horribly wrong to make us think about the lens through which we view tabloid events. Daughters of the Evolution, by Rae Binstock, brings together a rowdy group of disparate women from across time and space to engage in the essential political question of today: "what DO women want"? The program concludes with Holly Hepp-Galván's comedy Sex With Robots, about a boy, a sex toy, and a greedy Mom. The future is already here!

Program B opens with The Call of the Void, Kendra Augustin's fresh contemplation of the true cost of domestic violence, while Alisa Zhulina's hilarious Sublet is an express journey to NYC roommate hell fueled by outsized artistic ambition. Oh My, Goodness, a profound gem by Cayenne Douglass inspired by a real event, ends the program on a hopeful note as one small act of kindness leads to a big transformation for a woman who has reached the end of the road.

The plays are directed by Melody Brooks, Mary Hodges, Alex Keegan, Mary McGinley, and Melissa Skirboll. Meganne George serves as Production Designer, Carolina Arboleda is Stage Manager.

NPTC is an award-winning, multi-racial company performing in the Theatre District and communities throughout NYC. Now entering its 26th season, notable productions have included Richard III, starring Austin Pendleton; The Taming of the Shrew (OOBR Award for Excellence), Exhibit #9 by Tracy Scott Wilson (Audelco Award); Jihad, The Play by Ann Chamberlain (OOBR Award for Excellence); Admissions by Tony Velella (10 Best Plays Citation, Backstage); the premiere of The Shaneequa Chronicles by OBIE-Winner Stephanie Berry (with Blackberry Productions); Anatomy of a Love Affair by Deirdre Hollman (Optioned by Essence Entertainment); MOTHER OF GOD! by Michele Miller (Princess Grace Foundation Finalist) and innovative productions of Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet, Othello, and Julius Caesar. The Company's mission is to develop and produce new plays and playwrights, especially women and people of color; to present classic plays in a style that addresses contemporary issues; and to extend the benefits of theatre to young people and communities in need. Our aim is not to exclude, but to cast a wider net.

SCHEDULE: (Press Performances August 7-12, 2017)

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

Tickets:

$20 /$15/students and seniors w/ID; TDF accepted weekdays at 4:00pm

FESTIVAL PASS $30 (see both programs):

Advance Sale at www.nptnyc.org; Reservations: 212-630-9945; contact@nptnyc.org

SEATING IS EXTREMELY LIMITED; SEATS GUARANTEED ONLY VIA ADVANCE PURCHASE

Location:

All performances at New Perspectives Studio, 458 West 37th Street (at 10th Avenue)