New Perspectives Theatre Company Brings 10th Annual Women's Work Short Play Festival to New York

New Perspectives Theatre Company (NPTC) is pleased to announce Resistance is Futile, our 10th Annual Women's Work Short Play Festival, running Monday, August 6 to Saturday, August 11, 2018. The Festival performs in two programs on an alternating schedule of 4:00pm and 8:00pm, with a combined program on August 11th at 2pm and 5pm. All performances are at NPTC Studio, 458 West 37th Street (at 10th Avenue.)

The festival is comprised of six plays in two programs. Program A includes: Waiting Room by Alison Lowenstein, directed by Lori Kee; Revolution's Smite by Baindu D. Kalokoh, directed by Jen Williams; The Last Daughter by Rachel Schroeder directed by Mary Hodges. Program B includes Stepping Through Blood by MJ Perrin directed by Michele O'Brien; The Color of Vengeance by Lynn Marie Macy, directed by Sara Berg; and Our Lady of Broad Street by Jane Denitz Smith, directed by Melody Brooks.

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 Resistance is Futile 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. In selecting this year's theme, we wanted to avoid something that obviously skewed negative in light of the tremendous upheaval in the U.S. cultural and political landscape. After an intensive and wide-ranging discussion of the topic each writer found her own take on this theme-and discovered that "resistance" is not a one-way street. The resulting plays are as unique and diverse as the talented writers who created them.

Program A begins with Waiting Room, by Alison Lowenstein, which offers a new remedy for an old complaint of women's role of primary caregiver. Revolution's Smite, by Baindu D. Kalokoh reconvenes a group of activist comrades after 20 years and finds that telling the truth may be their most revolutionary act ever. The program concludes with Rachel Schroeder's Last Daughter which questions whether women really do become their mothers.

Program B opens with Stepping Through Blood, MJ Perrin's look at how we define boundaries between self and community through a young African American lesbian's journey. In Lynn Marie Macy's The Color of Vengeance, pink is for girls and The Gulabi Gang agrees, but it's going to take a global village to raise the right kind of ruckus for women's rights. Our Lady of Broad Street by Jane Denitz Smith takes place on the eve of the grand re-opening of an historic New York hotel which may have driven architect Alice through the looking glass when she encounters a mysterious phenomenon.

The plays are directed by Sara Berg, Melody Brooks, Mary Hodges, Lori Kee, Michele O'Brien, and Jen Williams. Meganne George is Production Designer. Bruce A. Kraemer is Lighting Designer and Sarah Zinn serves as Costume Design Consultant.

NPTC is an award-winning, multi-racial company performing in the Theatre District, communities throughout NYC and as of 2015, internationally. 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 6-11, 2018)

Program A:

August 6, 8, 10 @ 4:00pm

August 7, 9 @ 8:00pm

Saturday, August 11 @ 5:00pm

Program B:

August 6, 8, 10 @ 8:00pm

August 7, 9 @ 4:00pm

Saturday, August 11 @ 2:00pm

Tickets:

$20 /$15/students and seniors w/ID; TDF accepted weekdays at 4:00pm; FESTIVAL PASS $30 (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 @10th Avenue

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