OCCUPATION: Meganne George Short Play Festival: Program B

Presenting six original short plays, developed in NPTC's Women's Work LAB to theme of OCCUPATION.
About this Event

New Perspectives Theatre Company (NPTC) is pleased to announce OCCUPATION, the 2026 Meganne George Women's Work Short Play Festival. The Festival performs in two programs of three plays each, on an alternating schedule.

Program B includes: Pancreas by Bella Panciocci, directed by Dani Ortiz, Lemon Stew by Haile Eshe Cole, directed by Janani Sreenivasan, Below the Line by Darline Corchado, directed by Melody Brooks.

The evening runs 90 minutes with no intermission

SEATING IS EXTREMELY LIMITED; SEATS GUARANTEED ONLY VIA ADVANCE PURCHASE.

Pancreas

Five college friends. One apocalypse. Who has the guts to make it out alive? Cast: Simon Belz, Naomi Eason, Rebecca Kinard, Aliyah Rivers, Connor Chase Stewart*

Lemon Stew

A close-knit family of Black women bestow their wisdom on the youngest daughter and share the recipe for the good life, even with the burden of inherited wounds. Cast: Joyia Bradley*, Nadel Henville*, Laura E. Johnston*, Malissa Y. Myers, Mala Wright

Below the Line

A headstrong, big-name producer runs into literal and figurative roadblocks while crafting his “authentic” vision of el Barrio on the set of his new film. Cast: Jeff Checkley, Kevin Herrera*, Ricardo Lopez Montilla*, Tiffany Munoz, Yulio Rondon
PROGRAM B SCHEDULE:

August 3,5,7 @ 8 PM

August 4,6 @ 4 PM

August 8 @ 2 PM

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's Work LAB which takes writers from the first impulse for their play 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. All themes stem from the social and political discourse percolating in the U.S. at the start of a new LAB. Occupation was inspired by the presence of ICE agents in multiple cities, global conflicts and the changing realities of the job market in the U.S. As always, each writer found her own take on this theme, enabling the creation of plays that are as unique and diverse as the talented writers themselves.

NPTC's Women's Work Project is made possible, in part, with public funds provided by the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs in Partnership with the City Council and with funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the NYS Legislature.