New Works Lab
Each year Waterwell commissions a new full length play by an emerging playwright written specifically for the actors in their senior year in the Waterwell Drama Program @ PPAS.
Designed to expand the canon of complex and relevant new plays for young actors representing the full diversity of people in NYC, New Works Lab offers emerging playwrights the chance to develop their work with the support of professional directors and designers and a cast of exceptionally talented high school artists. The students, in turn, collaborate with an exciting new voice in the American theater and experience the new play development process, a rare opportunity in an educational setting. Commissioned plays are fully produced and performed for industry insiders, the PPAS community, and NYC theatergoers at large.
New Works Lab 2024
Cats for Change
A New Play by Diane Exavier
Directed by Josiah Davis
Stage Managed by Kaelin Elizabeth Fuld
April 3rd - April 6th @ 7pm
April 5th @ 4pm & 7pm
After leaving the big city, Getty has made a new life for herself and her daughter Acca in the Pacific Northwest; but life in the great outdoors has not quite lived up to its promise. A chance (and smelly) meeting with a cat who happens to be a god unlocks a world of creatures, deities, and a few catchy songs that make Getty and Acca question everything. From retired feline gods to instigating squirrels, Cats for Change is a play that reflects on what we are meant for in this life, what is required of us in this world, and who we relate to along the way.
Now celebrating its 10th Anniversary, New Works Lab began in 2011 with the first commission to Lebanese-American and two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, Stephen Karam. Since that first year, New Works Lab has commissioned and developed work by Bekah Brunstetter, A. Rey Pamatmat, Nick Jones, Qui Nguyen, Dael Orlandersmith, Mona Mansour, Charise Castro Smith, Sinead Daly, and Eliza Bent.