(HACKETTSTOWN, NJ) -- Centenary Stage Company presents a staged reading of Big Money by Lauren Ferebee on Wednesday, April 1, 2026 at 7:00pm in the Sitnik Theatre as part of its Women Playwrights Series (WPS). This is a sharp and timely new play that dives into the high-stakes world of advertising, ambition, and moral compromise.
In 2018, an NRA executive uttered the phrase, "If you get the woman, you get the whole family," giving voice to a rising movement in the gun industry: marketing to moms. None of those moms or their kids are in the remote social radius of Felicity, Ximena, Jo, and Yasmin, four competitive NYC advertising professionals brought in to fix their agency's Guns for Moms pitch. By virtue of their unofficial status as the "DEI team," they are the closest thing to moms available on a Thursday night. It's their chance to quit selling tampons and land one of the biggest accounts their boutique company has seen, if they can do it in 12 hours while navigating constant, coke-fueled interruptions from their 25-year-old male boss.
As the pressure mounts, the women find themselves questioning just how much they are willing to sacrifice in pursuit of success. Values, relationships, health, and personal boundaries are all on the line in a biting exploration of capitalism, identity, and the cost of "making it."
Tickets are available for purchase online or by calling at 908-979-0900. The Sitnik Theatre is located on the Centenary University campus at 715 Grand Avenue in Hackettstown, New Jersey.
The Women Playwrights Series remains a cornerstone of Centenary Stage Company's programming, providing a platform for new work development and offering audiences a unique opportunity to experience cutting-edge plays in their early stages.
Playwright Lauren Ferebee is an award-winning multi-genre writer known for creating smart, complex female characters rebelling against the systems that seek to limit them. Her play Brilliance, a 2023 Woodward/Newman Award finalist, is set to premiere in winter 2027 as part of Boomerang Theatre's nine-play superseason. Her Kennedy Center Award-winning play Goods, produced by Artemisia Theatre, earned critical acclaim from Chicago press, with Chicago Onstage praising it as "the best science fiction... really about us all, who we are today, what we might become."
In addition to her work in theatre, Ferebee is an accomplished television writer with multiple projects in development across genres ranging from eco-science fiction to family drama. Her short fiction has appeared in publications including Tiny Molecules, Flash Fiction Online, and The Future Fire. She is a recent participant in the McCormack Winter Workshop under Lydi Conklin and holds an MFA in playwriting from the University of Arkansas. She is represented by Gio Bakunawa of Established Artists.
For more information, visit centenarystageco.org or call the Centenary Stage Company box office at (908) 979-0900. The box office is open Monday through Friday from 1:00pm–5:00pm and two hours prior to performances. The box office is located in the Lackland Performing Arts Center on the campus of Centenary University at 715 Grand Ave. Hackettstown, NJ.
The 2025-26 Season of Performing Arts events at the Centenary Stage Company is made possible through the generous support of the NJ State Council on the Arts, the Shubert Foundation, the Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, the Sandra Kupperman Foundation, the John and Margaret Post Foundation, The New Jersey Theatre Alliance, the CSC corporate sponsors, including Heath Village, Visions Federal Credit Union, Explore Warren, and Centenary Stage Company members and supporters.
