(HACKETTSTOWN, NJ) -- Centenary Stage Company presents the 2026 Women Playwrights Series (WPS) across three Wednesdays from April 1-15. This year's series will feature staged readings of Big Money by Lauren Ferebee; Breeders by Megan Campisi; and Not It! by Kathleen Coudle-King.
The readings will take place in the Lackland Performing Arts Center on the campus of Centenary University at 715 Grand Avenue, Hackettstown, NJ. The Women Playwrights Series is a free reading series with donations welcome. A $5.00 donation is required to reserve seats in advance. For more information or to make a reservation visit centenarystageco.org or call the CSC box office at (908) 979 – 0900.
The 2026 Women Playwrights Series opens on Wednesday, April 1 at 7:00pm with Lauren Ferebee's Big Money. A posh NYC boutique advertising company has received a big money contract to "Sell Guns to Moms." Now Felicity, Ximena, Jo, and Yasmin have 12 hours to come up with a winning campaign.
They might have to compromise their values, deeply held beliefs, romantic relationships, friendships, families, eating habits, sleep schedules, promises to stop drinking, family members, etc., etc. etc., to get it done – but that's how you get Big Money.
Award-winning multi-genre writer, Lauren Ferebee, writes smart women rebelling against the systems trying to destroy them. Her play Big Money was previously workshopped in 2023 at the Hollywood Fringe, where it was nominated for five awards including Best Drama and won the Loud Karma Emerging Playwright Award.
The series continues Wednesday, April 8 at 7:00pm with Breeders by Megan Campisi. Six soon-to-be-parents meet in a childbirth class in this comic crucible as they confront their opinions, fears, and baggage about becoming parents. Megan Campisi is a playwright and novelist writing about women who break rules. Her work is often historical fiction and usually reflects Megan's background in physical theater.
Her latest play, Peregrinations, is a wordless play in Larval Masks exploring journeys of immigration and displacement (Dutch Kills Theatre: Edinburgh Fringe, 2026; The Tank, 2025). A finalist for the Henley Rose prize, Breeders had its first reading at the Neighborhood Playhouse Red Door Readings.
Her first novel, Sin Eater, was an alt-history mystery about an Elizabethan sin eater and won the Debut Crown from the UK Historical Writer's Association (Simon & Schuster 2020). She is current faculty at the Neighborhood Playhouse conservatory of theater.
The Women Playwrights Series closes on Wednesday, April 15 at 7:00pm with Not It! by Kathleen Coudle-King. After the death of their last remaining parent, three sisters gather to organize and hold a garage sale to get rid of a lifetime of items. In addition to deciding who gets mom's pearls, the two older sisters must unpack the sticky issue of who will care for their "baby sister," now 30, who is developmentally disabled. As in so many families, the decision can make or break relationships.
Founder of Theatre without Walls, and currently the managing artistic director for the Empire Theatre Co., Kathleen Coudle-King has written more than 50 plays enjoying productions around the U.S. Her main focus is on social justice issues and women's role in history. For the last four years, Kathleen has been dedicated to telling stories of homelessness and mental illness in her state of North Dakota. She received an Artist Fellowship from the ND Council on the Arts to research the first patients at the ND State Hospital for the mentally ill in 1896.
She has received multiple commissions to create pieces for college campuses about dating violence and domestic abuse, as well as conferences for plays about access to mental health care in rural communities, breast feeding, and children with siblings with disabilities. Her play, Companeras, was the Larry Corse Int'l New Play winner, produced at Columbus State (GA) and the Hotchkiss School (CT). She also serves as a writing professor at the University of North Dakota.
Since 1992 the Women Playwrights Series has featured the new work of over 80 female playwrights from around the country and has produced over 20 World Premiere productions. A developmental program, WPS is dedicated to providing a working forum for the unique and underserved voice of women writing for the theatre today. Each year Centenary Stage Company's WPS accepts thousands of submissions from women playwrights across the country. Through this submission process (3) plays are selected by committee to be presented as part of the reading series. This collaborative process pairs playwrights with professional directors and actors, culminating in a free staged-reading presentation to the public, exposing audiences to new work. Through engaging post-show discussions, playwrights receive immediate critical feedback for further development of their work and audiences are encouraged to participate directly in the development process.
For more information or to reserve in advance visit centenarystageco.org or call the CSC box office at (908) 979 – 0900. The Centenary Stage Company box office is open Monday through Friday from 1:00pm – 5:00pm and 2 hours prior to every performance. The box office is located in the Lackland Performing Arts Center on the campus of Centenary University at 715 Grand Ave. Hackettstown, New Jersey.
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, the Hackettstown Rotary Club, Explore Warren, and Centenary Stage Company members and supporters.
