Women Playwrights Series Announced for 2026 at CSC

Centenary Stage Company announces this year’s selections for the 2026 Women Playwrights Series (WPS), a developmental program that has featured the works of over 80 female playwrights and produced over 20 World Premiere productions since 1992.  The three readings are held each Wednesday starting April 1 at 7pm and feature Big Money by Lauren Ferebee, Breeders by Megan Campisi, and Not It! by Kathleen Coudle-King.

Lauren Ferebee’s Big Money opens the series April 1 with Felicity, Ximena, Jo, and Yasmin, four women working at a posh New York City boutique advertising company that’s received a substantial amount of money towards the latest campaign, “Sell Guns to Moms.” With 12 hours to come up with the winning proposal, some thing that could compromise their values, deeply held beliefs, romantic relationships, friendships, families, eating habits, sleep schedules and the promises to stop drinking, these ladies will run against the clock. But that’s how you get Big Money. 

An award-winning multi-genre writer, Lauren’s works speak about smart women rebelling against the systems that are trying to destroy them. 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 second installment in the WPS lineup April 8 is Breeders follows six soon-to-be-parents who meet in a childbirth class, culminating in a comic crucible as these couples confront their opinions, fears, and baggage about becoming parents .

Playwright and novelist, Megan Campisi, writes about women who break rules in her often historical fiction works 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. Campisi’s first novel, Sin Eater, was an alt-history mystery about an Elizabethan sin eater which 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.

Not It! brings together three sisters who gather to organize and hold a garage sale getting rid of a lifetime of items after the death of their last remaining parent. 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 closing the WPS April 15.

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 United States. 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 N.D. Council on the Arts to research the first patients at the 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.

WPS is dedicated to providing a working forum for the unique and underserved voice of women writing for the theatre today.  Each year CSC accepts thousands of WPS 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 1–5pm 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, 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, the Hackettstown Rotary Club, Explore Warren, and Centenary Stage Company members and supporters.