Julia Lester to star in HUNGRY WOMEN Off-Broadway

From the producers of the Off-Broadway hit The Trouble With Dead Boyfriends
​BLACK WATCH THEATRE LLC
​Proudly Presents the World Premiere of

WINNER OF THE SOHO PLAYHOUSE LIGHTHOUSE SERIES

HUNGRY WOMEN

A world without men? How delicious.

Written by MELISSA MANEY

Starring Tony Nominee JULIA LESTER
​with ZOE DEAN, MARIYEA, SOPHIE ZMORROD

Directed by DANIELLA CAGGIANO

SIX-WEEK LIMITED OFF-BROADWAY ENGAGEMENT
​JULY 23 - AUGUST 30, 2026 AT SOHO PLAYHOUSE

OPENING NIGHT IS SATURDAY, JULY 25 AT 7 P.M.

TICKETS ON SALE NOW AT SOHOPLAYHOUSE.COM

New York, NY - July 8, 2026 Hot off winning last year’s Soho Playhouse Lighthouse Series, BLACK WATCH THEATRE is pleased to announce the cast of Melissa Maney’s HUNGRY WOMEN, directed by Daniella Caggiano. HUNGRY WOMEN will play a limited engagement at SoHo Playhouse (15 Vandam St. New York, NY 10013). Performances begin Thursday, July 23, and continue through Sunday, August 30. Opening Night is Saturday, July 25 (7 p.m.). ​ Tickets are $44-$69 and available at www.sohoplayhouse.com.

The production stars Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle nominee Julia Lester (Little Red in the 2022 revival of Into the Woods, Queens, All Nighter (Clarence Derwent Award winner, Lucille Lortel and Drama Desk nominations), I Can Get It For You Wholesale (Dorian Theater Award nomination) TV/film: Netflix’s “The Four Seasons” (Netflix), Disney+’s “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” with Zoe Dean (Hungry Women (Rounds 1 + 2 of the 2025 SoHo Playhouse Lighthouse Series), The Trouble With Dead Boyfriends (The Players Theatre), and the award-winning film Stranded, dir. Ian Aric), Mariyea (Miss Bushwig 2025; Paramount+’s Noah’s Arc The Movie), and Sophie Zmorrod (The Kite Runner (National Tour), Odyssey (The Acting Company), and a one-woman Hamlet at The Brick (Machine Learning Hamlet). TV: FX’s “Gladiator: American Sports Story” (FX), ABC’s “For Life”).

If men went extinct, what would our world look like? HUNGRY WOMEN envisions this exact reality across two hundred years. A dark comedy that blends absurdism and the macabre through a feminist lens, the play explores survival, identity, sexuality, motherhood, and the reshaping of power in the absence of the patriarchy. In the end, it asks: What are women most hungry for?

“When some people hear the plot of Hungry Women, their first reaction is, ‘Wait, how can women survive in a world without men? How would they reproduce? How can they create their own government, structures, and society when men have always been at the center of it all?’”, reflects Maney. “This play answers all of this, showing you how these women adapt, evolve, and survive on their own from the Victorian Era to 2091 – including a bit of cannibalism and paranormal activity along the way. I really believe that there’s something for everyone to get out of this story – be it a new perspective, a moment of empowerment and understanding, or a much-needed laugh or two. And with a brand new script, team, and resources since last year’s Lighthouse Series win, this version of the show is going to be the biggest and best it’s ever been. By the end of this three-course meal of a play, you won’t be leaving hungry.”

The production features scenic and projection design by Qingan Zhang, costume design by Olivia Hern, lighting design by Annie Garrett-Larsen, sound design by Chris Verde, and dramaturgy by Alejandra Godoy. Kaelin Elizabeth Fuld is the stage manager. Elise Joyner is the assistant stage manager. Publicity, Social Media and Marketing Consulting by Kampfire.

Website: https://hungrywomenplay.com/
​https://blackwatchtheatre.com/

Media Kit with Photos

BIOGRAPHIES

MELISSA MANEY (Playwright) is a writer whose work explores the spectrum of womanhood through absurdism, nuance, and humor. Her work has been presented at The Valdez Theatre Conference, The Great Plains Theatre Commons, New Perspectives Theatre Company, Moxie Theatre, St. Louis Actors Studio, Theatre Row, The Tank, Theater for the New City, The Chain Theatre, The Players Theatre, Gene Frankel Theatre, and others.

DANIELLA CAGGIANO (Director) is a queer disabled director, intimacy director, and third-generation New Yorker. She is committed to radically centering queer and femme voices on stage and screen. Their directing challenges traditional power structures and explores taboo topics, inviting audiences to sit with discomfort and welcome empathetic vulnerability. Favorite directing projects include A Site-Appropriate Fun Home Inside A Real Funeral Home (starring Jenn Colella), Next To Normal, Head Over Heels, Glass Town, Vinegar Tom (with an original Riot Grrrl score), Show Me Eternity, Macbeth, and The Moss Maidens (3x extended, winner Best Play, SheNYC). ​Recent: Hometown Tour, A Walrus in the Body of a Crocodile, and Here Is Gone, a jukebox musical with songs by the Goo Goo Dolls. Their work has been presented throughout NYC with NYTW, Joe’s Pub, Clubbed Thumb, The Tank, WOW Cafe, HERE, and Rattlestick, among others. Daniella is an alum of Roundabout's Directors Group, MTC Directing Fellowship, The Drama League Residency, and alum of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab. Daniella has also assisted or associate-directed for rockstars Leigh Silverman and Rebecca Taichman.​ MFA: The New School, BA: Sarah Lawrence College, Intimacy Training: IDC. @dfcaggiano ​ www.daniellacaggiano.com

BLACK WATCH THEATRE is a New York City producing team founded by Bradley and Julia Plaxen that funds and develops burgeoning new works on their path from living rooms to lauded commercial runs. The team made its off-Broadway debut producing the monster musical comedy The Trouble with Dead Boyfriends (Player’s Theatre, 2023). Since then, they have been busy developing several other exciting new shows. Most recently, they staged last year’s parody burlesque The Queer without a Santa Claus (Laurie Beechman Theatre, 2025). Black Watch Theatre is named after the Scottish regiment that famously struck fear in the hearts of their enemies during WWII. One co-founder’s grandfather fought the Nazis with these ‘devils in skirts’, and the producers aim to support rising artists who continue the legacy of displaying courage, defeating fascism, and daring to wear kilts.

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