Meat Suit, or the sh*tshow of motherhood, written and directed by Aya Ogawa for Second Stage Theater, has completed casting. Performances begin at The Pershing Square Signature Center on February 11, 2026. Opening night is February 25.
Combining music, physical comedy, satire and a sense of the absurd, Meat Suit tackles the chaotic, complicated mess of being a mom. All that, while also grappling with the grief of motherhood—grief over loss of autonomy, loss of self and loss of desire.
The company will feature a cast of mothers: Marina Celander, Cindy Cheung, Robyn Kerr, Maureen Sebastian and Liz Wisan. Celander's credits include Mermaid's Howl at the Stockholm Fringe Festival and Shakespeare's Sisters at New York's Estrogenius Festival. Cheung was recently seen in The Antiquities at Playwrights Horizons. She also performed in Merry Me at New York Theatre Workshop. Kerr appeared in The Great Society and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time on Broadway. Sebastian's stage credits include The Best We Could and Poor Yella Rednecks, both at Manhattan Theatre Club. Wisan was seen in Other Desert Cities on Broadway and off-Broadway in Gloria: A Life off-Broadway and These Paper Bullets.
The show features choreography by Catherine Galasso, scenic and costume design by Jian Jung, lighting design by Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew and Christina F. Tang, sound design by Megumi Katayama and original music and lyrics by Leyna Marika Papach. Casting is by Daniel Swee, CSA.
Ogawa is a Tokyo-born, Brooklyn-based playwright, director, performer and translator whose work centers women and non-binary perspectives. Meat Suit has previously been workshopped at New Dramatists, The Mercury Store and The Jar.
The show is a 1st Stage production, a Second Stage initiative bringing cutting edge playwrights and directors in intimate proximity with audiences, taking artistic risks and starting conversations.