BRACE FOR IMPACT! a fantastical play
written by Maia Pecci* (previously known as Maia Nikiphoroff)
UPDATE:
This play was workshopped at The TANK in may 2023
LOGLINE
A flight attendant fights to keep her sh*t together on the job while her father’s being cremated. An unapologetic, off-beat play about grief, bracing for impact and celebrating f*cking life.
SYNOPSIS
Shiva, a flight attendant, fights to stay focused on the job while her father’s body is being cremated. On the flight, with the help of a disheveled clown only she can see, she navigates moments in her life in which she destroys that which she loves. Only after there’s nothing left to wreck will she find the power of forgiveness and regeneration.
Grief is at the center of this dark comedy. Between questionable safety demonstrations and vodka-only drink service, Shiva purges all her relationships that define her as a ‘liberated woman’. From her no-holds-barred relationship with her mother, to the many men in her life– doctors, pilots, cousins, her ‘wonderful’ husband, and most importantly her dad. After every experience, every self-inflicted trauma, new armors come up, but like a Maori ready to dance the Haka, Shiva braces herself to go to work, war, love, and also to celebrate fucking life.

workshop run may 19 - june 10 2023 BRACE FOR IMPACT!
Photo credit Luigi Morris
SHOW SCORE REVIEWS FROM OUR WORKSHOP:
Dr. Paul
'Funny, Quirky, Great acting, Entertaining, Absorbing
See it if you want to see a terrific tiny off off Broadway show with a mesmerizing lead and strong supporting cast, especially the clown/mime.
This is how small theater should be done - strong writing, acting, and directing, and minimal but sensible effective staging. Maia Nikiphoroff is someone to keep your eye on, she’s the real deal...'
Theater Cat
'Riveting, Quirky, Great writing, Great acting, Absorbing
See it if You enjoy well-written and acted one-person-shows. You like pieces that are deeply honest and raw. You enjoyed Fleabag.
Brace For Impact is a deeply effective piece that is as raw and honest as any piece of theatre can hope to be. Maia Nikiphoroff is very compelling as a performer. Her cadence is hypnotizing and and effortless...'
workshop reading DEC 10th, 2022 BRACE FOR IMPACT!
Photo credit Luigi Morris

THE GREY IN BETWEEN a short film
directed by Maia Pecci* (previously known as Maia Nikiphoroff)
UPDATE:
This short film premiered at NY Shorts in 2023
LOGLINE
It's been three months since their break-up and Lei can't stop dreaming of Ian, so she invites him out of the blue to the site of their first date to finally admit to him why, while not so subtly wrapping him up in her latest video project.
‘The Grey in Between’ was shot in Red Hook, Brooklyn. The short film is part of a feature film concept about a 21st-century love story in five chapters that captures the major turning points of a relationship through the minor lens of personal devices. The feature film, like the short, aims to shoot in Brooklyn, New York.
behind the scenes THE GREY IN BETWEEN
Photo credit Mary Conlon
coming soon
THE RISE OF ELISA LYNCH (LA REINA NO CORONADA)
TV series written by Maia Pecci* (Previously known as Maia Nikiphoroff)
In 2022 this series has been selected at:
SANFIC Industria, The Gotham TV Lab Series & Market, Episodio 0 FICG37, NALIP Latino Media Market.
The show is currently being adapted as a feature film*
The Rise of Elisa Lynch sparks an overdue reimagining of Elisa Lynch's impact in Paraguay in the mid-nineteenth century. A satirical, fun yet dramatic limited series, the show offers A modern look at the controversial life of Elisa Lynch, an Irish housewife who leaves the palaces of Paris for the jungles of Paraguay to become the mistress of the dictator. Impulsive and ambitious, rejected by Paraguayan society she forges her own way and rises to power.
La reina no coronada incita a una reimaginación esperada del impacto de Elisa Lynch en el Paraguay a mediados del siglo XIX. La miniserie es, al mismo tiempo, una sátira, comedia y drama con una mirada moderna a la polémica vida de Elisa Lynch, la irlandesa que dejó los palacios de París por las junglas del Paraguay para convertirse en amante del dictador. Impulsiva y ambiciosa, rechazada por la sociedad paraguaya, forjará su propio camino al poder.
