(SUMMIT, NJ) -- Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre, professional Theatre in Residence at Oakes Center, presents Summer Solos readings on Wednesdays from July 7 through 28 at 6:30pm at the Visual Arts Center of NJ at 68 Elm Street in Summit. The series, previously named Monologues@MONDO, will return to in-person performances on the lawn of the Arts Center.

Patrons are invited to bring chairs or blankets and a picnic dinner. Rain dates for all performances are the Thursdays following the scheduled date. In its eighth year, the series provides audiences with an opportunity for entertainment at an affordable price, while also introducing them to highly personal works performed by professional actors. 

On Wednesday, July 7, 2021 at 7:30pm, Laura Ekstrand will perform Donna Orbits the Moon by Ian August. Something is not quite right with Donna: She's a loving mother, a devoted wife, and a minor celebrity to all the bake sale planners in town--but something is making her spacey, and she's not sure what it is. Therapy is out of the question--and church isn't the place to share one's distress. Donna will need to pass through space and through time--all the while listening to an unlikely voice--and try to break free from her gravitational pull to learn just how she can land.

The following Wednesday, July 14, 2021 at 6:30pm, Jason Szamreta will perform I Hate This (a play without the baby) by David Hansen. David and his wife Toni learn at her 30 week check-up that their unborn child has died. Jumping back and forth between two timelines, David tells the story of the 36 hours between learning this truth and the birth of their first child, as well as the year that follows - detailing the frustration, recrimination, guilt, sorrow and ultimate acceptance of their son's death.

On Wednesday, July 21, 2021 at 6:30pm, Clark Carmichael will perform Harry Clarke by David Cale. Harry Clarke is the story of a shy midwestern man who feels more himself when adopting the persona of cocky Londoner Harry Clarke. Moving to New York and presenting himself as an Englishman, he charms his way into a wealthy family’s life, romancing two family members as the seductive and sexually precocious Harry, with more on his mind than love. With his spellbinding and emotionally nuanced storytelling, Cale has created a riveting story of a man leading an outrageous double life.

On Wednesday, July 28, 2021 at 6:30pm, Nicole Callender will perform Forever by Dael Orlandersmith. Inspired by her experiences in Paris at the famed Père Lachaise Cemetery—the final resting place of such legendary artists as Richard Wright and Jim Morrison—award-winning playwright/performer Dael Orlandersmith explores the strange way we form powerful bonds with people who, though unrelated to us by blood, come to feel like family. Orlandersmith investigates the complex legacy she received from her mother—a legacy of bitterness, abuse, and frustration, but also of poetry, music, and art.

Tickets for all Summer Solos are $20 and can be purchased in advance online. Email info@dreamcatcherrep.org with your guests’ names for contact tracing purposes. The Visual Arts Center of NJ is located at 68 Elm Street in Summit, and free parking is available. All shows begin at 6:30 pm, and the rain date is the following Thursday.

Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre was founded in 1994, and is a non-profit professional ensemble of actors who build community with the audience by sharing contemporary, life-affirming stories that challenge, energize and entertain. Our work has at its heart a belief in the essential goodness of people and the power of live performance to connect people through our shared humanity. We expose theatregoers to ideas and lives like and unlike their own with the intention of awakening their imaginations and creating empathy for others. We deepen the experience of all our patrons with personal contact through receptions, talkbacks, and interactive programs.

The company’s activities include mainstage productions, improvisational comedy and cabarets, new play readings and a variety of educational and senior outreach programs.

Dreamcatcher’s programs are funded by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and many other corporations, foundations and individuals.  Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre is an Equity Producing member of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance.