(SUMMIT, NJ) -- Vivid Stage, formerly Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre, is offering two pass options that offer savings and flexibility for its new season. This professional company will bring four productions, including three world premieres and one workshop production, to the stage in addition to two improvisational comedy shows, six play readings, and educational programs for teens and adults. As always, the Vivid Stage Resident Acting Company and their guests will tell stories that reflect our shared experience of being human with heart and humor.
Patrons will choose between the 12-show pass, which includes tickets to all twelve events, or the 4-show mainstage pass, which includes tickets to the four mainstage productions. Each choice provides a 20% savings on tickets, and each choice gives the passholder maximum flexibility throughout the year. Passholders can choose their performances as the season progresses, and can change their dates at no charge up until three hours before the curtain.
Two other benefits include one free guest pass to the show of the patron’s choice, and return privileges, so if passholders wish to see the show again with their friends, they can come back for free. Should the schedule be interrupted for public health reasons, exchanges or refunds will be available.
The four-show mainstage pass includes the following productions:
Vivid’s fall mainstage production will be the World Premiere of The Portrait of the Widow Kinski by Sara Jean Accuardi. A promising artist falls into obscurity. Decades later, his widow works tirelessly to find an audience for his neglected work. But the opportunity to finally secure her husband’s legacy forces her to take a hard look at the past and what was left behind. The Portrait of the Widow Kinski will open on September 30 and will run until October 10.
The second mainstage production of the season, opening in December, is the World Premiere of Water in My Hands by Emma Gibson. Sorrel is busy preparing for her wedding even though her fiancé has just died, and Maria’s eyebrows are still not growing back. Gerry wants to know if the weather will improve so that he can lie on his back in the grass. Through a series of interweaving accounts, Water in My Hands lays bare the power of grief, and asks, ‘How do we move on when we are haunted by the life that we have not yet lived?’ Water in My Hands runs December 2 through 12.
Next is the workshop production of the new play Twirl by Joe Sutton. Do you recall the famous phone call Ginni Thomas, wife of Justice Clarence Thomas, made to Anita Hill years after her original testimony? Ginni Thomas left a message on Anita Hill’s answering machine asking her to apologize. Why? That is the question explored in Twirl, which was inspired by that original phone call. The Justice involved is nothing like Clarence Thomas, but the issues surrounding that call are very similar indeed. And they all raise the question -- what did she hope for? Twirl runs February 17 through 27.
Vivid’s final mainstage production of the season will be the World Premiere of Life’s Work by Laura Ekstrand. In this comic drama, two couples discover what happens when their agreements around work and money shift and evolve. Chip suddenly decides to quit his corporate job, blindsiding his wife Lynn, who is just returning to her career after years as a primary caregiver. Shelly, a photographer who earns her living as a barista, navigates her relationship with the practical Eduardo, a restaurant manager. This play asks, ‘Is it possible for a partnership to survive when the ground rules change? Life’s Work runs from April 21 through May 1.
Also included in the 12-show pass are the following events:
* Vivid’s improv comedy group The Flip Side will bring its own brand of silliness and spontaneity to life for two evenings during the season. The first TFS show will be on Saturday, September 11, 2021 and the second will be Saturday, March 19, 2022.
* Two special events occur early in the season. The first is a reading of Will Eno’s Middletown featuring the entire Vivid ensemble on September 18. Middletown is a deeply moving and funny play exploring the universe of a small American town. On October 16, Vivid will present a reading of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town with passages translated into Spanish by Nilo Cruz and Creole by Jeff Augustin. This multilingual treatment of the classic play emphasizes the diverse nature of our region while highlighting our shared human experience.
* In May, four “Meet the Artist” new play readings will be held each Wednesday, thought-provoking experiences which include the opportunity for audience discussion with the writer, director and actors after the performance.
The theatre at Oakes Center is wheelchair accessible, and such access services as large print scripts, assistive listening devices, and audio description will be available by prior arrangement throughout the season. Performances will be held at Oakes Center, 120 Morris Avenue, Summit, New Jersey. For more information and tickets for any of Vivid Stage’s programs, please call 908-514-9654, and visit www.vividstage.org.
Vivid Stage was founded in 1994 as Dreamcatcher Rep, 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.
Vivid Stage’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. Vivid Stage is an Equity Producing member of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance.
Vivid Stage, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) corporation, incorporated under the laws of the State of New Jersey.
Graphic by Yolanda Fundora
