(SUMMIT, NJ) -- Vivid Stage, formerly Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre, in residence at Oakes Center at 120 Morris Avenue in Summit, will present the world premiere production of Water in My Hands by Emma Gibson from December 2 through 12. All audience members will be asked to show proof of vaccination at the box office.

Water in My Hands has received readings in New York, Philadelphia and Washington DC on its way to this production. In the play, 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?’

Directed by Jan Mandel, founder of Luna Stage, the cast includes Vivid Stage ensemble members Harry Patrick Christian (Montclair), Laura Ekstrand (Livingston), and Daria M. Sullivan (Montclair), and guest Thomas Vorsteg (New York).

Water in My Hands will be presented at Vivid Stage (120 Morris Avenue in Summit) from December 2- 12. Performances are Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at 8:00pm, and Sundays at 2:00pm. Special dates: Thursday, December 2, is a preview performance; all tickets are $25. Sunday, December 5, is Senior Sunday; seniors age 65+ pay $25. Talkbacks follow the December 5 and December 12 matinees. 

Vivid Stage will require all visitors to show proof of vaccination and a photo ID for all events, and to mask throughout their time in the facility. Proof of vaccination may include a valid paper vaccination record, a photo of a valid vaccination record, the NJ Docket App, or equivalent app from your state. Visitors who are under 12 years old—and therefore ineligible for vaccination—are exempt from the requirement, but must be accompanied by a vaccinated adult and masked throughout the performance.

Tickets range from $25 to $39 and are available for purchase online. Special rates for subscribers and groups are also available.  For more information, call 908-514-9654. The theatre at Oakes Center is wheelchair accessible. The parking lot is accessible from Ashwood Avenue, behind the theatre.  

Emma Gibson is a British theatre-maker, now living in Philadelphia. In the UK she worked as an actress in both new writing and classical theatre and also worked as a freelance journalist for The Guardian Newspaper. She was the founding producing artistic director of Tiny Dynamite, a theatre company in Philadelphia, and spent 7 years producing work and commissioning playwrights. Since 2017 she has been working as a playwright and her plays have been selected, developed, read or performed at The Pittsburgh Public Theatre, PlayPenn, Philadelphia Women’s Theatre Festival, Spooky Action Theatre Company, DC, Miranda Theatre Company at The Cherry Lane, NYC, and Vivid Stage NJ.

She was recently announced as the winner of The Pittsburgh Public Theater’s inaugural new play competition and was selected for Panndora’s Box, a festival of new plays by Panndora Productions in LA. She has been a finalist and a semi-finalist for The O'Neill New Play Conference (2021, 2020), a finalist for Kitchen Dog’s New Works Festival 2020, a finalist for the Henley Rose New Play Competition 2021, a finalist for Headwaters at Creede Rep 2021 a semi-finalist for Premiere Stages at Kean 2020, a semi-finalist for Ashland New Plays 2021 and The Bay Area Playwrights Festival 2021. Her Poetry has been published by Willowdown Books (Poems from the Lockdown) and Indolent Books (What Rough Beast).

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.