(BASKING RIDGE, NJ) -- The American Theater Group (ATG) presents its New Works/New Voices playwriting performance on Monday, May 2nd at 7:00pm at Thomas Jefferson Arts Academy in Elizabeth. This free event is part of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance’s Stages Festival, the state’s largest annual theater festival, which provides free and discounted theater events for all ages from March through May.
New Works/New Voices is ATG’s playwright mentorship program. Students work under the supervision of a professional playwright, writing short plays that professional actors then perform. On average, 8-15 student playwrights participate each year. This year, the following students from Thomas Jefferson Arts Academy will have their original works performed, followed by a Q&A session: Cinthia Hernandez Garzon; Brandon Mejia Montes; Biana Castedo; Angel Cruz Rodriguez; Valentino Ellersick; Angel Jacob; Yanesty Mercado; Zoe Rivera; Devin Saint Jean; Izaiah Solano Nina; Layla Texeira; Samira Villagomez; Deborah Pereyra; Jonathan Tejada and Melissa Almeida Farje.
The presentation is free and open to the public. Tickets are not required. The Academy is located at 1928 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Elizabeth, phone: 908-436-6767. For the sixth consecutive year, the group is being mentored by Resident Artist Jim Ligon, an actor, director, writer and educator, who has appeared on TV, film and regional theaters across the US. He serves as adjunct professor of theater at Montclair State University and has been a teaching artist in New Jersey and New York schools for over 25 years.
“The American Theater Group is delighted to once again participate in the Stages Festival,” said Jim Vagias, Producing Artistic Director of ATG. “The Festival has brought innovative theatrical experiences to thousands of New Jersey residents, including many students, for over 20 years. And we are thrilled to be able to once again present this event to a live audience.”
The Stages Festival offers over 70 in-person and online performances, workshops, classes, and events at theaters, libraries, and other community venues throughout the state. The program was developed to encourage New Jersey’s residents to attend their local professional theaters by making the experience affordable, accessible, and fun. To see a full schedule of events, please visit www.njtheatrealliance.org/stages.
The 2022 Stages Festival is made possible by support from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts; Bank of America; The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey; OceanFirst Foundation; and New Jersey Historical Commission.
American Theater Group (ATG), founded in 2012, produces new and classic works primarily by American playwrights with an emphasis on the development of new works and the rediscovery of undeservedly neglected older ones. ATG engages audiences by making theatre’s glorious possibilities accessible to the diverse community in which we live, through remarkable performances as well as quality arts-in-education programming. The group is in residence at the Mitchell & Ann Sieminski Theater at the Fellowship Cultural Arts Center in Basking Ridge, NJ. ATG programming is made possible in part by funds from the Somerset County Cultural & Heritage Commission, a partner of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.
