(JERSEY CITY, NJ) -- Art House Productions presents a new play reading of Dearest Pawel written by Christian Mendonça on Friday, December 1, 2023. New Jersey playwright Christian Mendonça has been developing this play with dramaturg Emily Dzioba and Art House Productions for the past year. The play reading will feature professional actors and will be directed by Dev Bondarin. The reading is scheduled for 7:00pm.

The play takes place in Bayonne, New Jersey in July 1915. Polish immigrant workers for Standard Oil, Tidewater Oil, and other refineries are striking for higher wages and humane workdays. Siblings Iwo and Gita, alongside their cousin Szymon, navigate the complexities of what it means to partake in this strike while their loved ones fight World War I back in the divided motherland. When the strikes take a violent turn, each of the three characters must reckon with the choices that led them there while confronting the limited options this new life has to offer. Dearest Pawel is a play about capitalism's social framework and the innate and unstoppable disintegration of family dynamics and identity.

The reading  will be followed by a talkback moderated by Jim Peskin with John Beekman, Manager of the New Jersey Room of the Jersey City Free Public Library, Melody Scagnelli-Townley, Director of the Bayonne Public Library, dramaturg Emily Dzioba, and playwright Christian Mendonça.

Dearest Pawel will take place at Art House Productions at 345 Marin Boulevard in Jersey City on Friday, December 1 at 7:00pm. Admission is FREE, but reservations are required. Reservations can be made online. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible. For any accommodations, please email [email protected].

New Jersey playwright Christian Mendonca has been developing this new play with Art House Productions for the past year. 

This program is made possible by a grant from the New Jersey State Historical Commission, a division of the Department of State, and administered by the Hudson County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs, Thomas A. DeGise, Hudson County Executive & the Hudson County Board of County Commissioners.

Art House Productions is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to the development and presentation of the performing and visual arts in Jersey City, NJ. Art House Productions presents theater, performing and visual arts festivals, arts events, visual art exhibitions, and adult and youth art classes.

Art House Productions is generously supported by The New Jersey State Council on the Arts, SILVERMAN, The Princeton Foundation, The New Jersey Theatre Alliance, The Hudson County Office of Cultural Affairs, and the Alliance of Resident Theatres / New York.