(HACKETTSTOWN, NJ) -- Centenary Stage Company's NEXTStage Repertory presents Soul Samurai by Qui Nguyen from October 24 - November 3, 2024. After avenging the death of her lover, a young samurai girl named Dewdrop, along with her faithful sidekick Cert, must now battle through vampire-infested Brooklyn to make it back home. A classic Qui Nguyen play, Soul Samurai blends a spaghetti western with vampire-infested Brooklyn, adding in martial arts, puppetry, and comic book camp.

“... Soul Samurai kicks the Vampire Cowboys recipe up a notch; the script has the complexity of a graphic novel, though it hasn’t sacrificed its zinelike homemade sweetness. Yes, outside it’s still the chill dead of winter, but go and guffaw your way through Samurai. It can bring you back to life. A Time Out New York Critic’s Pick!” - ⁠Helen Shaw, Time Out New York

The cast of Soul Samurai includes: Viviana Mendez, Danny Paternina, Erin Clark, Jacoby Stewart, Kai Vialva, Maximus Klevence, Evan Flick, Taylor Albrecht, and Nastasja Roman. All cast members are Centenary University students, with additional students also making up a large portion of the creative and stage management team. These students make up the NEXTstage Repertory, CSC’s all student performance division.

Daniel Paternina & Taylor Albrecht in rehearsal, photo by Trevor Callahan

Directing the students in their production is Christopher Young with assistant Director Emily Young. Chris also serves as the General Manager for Centenary Stage Company and as an adjunct faculty member for the theatre department teaching Stage Combat and Acting for the Camera. Emily also adjuncts at Centenary teaching Acting II, both are actors and directors in their own right outside of CSC with many credits regionally and professionally.

Tickets for Soul Samurai are $17.50. Tickets are available for purchase online or by calling the box office at (908) 979-0900. Performances take place Thursdays, October 24 & 31 at 7:00pm; Friday, October 25 & November 1 at 8:00pm; Saturday, October 26 & November 2 at 8:00pm; and Sunday, October 27 & November 3 at 2:00pm. Performances will take place in the Kutz Theatre located in the Lackland Performing Arts Center of the Centenary University campus at 715 Grand Ave. Hackettstown, New Jersey.

In addition to being a part of the NEXTstage Repertory, these students also become a part of CSC’s Professional Theatre Company. Unlike many professional theatres located on college and university campuses, Centenary students play an active and vital role in all professional productions from cast to crew, participating in all facets of production. Students are thereby provided with networking opportunities with artists who come to work with CSC throughout the year. These opportunities allow them to make important personal connections with working professionals.

Viviana Mendezin in rehearsal, photo by Trevor Callahan

The 2024-25 Season of Performing Arts events at the Centenary Stage Company is made possible through the generous support of our sponsors and grantors like the NJ State Council on the Arts, the Shubert Foundation, the Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, the Sandra Kupperman Foundation, the John and Margaret Post Foundation, the CSC corporate sponsors, including Explore Warren, the House of the Good Shepherd, Hackettstown Medical Center Atlantic Health System, Heath Village, Visions Federal Credit Union, and Fulton Bank, and Centenary Stage Company members and supporters.