(WEST ORANGE, NJ) -- Luna Stage presents Queen of the Night by travis tate, directed by Lucas Pinner, running Thursdays-Sundays May 16 to June 9, 2024. Billed as "a story of queerness, Blackness, masculinity and the challenges of camping with family," this honest, funny, heartwarming play explores themes of family, history, and reconciliation.

As Luna Stage describes the production, “Ty would prefer to go ‘glamping’ but his father has taken him to the middle of the woods. The night before Ty’s mom remarries, the two men fight bears, their past, and one another in playwright travis tate’s exploration of masculinity and queerness through the lens of multi-generational Blackness.”

Playwright tate describes his impulses in creating the play as exploring “what happens when you're working towards getting to the middle, moving closer towards understanding of a person you love…. What does multigenerational love look like between two Black men?”

The play reflects “the journeys that many people go on to salvage relationships with their parents and ensure that they are seen authentically and without apology,” says director Pinner.

Queen of the Night plays Thursdays at 7:30pm, Fridays at 8:00pm, Saturdays at  8:00pm, and Sundays at 3:00pm, with an additional matinee on Thursday, May 23 at 1:00pm. Tickets range from $10-$40 and are available for purchase online. Luna Stage is located at 555 Valley Road in West Orange, New Jersey.

Luna Stage Artistic Director Ari Laura Kreith feels that “The play will speak to any parent who has struggled to connect with a child, and anyone who struggles to feel seen and understood by a parent.”

Luna Stage is a professional regional theatre dedicated to developing and producing vibrant plays about local and global experiences. Firmly rooted in New Jersey's Valley Arts District – a crossroads of cultures – Luna brings its communities together for artistic events that spark conversations and create understanding and change.

Luna received the JerseyArts People's Choice Award for Favorite Small Theatre in New Jersey and has contributed to the development of over 100 new works for the stage, many of which premiered at Luna and have gone on to be produced in New York, regionally, and internationally.

As producer, innovator, and educator, Luna is dedicated to eliminating barriers to participation and allowing all community members to nurture their own creativity and vision. Luna offers classes for children and adults, as well as opportunities for early-career and established theatre artists to develop and incubate new work.

All programs at Luna are pay-what-you-choose to support equity and access to professional arts experiences in our region.