New Jersey Stage logo
New Jersey Stage Menu



 

New Jersey Repertory Company Prepares for Pride Month Festival


By Zachary Klein, JerseyArts.com

originally published: 06/01/2023

The New Jersey Repertory Company, or NJ Rep, will once again host a Pride month festival in the Monmouth County community of Long Branch. The festival will consist of theater, art and photography and is just one element of a larger event taking place throughout the city. NJ Rep is the largest presenter in this event and their showcases will last the majority of the month.

NJ Rep Artistic Director Suzanne Barabas and Managing Director Dee Dee Irwin are excited to bring an entire month of Pride-themed programming back to Long Branch. Both expressed how thrilled they were to present a theater season filled with such variety while all relating to themes present in the LGBTQ+ community today.

“We wanted to be a part of the conversation and say that we were part of a world embracing everybody,” Barabas said. “We want people to feel like they’re welcomed.”

This year’s festival will kick off with an art show hosted by NJ Rep showcasing the work of curator Mare Akana and a photography exhibition with pictures by Andrea Phox. Both will have an opening reception June 3 from 4 to 7 p.m. Phox said she was ecstatic to have her work shown in such a festival.

“I’ve been doing shows in the hallways [of NJ Rep’s building] for years and for theater since 2017,” Phox said. “And I got the idea to do this show, ‘Out,’ when they decided to do Pride at NJ Rep. I said I’m going to do a show on my own and take portraits of people who are out, and they loved it.”




Follow New Jersey Stage on social media
Facebook, Threads, Instagram, Twitter, Bluesky



Additionally, there will be five plays hosted by the company and all of them will be performed at the West End Arts Center, located at 132 West End Ave. in Long Branch. Each of these plays was picked specifically for this festival. A few have performed at NJ Rep before, while others are premieres. Several of the plays were found at the Dublin Gay Theater Festival and were brought to the United States directly from Ireland. Barabas expressed how different each of these plays are and how important it is to express reality in today’s LGBTQ+ world.

“We’re very excited for all these plays,” she said. “There are love stories, comedies and more. It’s a great variety.”

The first play being presented is “What Doesn’t Kill You,” which will run June 8-11. This play is an autobiographical story about the playwright, James Hindman. Next is “The Silver Bell,” running June 8-18, and that is a gay love story of two men trying to find “love, loss and decent sausage rolls,” direct from Edinburgh, Scotland. “Miss Delta Township” is third, and its performance dates are June 15-18. That play tells the story of a “typical” suburban American family living in the 1960s and beyond. Fourth is “Sister Mary’s Playtime,” a play in which a nun tells stories about their life. That production will run June 22-25. Also running on those dates is “Democracy Sucks,” which tells the story of a gay professor teaching political philosophy. This play had a 15-minute Zoom production during COVID-19 and will make its full-length world premiere at NJ Rep.

“Democracy Sucks” playwright Monica Bauer expressed her gratitude that the full-length version would run at NJ Rep for the first time. She said that this project had been going on since 2012 and began its life as a short film. Her team, which also consists of director John FitzGibbon and actor John Fico, has waited for this moment for a long time.

“[When I started writing,] plays with gay protagonists often dealt with issues like discrimination,” Bauer said. In ‘Democracy Sucks’, which I wrote specifically for Fico, his character is openly gay and that's not a problem. He goes on and on in class about his failed relationship with the dean of his college, and the fact that both are gay is not a problem. Being gay is just part of who Professor B is. We are all very proud about that!”

Marketing this festival will prove to be key for NJ Rep to get the word out beyond Long Branch that there are full Pride month events taking place within the city. Barabas said they are sending out postcards to the community to come join them, but Irwin also expressed other ways in which the organization is trying to alert people about these great events.

“We have signage at the location, but the city has sent out multiple emails and social media posts that we are participating in this citywide event,” Irwin mentioned. “And personally, we have done the same. There are flyers all over the theater. We have announced it in many different locations and on social media as well.”




Follow New Jersey Stage on social media
Facebook, Threads, Instagram, Twitter, Bluesky



Community participation is crucial for any event like this to work, and with the city of Long Branch supporting, this year’s festival will prove to be a success. Because the entire month is about inclusivity and togetherness, and those values hold true for the NJ Rep organization.

“Everybody has a voice, everybody’s voice is important,” Irwin concluded. “But we need to really embrace everybody for the people they are and however they got there and appreciate all of these different perspectives.”




About the author: Zachary Klein is a journalism major at Rider University who has a passion for telling stories about the arts and those who make them. He currently serves as a house manager at McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton and when he's not working there or on stories, he is probably at a theatrical production somewhere in the tri-state region. His work includes theater reviews and feature stories for Rider's college publication, The Rider News, as well as theater reviews for his own personal website, zachsfacts.com. Zach resides in Princeton with his family where he has lived for eighteen years. He is thrilled to join jerseyarts.com as a feature writer in his first professional writing credits.

Content provided by Discover Jersey Arts, a project of the ArtPride New Jersey Foundation and New Jersey State Council on the Arts.




 

EVENT PREVIEWS

The

The Summit Playhouse presents "Fun Home"

(SUMMIT, NJ) -- The Summit Playhouse presents Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, Jeanine Tesori, and Lisa Kron weekends from April 25 through May 10, 2025. In this groundbreaking and deeply personal musical, Alison Bechdel revisits her past to make sense of her father's secrets and her own journey to self-discovery.



"Bette

"Bette Davis Ain't For Sissies" premieres at The Puffin Cultural Forum in May

(TEANECK, NJ) -- Direct from its critically acclaimed off-Broadway run, Bette Davis Ain't for Sissies will have its Bergen County premiere at Puffin Cultural Forum with a special live talk-back following the performance on Saturday, May 10, 2025 at 7:00pm.



The

The Road Company presents "Hairspray"

(WILLIAMSTOWN, NJ) -- The Road Company presents Hairspray from April 24 through May 10, 2025. You can’t stop the beat in this big and bold musical about one girl's inspiring dream to dance.



NJ

NJ Rep presents "Comfort" by Neil LaBute

(LONG BRANCH, NJ) -- New Jersey Repertory Company (NJ Rep) continues its 28th season with Neil LaBute's Comfort, directed by Evan Bergman. The production runs from April 17 to May 11, 2025, with opening on April 19, 2025, at NJ Rep's intimate theater in Long Branch. The new play follows the complicated, love-hate relationship between a mother and son as they barrel towards the unknown, battling over ownership of a treasured manuscript.



Youth

Youth Performers Take Flight in ShowKids Invitational Theatre's "Mary Poppins"

(GLEN GARDNER, NJ) -- ShowKids Invitational Theatre (SKIT) brings the magic of Disney's "Mary Poppins" to the stage this May, featuring a double cast of talented young performers ages 7-18 at Voorhees High School in Glen Gardner. The production includes six performances between May 3-11, 2025 with special aerial effects allowing the iconic nanny to truly take flight.



FEATURED EVENTS

ART | COMEDY | DANCE | FILM | MUSIC | THEATRE | COMMUNITY

To narrow results by date range, categories,
or region of New Jersey
click here for our advanced search.


1776

1776

Friday, May 09, 2025 @ 8:00pm
Algonquin Arts Theatre
60 Abe Voorhees, Manasquan, NJ 08736
category: theatre


 

"How

"How The Light Gets In" by E. M. Lewis

Friday, May 09, 2025 @ 8:00pm
South Camden Theatre Company
400 Jasper Street, Camden, NJ 08104
category: theatre


 

The

The Shining Stars- Broadway and Beyond!

Friday, May 09, 2025 @ 7:00pm
Union County Performing Arts Center (UCPAC) - Main Stage
1601 Irving Street, Rahway, NJ 07065
category: theatre


 

George

George Street Playhouse presents "The Shark is Broken"

Friday, May 09, 2025 @ 7:30pm
New Brunswick Performing Arts Center (NBPAC)
11 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
category: theatre


 

Rock

Rock Of Ages

Friday, May 09, 2025 @ 7:00pm
Axelrod Performing Arts Center
100 Grant Avenue, Deal Park, NJ 07723
category: theatre