(LONG BRANCH, NJ) -- New Jersey Repertory Company presents Blue Bench, an eerie tale by Aleks Merilo. Directed by Joel Stone and starring Max Arnaud and AJ Melnick, the production will be available for free on Vimeo and at NJrep.org for two weeks starting April 25.
In the play, a young man sneaks backstage at the worst circus in Paris, hoping to catch a glimpse of his favorite sexy side-show performers. Instead, he finds himself confronted by a haunted figure who will change his life forever.
New Jersey Repertory Company is located at 179 Broadway in Long Branch, New Jersey. The company was founded in 1997 by SuzAnne and Gabor Barabas. Its current central headquarters is the Lumia Theater located on lower Broadway in Long Branch. The theater's mission is to develop and produce new plays and to make a lasting contribution to the American Stage. Over two decades NJ Rep has produced 140 plays of which 125 have been world premieres. The theater has the additional distinction of having had many of its plays produced by other theaters around the country totaling over 200 subsequent productions in the U.S. and overseas. In 2012 and 2018 NJ Rep was the recipient of a National Theater Company Grant from the American Theater Wing that sponsors the annual Tony Awards for Broadway in recognition of its contribution to the repertoire of the American Stage. Only seven theaters have had this distinction. In addition, the theater has presented over 400 developmental readings as well as introduced 136 new works through its Theatre Brut Short-Play Festivals that focus on visionary and avant-garde works.
In May 2016, NJ Rep acquired a new property, a 28,000 square foot school situated on 2 ½ acres and located just five minutes from its Main Stage Lumia Theater and two blocks from the Jersey Shore. The theater plans on gradually transforming the school in stages into a cultural center that will house additional performance spaces, an art cinema, an art museum, a rooftop café, an arts education wing, and residences for out-of-town actors and playwrights. When completed, the center will present a wide array of programs in acting, playwriting, art, sculpture, poetry, music, and photography and will serve as a catalyst for economic development and as the foundation for the cultural renaissance of the community.
Photos by Andrea Phox
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