(SUMMIT, NJ) -- Vivid Stage presents Summer Solos readings every week from July 1-24, 2024 at the Visual Arts Center of NJ at 68 Elm Street in Summit. Performances in the series will take place on the lawn of the Arts Center at 6:30pm. Patrons are invited to bring chairs or blankets and a picnic dinner. The rain and extreme heat location for all performances is the Oakes Center at 120 Morris Avenue, Summit, NJ.

On Monday, July 1, 2024 at 6:30pm, Summer Shorts by Laura Ekstrand. A collection of short romantic comedies by Vivid's Artistic Director Laura Ekstrand, showcasing the talents of some outstanding actors. It's not a Solo, but sometimes ya gotta break the rules...

The following Wednesday, July 10, 2024 at 6:30pm, Equally Divine by Jenny Lyn Bader. Told from the point of view of the world's most famous painting, this true-crime whodunit begins with the 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa from the Louvre Museum in Paris. Police question everyone from J.P Morgan to Pablo Picasso but cannot crack the case. Soon the story travels back in time to 1503, introducing us to the visionary artist Leonardo da Vinci, the apprentice who would become his lover, and the secrets behind the creation of La Gioconda. Along the way, the woman in the portrait solves mysteries that have baffled fans and stumped scholars for centuries: Why Leonardo never delivered the painting to the man who commissioned it. Who she is. And why she's smiling. Equally Divine is a time-hopping, gender-bending drama about art, inspiration, and becoming who we are.

On Wednesday, July 17, 2024 at 6:30pm, Laura Ekstrand will perform What I Thought I Knew by Alice Eve Cohen. Everything 44-year-old Alice thought she knew is turned upside-down when an emergency CAT scan reveals that she’s six months pregnant. A dark comedy performed by one actress playing forty roles, Alice faces the most wrenching decision a woman can make, in her odyssey through doubt, a broken health-care system, the complexities of reproductive rights, and the infinite unpredictability of parenthood. An O’Neill finalist and Jane Chambers Award Honorable Mention, What I Thought I Knew is adapted from Cohen's acclaimed memoir—winner of Oprah magazine’s 25 Best Books of Summer and Elle Literary Grand Prize for Nonfiction.

On Wednesday, July 24, 2024 at 6:30pm, Daria M. Sullivan will perform I F***ing Hate Shakespeare by Gina Femia. Gina Femia is a playwright. William Shakespeare is a playwright, too - maybe you've heard of him? Through the lens of different Shakespeare plays, and juxtaposing him with the abusive relationships that defined her coming of age, Gina discusses how her experience with the Bard has shaped her origin story as a playwright.

Tickets for all Summer Solos are $23 and can be purchased in advance at 2024 Vivid Summer Solos. The Visual Arts Center of NJ is located at 68 Elm Street in Summit, and free parking is available. All shows begin at 6:30pm, and the rain and extreme heat location is the same date and time at Oakes Center.

Vivid Stage was founded in 1994 as Dreamcatcher Rep, and is a non-profit professional ensemble of actors who build community with the audience by sharing contemporary, life-affirming stories that challenge, energize and entertain. Their work has at its heart a belief in the essential goodness of people and the power of live performance to connect people through our shared humanity. They expose theatregoers to ideas and lives like and unlike their own with the intention of awakening their imaginations and creating empathy for others. They deepen the experience of all their patrons with personal contact through receptions, talkbacks, and interactive programs.

The company’s activities include mainstage productions, improvisational comedy and cabarets, new play readings and a variety of educational and senior outreach programs.

Vivid Stage’s programs are funded by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, and many other corporations, foundations and individuals.  Vivid Stage is an Equity Producing member of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance.

Vivid Stage, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) corporation, incorporated under the laws of the State of New Jersey.

Graphic by Yolanda Fundora