For 25 years, New Jersey Theatre Alliance (“the Alliance”) has offered a spring festival of performances, workshops, and readings throughout the state. This year’s festival will include a combination of in-person and online offerings. The 40 member theatres of the Alliance will collectively produce 80 events, made available at no cost or at deeply-discounted ticket prices throughout March, April, and May, 2022.

“The Stages Festival has always been designed to enable all New Jersey residents, regardless of economic background or geographic location, to experience the joy and wonder of theatre. This year, as we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Festival, we are proud to showcase the incredible diversity and excellence of New Jersey’s professional theatre community,” said John McEwen, Executive Director of the Alliance.

“We thank our numerous supporters, many of whom have supported the festival since its inception. Their investment in this program has made it possible to offer high-quality professional theatre to communities across the state, reaching over 200,000 people over the course of the Festival’s history,” added McEwen. 

The program’s Spotlight Sponsors are The New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Bank of America, and The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey. Additional supporters include OceanFirst Foundation, and The New Jersey Historical Commission.

The following are a few highlights of the 2021 Stages Festival. Most events are free but require registration. For a full listing of events, program details, and registration information visit www.njtheatrealliance.org/stages.

Theatre for Kids and Teens: 

Pushcart Players, New Jersey’s professional touring children’s theatre, has teamed up with community partners to offer two performances of Stone Soup and Other Stories on March 5 at the Wheaton Arts Center. On March 28, The Theater Project in Union will present their annual Young Playwrights Competition Awards, a program designed to encourage the next generation of theater practitioners and audience by honoring their work and bringing it to life. Passage Theatre Company, in Trenton, will feature both professional actors and students from Hedgepeth-Williams middle school to present an original play, Junior High #2: The Hedgepeth-Williams Story about the landmark legal battle that struck down the practice of school segregation in New Jersey. The play runs from March 31-April 2. McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton will offer two performances of Alice’s Story, an interactive drama and workshop, students will explore the themes of empathy, kindness, and community building. Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey will offer two Short Shakespeare productions for young people: Romeo and Juliet on April 16 and 30, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream on April 20. They will offer a special Relaxed Performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream on April 16. A relaxed performance is a performance for which certain production elements have been adjusted to create a comfortable environment for audience members with sensory sensitivities.

Musical Theatre: 

On March 3, Eagle Theatre in Hammonton will offer a “Pay-what-you-choose” performance of the hilarious musical comedy, Xanadu. On March 4, 5, and 6, Vanguard Theater Company in Montclair will present A Portrait of Ray starring Broadway’s Dwayne Clark as Ray Charles. Skyline Theatre will offer a performance of the new, original musical Capri on March 18. The musical, based on the creator’s true family history, follows a schoolteacher, desperate to save his dying wife, who is drawn into a conspiracy to scam a family of recent Italian immigrants — the same family into which his son hopes to marry. On May 28, Atlantic City Theatre Company will present a production of Spring Awakening, a musical that explores the journey from adolescence to adulthood with a poignancy and passion.

New Plays:

New and innovative work abounds in this year’s festival! Luna Stage in West Orange explores the intersection of liberation, bodily autonomy, and motherhood with their “Underground History” series, including readings of Torn Asunder by Nikkole Salter (March 11 and 12) and Two Elizas by Jenny Mercein (April 1 and 2). Jersey CIty Theatre Center will present a zoom reading of Bluebottles by South African playwright Deborah Vieyra on March 12. From April 15 through 23, Crossroads Theatre in New Brunswick will present new work from playwrights Seret Scott, Richard Wesley, Divinity Roxx, and Guy Davis. Paterson Performing Arts Development Council in Paterson will present a staged reading of Black, Brown, and Blue, a soul stirring evening of movement, musical interludes, and poetry exploring the existential origins of the sounds of revolution, on May 22. The New Jersey Play Lab will host a reading of Come Rain, Come Hurricane, a new play by Bayonne-born Cuban-Colombian playwright and fiction writer Edwin Rivera-Arias. Hudson Theatre Works in Weehawken will present their annual Playworks readings on March 14 and 21. Eagle Theatre in Hammonton will offer multiple readings in their New Works Development Series From April 1-3. Centenary Stage in Hackettstown will celebrate works by female playwrights in their Women’s Playwright Series on April 20 and 27. Premiere Stages in Union will offer a reading of a new play as part of their Spring Reading series on April 24. More new plays at Art House Productions in Jersey City (May 1), Cape May Stage (May 19), Jersey City Theatre Center (May 5, 13, 19, and 26), and VIvid Stage in Summit (May 4, 11, 18, and 25)  offer further exciting options.

Plays in Production:

Beginning April 6, East Lynne Theatre Company will present Aftermath as a streamed, virtual event. Written by Black educator, playwright, and activist, Mary P. Burrill (1881-1946), this one-act tells the story of a Black soldier during World War I who was awarded the French War Cross for single-handedly fighting off twenty German soldiers, only to return home to discover that his father has been lynched. South Camden Theatre Company will produce Terminus, by Gabriel Jason Dean, a gripping drama about family, race, and legacy. Mile Square Theatre in Hoboken will present Bird. Following performances in New York, San Francisco and many other stops around the country, writer/performer Kylie Vincent & director Barbara Pitts McAdams, present BIRD. Part Stand up, part solo show, part fever dream.

Collaborative and Interactive Performances: 

Vivid Stage in Summit presents The Neighbor Project on March 9. Over the past year, Vivid Stage’s Artistic Director Laura Ekstrand has been interviewing neighbors from the Vivid Stage area to paint a picture of its diversity. Neighbors who have immigrated from Israel, Haiti, Japan, Romania, Italy and many other countries tell their stories in The Neighbor Project, a work-in-progress reading of this new piece. Premiere Stages in Union will continue their tradition of presenting Plays by People on March 26, a collaboration with Matheney Medical center featuring short works of prose, monologues, theatrical scenes and poetry by Matheny Arts Access contributors.  Epic Actors Workshop will host multi-day workshops to create and present মরীচিকা (The Mirage) on May 14, a collaboration with Kushilob theater group raising new questions around the absurdity of human existence. Epic Actors Workshop will also collaborate with Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey to offer a public workshop on May 7 exploring similarities and differences between classical Shakespearean performance and classical South Asian performance. 

Community Discussions and Panels: 

Yendor Theatre Company, to compliment their upcoming production of Black Terror, will host three community discussions: Revolutionary Black Women- Moderated by Tina Knowles-Lawson featuring Elaine Brown on March 15 and Meet the Creators of Black Terror w/ Richard Lawson and Richard Wesley on April 12, and Revolutionary Roundtable on May 17. The Theater Project in Union will perform their successful play Black Lives/Blue Lives followed by a moderated talkback on March 21. 

Healing Voices: Caregivers’ Stories on Stage

Art House Productions, McCarter Theatre Center, Premiere Stages, and Vanguard Theater Company will offer performances in the Stages Festival as part of the Alliance’s program  Healing Voices: Caregivers Stories on Stage. Weaving together stories of both professional and family caregivers as part of an original professional theatre performance about the caregiving experience. Each theatre will create a professional presentation of the selected works, chosen from submissions by the public. Performances will take place at  Premiere Stages on April 3, Art House Productions on April 24, McCarter Theatre Center on May 11, and Vanguard Theater Company on May 21.

Access Services: 

In keeping with its commitment to making theatre accessible, the Alliance strives to make Stages events accessible to people with disabilities. If you require an access service for a Stages Festival event, including ASL interpretation, open captioning, and audio description please contact Deonté Griffin-Quick at (973) 250-6661 ext. 3 or [email protected] at least two weeks before the event. 

Founded in 1981, New Jersey Theatre Alliance was the first statewide service organization for professional, not-for-profit theatre companies in the United States, and is a leader in developing model programs that unite, promote, strengthen, and cultivate professional theatre in New Jersey. Funding for the New Jersey Theatre Alliance, a not-for-profit organization, is provided in part by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, New Jersey Division of Travel and Tourism, and contributions from individuals, corporations, and foundations including Amazon, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, The Grunin Foundation, The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey, The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey, Bank of America, City National Bank, The Shubert Foundation, The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, Investors Bank, The Hyde and Watson Foundation, Kessler Foundation, The F.M. Kirby Foundation, E.J. Grassmann Trust, and The Union Foundation.