(SUMMIT, NJ) -- Vivid Stage, formerly Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre, in residence at Oakes Center at 120 Morris Avenue in Summit, will present its annual Meet the Artist new play reading series on Wednesdays, May 4, 11, 18 and 25. All readings will take place at the Oakes Center at 7:30pm. This event is part of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance 2022 Stages Festival, made possible by support from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts; Bank of America; The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey; OceanFirst Foundation; the George A. Ohl, Jr. Trust; New Jersey Historical Commission; and Fund for the New Jersey Blind.
The new play reading series is a chance for the audience to participate in the development of new works, both to hear the plays read by professional actors and also to discuss the projects with the playwright, director and actors afterward. There will be an opportunity for the audience to provide feedback to the team after every performance.
On May 4, Vivid will present James Armstrong’s The Love Songs of Brooklynites. Chuck has just moved to Brooklyn when his neighbor Abbie harasses him for mail misdirected to his apartment. As Abbie falls into his life, she introduces him to stress baking, computer coding, and the poetry of a city that's still trying to revise itself. Part T.S. Eliot, part Preston Sturges, The Love Songs of Brooklynites takes the audience on a theatrical journey about finding ourselves while finding others.
James Armstrong is a playwright whose works have been performed across the U.S., as well as in Canada, Australia, and Japan. His play Foggy Bottom at the Abingdon Theatre Company was hailed by the New York Times as "one of the most international farces around" and the Detroit Free Press called his play Capital an "inspired new comedy." His short play The Rainbow premiered as a part of the 18th Annual NYC 15-Minute Play Festival at the American Globe Theatre. It was also a finalist for the Actors Theatre of Louisville's Heideman Award and is included in The Best American Short Plays: 2012-2013. His adaptation of Moby-Dick received its world premiere at Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater in 2015. Detroit Rep premiered Capital in 2017, and East Carolina University toured his stage adaptation of Alice in Wonderland. James holds an MFA in Dramatic Writing from Carnegie-Mellon University. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America.
On May 11, Vivid will present The Oreos by Angelle Whavers. What happens when Marketing Associate Blaine and Twitch streamer Evette wake up to find...they’re black? In the same vein of Black Like Me and Watermelon Man, The Oreos explores race in the modern world through laughs, awkward encounters, and our pride as a “woke” society.
Angelle Whavers is a graduate of Drew University with a bachelor’s degree in Theater and History. Her playwriting credits include: 4320p:Immersion with the Tectonic Theater Project; Boogie at Growing Stages New Works Festival; and Does Not Translate at Vulcan Theater. She has worked as a writer and performer with Parody in Blue. She is the co-founder and Director of Social Media for Unidentified Stages. Her acting credits include: Performer, Actor’s Hour; Sapphire, 4320p: Immersion: Nell, Haiku; and Florence, Poof!
On May 18, Vivid will present The Golden Door by Lia Romeo. What does it mean to be an American, and how much is it worth giving up? In 1902, an Italian peasant girl is detained at Ellis Island. In 2047, an American teenager tries to cross the border into Canada to escape a country ravaged by disease. The Golden Door explores immigration through the ages, and asks what truly makes America great.
Lia Romeo is a 2021-2022 fellow in the Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program at Juilliard. Her play The Forest was developed at the O’Neill Playwrights Conference, and received its premiere at NJ Rep. Her play Sitting and Talking, starring Dan Lauria and Wendie Malick, premiered at Mile Square Theatre and has subsequently been presented by Laguna Playhouse, New Jersey Rep, Seven Devils New Play Foundry, and other companies. Other plays have been produced off-Broadway at 59E59 and regionally around the country, and four of her plays have been recognized by the Kilroys List. She was the winner of City Theatre’s National Short Playwriting Award, and was an Individual Artist Fellowship winner in playwriting from the New Jersey State Council for the Arts. Her plays are published by Broadway Play Publishing, Playscripts, Dramatists Play Service, and Smith & Kraus. She is the associate artistic director with Project Y Theatre Company, and she teaches playwriting at Primary Stages/ESPA and in the M.A. program in creative writing at Fairleigh Dickinson University. She earned her B.A. from Princeton and her M.F.A. in playwriting from Rutgers/MGSA.
On May 25, Vivid presents Barbara Blumenthal-Ehrlich’s Brand New Day. Lydia’s daughter hasn’t returned home since a series of subway bombings in an unnamed city. Now Lydia’s forced to wait for the news with her annoying son-in-law, Donald, and a mysterious millennial photographer who won’t stop following her. A dark comedy about maternal impotence in a terrorist age.
Barbara Blumenthal-Erlich’s full lengths have been produced at the New York International Fringe Festival, off-Broadway Theatre Row (Prod. by Tony-award winner Arielle Tepper Madover), Northern Light (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada), Overtime (San Antonio), Forward Flux (Seattle) Trustus (Columbia, S.C.), Trinity Rep (Providence), and more. A contributing writer to the national tour, THE GRIEF DIALOGUES. Plays have been developed in NYC at Playwrights Horizons, Roundabout, Second Stage, EST, ARACAworks, Stella Adler, and Rattlestick, and regionally at The Kennedy Center, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Geva, Victory Gardens, Route 66 Theatre, Collaboraction, Elephant Theatre, The Blank, Hangar, among others. She won the 2016 Beverly Hills Theatre Guild Julie Harris Playwriting Award, the Israel Baran Award, and was a runner up in contests that include the Sundance Playwriting Lab, O’Neill Playwrights Conference, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, the Heideman Award and Princess Grace Fellowship. Her play Sister Sister was nominated for Edmonton’s Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Award and Still Life was nominated for the Susan Smith Blackburn Award and given honorable mention on The Kilroy List. Plays published by Smith & Kraus' "Best of" anthologies for 2016-18.
Vivid Stage will require all visitors to show proof of vaccination; masking will be optional for the readings. Proof of vaccination may include a valid paper vaccination record, a photo of a valid vaccination record, the NJ Docket App, or equivalent app from your state.
All readings will be held at the Oakes Center at 7:30pm. Admission is $10. For touchless advance ticket purchases, go to vividstage.org. For more information, call 908-514-9654. The theatre at Oakes Center is wheelchair accessible. The parking lot is accessible from Ashwood Avenue, behind the theatre.
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. Our 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. We expose theatregoers to ideas and lives like and unlike their own with the intention of awakening their imaginations and creating empathy for others. We deepen the experience of all our 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, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation 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.
