(NEWARK, NJ) -- New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) presents a reading of Vivid Stage’s new play Soft Animals by Erin Mallon and directed by Laura Ekstrand, part of NJPAC Stage Exchange on Tuesday June 7th at 7:00pm. What would your life be like if you couldn’t feel physical pain? If your body had a mind of its own? What if you never fell asleep? How about if you remembered every single thing you’ve ever felt, thought or experienced?
Four medical misfits sign up for a three-day workshop to tackle their issues. Can a former male nurse and self-professed “woo-woo” guide them toward healing? Or… perhaps they aren’t the ones most in need of a cure.
Dive into the world of Soft Animals where alien hands, rogue eyeballs and umbilical cord jump ropes are the norm and ask yourself one of life’s mysterious questions: does the mind actually create the body?
Tickets are only $5.00 and available for purchase online or calling 888.GO.NJPAC (888.466.5722) or by visiting the NJPAC Box Office.
Cutting-edge play development meets insightful community dialogue at NJPAC Stage Exchange, a collaboration of two professional New Jersey theaters and a talented duo of Garden State playwrights. Following readings and Q&As at NJPAC related to each Stage Exchange work, a world premiere production will be staged by each dramatist’s partner theater.
Erin Mallon’s plays have been presented with Urban Stages, New Georges, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, The Collective, Cherry Picking, Great Plains Theater Conference, Samuel French #OOB Short Play Festival, Project Y Theater, Dreamcatcher Rep, Mile Square Theatre and more. Erin’s play Branched (dir. Robert Ross Parker) premiered with InViolet Theater at HERE Arts Center in NYC and is in print with Original Works Publishing. Her play, The Net Will Appear had its Off-Broadway Premiere at 59E59 Theaters in NYC starring the great Richard Masur and is now available on Audible.com as an audio drama co-starring Matilda Lawler (Disney Plus’ Flora & Ulysses, Broadway’s The Ferryman). Erin’s Other full-length plays include: Good Riddance, Soft Animals, Hand Me Down, Stunning Displays of Prowess, Skin Hungry, The Other White Meat, Come Find Me and These Walls Can Talk 2: The Narwhal Strikes Back!
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.
New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), located at One Center Street in downtown Newark, N.J., has the most diverse programming and audience of any performing arts center in the country, and is the artistic, cultural, educational and civic center of New Jersey – where great performances and events enhance and transform lives every day. NJPAC brings diverse communities together, providing access to all and showcasing the state’s and the world’s best artists while acting as a leading catalyst in the revitalization of its home city. Through its extensive Arts Education programs, NJPAC is shaping the next generation of artists and arts enthusiasts. NJPAC has attracted more than 9 million visitors (including over 1.7 million children and families) since opening its doors in 1997, and nurtures meaningful and lasting relationships with each of its constituents.
