(JERSEY CITY, NJ) -- Art House Productions presents the 2023 INKubator New Play Festival from May 8-17. This year's playwrights are Micharne Cloughley, Amir-Gabriel Gad, Adin Lenahan, Iraisa Ann Reilly, Edwin Rivera-Arias, and Emmy Weissman. Audiences who attend the festival will have the opportunity to participate in conversations with the writers, directors, and actors following each performance. All readings are free to attend, but advanced registration is required.
The INKubator New Play Festival marks the debut of Art House’s brand new 99-seat flexible black box theater located at 345 Marin Boulevard, Jersey City, NJ. The state-of-the-art theater will house a variety of arts events including plays, film screenings, comedy shows, music performances, and dance, and is conveniently located 1 block from the Grove Street PATH Station in downtown Jersey City.
INKubator is a year-long generative process for a select group of six playwrights in residence at Art House Productions. During the program, playwrights meet on a monthly basis alongside program director Alex Tobey to share new work, receive feedback, and develop a first draft of a new play. The program culminates in the INKubator New Play Festival, where the playwrights work with professional directors and actors to hear the play read aloud for the first time. Casting will be announced at a later date.
“Art House’s new, permanent home is a vision 20 years in the making. We are thrilled to finally enter into this next phase of Art House’s progression, and we are so excited to open our theater doors for the first time and welcome audiences to the 2023 INKubator New Play Festival,” says Art House Executive Artistic Director, Meredith Burns.
Monday, May 8 at 7:30pm - Eminent Domain by Iraisa Ann Reilly; directed by Angela Longo. In the midst of a giant rainstorm, several citizens from Atlantic City’s past have been summoned to the Brigantine-Atlantic City Connector tunnel to defend their property in a board game that resembles Monopoly. As each individual pulls the dreaded “Eminent Domain” card, these characters (based on real individuals) tell the story of the last time they had to defend their homes against the dreaded Eminent Domain law. This game within a play is an examination of the history of Atlantic City and people who called America’s Favorite Playground home.
Tuesday, May 9 at 7:30pm - Stubbornness & Bone by Edwin Rivera-Arias; directed by Nelson Isava. A supervisor is brutally murdered in the labor pool of a chemical company, and five Latino laborers must deal with the aftermath in a system in which “some people are born on stilts, while the rest gotta mosey along inchmeal.”
Wednesday, May 10 at 7:30pm - Mikvah Girls by Emmy Weissman; directed by Karma Masselli. Mikvah Girls is the story of two orthodox Jewish women from New Jersey who are supposed to be performing a monthly cleansing ritual at a mikvah. Instead, they actually use this time to hold meetings of their two-person Bruce Springsteen fan club. Together they grapple with the effects their religion has on their sexuality, desires, hopes, and dreams, all while obsessing over the Boss and dreaming of a better world they could build together.
Monday, May 15 at 7:30pm - Flotsam by Micharne Cloughley; directed by Kevin R. Free. Flotsam tells the story of five objects in a thrift store in Hoboken. They have no money (because they are just objects after all), but a big dream. This is a play with songs for anyone who has ever felt lost, broken, or discarded.
Tuesday, May 16 at 7:30pm - Bunnyman by Amir-Gabriel Gad; directed by Tyaela Nieves. When slasher movie obsessed RJ is attacked and stabbed by someone in a bunny mask, the universe assigns him his very own one-winged angel. Final girl Clair Combs is there to lead him on a rip roaring adventure of revenge. Only problem is, RJ isn’t convinced he’s allowed to take it. A play about Dead By Daylight, corn syrup, D-I-Y dowsing rods, and realizing you sometimes live through the things that kill you.
Wednesday, May 17 at 7:30pm - The Barrens by Adin Lenahan; directed by Jake Beckhard. The Barrens is a portal fantasy about a perpetually single, hairless, nonbinary nobody who is transported to a magical version of the New Jersey Pine Barrens. There, our unlikely hero learns the thorny truth of getting everything you ever wanted. A story of self worth and self activation.
This event is part of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance 2023 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; The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey; OceanFirst Foundation; Fund for the New Jersey Blind; New Jersey Manufacturers; and Customers Bank.
The venue is ADA accessible. To request ASL interpreters or captions, please email [email protected] at least 2 weeks before the event.
To reserve free tickets, please visit AudienceView Professional (ovationtix.com)
Art House Productions is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to the development and presentation of the performing and visual arts in Jersey City, NJ. Art House Productions presents theater, comedy, dance, festivals, visual art exhibitions, film screenings, and adult and youth art classes.
Art House Productions is generously supported by The New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Public Funds from the Jersey City Arts and Culture Trust Fund, The Jersey City Arts Council, The New Jersey Theatre Alliance, The Princeton Area Community Foundation, SILVERMAN, KRE, CoolVines, The SVOG, The New Jersey Theatre Alliance, and The Hudson County Office of Cultural Affairs. A full list of funders can be found here.
