Published by New Jersey Stage
originally published: 03/18/2025
(EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ) -- Perfect Arrangement by Topher Payne is presented by Playhouse 22 weekends from March 21 – April 6, 2025. This is a poignant comedy for our times focuses on the relationships between two couples and the complicated nature of their jobs.
Set at the onset of the Cold War and McCarthyism, the story takes place in Washington, DC with Bob and Norma employed at the State Department tasked with routing out fellow employees whose behavior may be questionable to the leadership of the agency.
Directed by Jack Bathke, the ensemble cast includes Erin Leder as "Norma", Anna Gottfried as "Millie", Nigel Rogers as "Bob", Ankit Sharma as "Jim", Faith Dowgin as "Barbara", Todd D. Gregoire as "Theodore" and Cindy Chait as "Kitty."
The show will run March 21 – April 6 with performances on Friday and Saturdays at 8:00pm and Sunday matinees at 2:00pm. Tickets are $24 for adults and $22 for seniors and students, and they must be purchased at Playhouse22.org or over the phone at 732-254-3939. Due to certain content and language, the show is for mature audiences.
The theater is conveniently located at the Elliott Taubenslag Theater at the East Brunswick Community Arts Center, 721 Cranbury Road, East Brunswick.
Playwright Topher Payne's theatrical career began at First United Methodist Church in Kosciusko, Mississippi. He played a sparrow.
Since age 19, he has made his home in Atlanta, working as an actor, director, designer, and writer- basically, anything people would let him do.
Topher was a 2017 Lambda Literary Award nominee for Perfect Arrangement, which was also received the 2014 M. Elizabeth Osborn Award from The American Theatre Critics Association. Perfect Arrangement had its Off-Broadway premiere in 2015, and has since been produced around the world. It is published by Samuel French, alongside his works Angry Fags and Evelyn in Purgatory.
Topher is a seven-time nominee and three-time winner of The Gene-Gabriel Moore Playwriting Award , and his holiday comedy Let Nothing You Dismay received the Suzi Bass Award for Outstanding World Premiere. Readers of Creative Loafing named him Atlanta’s Best Local Playwright nine times, and he was selected as one of “Ten Playwrights You Should Know” by Southern Theatre magazine.
He began writing for television in 2016, and has scripted five films for The Hallmark Channel. He is a proud member of the Dramatist's Guild of America, and both the Canadian and American Writer's Guilds.
In 2018, Topher was inducted into The Georgia Theatre Hall of Fame.
Photos by Paul Porowski for Playhouse 22
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