Playwright Sheila Duane

(CRANFORD, NJ) -- Even Paradise has support staff, according to Intake: Heaven, Sheila Duane's comedy about the afterlife's processing department, which will have its first public presentation as part of The Theater Project's 2025 New Play Reading Series. The reading takes place Saturday, May 17, 2025 at the Cranford Community Center. The reading is scheduled for 2:00pm.

Cheru and Lamer are angels who run heaven's Intake Office. When a living human somehow manages to enter without proper vetting, they have to explain the human condition to her.

"How do we see ourselves, and how does heaven see us?" ponders playwright Sheila Duane. “This is the idea I am exploring in this play.”

Following the reading of Intake: Heaven, members of the audience will have the opportunity to offer their feedback to the playwright. Large-print programs and scripts will be available with advance request.

“One of the great advantages of our New Play Reading series is that audiences are able to offer their feedback to the playwright,” said Mark Spina, artistic director of The Theater Project. “They play an essential role in the development of new dramatic works.”

Duane teaches writing at the community-college level. She has presented four plays in the Downtown Urban Arts Festival NYC, two of which placed second and third. Her plays also have been produced at theaters throughout New Jersey, as well as in California, Florida, and North Carolina.

The reading is directed by Lynn Marie Macy, and performed by Emily Bonaria, Angela Della Ventura, Lisa Ferraro, André DeSandies, and Susan Skosko.

The Friends of the Cranford Library will host the series, which is made possible in part through a Union County Local Arts Grant.

Cranford Community Center is located at 224 Walnut Avenue in Cranford, New Jersey.

Founded in 1994 and based in Union, The Theater Project introduces New Jersey audiences to new plays and supports rising playwrights and theater artists. It develops new audiences for theater by service to the community, providing programs for children, and using theater as a forum to address current issues.