Matt Monaco, Lucas Pinner, Richard Jordan and Blake Stadnik accept the Fringe First Award
(WEST ORANGE, NJ) -- Luna Stage's RIFT received the prestigious The Scotsman Fringe First Award in August, recognizing "outstanding new writing premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe." The play, written by Gabriel Jason Dean, was commissioned by Luna Stage and premiered at the West Orange theatre in 2024, directed by Ari Laura Kreith and starring Matt Monaco and Blake Stadnik. The Luna creative team partnered with UK-based Richard Jordan Productions and the Traverse Theatre to bring the RIFT to Edinburgh.
“Over the past two weeks The Scotsman’s team of experienced professional critics have reviewed hundreds of Edinburgh Fringe shows - considerably more than any other newspaper, and more than most publications of any kind that cover the world’s biggest festival,” writes the Edinburgh-based paper. “It is this comprehensive level of Fringe coverage that makes it possible for us to continue running the oldest and most prestigious theatre awards at the festival - the Scotsman’s Fringe Firsts.”
“Shows are privately nominated by The Scotsman’s team of critics, and winners are then decided on by a judging panel…Our prizes for new writing premiered at the Fringe are announced each Friday during August.”
“Dean's writing never flags in its utterly gripping sharpness and intensity,” reads The Scotsman’s review. “In Ari Laura Kreith’s fiercely-paced production, Matt Monaco and Blake Stadnik deliver two simply breathtaking performances.”
RIFT is currently playing at Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre—where it sold out its entire run and has just announced two added performances—through August 24. A limited number of 9 pm tickets for the final two dates are now available via the Traverse website.
Two stateside performances of RIFT will celebrate the play’s homecoming at Luna. Tickets for this benefit engagement on September 19 and 20, which will help to defray the costs of the company’s travel to Scotland, are available at www.lunastage.org/rift.
Inspired by the relationship between playwright Gabriel Jason Dean and his brother, an incarcerated high-level member of the alt-right, RIFT began at Luna in 2020 as a play-over-text-message delivered to audience members’ phones during the pandemic. In 2024, the fully-staged production debuted at Luna, directed by Ari Laura Kreith and starring Matt Monaco and Blake Stadnik. The play was subsequently produced at Interact Theatre in Philadelphia and Amphibian Stage in Texas as part of a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere, before returning to Luna for international production.
RIFT tells the story of two brothers - one a progressive novelist, the other a convicted murderer and high-ranking member of a white supremacist prison gang. The two men share a traumatic childhood and now, as adults, must navigate the edges of their brotherly bond. Is it possible to love someone whose beliefs you hate?
The production features costumes by Deborah Caney, lighting design by Justin Townsend, sound design by David Lanza, and projections by Lauren Nychelle. The original Luna set, which inspired the set for the Traverse production, was designed by You-Shin Chen. RIFT is stage managed by Lucas Pinner, assisted by Elodie Morssand Ambrose Amory. Casting is by Judy Bowman.
The Traverse Theatre is Scotland’s premiere new writing theatre. This marks the 18th Fringe First Award for Olivier, Tony, Emmy Award-winning producer Richard Jordan.
Luna Stage’s history of developing and premiering new work includes Tony Award winning playwright Matthew Lopez’s first play The Whipping Man, which had its World Premiere at Luna and became one of the most widely-produced plays in America between 2012 and 2016, three World Premieres by Obie winner and Pulitzer nominee Nikkole Salter, and last season’s sold out Off-Broadway transfer of Jenny Lyn Bader’sMrs. Stern Wanders the Prussian State Library.
Luna Stage develops and produces vibrant plays about local and global experiences, and brings communities together for artistic events that spark conversations, create understanding, and inspire change. Founded in Montclair NJ in 1993, Luna Stage moved to West Orange in 2010 to become an arts anchor of the underserved Valley neighborhood. As producer, innovator, and educator, Luna is dedicated to eliminating barriers to participation and nurturing the next generation of audiences and artists.
Luna received the Jersey Arts People’s Choice Award for Favorite Small Theatre in New Jersey, the 2024 Giles R. Wright Designation for Excellence in African American History, and has contributed to the development of over 100 new works for the stage. This season, Luna's production of Lonely Planet was recognized on two 2024 Best New Jersey Production lists, while Mrs. Stern Wanders the Prussian State Library was honored on two lists of 2024 Best Plays in New York.
Luna world premieres include Tony Award-winner Matthew Lopez’s breakout play The Whipping Man, which became one of the most widely-produced plays in the United States; three World Premieres by Obie-winner Nikkole Salter; and Jenny Lyn Bader’s Mrs. Stern Wanders the Prussian State Library, which recently completed two extended runs Off-Broadway and anticipates its first regional transfer this fall.
