(RAHWAY, NJ) -- American Theater Group (ATG) in partnership with the Union County Performing Arts Center (UCPAC), will present a special work in development -- The Unwitting Magician -- by Jeremy Dobrish as part of its free Play Reading Series on Monday, December 8, 2025 at UCPAC's Hamilton Stage in Rahway. The event begins at 7:00pm.
The Unwitting Magician is a unique theatrical and magical one-night-only experience. A lone actor steps onto a bare stage—armed with little more than a music stand and a sealed manila envelope. Inside: a script they have truly never seen, its contents a complete mystery.
The actor has no idea what sort of play or theatrical experience may unfold. As the actor reads the script to the audience he (or she) is swept into a whirlwind of impossible feats and playful surprises, becoming an unwitting magician and inviting the audience to question who is truly in control—the performer, the script, or something more magical still?
The event is free but registration is requested at: https://www.americantheatergroup.org/news.
A Q&A discussion with the playwright and actor will follow the reading. While the event is free, donations will be gratefully accepted and registration is required. Hamilton Stage is located at 360 Hamilton Street in Rahway and is independently operated under the governance of Union County Performing Arts Center.
This special piece is an opportunity to experience a work currently in development. This performance will feature Stacey Linnartz, a professional actor, director, and teaching artist most recently seen in ATG’s production of Our Town. Her award-winning solo show, LABOR, had its premiere at The NYC Fringe Festival this April. Select Acting Credits-Off Broadway: Life Sucks (Drama Desk Nomination and OBA Award), Enemy of the People (Wheelhouse), God of Vengeance (The Barrow Group), Lost In Light (The Public). London: Sirocco (Royal Court). Film: The Last 48, The Weekend, Life To The Lees. Television: Gossip Girl, As The World Turns, Rescue Me. She is Founder and Artistic Director of Kids Creative Collective, a non-profit providing tuition-free theatre arts education throughout NYC. She holds an MFA from NYU/Tisch.
Jeremy Dobrish is a director, playwright, artistic leader, creative director, and teacher whose focus has been developing and directing new plays and musicals. He has directed at Second Stage, MCC, Joe’s Pub, The Promenade, The Variety Arts, The Century, Actor’s Playhouse, etc.
Dobrish has had his productions receive several Lortel and Drama Desk nominations. Regionally, he has directed at The Old Globe, Barrington Stage, North Shore, The O’Neill, New York Stage and Film, Goodspeed and The Village Theatre. He is a 9-time published playwright who founded adobe theatre company as well as co-founded Midtown Direct Rep, in Maplewood, NJ. He has taught at NYU, Juilliard, The National Theatre Institute, The New York Film Academy and Fordham. He is currently a Senior Creative Director at Proscenium where he writes and directs creative elements for some of the world’s biggest brands.
American Theater Group (ATG), founded in 2012, produces new and classic works primarily by American playwrights with an emphasis on the development of new works and the reimagining of undeservedly neglected older ones. The company also focuses on offering quality arts-in-education programming, including its annual Drama Fest workshop for High School students and New Works/New Voices high school play writing program.
