(WEST ORANGE, NJ) -- Luna Stage will present the World Premiere of & Sons written by Jack Angelo Cummings and directed by Matt Monaco, running April 16 through May 10, 2026. Winner of the Kirk Prize for Best New Play, this is a sharply funny, emotionally hard-hitting portrait of brotherhood, labor, and the ways men learn—often badly—to love one another.
On a New Jersey construction site, the DiSanti crew eats subs, burritos, and pizza on their lunch break while everything underneath begins to crack. By turns funny and devastating, the play examines the pressures placed on working men and the habits of masculinity passed from one generation to the next.
“The play is partially inspired by my experience working in residential construction around Essex County, during the pandemic,” said playwright Cummings. “On a deeper level, & Sons is inspired by the emotional struggles of men I have been close with and men I’ve known in passing; especially younger men who experience a failure to launch.”
Performances are Thursdays at 7:30, Fridays at 8:00, Saturdays at 8:00 and Sundays at 3:00. Tickets are available for purchase online. As part of Luna’s commitment to equity and access, all tickets are Pay-What-You-Choose. The theater is located at 555 Valley Road in West Orange, New Jersey.
“& Sons reflects a working-class culture, a regional identity, and a kind of masculinity that are powerfully present in our communities but often underrepresented on our stages,” said Luna Artistic Director Ari Laura Kreith. “Jack explores this world with an extraordinary combination of raw honesty, humor, and deep care.”
Jack Angelo Cummings is a NY/NJ based playwright and performer, born and raised around where they filmed The Sopranos. Jack was the 2025 Kirk New Play Prize Winner, the 2024 Sewanee Writers Conference Tennessee Williams Scholarship Winner, a 2024 Judith Royer Award Finalist, and a 2022 Austin Film Festival Second-Rounder. His work has been developed and presented at Luna Stage, The Baylor New Play Initiative, The New Jersey Play Lab, Drew University, Sewanee, City Lit Theater, Barrow Group, and more. He has performed comedic improv at various venues in Chicago, is an alumni of the William Esper Studio in NYC, and holds a BA in English from Montclair State University. Jack also coordinates the New Moon Staged Reading Series at Luna Stage in West Orange, New Jersey.
Luna Stage develops and produces vibrant plays about local and global experiences. This summer, Luna’s commissioned world premiere RIFT by Gabriel Jason Dean made its international debut at Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre where it was honored with the 2025 Scotsman Fringe First Award. Other 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; Jenny Lyn Bader’s Mrs. Stern Wanders the Prussian State Library, which had two extended runs Off-Broadway in the 2024-2025 season; three premieres by Obie-winner Nikkole Salter; and the Luna-commissioned The Ground On Which We Stand, which received the 2024 Giles R. Wright Designation for Excellence in African American History.
The company celebrates 15 years as an arts anchor of New Jersey’s Valley Arts neighborhood, a traditionally-underserved region bridging the townships of Orange and West Orange. Luna received the JerseyArts People’s Choice Award for Favorite Small Theatre in New Jersey, and is dedicated to eliminating barriers to participation and nurturing the next generation of audiences and artists.
