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Kevin Smith, Smodcastle Cinemas, and Weird NJ present THE DEVIL & DAISY DIRT: A GARDEN STATE GOTHIC EVENT

Friday, February 20, 2026 @ 8:00pm



New Brunswick Performing Arts Center (NBPAC)
11 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ 08901

THIS EVENT HAS PASSED

The Devil is back! That's right, friends, it's time to get Dirty! Again! After their sold-out performance in November, The Devil & Daisy Dirt returns to NBPAC for five shows in February. With a bigger budget and loftier goals. Experience the timeless magic of what audiences are calling "NJ E.T." For the first time or the fifth. Kevin Smith, Smodcastle Cinemas, and Weird NJ Present THE DEVIL & DAISY DIRT: A GARDEN STATE GOTHIC EVENT. Only at NBPAC.

"A night of theater you will never forget!" - Kevin Smith (Dogma, Chasing Amy)

Wait, what the Devil is this? It's a folk horror fairy-tale about the Jersey Devil with live music and an 8' puppet. A gothic mix of storytelling, theater, vaudeville, back porch session. Think Pine Barrens "Our Town" meets bluegrass E.T., with a shoulder-shot cryptid instead of a stranded extraterrestrial, deer hunters instead of federal agents, and a portal that opens above the Apple Pie Hill fire tower after a midnight lightning strike instead of an alien mothership shaped like a Christmas tree ornament. Plus magic meat, woodland witches, an enchanted bullet, and an annual appetite contest with supernatural rewards. All backed by a high lonesome sound.

Trust me, friends, you don't want to miss this. But don't take our word for it. Here's what some other fine folks have said: "Spellbinding!" (Kevin Smith, Dogma, Chasing Amy); "haunting!" (The Philadelphia Inquirer); "weird and wonderful!" (Daniel Kraus, The Shape of Water w. Guillermo del Toro): "a mesmerizing, Pine Barrens fever dream!" (Asbury Park Press); "NJ's hottest theater ticket!" (94.3, The Point); "a BADASS (caps theirs) vaudeville show that marries music, theater, and gnarly monster effects!"(Rue Morgue Magazine); and "the most original, Jersey-centric and downright weird presentation in our state’s theatrical history!” Weird New Jersey

"Sits on the border of legends and tall tales. Somewhere between a DIY show and Kneehigh’s production of The Wild Bride. The result is absolutely stunning." - Tobias Carroll, Reactor

"There is no one remotely like Alex Dawson in Gothic New Jersey or anywhere else. A riveting, one-of-a-kind storyteller." - Joyce Carol Oates




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EVENT PREVIEWS

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Princeton Summer Theater Announces 2026 Season

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Crossroads Theatre Company presents "Sizwe Banzi Is Dead"

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Advertise with NJ Stage for $50-$100 per month,
click here for info




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