UPCOMING READINGS AND EVENTS
Please join us for an exploration of immigration and migration through the lens of creativity and artistry.
Immigrant Narratives On Stage:
A Workshop with Argentinian playwright Francisco Mendoza
Saturday, March 1st 5pm-6:30pm
At Jersey City Theater Center
165 Newark Avenue (Entrance on Barrow Street)
This workshop is being offered free of charge as part of The Garden State New Play Festival
Space is Limited
Please use this link to reserve your spot.
In this interactive workshop, Argentinian playwright Francisco Mendoza tells of his personal immigration journey and how it has influenced his writing. He’ll share monologues from two of his plays, Machine Learning and Best Foreign, and guide participants to write about their own personal or familial journey of change, displacement, and assimilation. No writing experience is necessary.
This free workshop is being offered prior to Jersey City Theater Center’s presentation of
THE MIGRANTS PROJECT
by Los Escultores del Aire, a multi-award winning physical theater company based in Barcelona.
Please stay for the 7:30pm performance of The MIGRANTS PROJECT , Directed by Mai Rojas, and Produced by: Los Escultores del Aire (Spain).
Use the discount code NARRATIVE for 20% off the ticket price.
Purchase tickets HERE.
The performance will be followed by a meet and greet with the artists.
THE MIGRANTS PROJECT is the result of months of theatrical exploration under the alchemy of work of Los Escultores del Aire, a multi-award winning physical theater company based in Barcelona. The show has been created from the personal experiences of the members of the project after they attended an open call in Barcelona.
The full cast are immigrants to Spain, coming from many corners around the world. Their point of view on the reality of prejudice, uprooting, nostalgia, new beginnings and aspirations have been very valuable material for weaving a dramaturgy and choreography with its own powerful theatrical language.
Currently, the project has cast members from Spain, Chile, the United States, Ukraine, Poland, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Colombia, Italy, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, Argentina, Costa Rica, and England. This international character of the project allows us to know and work with different visions of the world and ways of understanding art.
ABOUT THE COMPANY
Los Escultores del Aire is a physical theater company founded in 2014. It has 8 shows in repertoire and a notorious international tour.
www.escultoresdelaire.com
PAST READINGS AND EVENTS
Scripted: A Showcase of Staged Readings and Dramaturgy
The New Jersey Play Lab’s Storyteller Studio (STS) Cohort’s new works showcase!
This showcase features staged readings of brand-new short works created by the STS emerging playwrights and dramaturgs. You will be the very first audience to witness them!
Over the past six months, the twelve emerging playwrights and dramaturgs in this year’s STS Cohort have built an artistic community and furthered their individual artistry. To celebrate the culmination of their time together, the group has been divided into smaller teams, each tasked with creating a new ten-minute play and companion dramaturgical component around the theme, idea, or word HEALING. These plays and companion displays are the result of these collaborations.
The New Jersey Play Lab is a home for playwrights and dramaturgs of all career levels who seek collaboration, methodology, and excellence in their work. At each and every point of engagement at The New Jersey Play Lab, whether through our early career foundational programming, play development forums, dramaturgical services, or our developmental residencies, the focus is on providing the knowledge and opportunity to move forward in one’s artistic and professional journey.
The Storyteller Studio is a collaborative space for young playwrights and dramaturgs under 30 to hone their craft through peer and professional support, and to develop the skills and work ethic necessary for success as they transition into professional careers.
Public Performance
Saturday, Jun 29th, 2024 at 7pm
at Jersey City Theater Center
Dante’s Renaissance
The Montclair State University Department of Theatre & Dance, the New Jersey Play Lab, and Jersey City Theater Center have partnered to commission, develop, and produce New Jersey stories in New Jersey communities, written by New Jersey playwrights. Jersey City playwright Ravin Patterson inaugurates this partnership with her new play, Dante’s Renaissance.
Dante’s Renaissance is a vibrant, theatrical story of art, friendship, and purpose, set against the backdrop of a city in transition. The piece focuses around Dante, a film student from Jersey City whose world is enlightened after a year of studying abroad in Italy. Armed with exciting, new experiences to share, he enthusiastically returns home expecting to receive accolades and admiration. Instead, he discovers that the people and hometown he left behind have evolved as much as he has. Balancing the changes won’t be as easy as he imagined, especially when his journey to self-discovery may cost him more than he expects to pay.
Public Performance
Saturday, Dec 09, 2023 at 3pm
at Jersey City Theater Center
Developmental Readings of two of our 2022 Residency Plays!
Un Hombre: A Golem Story by Stephen Kaplan
Directed by Stephen Nachamie
Tuesday May 16th, 2023 @ 7:30pm
Luna Stage 555 Valley Road, West Orange, NJ 07052
Rebecca Wolfson, a sculptor, is struggling to get back on track after the untimely death of her husband. She is suffering from intense artist’s block, and her son is withdrawn, failing Spanish, and unprepared for his upcoming Bar Mitzvah. All seems hopeless until a lot of wine and a little magic transform a hunk of clay into the hunky answer to all of their problems. But when her creation begins questioning his own purpose and existence, both mother and son are forced to confront their grief and grow in ways they never expected.
The reading will be followed by a discussion with the playwright.
Cast:
Rebecca – Evy Ortiz*
Josh – Loren Turner
Adam – John P. Keller *
STAGE DIRECTIONS: Alexa Teebo
Exit 1 by Ravin Patterson
Directed by Diane Parker
Saturday May 13th, 2023 @ 7pm
HUUB 35 & 47 Cleveland St Orange, NJ 07050
Employees and patrons at a rest stop on the Jersey Turnpike struggle to overcome the challenges their lives have placed before them, one hour at a time. Set in the early 90s amidst the national backdrop of racial and political tensions, Exit 1 offers a glimpse into the determination of everyday survivors and shows that family are the people who show up, everyday, or just at the end of a long haul.
The reading will be followed by a discussion with the playwright.
Cast
FEY – Sheleah Harris
CHARLOTTE – Sara Parcesepe
STRETCH – Mike Burdick
JUNE – Maria Diaz
WILBUR – Gary Martins
CHARLIE – Joey Palazzo
WALKER – Turron Kofi Alleyne
JAMES – James Walsh
STAGE DIRECTIONS – Darin F. Earl II
DRAMATURGY – Emily Dzioba
This event is part of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance 2023 Stages Festival, made possible by support from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts; The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey; OceanFirst Foundation; Fund for the New Jersey Blind; New Jersey Manufacturers; and Customers Bank.
www.njtheatrealliance.org/stages
A Developmental Reading of
AND EVERY CREEPING THING
In collaboration with Vivid Stage, The NJPL is proud to present a developmental reading of
And Every Creeping Thing by Eric Craft
This play is currently in development through The NJPL 2022 Residency Program.
Wednesday June 1st, 2022
7:30pm
120 Morris Ave, Summit, NJ 07901
The reading will be followed by a discussion with the playwright.
Tickets are $10 admission fee.
Please purchase advance tickets at this link.
The Cast
Harry Patrick Christian
Benjamin Cruz
Mitchell Leigh Gordon
Nicolette Lynch
Scott McGowan
Harriett Trangucci
Directed by Laura Ekstrand
About the Play
In the beginning, the angels are hard at work designing and managing logistics for Creation, but in the Department of Beasts, an unbalanced food chain threatens to destroy the world before it even starts. One little angel’s passion project may just hold the key to saving Creation, and the creatures that may just be the world’s secret hope. Bugs. In this office comedy of biblical proportions, corporate politics clash with spiritual and artistic fulfillment in a story from before time itself.
A Staged Reading of
COME RAIN, COME HURRICANE!
This play is a 2022 NJPL Residency play selection.
April 9th 2022 @ 7pm
The HUUB
35 & 47 Cleveland St, Orange, NJ
View photos at our Gallery page!
The Cast
DJ X-TRAVAGANCIA – Irene Rivera
DON ALBERTO REMEDIOS – Gilbert Cruz*
RICO MURIENTE – Marc Reign
RAY PEREÑA – Rudy Galvan *
SANTOS REMEDIOS – Mel Nieves *
NIDIA OTERO MURIENTE – Irene Rivera
DOÑA SASA – Wilemina Olivia-García *
FINA – Angelica Ubiera
JUAN ZORILLO/FISHERMAN – Carlo Albán*
Stage Directions – Janeena Piñero
*A member of Actors Equity Association
About the Artists
Edwin Rivera-Arias‘ first play, In the Palace of the Planet King, was produced in 2019 at the Wild Project in NYC as part of the Downtown Urban Arts Festival, where it won second prize for Audience Favorite. He was a Norman Mailer Fiction Fellow and a recipient of the Willapa Bay AiR residency.
This event was part of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance 2022 Stages Festival, made possible by support from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts; Bank of America; The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey; OceanFirst Foundation; New Jersey Historical Commission. www.njtheatrealliance.org/stages
The New Jersey Play Lab 