AREA — Vivid Stage, in residence at Oakes Center at 120 Morris Avenue in Summit, presents Summer Solos readings everyweekfromJuly1through24at 6:30 pm at the VisualArts Center of NJ at 68 Elm Street in Summit.
Performances in the series will take place on the lawn of the Arts Center. Patrons are invited to bring chairs or blankets and a picnic dinner.
The rain and extreme heat location for all performances is the Oakes Center at 120 Morris Avenue, Summit, NJ.
On Monday, July 1, at 6:30 pm, Scott McGowan, Emaline Williams and Angela Della Ventura will perform Three Viewings by Jeffrey Hatcher. A funeral parlor in a small Midwestern town is the setting for these three darkly funny and touchingshortplays.In TellTale, weenter the private thoughts of a respectable married mortician, lost in passion for a beautiful real estate broker who markets to the bereaved.In ThiefofTears, wemeetMac, the attractive daughter of an upper-class WASP family who frequents the Viper Room and steals jewelry from corpses. And in Thirteen Things about Ed Carpolotti, a newly widowed suburban matron finds her world crashing around her only to be rescued by love from beyond the grave.
The following Wednesday, July 10, at 6:30 pm, Becca Landis McLarty will perform David Cale’s play, Sandra. A one-womanmystery-thriller,thesoloplay Sandra isthestoryofacharismaticBrooklyn café owner who travels to Mexico to solve the disappearance of her closest friend. As she stumbles into a highlycharged eroticaffair,shealsofindsherself in dangerous territory; a journey which ultimately leads to a complete transformation of her life. Sandra is part thriller, part love story, part journey of self-discovery, as this captivating woman ventures out of the safety of her life into the unknown.
On Wednesday, July 17, at 6:30 pm, Laura Ekstrand will perform What I Thought I Knew by Alice Eve Cohen. Everything44-year-oldAlicethoughtshe knew is turned upside-down when an emergency CAT scan reveals that she’s six months pregnant. A dark comedy performed by one actress playing forty roles, Alice faces the most wrenching decision a woman can make, in her odyssey through doubt, a broken health-care system, the complexities of reproductive rights, and the infinite unpredictability of parenthood.An O’Neill finalist and Jane Chambers Award Honorable Mention, What I Thought I Knew is adapted from Cohen’s acclaimed memoir—winner of Oprahmagazine’s25BestBooksofSummer and Elle Literary Grand Prize for Nonfiction.
On Wednesday, July 24, at 6:30 pm, DariaM.Sullivanwillperform IF***ing Hate Shakespeare by Gina Femia. Gina Femia is a playwright. William Shakespeare is a playwright, too – maybe you’veheardofhim?Throughthelensof different Shakespeare plays, and juxtaposing himwiththeabusiverelationships that defined her coming of age, Gina discusses how her experience with the Bard has shaped her origin story as a playwright.
Tickets for all Summer Solos are $23 and can be purchased in advance at vividstage.org/2024-summer-solos. The Visual Arts Center of NJ is located at 68 Elm Street in Summit, and free parking is available.ForinformationonanyofVivid Stage’s programs, please visit vividstage.org or contact Vivid Stage at Oakes Center, 120 MorrisAvenue, Summit, NJ 07901, (908) 514-9654.
