(WEST ORANGE, NJ) -- For the first time ever, Luna Stage presents two plays simultaneously on its two stages, re-opening Trich in Luna 2 on March 8, while the NY Drama Critics' Circle award-winner for Best Play, A Case for the Existence of God plays through March 16, 2025 on the MainStage. Tickets for both productions are available now.
“Over the past two years, we have expanded the capacity and technology of Luna 2 to allow for fully-realized productions,” says Luna’s Artistic Director Ari Laura Kreith. “It’s exciting to allow plays to exist in conversation with one another, and to expand Luna’s capacity as a performing arts center.”
A Case for the Existence of God is written by Samuel D. Hunter (The Whale), and opened last week on Luna’s MainStage to effusive audience response. “With a mix of humor, empathy, and raw honesty, A Case for the Existence of God explores the fragility of modern life and the relationships that shape us,” wrote one viewer.
“Still buzzing from the thrill… It was a perfect night of theater and my first time at Luna Stage…I loved everything about the production!” wrote another, while a third praised the “Terrific acting and expertly fluid direction. I can't remember ever watching a tale of human kindness unfold so gently and humbly.”
Meanwhile, Luna is thrilled to welcome the return of Becca Schneider’s award-winning solo show Trich, which was named one of the top fifteen New Jersey theatre productions of 2023 by NJArts after its initial sold-out run in Luna 2.
Described as a “super fun show about mental health, isolation, and forging a path toward recovery through humor, vulnerability, and far too many 90s references,” critics have praised the play as a “tour de force performance” (Out In Jersey) and “so riveting that the audience seemed to be holding its collective breath” (NJ Arts Maven).
“We’re so excited that Luna invited us back,” said playwright/performer Schneider. “It’s a luxury to have the opportunity to return and build upon the foundation we’ve already created together.”
“We are so grateful to be able to tell these stories in tandem,” said Kreith, “not only because they are independently powerful, but because they intersect and complement each other so beautifully.”
“A Case for the Existence of God is a heartrending yet hopeful play about two men’s parallel desires to build a secure foundation for their daughters,” Kreith continued, “while Trich tells a story of struggle and recovery from a daughter’s perspective. At Luna, we often say our theatre is a space that inspires empathy and conversation, and the conversation between these two plays adds a new level of resonance.”
While the two shows overlap, they do not perform simultaneously. A Case for the Existence of God performances are Thursdays at 7:30pm, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm and Sundays at 3:00pm through March 16. A special weekday matinee will be offered on Thursday, March 13. Run time is approximately 90 minutes.
Trich performs Saturdays at 2:00pm, and Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays at 7:00pm through March 25. Run time is approximately 75 minutes. Many of the performances feature talkbacks with mental health professionals. A full calendar of these special events can be found on the Luna Stage website.
To support equity and access, all Luna Stage productions are pay-what-you-choose. Tickets range from $10-$60 and are available at www.lunastage.org
Special group rates and student matinee performances are available upon request.
Luna Stage develops and produces vibrant plays about local and global experiences, and brings communities together for artistic events that spark conversations, create understanding, and inspire change. Founded in Montclair NJ in 1993, Luna Stage moved to West Orange in 2010 to become an arts anchor of the underserved Valley neighborhood. As producer, innovator, and educator, Luna is dedicated to eliminating barriers to participation, and nurturing the next generation of audiences and artists.
Luna received the Jersey Arts People’s Choice Award for Favorite Small Theatre in New Jersey, the 2024 Giles R. Wright Designation for Excellence in African American History, and has contributed to the development of over 100 new works for the stage. The theatre’s 2024 production of Lonely Planet was named to two year-end Best New Jersey Production lists, while Mrs. Stern Wanders the Prussian State Library appeared on two lists of the 2024 Best Plays in New York.
Luna World Premieres include Tony winner Matthew Lopez’s breakout play The Whipping Man, which became one of the most widely-produced plays in the United States, three World Premieres by Obie-winner Nikkole Salter, and Jenny Lyn Bader’s Mrs. Stern Wanders the Prussian State Library, which last month completed two extended runs Off-Broadway.
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