The Actors: (Top Row) Nicole Callender, Clark Carmichael, Harry Patrick Christian, Noreen Farley; (Middle Row) Scott McGowan, Becca Landis McLarty, Daria M. Sullivan, Harriett Trangucci; (Bottom Row) Ciara Chanel, Benjamin Cruz
Vivid Stage is presenting An Evening of Short Plays across two weekends (April 3-13, 2025) where the plays are not just new short plays they are all plays written in the last three months. The idea is to capture the pulse of the moment through the eyes of seven gifted playwrights.
Works include includes Business as Usual, by Daria M. Sullivan, which takes a comedic look at how one workplace tries to soldier on in the face of increasingly dire natural disasters. Bless Me, Father, by Steve Harper, deals with the tension that develops in a marriage when a couple is divided by their vote. Richard Dresser’s play, Parents’ Night, is a dark comedy about a parent-teacher conference that goes alarmingly wrong. Pandora Scooter’s play, Reba’s Tea Party, is “an absurdist romp through the zeitgeist” that depicts a dream shared by two little girls of different political persuasions.
David Lee White’s play, Call Center, takes a hilarious look at a senior citizen who is done with being targeted by telemarketers. Suzanne Bradbeer’s new play, as yet untitled, explores how relationships between neighbors (and a dog!) can be challenged, or even strengthened, by politics. And Angel J. Rivas’ play Forever Machine, gives a chilling look into the future of how technology may be poised to gobble up the humans in its thrall.
Directed by Laura Ekstrand (Livingston), the cast includes Vivid Stage ensemble members Nicole Callender (West Orange), Clark Carmichael (Hewitt), Harry Patrick Christian (Montclair), Noreen Farley (Clinton), Becca Landis McLarty (Montclair), Scott McGowan (Maplewood), Daria M. Sullivan (Lyndhurst), and Harriett Trangucci (Summit). It also features guests Ciara Chanel (East Orange) and Benjamin Cruz (Dover).
Performances take place from April 3-13 at the Oakes Center (120 Morris Avenue) in Summit, New Jersey with shows Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at 8:00pm, and Sundays at 2:00pm. Tickets are available for purchase online.
New Jersey Stage was intrigued by the concept and reached out to Vivid Stage's Artistic Director, Laura Ekstrand, to learn more.
I love the concept for In The Mix. Was the idea always centered around plays written within the previous three months?
Yes! Backing up a bit, in the past we did two collections of short plays based on current events, one as a reading and one as a full production. They were both called "Continuing the Conversation," with the goal of giving our audience the opportunity to process what was going on in our world through the lens of theatre.
Last spring, as we considered what we wanted to include in our anniversary season, we realized that the upcoming presidential election would make it hard to predict what our audience might need from us a year in the future. So we put "In the Mix" on the schedule, knowing that to be truly responsive to world events, we would have to wait until after November 5 to solicit plays from playwrights. Consequently, I didn't contact any playwrights, or publicly solicit plays, until after the election had taken place.
Did Vivid Stage put out a call for submissions or are the plays from people involved with the company or playwrights you know? Were there many more plays to choose from? If so, any plans to do a similar night at a later time?
We did both. We publicly requested play submissions for this project on our website, and I also reached out to playwrights with whom we have a history or relationship. I started with the original playwrights that contributed to "Continuing the Conversation," and almost all of them jumped back in: Suzanne Bradbeer, Richard Dresser, Steve Harper, and David Lee White. A few others, Angel J. Rivas, Pandora Scooter and Daria M. Sullivan, are people who we know through other projects that we wanted to hear from.
I actually expected to be deluged with short plays, but we only received about 50 submissions. Typically we received over 300 full-length plays per season. I'm sure that asking people to process drastic change very quickly is a tall order. We do love the format of being able to respond to the world in real time, and also through the voices of several playwrights, so this construct may show up again on our stage!
The Playwrights: (Top Row) Suzanne Bradbeer, Richard Dresser, Steve Harper, Angel J. Rivas (Bottom Row) Pandora Scooter, Daria M. Sullivan, David Lee White
Were these works started at a particular time or all recently completed?
All of them were written after my request on November 15, 2024. Almost all of them went through one or two revisions over the last few months, so we're going into rehearsal with some very fresh ideas!
Does presenting a night of World Premiere work bring about a special kind of energy for the company?
I believe it does. We love premiering new works, especially because of the interplay with the playwright. It feels like discovery is a big part of the pleasure of producing new works, for the entire team from the playwrights to the director, from the cast to the designers. You get to be the first people who bring the piece to life, and that's a real delight.
Vivid presents new play readings each year and often has a World Premiere or NJ premiere on the season schedule. Have you noticed any difference in the audience demographics for new works as opposed to a show that has been done several times before? Do new works bring out younger theatergoers?
We are so grateful to audience members who come out for plays they know almost nothing about! We realized long ago that we needed to develop trust with the audience, so that their attendance is based on knowledge of and faith in our aesthetic choices, rather than on familiar titles. I do think that the common characteristic of audiences who enjoy new works is curiosity, no matter what their age.
We've found that the real indicator of the age of the audience is the age of the actors and the type of stories we tell. I think everyone wants to see themselves represented onstage, and that goes for all characteristics. There are also certain themes that attract audiences specific to their phase of life, so I believe that being interested in new work is part of the equation, but there are many other factors as well. And our job is always to be asking these kinds of questions.
Finally, Vivid's 30th season has been a pretty unique one, largely centered around the episodes in the Gemstones series. How has that series been received? Is that a format you'd be interested in doing again? Or was this likely a special situation for the anniversary?
Gemstones has been a thrilling experiment! The actors love doing it - it's a real rush to create something from scratch every month. And we get a little bit better at it each time. It's melodramatic, goofy and a bit wild. The audiences who have been coming love it, and some have not missed an episode. But attendance has been lower than what we had hoped; it's either the unfamiliarity of the format, or it's the fear that seeing a single episode won't make any sense. But we do design it with a recap at the top of every episode so that each can be seen and enjoyed on its own.
I'm currently contemplating whether we should feature something similar next season, perhaps as a pop-up in different locations around town (Summit Diner? The Library?) so that you could come to a single event and get the whole experience. The great thing about the longform improv format is that it can be anywhere, about anything. So I'd love to see it have legs, if we can crack the code on getting people in!
Laura Ekstrand is co-founder and artistic director of Vivid Stage, which began as Dreamcatcher Rep in 1994. She is an actor, director, playwright and teacher who has appeared on stages and screens for over 30 years. Laura is also a member of The Flip Side improv comedy team. She has worked at many other New Jersey Theatres including the Bickford Theatre, Centenary Stage, Luna Stage, Passage Theater, Pushcart Players, The Theater Project and 12 Miles West. In New York, Laura has appeared at Naked Angels, Ensemble Studio Theatre, and New Georges. Laura has worked as an actor in film and television, and is the host of Vivid Stage’s podcast. Her short and full-length plays have been produced at theatres around the country and online. Laura is a private monologue coach and holds a BA from Yale University and an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College. Laura is the Chair of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance Board of Trustees and a member of AEA, SAG-AFTRA and the Dramatists Guild. She is also a certified yoga instructor and enjoys a good hike.
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