SUMMIT, NJ — Vivid Stage, in residence at Oakes Center at 120 Morris Ave., Summit, will present its annual Meet the Artist new play reading series on Wednesdays, May 17, 24 and 31. All readings will take place at the Summit Public Library, 75 Maple St., at 7 p.m. 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; Bank of America; The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey; OceanFirst Foundation; NJM Insurance Group; Customers Bank; and Fund for the New Jersey Blind.
The new play reading series is a chance for the audience to participate in the development of new works, both to hear the plays read by professional actors and also to discuss the projects with the playwright, director and actors afterward. There will be an opportunity for the audience to provide feedback to the team after every performance.
On May 17, Vivid will present “Idée Fixe,” by Joe Sutton. A young, ambitious doctor latches onto the notion that vaccinations cause more harm than good as his ticket to medical notoriety. A chorus of five actors play all the people he encounters as he dives deeper and deeper into the world of twisted proof and tainted evidence. How will the scientific world treat his quest for fame? And more importantly, will ordinary people looking for an answer for their children’s afflictions embrace or reject his flawed science?
Sutton’s work includes “As It Is In Heaven,” New York Theatre Workshop, and “Voir Dire,” Seattle Rep, nominated for both the Pulitzer Prize and the Best Play Award of the American Theatre Critics Association, and produced by dozens of theaters across the country. Sutton’s many other works have been performed across the U.S. at such theaters as Trinity Rep, the Old Globe, Arena Stage, Primary Stages and the Cleveland Playhouse. His plays have also been produced internationally at such theaters as the National Theatre of Turkey, the Vaganten Buhne in Berlin and Maggio Musicale in Florence. His play “Twirl” was produced at Vivid Stage in spring 2022. For many years, Sutton taught playwriting at Dartmouth College. He now lives in West Orange with his wife, Anne Travers.
On May 24, Vivid will present “The Festial Quartet,” by David Lee White. Four high school seniors who make up a chorus struggle with the recent death of one of their friends, as they approach their own graduation and life choices in the world beyond. Against the backdrop of a Christian education, the students grapple with their own desires and the sometimes cloudy difference between right and wrong. When the adults in their orbit are also dealing with loss and moral quandaries, they turn to each other for support and clarity.
White is a playwright/performer/educator based in New Jersey. His work with Kate Brennan on The Infinity Trilogy, a series of YA musicals, was the recipient of a MAP Fund award and the first musical in the trilogy, “ALiEN8,” is now available through YouthPLAYS. White was also in the inaugural group of playwrights to receive commissions from the New Jersey Performing Arts Centers’ Stage Exchange Program. The result was “Fixed” – a play about navigating the mental healthcare system. His mental health awareness work continued with “Panther Hollow,” his solo show about his battle with clinical depression in his youth. White continues his comedic work at Vivid Stage as a member of their comedy troupe “The Flip Side.” Vivid Stage also recently produced an audio production of his play “Ways to Happy.” White also teaches advanced improvisation, theater history and dramatic analysis at Drexel University, where he co-created the web-series “Essential,” with director Bill Fennelly. Spring 2023 will mark the premiere of “Clean Slate,” his second musical with Kate Brennan, as a co-production of Passage Theatre and Rider University. The fall of 2023 will see the premiere of the musical “The Angry Grammarian” with Jeffrey Barg at Raw Street Theatre.
On May 31, Vivid presents Brianna Barrett’s “Acts of Creation.” Thea and Reed have been married for 25 years, but now Thea is convinced that she’s dying. Her legacy will be to write a play using technology that randomizes language, and she trusts her wife and two daughters to make sure it sees the light of day. With wit and humor, the play poses the question of whether art can be artificially created, and tells the story of a family mourning the loss of an actual person who has attempted to digitize her memory.
Barrett is a writer and performer fascinated with identity crises, double lives, mortality, grief and the forgotten history of stuff that happened surprisingly-not-that-long-ago. Recipient of the Kennedy Center’s Mark Twain Prize in Comic Playwriting and twice-voted Portland’s Best Storyteller in Willamette Week, her short plays are published by Samuel French/Concord Theatricals and Applause Books. She has a master’s degree in fine arts in playwriting from UCLA.
All readings will be at the Summit Public Library, 75 Maple St., at 7 p.m. Admission is $10. For touchless advance ticket purchases, visit [email protected]. For more information, call 908-514-9654. The library is wheelchair accessible. For information on any of Vivid Stage’s programs, call 908-514-9654.