UNION, NJ — Premiere Stages at Kean University will present the New Jersey premiere of Gino Diiorio’s “Scab” from Thursday, Sept. 8, through Sunday, Sept. 25, in the university’s Bauer Boucher Theatre Center, Vaughn-Eames Hall, 1000 Morris Ave., Union. Selected as a finalist from the 2020-21 Premiere Play Festival, “Scab” will feature actors John Anthony Torres and Monica Wyche. John J. Wooten, producing artistic director of Premiere Stages, directs.
In “Scab,” Gilda, a middle-aged woman, has to train Eduardo, a young Mexican man, how to be a shop foreman when her factory plant moves to Mexico. Over the course of a week, they discover that their assumptions regarding personal expectations and cultural differences are not always correct.
Diiorio’s plays have been produced at theaters across the United States, including New Jersey Repertory Co., Shadowland Stages, Playhouse on the Square, Luna Stage, ArcLight Theatre, Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater, the Washington Stage Guild, the Custom Made Theatre Co., Urban Stages, Seven Angels Theatre, Penguin Rep Theatre, the Garter Lane Arts Centre and the Virginia Stage Co. His plays “The Jag,” “Centennial Casting,” “Apostasy” and “Dead Ringer” are published by Concord Theatricals. His play “Sam and Dede, or My Dinner With Andre the Giant” was produced off-Broadway at 59E59 in March 2017 and is published by Dramatists Play Service. Diiorio is a member of the Actors Studio Playwright/Directors Unit and of the Dramatists Guild.
“Gino’s fine play could not be more topical,” stated Wooten. “America has not been this polarized since the 1860s, and ‘Scab’ provides a poignant and moving reminder that we actually have more in common than pundits would have us believe.”
Wooten has been nominated as best director multiple times by the Star-Ledger and has staged numerous productions that have been honored by the American Theatre Critics Association. As a playwright, Wooten’s work has been produced commercially in New York, internationally and in regional theaters across America. He was awarded his second fellowship by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts in 2021.
Torres’ theater credits include “A Few Good Men” at Bristol Riverside Theatre and “I Carry Your Heart” at 59E59, and Wyche’s television credits include Apple TV’s “Five Days at Memorial,” released on Aug. 12; “For Life”; and “FBI: Most Wanted.” Kean University Theatre Conservatory alumnus José Fernando González-Vidal is the understudy for the role of Eduardo.
Performances take place Thursdays and Fridays at 8:00 pm, Saturdays at 3:00 pm and 8:00 pm, and Sundays at 3:00 pm. Tickets are charged. To reserve tickets, call the box office at 908-737-7469 or visit premierestagesatkean.com.
Assistive listening devices and sign interpretation are available upon request; call 908-737-4077 at least two weeks prior to the desired performance.
Photos Courtesy of Christina Hoffman