Lunastage - History

production history

2006 - 2007 season

The Kreutzer Sonata
Adapted by Margaret & Larry Pine
Directed by Margaret Pine
This haunting adaptation of the Leo Tolstoy novella concerns a man consumed with obsession and jealousy who reveals his deadly secret, leading the audience on an extraordinary journey and offering a penetrating look into the mind of a man caught in a hellish marriage kept alive only by ravenous sexual appetites. In a unique theatrical twist Mr. Pine is joined on stage by a pianist and violinist who perform part of Beethoven’s masterful Kreutzer Sonata.

Nocturne (Stage 2)
By Adam Rapp
Directed by Juan Carlos Souki
A heart-wrenching drama in which a man, having accidentally killed his sister fifteen years before, struggles with reconciliation and redemption in a haunting exploration of personal loss and its consequences.

Honor and The River
By Anton Dudley
Directed by Nancy Robillard
This witty, biting tale, set against the romantic backdrop of a New England river, deals with a teenage boy who confronts his fear of water, the ghost of his drowned father, and an enticing, yet demanding friendship as he gears up for the spring rowing season at his boarding school.

Little Beasts
By Jeanne Marshall
Directed by Jane Mandel
Set in the 1920’s, painter Romaine Brooks, known for her hauntingly honest portrayals of her subjects, struggles with the painful demons from her past. These bits of madness threaten to destroy her long relationship with legendary salon hostess Natalie Clifford Barney and she is forced to choose between the comfort of her little beasts and reality.

2005-2006

September 29 - October 23
Robeson in Space by Guillermo E. Brown & Tim Raphael
Directed by Tim Raphael
World Premiere
An exploration of Robeson’s life through the prism of his career as an artist and activist, and the cold war ideology that contributed to his tragic decline.

November 17–December 11
The Normals by Chris Widney
Directed by Jane Mandel
World Premiere
A couple of theatrical true believers have tried to live a normal life in the suburbs. But, when their only son announces he wants to be an accountant, they pull out all the stops to keep him in "the biz".

January 12-February 5
The First Annual Directors Lab at Luna Stage
Joseph E. Galione directed a workshop production of The Pugilist Specialist by Adriano Shaplin
Shannon MacMillan directed a staged reading of The Parent’s Evening by Bathsheba Doran
Kitt Lavoie directed a workshop production of Creative Writing, a new play by J. Holtham
Juan Carlos Souki directed a staged reading of Nocturne by Adam Rapp

February 16–March 12
The Confessions of Stepin Fetchit by Matt Robinson
Directed by Bill Lathan
Intellect, anger, and contempt were the true substance driving the Hollywood clown known as Stepin Fetchit. A one-man tour de force that reveals the true life struggle of this African-American legend.

April 27-May 21
The Whipping Man by Matthew Lopez
Directed by Linnet Taylor
World Premiere
It is April 1865, Passover, and American slaves have been set free throughout the South. A Jewish Confederate soldier returns from the war to find that his home is in ruins and that his family has disappeared. Only two former slaves remain. As each man contemplates an uncertain future, they are forced to face the truth about their past, and the complexity of freedom.

2004-2005

October 7-October 31
Under Glass by Kristine Thatcher
Directed by James Glossman
A candid look at the emotionally fraught world of infertility.

November 18-December 12
Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen, Translated by Arthur Kopit
Directed by Jane Mandel
Ibsen’s rarely produced masterpiece about the sins of the father, betrayal and hypocrisy.

March 17-April 10
A Beautiful Home for the Incurable by Ian Walker
Directed by Paul Whelihan
World Premiere
An agoraphobic has his identity stolen. His friends, a narcoleptic, and apraxic and a global amnesiac try to solve the caper.

April 28-May 22
Topdog/Underdog by Suzan-Lori Parks
Directed by Eric Ruffin
The Pulitzer-prize winning drama about Lincoln and Booth, two brothers trying to make their way in urban America.

2003-2004

November 13-December 21
Dragons, book and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick
Directed by James Glossman
World Premiere
A classic good versus evil fairy tale set in a mid-evil town ruled by a dragon.

January 29-February 22
The Other Side of Newark by Enid Rudd
Directed by Jane Mandel
A white teacher in the 1930s Newark School system sets out to improve the life of one of her black students.

March 18-April 11
The Fastest Woman Alive by Karen Sunde
Directed by Cheryl Katz
World Premiere
The true story of Jackie Cochran—the first woman to break the sound barrier.

April 29-May 23
Immoral Imperatives by Jeffrey Sweet
Directed by James Glossman
East Coast Premiere
A friend is always looking for ways to help out. But, when a married couple makes an unusual request, perhaps even friendships has its limits.

2002-2003

October 3-October 27
Friends & Relations by Arnold Rabin
Directed by Jane Mandel
World Premiere
A double bill of plays exploring conventions of society and family.

November 14-December 8
Voice of Good Hope by Kristine Thatcher
Directed by Brian Schnipper
East Coast Premiere
This play depicts the complex personal and political life of the late Texas congresswoman Barbara Jordan.

January 30-February 23
Behind the Scenes at the Museum based on the novel by Kate Atkinson
Adapted and directed by James Glossman
World Premiere
The self-told story of Ruby Lenox, begun before her mid-century birth,
and racing toward her millennial present.

March 13-April 6
The Nightwatchman & Six Hands, by Eric H. Weinberger
Directed by John Stringer
World Premiere
Two one-acts. In the first, we enter the inner world of a museum security guard. In the second, we meet three- women, linked by a plot that spans half a century and the music that lends meaning to each woman’s life.

April 24-May 18
Between the Lines
Book & lyrics by Bryan D. Leys, music by James Campodonico
Directed by Charles Abbott
World Premiere
An original musical which follows the lives and careers of an actor and
an actress.

June 5-June 29
Sand Pilot by Ron McLarty
Directed by Victoria Pero
World Premiere
A story of a man who finds himself at a significant site from his grandmother’s past. He seeks clues to his mysterious family history.

2001-2002

Luna Stage relocated from our original Oak Place venue to our current three-theatre space on Bloomfield Avenue. We spent the 2001-2002 season renovating.

2000-2001

October 21-November 12
Rapture by Jeanne Marshall
Directed by Jane Mandel
World Premiere
Set in 17th century Bologna and based on the life of Lucrezia Vizzana, the nun who broke tradition by having her musical compositions published.

November 22-December 12
Tom Waits, Me and… Dogs
Written and performed by Barbara Baker
Directed by Jane Mandel
World Premiere
This one-woman tour de force uses Tom Waits music as a springboard for an examination of present day mid-life.

February 1-February 25
My Children! My Africa! by Athol Fugard
Directed by Eric Ruffin
Fugard’s 1988 work about a white teenaged girl who wins a school debate about feminism against a black teenaged boy.

March 10-March 25
The Collection by Harold Pinter
Directed by James Glossman
Pinter’s menacing comedy about power and truth.

April 26-May 20
Last Lists of My Mad Mother by Julie Jensen
Directed by Olympia Dukakis
New Jersey Premiere
A story about the toll Alzheimer’s disease takes on the parent-child relationship.

1999-2000

September 30-October 24
Class Mothers ’68 by Eric H. Weinberger
Directed by Chris Brady
World Premiere
This new play relates the triumphs and travails of six mothers-all played by one actress- who are asked to present a parent production of the occasion of their children’s high school graduation.

November 18-December 12
True West by Sam Shepard
Directed by James Glossman
Shepard’s tale of sibling rivalry, show business and messy kitchens.

January 27-February 20
Queen of Thebes by Arnold Rabin
Directed by Jane Mandel
World Premiere
An imaginative interpretation of the Oedipus legend, focusing on Queen Jocasta.

March 3-26
Women’s Work: A Festival of Theatre Focusing on Women
***Tom Waits, Me and Dogs
Written, conceived and performed by Barbara Baker
Directed by Jane Mandel
***Like Bees to Honey by Andrea Green
Directed by Teresa Choate
***The Romeo and Juliet Outreach Project: The Voice of Jali
Adapted and Directed by Josette Murray-Ballo
***The Medea Project, translated by Eleanor Wilner and Ines Azar
Directed by Vincent Dopulos

April 27-May 21
Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris
Directed by Steven Bloom
Reconceived as a dynamic musical for the new millennium, the music and lyrics of Jacques Brel beg us to rise above the violence of the 20th century and enter the 21st century with renewed spirit to live in peace

1998-1999

October 29-November 22
The Flame Keeper by Amos Kamil
Directed by Charles Goforth
World Premiere
Set in Berlin following WWII, the play explores assimilation and prejudice through a confrontation between a Jewish professor and a cigar store owner.

January 28-February 21
Travesties by Tom Stoppard
Directed by James Glossman
A romp through the last century with a little bit of Joyce, a dash of Lenin and a helping of Wilde.

March 5-28
Woman’s Work: A festival of Original New Works by Women
***Class Mothers ’68 by Eric Weinberger
Directed by Chris Brady
***Hello and Godbye by Athol Fugard
Directed by Yael Farber
***2012: A Masque for the Millennium
Book and Lyrics by Lora Cooper, Music by Diane Moser
Directed by Karin O’Connell

April 22-May 16
Burying Fiona by Jeanne Marshall
Directed by Jane Mandel
World Premiere
A wicked comedy about life, death, family secrets and tequila.

1997-1998

October 16-November 9
Waiting For Godot by Samuel Beckett
Directed by James Glossman
The hilarious and terrifying classic of 20th century theatre.

January 29-February 22
The Foreigner by Larry Shue
Directed by Richard Currie
The odd assortment of guests at Betty Meek’s rural fishing lodge find themselves up against terrifying odds. They discover surprising and entertaining ways to overcome.

March 6-29
Women’s Work: A festival of Original Work by Women
***Marvelous Party: An Evening with Beatrice Lillie
Created and performed by Susan Borofsky
***In a Person is a City
Written and Performed by Amy Guggenheim
Directed by Cheryl Katz
***Motherhood and Other Desperate Acts
Created and Performed by Deborah Maclean

April 23-May 17
Fancies by Crispen Larangerira
Directed by Moira Wylie
World Premeire
An African-American anthropologist engaged in a long term study of the Kau Nuba in the Sudan is spiritually devastated by the carnage as the Kau are “ethnically cleansed”. In New York, his Caucasian wife struggles to hold their marriage together.

1996-1997

October 31-November 24
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Directed by James Glossman
Shakespeare’s classis play of murder and its consequences.

January 16-February 9
The Homage That Follows by Mark Medoff
Directed by Laurie Wessely
A drama about a TV star returning home to the southwestern ranch of her widowed mother, and the men, both past and present that inhabit these women’s lives. From the author of Children of a Lesser God and When You Comin’ Back Red Ryder.

March 6-30
Rosa Loses Her Face by Kitty Chen
Directed by Jane Mandel
A new play about generational and cultural conflicts between a Chinese woman living in LA and her assimilated daughter.

April 24-May 18
Berlin to Broadway, A Musical Voyage
Directed by Laurie Wessley
A journey through the remarkable career of Kurt Weill, one of the great pioneers of modern musical theatre.

1995-1996

November 2-26
The Man in Room 306 by Craig Alan Edwards
Directed by Cheryl Katz
The Man in Room 306 finds Martin Luther King, Jr. in the Lorraine Motel the night of his last and most prophetic speech, and the day before his assassination. This one-man show about the human struggle of leadership celebrates the final challenge and victory of the extraordinary man named Dr. King.

February 1-25
An Invitation to the Blues by Jacquetta McMurray and Zelda Patterson
Directed by Beatrice Winde
The life stories of three talented women, Memphis, Mac Jack and Hildy, intersect on the Old Chittlin’ Circuit in An Invitation to the Blues. A rebellious daughter, a bitter and lonely piano player, and a woman running from the murder of an unfaithful lover find themselves as a family, sharing their present and shunning their past.

April 11-May 5
Kick the Can by Jim Lehrer
Adapted and directed by James Glossman
World Premiere
Having lost an eye watching a game of kick-the-can, Mack, a modern Huckleberry Finn, runs away from his Kansas home in 1951 to become…a pirate. (No small feat in the land-locked Midwest traversed by busses rather than boats.) A wry, rollicking coming-of-age story that celebrates the open road and American innocence lost and found.

May 9-June9
“we don’t have enough sugar for the public”
Created and directed by Jane Mandel
World Premiere
Woven from the personal stories of community residents and from material generated by the company of artists, this unique project is a theatrical exploration of racism and how it affects our daily lives.

1994

Reckless by Craig Lucas
Directed by Jane Mandel
Rachel starts her journey as the intended victim of a hit man. Along the way she wins the lottery, and ends up a therapist pondering whether the modern world might not be a vast conspiracy designed to systematically undermine her own increasingly shaky sanity.

1993

In the Name of the Woman
Created and directed by Jane Mandel
A transformational fast forward through women’s history beginning in the matriarchal time of the goddess, with scenes along the way based on art, politics, poetry, newspaper articles and personal stories, and ending in the present.