Red Wine in a Whiskey Glass by Matt Monaco
May 14 at 7:30pm | May 17 at 5:00pm
Lisa VillaMil (Dolores)
At Luna Stage: Hamlet (Abridged) - Gertrude/Horatio
Regional: The Comedy of Errors, All’s Well That Ends Well, Henry VI, Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors (The Old Globe); The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Henry VIII (USD through Old Globe); A Christmas Carol (Walnut Street Theatre); Pericles (Shakespeare in Clark Park); Julius Caesar (Media Theatre); Wait Until Dark, Macbeth, A Christmas Carol (Hedgerow Theatre Company); Measure for Measure (Commonwealth Classic Theatre Company). National tour: Peter in Peter Rabbit Tales (Enchantment Theatre Company). Education: The Old Globe and USD Shiley Graduate Theatre Program, MFA Acting Group 37; The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland MA Classical and Contemporary Text (Acting); Shakespeare’s Globe Higher Education Acting Residency in London.
Matt Monaco (Playwright / Milo)
At Luna Stage: RIFT - Inside Brother, A Case for the Existence of God - Ryan, & Sons - Director
Monaco’s theatre credits include Lorin in Gloria at American Conservatory Theatre, Murderer/Henry VI/Bishop of Ely in Richard III at The Public Theatre’s Shakespeare in the Park, Fred in Christmas Carol at McCarter Theatre, Bill in Lobby Hero at Florida Repertory Theatre, Young Scrooge in Christmas Carol at American Conservatory Theatre, Mike in Seared at Gloucester Stage Company, Lord Capulet in Romeo and Juliet at Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival, George in Stop Kiss at TheatreFIRST, and Roma in Glengarry Glen Ross and Altarena Playhouse. He holds a BA in Drama from San Francisco State University and an MFA in Acting from American Conservatory Theatre.
Drew Hirshfield (Clayton)
At Luna Stage: Hamlet (Abridged) - Francisco, Polonius, Rosencrantz, Mrs. Stern Wanders the Prussian State Library - Erich
Drew is lucky enough to have worked on plays by Bertolt Brecht, Francis Beaumont, Sandy Rustin, Arthur Miller, Kate Hamill, Robert Askins, Jordan Seavey, Lucas Knath, Anton Chekhov, Steve Martin, Peter Shaffer, Lanford Wilson, Sam Shepard, Oliver Goldsmith, Tom Stoppard, Neil Simon, Steven Sater, Shakespeare, Jenny Lyn-Bader, and many others, at theaters and rehearsal rooms large and small across the country. He's long served on the acting faculty at New York Film Academy. He earned an MFA from American Conservatory Theater.
Ari Laura Kreith (Director)
Ari Laura Kreith is the Artistic Director of Luna Stage, where her directing credits include MRS. STERN WANDERS THE PRUSSIAN STATE LIBRARY (World Premiere), HEARTLAND (NJ Star Ledger Top 10 Productions of 2019), PIRIRA, and the pandemic play-via-text-message #RIFT. She conceived and is currently developing the site-specific GROUND ON WHICH WE STAND, centering around the first home owned by a formerly enslaved person in Montclair; conceived and co-created the interdisciplinary VOTING WRITES PROJECT; and launched SECRET CITIES, commissioning history-based, community-inspired plays. Under her leadership, Luna launched a Teen Conservatory, received two National Endowment for the Arts grants, and was twice voted Favorite Small Theatre in New Jersey. Ari is also the founder of Theatre 167, where she conceived and directed THE JACKSON HEIGHTS TRILOGY — three full-length plays collaboratively written by eighteen playwrights featuring 37 actors in 93 roles in fourteen languages, inspired by the world's most diverse neighborhood. Other directing highlights: MOURNING SUN (Theatre 167/ Uganda), Tina Howe's SINGING BEACH (World Premiere), and commissions for Queens Museum and NY Transit Museum. A recipient of the League of Professional Theatre Women Lucille Lortel Visionary Award, Ari received her BA from Yale and her MFA from UC Davis. She grew up in 27 countries.
HOLD THESE TRUTHS
May 15 at 8:00pm | May 16 at 5:00pm | May 17 at 3:00pm
A Reading of the Solo Play
By Jeanne Sakata
Starring Joel de la Fuente
Based on the Off-Broadway 2012 Epic Theatre Ensemble Production
New York Production Team:
Director: Lisa Rothe
Scenic Designer: Mikiko Suzuki MacAdams
Costume Designer: Margaret E. Weedon
Lighting Designer: Cat Tate Starmer
Sound Designer/Music: Daniel Kluger
HOLD THESE TRUTHS was first produced in 2007 by East West Players in Los Angeles, California, under the tle of DAWN'S LIGHT: THE JOURNEY OF GORDON HIRABAYASHI. It was commissioned by in 2004 by Chay Yew, former Director of the Center Theater Group’s Asian Theatre Workshop.
PLAYWRIGHT'S NOTE:
This play is based on a true story, inspired by many hours of interviews I conducted with Gordon Hirabayashi and several of his friends from the 1940’s, by numerous letters written by Mr. Hirabayashi during his imprisonment, and by contemporary articles written by and about Mr. Hirabayashi. It is a work blending historical fact with fiction, and certain actual events have been compressed or altered in terms of chronology or content for drama c purposes. In Act II, Gordon’s letters are works of fiction inspired by his actual writings from the Ring Family papers in the University of Washington Special Collections, Accession Number #4241-001. Dramatic license has been taken with the actual historical texts.
In May 2012, Gordon Hirabayashi was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, by President Barack Obama.
Joel de la Fuente (Gordon Hirabayashi)
Joel de la Fuente has performed Hold These Truths in readings and productions across the country since 2012, work that earned him a Drama Desk nomination and a Theatre Bay Area Award for Best Actor in a Leading Performance. A veteran of stage and screen, Joel is best known for his portrayal of Chief Inspector Kido in the Amazon Prime award winning series, “The Man in the High Castle.” He also starred in Netflix's second original series, "Hemlock Grove" opposite Famke Jansen and Bill Skarsgård, and more recently with Norman Reedus in "The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon." On stage, Joel last appeared in the world premiere of Keiko Green's, "You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World." Joel is a longtime Maplewood resident, the proud father of daughters Elena and Tallulah, and the grateful husband of jewelry designer Melissa de la Fuente. More information can be found at joeldelafuente.com and on Instagram @joeldelafuente.
Jeanne Sakata (Director) Actor and playwright Jeanne Sakata most recently performed with the 2025-26 national tour and 2022 world premiere of Moisés Kaufman and Amanda Gronich’s Pulitzer Prize nominated Here There Are Blueberries at La Jolla Playhouse, the McCarter Theatre, Wallis Annenberg Center, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, and Seattle Repertory Theatre, as well as the 2023 revival of Anna Deavere Smith’s Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 at the Center Theatre Group’s Mark Taper Forum. She has also performed with the Vineyard Theatre, Public Theater, Lincoln Center Theater, Kennedy Center, Mark Taper Forum, Geffen Playhouse, South Coast Rep, American Conservatory Theater, Northlight Theatre, Intiman Theatre, A Contemporary Theatre, Portland Center Stage, and People’s Light. Onscreen, Jeanne has enjoyed guest star and recurring roles on ABCShondaland's Station 19, Magnum P.I., NCIS Hawai’i, NCIS Los Angeles, Marvel/Hulu’s Hit Monkey, Disney Plus' High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, and Disney's Big Hero 6.
Jeanne’s solo play Hold These Truths (Drama Desk Nomination, Outstanding Solo Performance; San Diego Critics’ Circle Award, Outstanding Solo Performance; Theatre Bay Area Awards, Outstanding Production, Direction, and Lead Performance); has been produced all over the country at such theaters as Barrington Stage Company, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Arena Stage, Lyric Stage Company, Pasadena Playhouse, Portland Center Stage, the Guthrie Theater, Perseverance Theatre, ACT Seattle, PlayMakers Repertory Company, Honolulu Theatre for Youth (co-produced with Daniel Dae Kim), and Epic Theatre Ensemble, originally premiering with Los Angeles’ East West Players. She has twice been commissioned by LA TheatreWorks for the audio plays For Us All and a new adaptation of The Secret Garden, and recently workshopped her new play, Springs, for Ford’s Theatre Legacy Commissions program.
Special honors: Theatre LA Ovation Award for Outstanding Lead Actress, Chay Yew’s Red, East West Players; 2019 Trailblazer Award for Outstanding Artistic Achievement, East West Players; 2016 Lee Melville Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Los Angeles Theatre Community, Playwrights’ Arena.
WEBSITES:
Scenes from Pyretown by John Belluso
May 21 at 7:30pm | May 23 at 5:00pm | May 24 at 3:00pm
Monica Ross (Louise) is an actor who recently appeared in Our Town with American Theater Group and is excited to be part of Luna Stage’s Playfest. She trained at LaGuardia High School and SUNY Purchase.
Byron Hagan (Harry) Byron is excited to be debuting at Luna Stage's PlayFest as Harry in Pyretown. MFA: Actors Studio Drama School. Brian (Grand Horizons), Chatham Players. Merrick (The Elephant Man), Rockaway Theatre, NYC. Officer Larkin (American Son), The Barn Theatre. Cultural Arts Committee Member (Hanover Township, NJ) AEA, SAG-E. See him, May 27th, in Vivid Stage's reading of HARM REDUCTION, dir. Betsy True. Love to Karen, Thomas, Teddy & Alice. www.byronhagan.com
Nathan Darrow (Director) has acted professionally for over twenty years in theater and on screen. Select credits include Richard II (Luna Stage), Summer and Smoke (CSC / Transport Group), (un)conditional (Soho Playhouse - Drama Desk Nomination), Richard III (Old Vic / World Tour / BAM), Jekyll & Hyde, The Winter’s Tale (Hartford Stage), Dial M for Murder (Old Globe), Guys and Dolls (Music Theater Heritage), A Number (People’s Light). Screen credits include House of Cards, Billions, Gotham, The Wizard of Lies, Preacher, Rectify, Godless.
The Unwitting Magician by Jeremy Dobrish
May 22 at 8:00pm | May 23 at 3:00pm | May 24 at 5:00pm
Jeremy Dobrish (Playwright) is a director, playwright, artistic leader, and creative director, whose focus has been developing and directing new plays and musicals. He has directed at Second Stage, MCC, Joe's Pub, The Promenade, The Variety Arts, The Century, Actor's Playhouse, etc. His productions have received several Lortel and Drama Desk nominations. Regionally, he has directed at The Old Globe, Barrington Stage, North Shore, The O'Neill, New York Stage and Film, Goodspeed and The Village Theatre. He is a 9-time published playwright who founded adobe theatre company in NYC as well as co-founded Midtown Direct Rep, in Maplewood, NJ. He is currently a Senior Creative Director at Proscenium where he writes and directs creative elements for some of the world's biggest brands.
Adrian Baidoo (May 22 at 8:00pm)
Last seen at Luna in Queen of the Night as Ty- 2024
Adrian is from Ghana, Africa by way of Pittsburgh, PA. Broadway: THE INHERITANCE. Off-Broadway: SEPARATE AND EQUAL (59E59); ROCCO, CHELSEA, ADRIANA...(HERE); PIRIRA (WEST END THEATER); ON STRIVER’S ROW (METROPOLITAN PLAYHOUSE). Broadway First National Tour: CINDERELLA. Regional: Pioneer Theatre Company, Bristol Riverside Theatre, REV Theatre Company, MUNY, Music Theatre Wichita, West Virginia Public Theatre. TV: “Royal Pains”. Film: "Your Labs Are Normal"; “Alien Hearts”. Awards : Audelco Nomination- Best Lead Actor in a Play. Numerous Commercials, Print, and Editorial. BFA University of Michigan and Moscow Art Theatre School Graduate. Thanks to Ari and the Luna crew! @AdrianBaidoo www.AdrianBaidoo.com
Lucas Pinner (May 23 at 3:00pm)
Last seen at Luna in Hamlet (Abridged) as Claudius/Ghost/Osric- 2026
Other credits include: Peter and the Starcatcher (The Growing Stage), Compelling Spencer (TheatreBrut at NJ Rep), Romeo & Juliet (LivLive!), Richard III (Oxford Shakespeare Company), Razia’s Shadow (Bullet Theatre Collaborative). At Luna: Queen of the Night (Director/Scenic Designer), Lonely Planet (Scenic Designer), and Rift at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (Production Stage Manager). Lucas has worked as a teaching artist with theatres including Luna Stage, Paper Mill Playhouse, George Street Playhouse, and Two River Theatre Company, teaching improv, stage combat, and devised theatre. He joined the Luna team in 2023 as Production Manager. BFA from Kean University. www.lucaspinner.com @luccam2342
Lisa VillaMil (May 24 at 5:00pm)
Last seen at Luna in Hamlet (Abridged) as Gertrude/Horatio- 2026
Regional: The Comedy of Errors, All’s Well That Ends Well, Henry VI, Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors (The Old Globe); The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Henry VIII (USD through Old Globe); A Christmas Carol (Walnut Street Theatre); Pericles (Shakespeare in Clark Park); Julius Caesar (Media Theatre); Wait Until Dark, Macbeth, A Christmas Carol (Hedgerow Theatre Company); Measure for Measure (Commonwealth Classic Theatre Company). National tour: Peter in Peter Rabbit Tales (Enchantment Theatre Company). Education: The Old Globe and USD Shiley Graduate Theatre Program, MFA Acting Group 37; The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland MA Classical and Contemporary Text (Acting); Shakespeare’s Globe Higher Education Acting Residency in London.
Jane Sayer - Art Exhibit
The work of artist and Luna resident graphic designer Jane Sayer is displayed in the lobby of Luna Stage. Please take a moment to look before or after the show!
