Dreamcatcher Announces 2018-2019 Season

Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre, in residence at Oakes Center at 120 Morris Avenue in Summit, is announcing its 2018-2019 season. This professional company will bring three productions, including two New Jersey premieres and one world premiere, to the stage in addition to improvisational comedy, a cabaret, new play readings, a holiday variety show and many programs for seniors and students. As always, the Dreamcatcher Resident Acting Company and their guests will tell stories that reflect our shared experience of being human with heart and humor.

Dreamcatcher's fall mainstage production is the New Jersey Premiere of Dead and Buried. In this dark comedy set in a small New England town at Halloween, 18-year-old Perdue finds a job in a place most people wouldn't even consider: the local graveyard. Bid, the taciturn former Marine who runs the cemetery, hires Perdue because she unexpectedly touches Bid's heart. Bid's young assistant Robbie has gleaned most of his knowledge of manhood from the pages of Maxim. By play's end, each of their searches for what they've lost ends when they find one another instead. Dead and Buried will open on September 27 and will play until October 14.

The second mainstage production of the season, opening in February, is the World Premiere of Psychodrama by Phoebe Farber. Welcome to the weekly divorce group, held in the basement of the Unitarian church. The members are suddenly left stranded when Mitchell, their leader, leaves halfway through. Luckily, Barb has agreed to be The New Group leader. Her unorthodox methods throw them all for a loop, but they eventually find that being off balance might just be the way to break through to a new understanding of their relationships. Psychodrama runs February 14 through March 3.

Dreamcatcher's final mainstage production of the season will be the New Jersey Premiere of String Around My Finger by Brenda Withers. A young couple struggles to find their footing in the aftermath of a miscarriage. While Emma is still in the hospital, she and Kip try, with the help or interference of his sister, a physician's assistant and an insightful older patient, to piece together what their relationship has been and what it still might become. A quiet comedy about big choices, small kindnesses, and getting a grip on letting go. String Around My Finger runs from April 25 through May 12.

The improv comedy group Multiple Personality Disorder will bring its own brand of silliness and spontaneity to life for two evenings during the season. The first MPD show will be on Saturday, October 27, 2018 and the second will be Saturday, March 23, 2019.

From Friday, November 9 through Sunday, November 11, Dreamcatcher will present an original musical cabaret performance entitled A Musical State of Mind at MONDO in Downtown Summit. On December 8, Dreamcatcher will present A Very Special (Holiday) Special, a unique and affectionate send-up of traditional television holiday variety shows. This Very Special Special will include holiday songs, comic sketches and improv, and lots of good old-fashioned fun.

In the spring, two "Meet the Artist" new play readings will be held on May 15 and 22, thought-provoking experiences which include the opportunity for audience discussion with the writer, director and actors after the performance.

Dreamcatcher Junior, the summer program for students entering grades 5-12, will culminate in its annual production on Friday, July 26, an original family show that always draws on the creativity of its young actors to shape the piece. Each year, the youth company creates a one-of-a-kind piece that has ranged from fairy tale quest to Shakespeare adaptation to musical revue.

Throughout the year, Dreamcatcher offers internships for high school and college students, classes for teens and adults, and many volunteer opportunities. In addition, the theatre provides a menu of outreach programs for students and seniors that travel to other venues. All of Dreamcatcher's activities center on the collaborative nature of theatre and creating a comfortable environment for artists and audiences of all ages to explore and grow together. The company's work is supported by grants from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, and several other corporate and individual donors that believe in the power of the arts to bring people together and promote understanding between them.

Season passes may be purchased that provide substantial discounts to all events, and special rates for groups are also available. The theatre at Oakes Center is wheelchair accessible, and such access services as large print scripts, assistive listening devices, and audio description will be available by prior arrangement throughout the season. Performances will be held at Oakes Center, 120 Morris Avenue, Summit, NJ 07901. For more information and tickets for any of Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre's programs, please call 908-514-9654, and visit www.DreamcatcherRep.org.

Dreamcatcher was founded in 1994, and is a non-profit professional ensemble of actors who share contemporary, life-affirming stories that foster a deeper understanding of how we are all connected. We seek to expose theatregoers to ideas and lives like and unlike their own, to awaken their imaginations and create empathy for others. The company focuses on deepening the experience of our patrons by supplementing the performances with personal contact through receptions, talkbacks, and interactive programs.

Dreamcatcher's core company of professional local actors performs contemporary work that entertains and challenges, and has at its heart a belief in the essential goodness of people. The company's activities include mainstage productions, improvisational comedy and cabarets, new play readings and a variety of educational and senior outreach programs.

Dreamcatcher's programs are funded by the New Jersey State council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Dramatist Guild Fund, The Summit Area Public Foundation and many other corporations, foundations and individuals. Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre is an Equity Producing member of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance.

To post a comment, you must register and login.