Luna Stage to Present Steven Dietz's LONELY PLANET Beginning This Month

Luna-Stage/">Luna Stage will present Steven Dietz's Lonely Planet, directed by Melissa Firlit, running at Luna-Stage/">Luna Stage November 14 - December 8, 2024. Previews begin November 14 for a November 16 opening.

Lonely Planet is a funny and heartwarming story of friendship, love, and survival. In the 1990s, down an old city street, inside a small map store, a pile of chairs begins to form. Two best friends, Jody and Carl, manage the ever-growing mountain of chairs while taking care of each other and navigating the dark reality that looms in the outside world.

The play debuted in 1994, at the height of the AIDS epidemic, and received the PEN-USA Award in Drama. Now, twenty years and a global pandemic later, it is both prescient and deeply healing.

The cast features Dustin Ballard and John Keller. The design team includes Sarah Woods (Lights), Greg Scalera (Sound), Lucas Pinner (Scenic), and Deborah Caney (Costumes). Production Stage Manager is Sofia Feggulis.

Performances are Thursdays at 7:30pm, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 3pm. Run time is approximately 2 hours with a 10 minute intermission.

To support equity and access, all Luna-Stage/">Luna Stage productions are pay-what-you-choose. Tickets range from $10 to $40 and are available at https://www.lunastage.org/lonely-planet. Special group prices and student matinee performances are available upon request.

About Luna-Stage/">Luna Stage

Luna-Stage/">Luna Stage develops and produces vibrant plays about local and global experiences, and brings communities together for artistic events that spark conversations, create understanding, and inspire change. Founded in Montclair NJ in 1993, Luna-Stage/">Luna Stage moved to West Orange in 2010 to become an arts anchor of the underserved Valley neighborhood. As producer, innovator, and educator, Luna is dedicated to eliminating barriers to participation, and nurturing the next generation of audiences and artists.

Luna's current Off-Broadway production at 59E59 Theatres, Mrs. Stern Wanders The Prussian State Library, is playing to sold-out houses and rave reviews. Other Luna-Stage/">Luna Stage World Premieres include Tony winner Matthew Lopez's breakout play The Whipping Man, which went on to have its New York premiere at Manhattan Theatre Club and subsequently became one of the most widely-produced plays in the United States from 2012-2016, and three World Premieres by Obie winner Nikkole Salter: Lines In The Dust (Luna commission), Indian Head (Luna co-commission) and Carnaval. Luna received the NJ Arts People's Choice Award for Favorite Small Theatre in New Jersey, the Giles R. Wright Designation for Excellence in African American History, and has contributed to the development of over 100 new works for the stage. Read more at https://www.lunastage.org.

About the Playwright

Steven Dietz's 30-plus plays and adaptations have been produced by over one hundred regional theatres across the United States, including Off-Broadway. International productions have been seen in over twenty-five countries. For the '24-25 season, Dietz was once again named one of the "20 Most-Produced Playwrights in America" by American Theatre Magazine. Recent world premieres include Gaslight (from Patrick Hamilton), Murder On The Links (from Agatha Christie), and How A Boy Falls. His play Shooting Star was adapted by Dietz and Kirk Lynn into the recent Meg Ryan movie, What Happens Later. Awards include the PEN-USA Award for Lonely Planet; Steinberg New Play Citation for Bloomsday; Kennedy Center New Play Award for both Fiction and Still Life With Iris; and an Edgar Award for Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure. Dietz's "sequel" to Murder On The Links - entitled Peril In The Alps - will premiere in San Diego and Laguna Beach in 2025. Dietz and his wife, playwright Allison Gregory, divide their time between Seattle and Austin.

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