Vivid Stage Receives Summit Foundation Grant for Production of SOFT ANIMALS

Vivid Stage, in residence at Oakes Center at 120 Morris Avenue in Summit, was the recipient of a $5,000 grant from The Summit Foundation for their fall world premiere production of Soft Animals by Erin Mallon.

Soft Animals is a comedy with heart that asks, what would your life be like if you couldn't feel physical pain? If your body had a mind of its own? What if you never fell asleep? How about if you remembered every single thing you've ever felt, thought or experienced? Four medical misfits sign up for a three-day workshop to tackle their issues. Can a former male nurse and self-professed "woo-woo" guide them toward healing? Or... perhaps they aren't the ones most in need of a cure.

Soft Animals was read as a part of the NJ Theatre Alliance Stage Exchange program in June, a collaboration with NJPAC that encourages professional New Jersey theatres to produce works by New Jersey playwrights.

Erin Mallon is a playwright, author, and narrator of over 550 audiobooks with a special affinity for the romance genre. She is a six-time Earphones Award Winner and a five-time Audie Award Nominee. Her audio play These Walls Can Talk is a 2021 Independent Audiobook Award Winner for Humor. The Natural History Series is Erin's debut trio of romantic comedy novels: Flirtasaurus,(July 2020) Lovebug, (February 2021) and Sharkbait (coming Fall 2021). Erin's plays have been presented with Urban Stages, New Georges, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, The Collective, Cherry Picking, Great Plains Theater Conference, Samuel French #OOB Short Play Festival, Project Y Theater, Dreamcatcher Rep, Mile Square Theatre and more. Erin's play Branched (dir. Robert Ross Parker) premiered with InViolet Theater at HERE Arts Center in NYC and is in print with Original Works Publishing. Her play, The Net Will Appear had its Off-Broadway Premiere at 59E59 Theaters in NYC starring the great Richard Masur and is now available on Audible.com as an audio drama co-starring Matilda Lawler (Disney Plus' Flora & Ulysses, Broadway's The Ferryman). Erin's Other full-length plays include: Good Riddance, Soft Animals, Hand Me Down, Stunning Displays of Prowess, Skin Hungry, The Other White Meat, Come Find Me and These Walls Can Talk 2: The Narwhal Strikes Back!

The Summit Foundation's stated purpose is "...to assist, encourage and promote the well-being of humankind and primarily the inhabitants of the area comprising the City of Summit and its vicinity, regardless of race, color or creed." The Summit Foundation has stayed true to its original mission and has continued to respond to the community as its needs have evolved.

Soft Animals will be performed from September 29 through October 9 at the Oakes Center in Summit. Tickets for Soft Animals will be available soon at www.vividstage.org. For information on any of Vivid Stage's programs, please visit www.vividstage.org or contact Vivid Stage at Oakes Center, 120 Morris Avenue, Summit, NJ 07901, 908-514-9654.

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