by Lyra Yang.  Paper Dream follows the journey of four Chinese women in the 1930s: a self-proclaimed aristocrat, her husband’s second wife’s obedient daughter, a working-class mother, and a talented young prostitute as they find themselves trapped like prisoners in a “land of freedom”.  It is about the ghosts they left behind, the spirit of who they are, and the dream of what they might become.  A haunting period drama that reckons with the spectre of nationalism still stalking immigrants at America’s borders.

Directed by Raksa Lim

Featuring:

Momo Nakamura as TAM-LEI-FAN
Cheryl Campo as LEE-ON
Elizabeth Ung as YING-YING
Lorrie Smith as WONG-MEI-YEE
Jay Ruiz as INTERPRETER JESSEN/AMERICAN GUARD
Raksa Lim as COOK CHUN/INSPECTOR GUTMAN/PAPA

Retreat Across the Jerseys

by Leslie Allen.  Liz, a no-nonsense Marine explosives expert, returns to her north Jersey hometown in 2031 after a decade in Central Asia’s “forever wars.” But on her way to the deathbed of Angela, her estranged mother, she meets B.J., a local character who has peddled everything from condos to children’sslippers to dubious tales – and most of all, dreams – in the changing neighborhood. B.J. and Liz each harbor a painful secret, and their chance encounter triggers a journey into the buried past – all the way back to and beyond a different chance encounter on the same corner by Newark’s airport. That late-night meeting, 30 years earlier, would link the three characters – all outsiders marginalized because of race or gender, class, and more – to each other and to untold chapters in American history that ask us to question the meaning of patriotism.

Directed by George Andre Tittle

Featuring:

Tyrone Chapman – TYE, B.J.
Jenn Mikulski – ANGELA, NURSE, THE WOMAN
Emilie Holmstock – LIZ
Rodney Bonds – LIZ’S BOSS, VIN, ANGELA’S FATHER
Archie Williams – BUREAUCRAT, THE MAN, BAR CUSTOMER, DRUNK, THE GUY, A WRITER/TOM PAINE
Penny Demps – STAGE DIRECTIONS

Jerome

by Ty DeMartino.  A priest, a janitor, and a nurse walk into nursing home… and it’s no joke. When Gary, an autistic janitor, starts his new job at St. Jerome Nursing Home, he forges unlikely friendships with Murph, a foul-mouthed elderly priest, and Dahlia, a nurse who dreams of reality TV stardom. When this make-shift family sets out on an adventure across the state, they soon realize they have more in common with one another than meets the eye. But will past secrets and selfish desires tear this eccentric and loving family apart or bring them closer together?

Directed by Bill Bisbee

Featuring:

Lola Reign – DAHLIA
Timoth David Copney-Welton – MURPH
Michael DeNicolis – GARY
Bill Bisbee – STAGE DIRECTIONS