GIVEN CIRCUMSTANCE: Mile Square Theatre Offering Up Series of New Plays in the Virtual World

Mile Square Theatre, Hudson County, NJ’s premiere professional theatre, has commissioned seven new plays written specifically for the Zoom format. The four-part series begins September 18, and runs every weekend through October 11. The series begins with Lia Romeo’s charming, deeply heartfelt play Sitting and Talking, which follows a man and woman in their 60s as they navigate the vulnerable, awkward, and sometimes hilarious path to companionship via online dating during quarantine. Film star Dan Lauria, who played the titular role in Broadway’s Lombardi, is joined by Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated actress Wendie Malick, and the piece is directed by James Glossman.

While Romeo’s play stands alone, the rest of the Given Circumstances lineup is paired off, providing audiences with two different short plays when they tune in. The weekend of September 25, viewers will be treated to new plays by Nandita Shenoy and Kevin R. Free; October 2 brings plays by Audley Puglisi and Cary Gitter; and the series commences the weekend of October 9 with work by Dustin Chinn and Chris O’Connor. Directors and casts of these other six plays will be announced at a later date.

Mile Square Theatre Artistic Director Chris O’Connor says, “The term ‘given circumstance’ is a theatrical term used by practitioners to describe the circumstances defined by the playwright, which frames the play. We thought the term was apt to describe the circumstances that are defining theatre in the time of COVID. A monumental circumstance these days is that we now live in a digital world, chiefly defined by Zoom calls. All of these commissions have asked the playwrights to set their plays on the Zoom platform as a central ‘given circumstance.’ We are thrilled to have this impressive lineup of writers and theatre collaborators.”

Mile Square Theatre’s Given Circumstance: New Plays in the Virtual World

September 18-20:  Sitting and Talking by Lia Romeo

September 25-27:  New Plays by Nandita Shenoy and Kevin R. Free

October 2-4: New Plays by Audley Puglisi and Cary Gitter

October 9-11: New Plays by Dustin Chinn and Chris O’Connor

Tickets are $15-$20, available at: www.milesquaretheatre.org.  Once purchased, audience members will be emailed a link through which the stream may be accessed.

MST Season Sponsorship: Advance Realty, Aecom/Tishman, Bijou Properties, Haven Savings Bank, Jet.com, Kearny Bank, The Rockefeller Group.

Mile Square Theatre is supported by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.

This program is made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts; and by funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, administered by the Hudson County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs, Thomas A. Degise, County Executive, and the Board of Chosen Freeholders.

Member of The New Jersey Theatre Alliance.

For more information on Mile Square Theatre, please visit www.milesquaretheatre.org.