Overview

Join us for a reading of Vivid Stage’s new play Soft Animals by Erin Mallon and directed by Laura Ekstrand, part of NJPAC Stage Exchange.

About Soft Animals

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.

Dive into the world of Soft Animals where alien hands, rogue eyeballs and umbilical cord jump ropes are the norm and ask yourself one of life’s mysterious questions: does the mind actually create the body?

About Erin Mallon

Erin Mallon’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!

About Vivid Stage

Vivid Stage was founded in 1994 as Dreamcatcher Rep, and is a non-profit professional ensemble of actors who build community with the audience by sharing contemporary, life-affirming stories that challenge, energize and entertain. Our work has at its heart a belief in the essential goodness of people and the power of live performance to connect people through our shared humanity. We expose theatregoers to ideas and lives like and unlike their own with the intention of awakening their imaginations and creating empathy for others. We deepen the experience of all our patrons with personal contact through receptions, talkbacks, and interactive programs.

The company’s activities include mainstage productions, improvisational comedy and cabarets, new play readings and a variety of educational and senior outreach programs. Vivid Stage’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 and many other corporations, foundations and individuals.  Vivid Stage is an Equity Producing member of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance.

About NJPAC Stage Exchange

Cutting-edge play development meets insightful community dialogue at NJPAC Stage Exchange, a collaboration of two professional New Jersey theaters and a talented duo of Garden State playwrights. Following readings and Q&As at NJPAC related to each Stage Exchange work, a world premiere production will be staged by each dramatist’s partner theater.

Your safety is our priority. Please read about all of NJPAC’s health precautions and safety requirements before purchasing your ticket.

A fee of $3.50 has been added to all performance tickets to offset the cost of COVID-19 upgrades and maintenance for performances taking place between September 1, 2021, through July 1, 2022.

NJPAC values the safety of our audiences, artists, and staff. It regularly updates its COVID protocols and procedures based on CDC, federal, state, city, and other scientific data. NJPAC reserves the right to alter safety protocols at any time and at its sole discretion including but not limited to social distancing, vaccines/testing, masks, food service limitations, venue capacity, and entrance requirements as it deems appropriate.