SUMMER SOLOS Series to Return for 13th Year at Vivid Stage

Vivid Stage will present Summer Solos readings every week from July 8 through 29 at 6:30 pm at the Visual Arts Center of NJ at 68 Elm Street in Summit.

Performances in the series will take place on the lawn of the Arts Center. Patrons are invited to bring chairs or blankets and a picnic dinner. In case of rain or extreme heat, the location for all performances will be indoors at the Visual Arts Center. In its thirteenth year, the series provides audiences with an opportunity for entertainment at an affordable price, while also introducing them to highly personal works performed in an intimate setting by professional actors. 

On Wednesday, July 8, 2026 at 6:30 pm, Harriett Trangucci will perform Fair State byMegan Gogerty. When a woman loses her charming, unreliable, alcoholic father, she unearths evidence of her family's ancestral ties to the founding of the state of Iowa. She asks the audience, what do we do with our problematic relatives?

The following Wednesday, July 15, 2026 at 6:30 pm, Jason Szamreta will perform Long Drive Home by Stephen Kaplan. Based on the NY Times bestseller, Long Drive Home follows the life of Glen Bauer, a man whose impulsive act while driving his 6-year-old daughter home from school results in a tragic accident. In the end, he must face the full weight of the damage he's done to himself and those he loves.

On Wednesday, July 22, 2026 at 6:30 pm, Laura Ekstrand will perform Maker of Worlds by Wendy Schmidt. Martha (definitely not Stewart), a deity, decides to destroy the world and start over. She then discovers that her husband, Warren (definitely not Buffett), is the one who built the system that's ruining it in the first place. A play that spans time and space, features the ghost of Jim Morrison, and deals with creation and the past catching up to you.