Landmark House In Montclair Featured In Play At West Orange Theater

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — The following news release comes courtesy of Luna Stage. Find out how to post announcements or events to your local Patch site.

Luna Stage is thrilled to announce The Ground On Which We Stand (Abridged) — a solo performance inspired by the history and legacy of The James Howe House written by Turron Kofi Alleyne, Jenny Lyn Bader, Sakinah Hofler, Stephen Kaplan, Kyle Mazer, Kathleen McGhee-Anderson, Diane Polledri, Martine Sainvil, TyLie Shider, Mo Schlick, Melissa Toomey, and Richard Wesley, abriged by TyLie Shider — will run June 5 through June 22 on the MainStage.

Created in collaboration with historians, community activists, and genealogists, the play reflects over 200 years of African American experience in the United States, as well as the importance of oral history and the fight for historic preservation.

Inspired by the history and legacy of The James Howe House, the first home in the Township of Montclair to be owned by a formerly enslaved person, The Ground On Which We Stand interweaves diverse historic and contemporary voices and honors African American history and its role in shaping our future. The play spans 190 years, reflecting post-emancipation struggles, abolitionist history, the role of Black soldiers in the Civil War, the impact of de facto segregation past and present, and the way a community can come together to reckon with its past and make intentional choices to preserve and honor historic spaces.

Naja Selby-Morton, who most recently gave a “career-defining” (Out In Jersey) performance as Janice in Luna’s production of Christina Anderson’s “the ripple, the wave that carried me home” plays 10 characters in 45 minutes in the course of this solo tour-de-force.

Directed by Luna Artistic Director Ari Laura Kreith (RIFT, Mrs. Stern Wanders the Prussian State Library, A Case for the Existence of God) The Ground On Which We Stand previews June 5 at 1pm and opens June 6 at 8pm. Performances are Thursdays at 7:30pm, Fridays at 8pm, and Saturdays at 3pm, with a special Sunday matinee June 22 at 3pm. (Note: *the performance on Saturday, June 21 will be at 7pm to accommodate an outdoor performance at the Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum.)

The performance was developed with the support of the National Endowment for the Arts, The New Jersey Historical Commission, The New Jersey Council on the Humanities, The Suzzanne Douglas Memorial Foundation and The Montclair Foundation.

To support equity and access, all Luna Stage productions are pay-what-you-choose. Tickets range from $10-$60 and are available at www.lunastage.org/the-ripple-the-wave-that-carried-me-home.

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