From Luna Stage:
In response to critical acclaim and audience response, Mrs. Stern Wanders the Prussian State Library will extend at Luna Stage thru November 9. Called one of the Best Dramas of the Year by This Week in New York and named to Theaterscene’s 10 Best List, the play is inspired by true events and offers a hopeful, historical perspective on human connection in challenging political times.
Broadway Radio’s Peter Filichia raved, “The characterizations are so good, so terrific, so galvanizing. For 90 minutes, you may very well be on the edge of your seat!” Praised by Susan Wallner in JerseyArts as “gripping… a play for our times,” Mrs. Stern Wanders the Prussian State Library was celebrated by John McWhorter in The New York Times as “perceiving humanity and even dignity in all people under even the toughest of conditions.”
ABOUT THE PLAY: Berlin, 1933. With martial law in effect, political activism has become a capital crime. A young Gestapo officer arrests a graduate student suspected of illegal research. This interrogation promises to be most challenging as he faces the iconic 20th-century thinker Hannah Arendt. Is she innocent? Or an enemy of the state? Inspired by real events, this fantastical drama delves into the life and mind of one of history’s most profound thinkers.
Written by Jenny Lyn Bader and directed by Ari Laura Kreith, the play debuted at Luna, then made the move to Off-Broadway where it sold out and extended at 59E59 Theaters last fall, then transferred to the WP Theatre for a second Off-Broadway run. The production then moved to Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse this September in advance of its return to Luna starring the complete New York cast: Ella Dershowitz, Drew Hirshfield and Brett Temple.
Performances are Thursdays at 7:30, Fridays and Saturdays at 8, and Sundays at 3; there are no performances October 16-19 and October 31. As part of Luna’s commitment to equity and access, all tickets are pay-what-you-choose. For tickets and more info, visit www.lunastage.org
LUNA STAGE is a professional regional theatre that develops and produces vibrant plays about local and global experiences. This summer, Luna’s commissioned world premiere RIFT made its international debut at Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre where it was honored with the Scotsman Fringe First Award. Other Luna world premieres include Tony Award-winner Matthew Lopez’s breakout play The Whipping Man, which became one of the most widely-produced plays in the United States; three premieres by Obie-winner Nikkole Salter; Jenny Lyn Bader’s Mrs. Stern Wanders the Prussian State Library; and the Luna-commissioned The Ground On Which We Stand, which received the 2024 Giles R. Wright Designation for Excellence in African American History. The company celebrates 15 years as an arts anchor of New Jersey’s Valley Arts neighborhood, a traditionally-underserved region bridging the townships of Orange and West Orange. Luna received the JerseyArts People’s Choice Award for Favorite Small Theatre in New Jersey, and is dedicated to eliminating barriers to participation and nurturing the next generation of audiences and artists.
