Tempest Productions in association with the Jersey City Museum will present the world premiere of an original adaptation by Cynthia M. Mazzant of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter to be performed Dec. 4 through 13.
The performances will be held at the museum’s new spacious 150-seat theater at 350 Montgomery St. in the historic downtown district of Jersey City.
The talented cast and crew include members of Actors’ Equity, Screen Actors Guild, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, Dramatists’ Guild, and the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, according to Tempest spokeswoman Jo Wadsworth. Also in the cast are two young student actors making their Tempest debut: Stephanie Cowan of Middlesex County will play "Rebecca," and Chloe Schaff of New York City will play "Pearl."
The play features original music by local composer Billy Atwell of foreHEAD Productions.
"The music and sound design were composed and orchestrated as the theme for the production. The play is a very exceptional staging of Hawthorne’s book," said Atwell, who has collaborated on previous Tempest projects. "The theater should be a pretty fertile area for the story to be told. We’re in a period where we are redefining the role of woman in society. If this play doesn’t put it in your lap, it will put it in your face."
In this recent adaptation of the American classic, Hawthorne’s colonial town is brought to life as the characters struggle with their thoughts and feelings while exploring and trying to understand the complex social interactions of the Puritan society.
"We try to celebrate basic emotional issues that occur throughout history through the works of the masters, who represent the foremost voices of the human condition," said Mazzant, co-artistic director of Tempest and director of The Scarlet Letter.
Tempest Productions is a New Jersey-based theatre company established in 1996 to work in both Manhattan and Hudson County. "Hawthorne’s characters struggle with maintaining traditional social rules in a strange new world, the same conflict that we face today in our world of incessant change," Mazzant added.
Performances will be held on Dec. 4 at 10 a.m. and 8 p.m., Dec. 5, at 10 a.m. and 8 p.m., Dec. 7 at 2 p.m., Dec. 12 at 10 a.m. and 8 p.m., and Dec. 13 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Admission for the plays is $15. Seniors and students will be discounted. The play will run two hours with intermission.
The show was made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts and by funds administered by the Hudson County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs, county executive Thomas A. DeGise, and the Board of Chosen Freeholders. For information call (800) 475-5633 or visit www.tempestproductions.org. q