Centenary Stage Company’s Fringe Festival returns on Thursday, Oct. 14 with “Nine Day Wonder and A Tale of Two Cities, Cobbled Together by the Brothers Lovejoy.”

The first performance of “Nine Day Wonder” will be at 7:30 pm. Performances follow on Friday, Oct. 15 at 8 p.m.; Saturday, Oct. 16 at 8 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 17 at 2 p.m. in the Sitnik Theatre of the Lackland Performing Arts Center at 715 Grand Ave, Hackettstown. Tickets for “Nine Day Wonder” range from $22.50 to $27.50 for adults. Discounts are available for select performances for seniors, students, and children 12 and younger. For more information or to purchase tickets call the Centenary Stage Company box office at (908) 979 – 0900 or visit Centenary Stage Company on-line at centenarystageco.org.

Stephen Temperley wrote and stars in the comedy which travels between past and present. He plays a contemporary man named Will who splits his personality in two, becoming Will Kemp, Shakespeare’s famous fool. In 1599, though no one is quite sure why, Kemp undertook his famous dance, jigging his way from London to Norwich, a hundred and twenty-five miles distant. In present-day Will’s imagination, history is turned upside-down as Kemp refuses to leave the stage quietly, instead insisting hoping he can make Shakespeare change his mind, beg him to return, so he can again be the star he once was. Fighting his way through Kemp’s egomania, jokes, dances, bad puns, bragging, and foolery, Will is finally forced to confront his own ambition.

Temperley is best known for one of the most produced plays in the US, Souvenir. His extensive resume includes work both on and off the stage in the US and UK. Souvenir was produced on Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre and directed by Tony Award winner Vivian Matalon. Additional works of Temperley’s include, Money/Mercy (Chelsea Theatre Center), That Kind of Woman (Dodger Productions), In the Country of the Free (the Mint Theatre), The Pilgrim Papers (Berkshire Theatre Festival), Songbook, Dance with Me, and A Christmas Carol which all debuted at Centenary Stage. As an actor, Temperley has worked extensively in regional theatres in the US as well as UK’s West End, on TV and in repertory. On Broadway, Temperley was part of the original company of Crazy for You; and off-Broadway in the Todd Rundgren musical, Up Against It, at the Public.

The box office is open Monday through Friday from 1 to 5 p.m. and two hours prior to all performances. The stage company can also be found across social media platforms; Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Like and follow to receive the latest in CSC news and special offers.

Centenary Stage Company remains committed to the health and safety of the community and adheres to all requirements set forth by the State of New Jersey. For more information regarding CSC COVID-19 policies and policy updates, visit centenarystageco.org/faq.

The 2021-22 season of performing arts events at the Centenary Stage Company is made possible through the generous support of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the NJ State Council on the Arts, the Shubert Foundation, the Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, the Sandra Kupperman Foundation, the John and Margaret Post Foundation, and CSC corporate sponsors, including Platinum Season Sponsor The House of the Good Shepherd, Silver Sponsors Hackettstown Medical Center Atlantic Health System, Home Instead Senior Care (Washington), and Fulton Bank, and Centenary Stage Company members and supporters.