After six seasons at the Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey, artistic director Joseph Megel will step down from the position in December following the season opener Dance With Me. Executive director John Pietrowski and the new producing director Elizabeth Murphy will assume the artistic responsibilities for the time being.

Megel will move on to a new post as an adjunct professor in the graduate playwriting department at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas and, he hopes, spend more time directing independent projects. He will, however, continue his working relationship with the Playwrights Theatre, as he returns to direct the reading of T. Cat Ford's A Simple Gift Jan 5-6 as well as the development of Jewell Parker Rhodes' Voodoo Dreams.

Now in its 15th year, the Playwrights Theatre, in Madison, NJ has been a breeding ground for new plays and new playwrights. Such productions as Dolores Whiskeyman's Radium Girls (which Megel directed), David Feldshuh's Miss Evers’ Boys, and Keith Glover's Thunder Knocking on the Door all had their beginnings at the New Jersey theater.

PTNJ also offers various classes in playwriting, acting, and production for both children and adults. For more information on their programs, visit www.ptnj.org.

-- by Ernio Hernandez