The work is "the tale of three men used up and discarded by a world that has never really wanted them," according to NJ Rep, the professional Equity troupe in Long Branch, NJ. "Competing for a job that may or may not exist, they battle each other with wit and humor, as they reminisce about painful failures and long-forgotten triumphs.

Directed by Gregory Fortner, Old Clown Wanted features Ames Adamson, Al H. Mohrmann and Ugo N. Toppo.

According to NJ Rep, "Playwright, poet and journalist Matei Visniec was born in Romania.  In 1987 he was invited to France by a literary foundation, and he asked for political asylum. Since then he has been writing mostly in French, and he has received French nationality. After the fall of communism in Romania, in 1989, Matei Visniec became one of the most performed playwrights in the country, with more then 30 plays put on in Bucharest and other towns. In 1996 the National Theatre of Timisoara organized a Matei Visniec Festival with 12 companies presenting his plays. His international audience as a playwright started in 1992, [when] the play Horses at the Windows [was] performed in France...

"Since then, Matei Visniec has had more then 20 plays performed in France. Old Clown Wanted has been performed in France, Germany, Denmark, Austria, Poland, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Brazil, Romania, Moldavia, and now in the U.S."

Old Clown Wanted plays special preview performances July 8 at 2 and 8 PM. Preview tickets are $20. All other performances are $30 with discounts available for students, seniors, groups, and subscriptions. New Jersey Repertory Company is located at 179 Broadway in Long Branch. For additional information, visit www.njrep.org or call (732) 229-3166.