Teen Dad at Passage Theatre
This fall, Passage Theatre, the only professional theatre company in Trenton, opens Season 42 with the world premiere of Teen Dad by Brooklyn playwright Adrienne Dawes. This production stars Jade Cox, Morgan Charéce Hall, Zachary Valdez, Walter DeShields, and Victoria Wallace and will be co-directed by former Passage Theatre Artistic Director C. Ryanne Domingues with frequent collaborator Richard Bradford.
In Teen Dad, Abby, a precocious emo-goth teenager, orchestrates a surprise reunion for her mother Tanya and birth father Tom, with the help of her mom’s fiance/healer John. Hoping to provoke long-lasting reconciliation between her parents before her high school graduation, Abby’s plans completely derail when Tom arrives with his new girlfriend Alisha. Can this family confront their past traumas, “deal and heal?” Teen Dad subverts popular regional theatre “kitchen-sink beach house dramedy” to share a heartfelt, comedic exploration of generational trauma and recovery in a mixed-race Black and Latinx family.
“This play is about the effort many parents make to avoid passing trauma down to the next generation,” shares Co-Director C. Ryanne Domingues. “As a mom myself, I was drawn to that story, along with the play’s nod to punk rock. It’s a culture that traditionally champions non-conformity, marginalized identities, and radical self-expression.” Co-Director Richard Bradford added, “This play for me is about what truly is the definition of family, and the effect of feeling othered within a white society which can lead to trust issues and trauma. We all walk around wearing ‘The Mask’, especially Black people, but what happens when we take off that mask and truly start to ‘deal and heal ’?”
Executive Artistic Director Brishen Miller stated, “Now is a divided time. And it is divided at its core. We all champion opposing arguments, separate issues, down to the level of dividing families. This play speaks to that divorce of ideals; it speaks to that conflict of culture. And so, it is the child who shows us that we are all yet human beings, and that our conflicts are merely hot air.”
Teen Dad will run for four weekends, Wednesday through Sunday, September 16 through October 11, 2026. Due to some sensuality and coarse language, this play is recommended for audiences 14 and up. Tickets are on sale here or by calling (609) 392-0766.
