Name: Workshop: What's Love Got to Do with It? Exploring Connection and Fulfullment in Challenging TImes
Start: 2026-06-06T14:00:00-04:00
Location: Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Monmouth County

Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Monmouth County

Is love really just “a second-hand emotion”? Or is it the key to a meaningful life? We often hear cliches about love, such as, “It’s all about love,” and “Love is all you need,” but what is the real impact of love in our lives? This interactive workshop will explore how our childhood experiences shape our understanding of love, the ways we give and receive love in relationships, and whether we can – or should – love everyone. We are living in an age of anxiety and uncertainty. Together, we will learn how to create islands of sanity that provide us with emotional support, evoke resilience, and empower us to redefine ourselves and our world.

Local Event: Workshop: What's Love Got to Do with It?  Exploring Connection and Fulfullment in Challenging TImes

Monmouth County

Carly Baldwin

New York City Metropolitan Area

Middletown

New Jersey

Workshop: What's Love Got to Do with It? ...

Is love really just “a second-hand emotion”? Or is it the key to a meaningful life? We often hear cliches about love, such as,...

Workshop: What's Love Got to Do with It?  Exploring Connection and Fulfullment in Challenging TImes

Middletown Arts Center

The Middletown Arts Center, in conjunction with Dunbar Repertory Company, presents a special production of August Wilson’s Seven Guitars, directed by Mark Antonio Henderson, running May 23–31, 2026. Set in 1940s Pittsburgh, Seven Guitars follows a blues musician chasing redemption and a second chance as love, ambition, and fate collide in August Wilson’s powerful portrait of dreams deferred. 
SHOW DATES FOR SEVEN GUITARS
Saturday, May 23 at 3 + 8 p.m.&nbsp; |&nbsp; Sunday, May 24 at 4 p.m.
Saturday, May 30 at 3 + 8 p.m.&nbsp; |&nbsp; Sunday, May 31 at 4 p.m. 
Ticket prices are $22 for general admission. Discounted tickets at $17 are available for the Opening Performance (Saturday, May 23 at 3 p.m.), the Closing Performance (Sunday, May 31 at 4 p.m.), and group sales of 10 or more. Purchase tickets online at middletownarts.org or call the MAC Box Office at 732.706.4100.
The Middletown Arts Center is located at 36 Church Street in Middletown, NJ (next to the Middletown train station). Free parking is available onsite with additional free parking available in station metered lot on weekday evenings after 6 p.m. and on weekends.
ABOUT SEVEN GUITARS
Seven Guitars is a play by August Wilson set in Pittsburgh’s Hill District in 1948, centered on the life and struggles of the African American community. The story begins shortly after the funeral of Floyd Barton, a musician whose dreams of success are complicated by hardship and ultimately lead to his tragic fate.
Through present-day scenes and flashbacks, the play reveals Floyd’s relationships—particularly with Vera, his partner, and Hedley, a mystic grappling with illness. The characters engage in deeply human conversations that reflect their realities, exploring themes of community, aspiration, and the impact of systemic oppression.
Seven Guitars is part of Wilson’s ten-play cycle chronicling the African American experience throughout the 20th century. The work explores identity, loss, and the complexity of dreams, standing as a significant piece in American theater. 
CAST &amp; CREATIVE TEAM
Dunbar Repertory Company’s production features James Saunders (Canewell), Mike Vails (Red Carter), Dana P. Hawkins (Vera Dotson), Chantal Lentz (Vera Dotson/Understudy), Vivette Alston (Louise), Arthur Gregory Pugh (Hedley), Kirk Lambert (Floyd “Schoolboy” Barton), and Brandi McLeain (Ruby).
Production Stage Manager: Stephanie Schoppe 
Assistant Stage Manager: Andrea Jimenez
ABOUT AUGUST WILSON
	“No one except perhaps Eugene O’Neill or Tennessee Williams has aimed so high and 
	 achieved so much in the American theater.”&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; – John Lahr, The New Yorker
August Wilson (1945 – 2005) was a Pulitzer-prize-winning playwright known for chronicling the experiences of Black Americans during the 20th century. First, through poetry and then through plays, Wilson captured the character and experiences of the African American community, particularly the community of his native Pittsburgh. He is best known for a series of ten plays collectively called The American Century Cycle or The Pittsburgh Cycle which include, Jitney (1982), Fences (1984), Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (1984), Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (1986), The Piano Lesson (1987) and King Hedley II (1999). Wilson received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Fences and The Piano Lesson, and earned nine Tony Award nominations, 
winning Best Play for 1987 for Fences. All of his plays have received the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play.
In 2006, Wilson was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the recipient of Rockefeller and Guggenheim Fellowships, the Whiting Writers Award, the 1999 National Humanities Medal awarded by the President and numerous honorary degrees. 
One of contemporary theater’s most distinguished and eloquent voices, August Wilson wrote not about historical events or the pathologies of the black community, but, as he said, about “the unique particulars of black culture…I wanted to place this culture onstage in all its richness and fullness and to demonstrate its ability to sustain us…through profound moments in our history in which the larger society has thought less of us than we have thought of ourselves.”
ABOUT THE DUNBAR REPERTORY COMPANY
Known to residents of Central New Jersey as “Monmouth County’s African American Theater Company”, Dunbar Repertory Company is committed to its mission of perpetuating an appreciation of cultural diversity and celebrating African American culture through LIVE literary readings, main stage theatrical productions, education programs and services.

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Vendors, please call 732-291-4713 for more information.

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Local Event: Join Rock Voices, the community choir that ONLY sings rock music!

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Join Rock Voices, the community choir that ONLY...

Join the 18+ community choir that ONLY sings rock music! No auditions! Summer season starts Monday, May 25, 7pm, at Pilgrim...

Join Rock Voices, the community choir that ONLY sings rock music!

CVA Brookdale Community College, 765 Newman Springs Rd, Middletown Township, NJ, 07738

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Enjoy a dynamic, welcoming environment with opportunities to build relationships, spark new business growth, and network over food, refreshments, and raffles.
<a href="https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/EdZqjvstA7" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">SPRING NETWORKING EVENT RSVP – Fill out form</a>
or text/call&nbsp; 848-391-5799FREE NETWORKING EVENT | OPEN TO ALL PROFESSIONALS

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This enchanting evening will feature two talented local musicians – Evan Schwartzman on piano and Joel DeWitt on violin, performing a particularly wide-ranging program, that takes us from late nineteenth century Bohemia to present day Atlantic Highlands, and concludes with one of Beethoven’s most passionate violin sonatas.Tickets are available at the door and at this link: <a href="https://uucmc.breezechms.com/give/online" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://uucmc.breezechms.com/give/online</a>
(select “Give to Piano violin fundraiser $20” from the dropdown box).

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&nbsp;Food for Every Taste From baked goods and tea to burgers and more—come hungry! Plus, enjoy a specialty coffee vendor serving up your favorite handcrafted drinks.
Easy &amp; Free Parking Take advantage of our free shuttle service starting at 7:30 AM from Holy Cross Church (free parking) to the fair and back.
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Workshop: What's Love Got to Do with It? Exploring Connection and Fulfullment in Challenging TImes

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