Black Tom Island

On Sunday, February 7, 2021, Art House Productions hosted a panel discussion to accompany our radio play: Black Tom Island. This podcast will include excerpts from the Zoom panel, which explored the actual events of the historic Black Tom Explosion in 1916, as well as behind-the-scenes stories from the radio play’s production.

The panel featured Dr. Libby O'Connell of The History Channel and World War I Centennial Commission, Janet Akhtarshenas of Liberty State Park, John Beekman of the Jersey City Public Library, Dr. Timothy R. White of New Jersey City University, Black Tom Island playwright Martin Casella, and radio play director Darren Lee.

The panel was moderated by Jim Peskin, of the Art House Board of Trustees and an educator at Save the Ellis Island Foundation.

The Black Tom Island radio play and historical panel were made possible in part by the Hudson County History Partnership Program grant. Art House Productions is supported by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.

Art House Productions is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts organization committed to the development and presentation of the performing and visual arts in Jersey City, NJ. Art House Productions produces and presents original theater, events, visual arts, adult and youth arts education classes, festivals including Your Move: New Jersey’s Modern Dance Festival, the Jersey City Comedy Festival, and JC Fridays.

Based on an actual incident that took place in Jersey City in 1916, Martin Casella's Black Tom Island explores the first documented terrorist attack on American soil through the lens of a fictionalized Slovak immigrant and his wife who may or may not be involved in the attack. Funded in part through the Hudson County Historical Partnership Grant, Casella’s play has been adapted as a radio play directed by Darren Lee with sound design by Megumi Katayama. The cast includes Michael Stewart Allen, Damian Buzzerio, Mason Hensley, and Jenna Krasowski.

Narration by Art House’s Executive Director Meredith Burns. Art House’s staff also includes Producing Director Courtney Little, who also cast the production; Theater Manager Miranda Dahl, who also stage managed; and Gallery Director Andrea McKenna. Special thanks to Alan Muraoka, the Art House Productions board of trustees, interns Aanandita Bali and Veronica Gagliardi, and Emmanuel Vozos for the poster art.