An original play by Sparta resident Allison Ognibene will be presented at 7 p.m. Friday, July 18 and Saturday, July 19 at Sussex County Community College (SCCC), 1 College Hill Road, Newton.
Performances of “Mile 59” will be in the Performing Arts Center.
Tickets are $10 and may be purchased at the door or online at simpletix.com/e/mile-59-play-tickets-220072
Ognibene, lead faculty of theater at SCCC, wrote the play based on a true story.
It is about 57 Irish migrants who boarded the John Stamp ship from Durry to the Philadelphia in 1832. The migrants worked on a construction dig of the new Philadelphia/Concord railroad on Mile 59. Within six weeks of their arrival, all of them died reportedly of cholera.
The play also is based on the Duffy’s Cut Project and the historians, scientists and archaeologists who worked for years to uncover the prejudice and persecution that the migrants faced.
It was performed last month in the New York Theater Festival’s 2025 Spring/Summer Festival in Manhattan.
The cast includes SCCC students and alumni and local residents, including Fenrir Lewin of Branchville, Chris Flatt of Hamburg, Michael Foster of Hardyston, Phil Cocilovo of Montague, Gavin Bermingham of Newton, Sparta residents Sky Sobieski and Lillian Farrell, Nicolas Galloza of Stanhope, Leo Watson of Stillwater, and Vernon residents Danielle DiBattista and Lydia Rivera.