A New Jersey theater that has been open for nearly three decades is about to reopen its doors following the COVID-19 shutdown. But there will be one big difference – it is operating under a new name.

Theater artistic director Laura Ekstrand says she cannot wait to welcome back theatergoers after a long pandemic shutdown.

“I think it’ll be euphoric,” she says.

But it’s not only the four original plays coming up that she is excited about.

“The biggest thing that will be different is we will have a new name,” Ekstrand says.

The theater was previously known as Dreamcatcher Rep. Ekstrand co-founded the theater 27 years ago. It will now be known as Vivid Stage.

“What we put on stage is vivid. It’s emotional, visceral. It’s immediate,” Ekstrand says.

The nonprofit theater is housed in a former church in Summit. Ekstrand says that the name change comes because she felt the previous Dreamcatcher name – based on a Native American symbol – was now inappropriate.

“No one mentioned that, but it was lurking in my head that it was. And I just thought I don’t want to wait until it’s a problem for somebody else, because it’s already a problem for me,” Ekstrand says.

The theater has produced as many as 100 mainstage plays and musicals. Ekstrand says that the theater will reopen on Sept. 30