The Chatham Community Players will host its 16th annual Jersey Voices One-Act Festival with five performances between July 30 and August 7. This year’s production will include six original short plays written by New Jersey playwrights, as well as one original dance piece.
Jersey Voices has provided a venue for New Jersey playwrights to showcase their work since 1995. "I’m constantly amazed and excited by the creativity, the resilience, the persistence of the Playwrights of New Jersey whose plays we get to present every summer. Each year they write brand-new slices of life for our enlightenment and entertainment – they are the heart and soul of Jersey Voices," said Producer Bob Denmark.
Three of this year's plays were written by playwrights whose works have been featured in Jersey Voices before (Gary Shaffer, Amanda Mayer and John Allison). The other four pieces were written by newcomers to Jersey Voices (Ian August, Carmen Collins, Evan Marshall and Desiree Caro). Artistic Director, Bob Lukasik, add, “It seems like only yesterday, but it was actually seventeen years ago that a group of young performers came to The Chatham Community Players with the idea of starting a summer theater program to promote new works, new actors and new opportunities. Now in its sixteenth season we rededicate ourselves to those ideals. Modern dance, drama, comedy and mystery are featured in this year’s festival. All made possible by a very talented group of artists.
Each of the following pieces will be performed each night of the festival:
A Priest Named Irving
by Carmen Collins of Metuchen
A comical and heart-warming story about a man of the cloth with a secret. It will show how the places and people we come from influence the people we become.
This production stars John Becker of Whippany, Diane Gilch of Martinsville, Clinton Scott of Hawthorne, Lou Cusano of East Hanover and Chaz Turner of Long Valley.
Directed by Maybelle Cowan-Lincoln of Morris Plains
Eleanor Descending a Staircase
by Ian August of Highland Park
Eleanor wants to buy a print of a painting for her husband's birthday. To do that, she must wrestle with what is Art, what is its purpose in life, and why is this sales clerk such an ass? This production features Stacey Petricha of Chatham and Chris Perez of Hackensack.
Directed by Jon DeAngelis of Chatham
Family History
by Amanda Mayer of NYC
Tells the story of an adult son and his successful but ailing father; coming together and understanding each other before it's too late This production features Paul Bettys of Denville, Sally Ponzio of Summit and James Broderick of Iselin.
Directed by Arnold Buchiane of Summit
Love Me Deadly
by Desiree Caro of Butler
A lyrical dance piece centering on the romantic exploits of “Charlie” and his three femme fatales, cautioning us that, in love, everything has its price. The talented cast includes Nina Hudson of NYC, Sarah Jes Austell of Summit, Megan Ferentinos of Cranford and Dan Higgins of Freehold.
Directed & Choreographed by Desiree Caro of Butler
The Most Powerful Man
by John Allison of Ewing
The action takes place today in the rabbi's office at Temple Beth Shalom. This production features Debbie Bernstein of Maplewood, Dan Higgins of Freehold and David Hoffman of Summit.
Directed by Joann Scanlon of Chatham
The Station
by Evan Marshall of Pinebrook
The postman not only rings twice in this clever mystery with comedic overtones, he stands there and waits for a signature. Murder, mistaken identity, an unpublished manuscript and a suitcase full of granola bars all move the story forward to an ironic and surprisingly moral conclusion. This production features Brian Carroll of Union, Victoria Steele of West Caldwell, Paul Bettys of Denville and Jennifer Chaky of Montclair.
Directed by Mark Phelan of Parsippany
Ashes to Ashes
by Gary Shaffer of Toms River
This fast paced comedy quickly turns to farce involving subterfuge, a supposedly dead papa, and a $1,000.00 bet! This production features John Becker of Whippany, Frank Briamonte of Scotch Plains, Lauren Einzig of Livingston, Lou Cusano of East Hanover and Tom Hodge of Denville.
Directed by Kate Schlesinger of Summit
Performance dates are Friday and Saturday evenings, July 30, 31 and August 6 and 7. There is one Thursday performance on August 5. All performances begin at 8 p.m. at the Chatham Playhouse 23 N. Passaic Ave. Chatham, NJ. Tickets are $15 for adults (19 and older) and $10 for youth (18 and under) and may be purchased online via our TicketLeap service. For more information, call the box office at (973) 635-7363. It is highly recommended that tickets be purchased in advance. Patrons with special needs requiring seating accommodations should contact the Playhouse at least 24 hours prior to the performance. Without prior notice, accommodations cannot be guaranteed.
Mail your submissions for next years festival to:
P.O. Box 234
Chatham, NJ 07928
Include a SASE for return of materials only
For more information, call 973-635-7363 or email jerseyvoices@chathamplayers.org