Chatham Community Players

Jersey Voices Festival (2005)

James Broderick (left) and Keith Beechey of Ebbets Field (photo by Westie Grosh) The Chatham Community Players will host its 11th annual Jersey Voices One-Act Festival with five performances between July 29 and Aug. 6. This year's production will include six short plays written by New Jersey playwrights.

Jersey Voices has provided a venue for New Jersey playwrights to showcase their work since 1995. This year's selection committee received 80 scripts from more than 37 playwrights across the state.

More about the Jersey Voices Festival

Actors and directors enjoy being a part of Jersey Voices because it allows them to perform/direct pieces that have not been produced before. Many actors and directors are Jersey Voices veterans, while some are newcomers. "Jersey Voices is about trying new things - new plays, new writers, new directors, new crew members, even new producers - and giving them an opportunity to do things they've not done before. Each year we are pleased to find someone we knew in one way doing something entirely different - an author directing; a director acting; the sound designer performing on stage," said producer Bob Denmark.

Five of this year's plays were written by playwrights whose works have been featured in Jersey Voices before (Eric Alter, Frank Briamonte, Gary Shaffer, Margaret Ruvoldt, and Donald Earle Howes). The other piece was written by a newcomer to Jersey Voices, Henry Meyerson. "Chatham Players has long been regarded as a special venue among playwrights and I am honored to be in such good company," stated Meyerson.

Each of the following pieces will be performed each night of the festival:

What is life but the sum of our memories? Daniel, a middle aged man, his father, Vincent, and Leslie a caretaker at an assisted living facility deal with this question. This production features Jim Broderick of Iselin, Keith Beechey of Fairfield, and Gloria Mui of South Orange.
Kate Schlesinger directs.

The stresses of a relationship can show up in the strangest of places. Chess Lankford of Summit plays a groom to be and Laura Brown of Morris Plains, the bride to be.
Joann Scanlon directs.

The closest lines of communication can be broken by tragedy. This show features Deborah Bernstein of Maplewood and Tom Drummer and Joshua Dick of Chatham.
Jon DeAngelis directs.

The boys of summer will be boys - Mel, a baseball fan and Tracy, his wife are portrayed by John Saul of Morristown and Kristin Barber of East Stroudsburg.
Arnold Buchiane directs.

Truly, beauty is not skin deep. - Christopher, a young man has an encounter with Alice, an older woman. This show features Jo Ray of Berkeley Heights, Paul Bettys of Parsippany, Peter Curley of Maplewood, and Laura Carey of Ledgewood.
Mark Phelan directs.

Is there anything real in the world of advertising? Erin Honcharuk of Springfield, Phil Levesque of Morris Plains, Heather Rich of Iselin, Gillian Suss of West Orange, and Chris Furlong of Morris Plains are a part of this piece conceived by Donald Earle Howes.

"This season we have an exceptional pool of talented directors and equally talented performers. One of the elements that makes us unique is that Jersey Voices is dedicated to a collaboration between playwright, director, actor and uniquely — our audience. Join us for the opportunity to "talk back" with all of the production people, those on-stage and off. Every evening, following the performance, we open the floor to our audience and invite them to share in the unique experience of Jersey Voices,"Artistic Director — Bob Lukasik.

* Mild adult language is contained in some of the pieces

Performance dates are Friday and Saturday evenings, July 29 and 30, and Aug. 5 and 6. There is one Thursday performance on August 4. All performances begin at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students/seniors.