REVIEW: RETURNING JERSEY VOICES A WELCOME ADDITION TO THE LOCAL THEATER SCENE
by Ruth Ross
Once upon a time (in what feels like an eon ago), I wrote, “If it’s summer, it must be time for Jersey Voices.”
That was B.P. (before the
pandemic), and I am glad to
report that Jersey Voices, the wonderful festival of one-act plays by
New Jersey playwrights, has returned to the Chatham Playhouse stage, opening on
Friday, August 6th, and running through August 15.
Seven entries were selected from close to 400
submissions this year. As usual, the productions range from terrific to meh,
but all are thought-provoking enough to discuss on the ride home from the
theater!
Starting off the evening is a sweet
two-hander, Cloud Illusions, by Amber Kusching and directed by Arnold
Buchiane, that involves a chance meeting between two people that affects both
their lives. Lying on the ground in her wedding dress looking up at the clouds,
Joan (Anna McCabe) is encountered by busy lawyer Mitchel (Chip Prestera). As
she reveals that she has run away from the stress of her imminent wedding, he
decides to join her on the ground. Together, they discover that one should take
time to see the “ice cream castles in the air” formed by the clouds—a nice riff
on taking time to “smell the roses” in our busy lives. Both McCabe and Prestera
portray these two somewhat lost people with empathy and pathos, without resorting
to the saccharine characterizations it would be so easy to fall into, given the
playlet’s “message.”
Bernice’s Birthday, by Brigid Amos and directed by Joann
Lopresti Scanlon, is a real winner! A cantankerous husband takes his wife of
many years out to celebrate her birthday in New York City. What should they
order? Where should they eat? Outdoors? Indoors? When, the second he steps
away, and a young, attractive musician steps in to serenade her, trouble brews.
The repartee between the curmudgeonly Lloyd (Fred Dennehy) and the prim, timid
Bernice (Jean Kuras) flows naturally, marked by his overbearing dominance and her emergence
as a woman who finally speaks her mind. We want to get up a cheer when she puts
him in his place and gets what SHE wants on her day. David Romankow’s Musician
doesn’t have much to do except sing a few bars, but he is the catalyst for the
change in the power dynamics of the older couple’s relationship. Scanlon’s
crisp direction rachets up the tension as the play progresses, leading to a
fine denouement.
Another terrific entry is Bigger Than
Pretend, a wacky dramedy by Robin Rice and directed by Jackie Jacobi. A
homeless couple uses their imagination to dream away their dire circumstances,
but some challenges are too great, even for make-believe. Terrific
performances are turned in by Lauri MacMillan as the dour Remington and Gloria
Lamoureux as the fey Wadsworth, the former concerned about the environment, the
latter more impulsive, so much so that she lifts her partner out of the
doldrums to face, once again, life on the move. The hopelessness, tempered by
the creative optimism, feels real if a bit off the wall, and lifts the mood
created in the opening moments of the play.
The third terrific playlet, an
absurdist comedy entitled The Village Photo, by Charles Grayson and directed by
William Michael Harper, involves Reed, a recent Pulitzer-prize winning
photographer who battles his conscience during a clandestine rendezvous with Gideon,
a high-level intelligence officer who demands the secret behind a viral photo. Two
superb performances by Matt McCarthy as Reed and David Romankow as Gideon drive
a convoluted plot that feels like it’s been taken straight out of a bad spy
novel. Romankow’s incessant questioning reduces McCarthy’s Reed to a blubbering
idiot, much to the delight of the audience. It was a terrific way to end the
evening. (Top image: Matt McCarthy and Dave Romankow)
My Dad Is Bald by Minjae Kim and directed by John
A.C. Kennedy involves two high school friends as they grapple with each other’s
preconceptions about family, image, childhood loss, the evolution of
relationships, the value of the present moment, and the cultural implications
of a really short haircut—all during a half-court game of basketball. The script had some fine moments in it but suffered
from a lack of projection by the two young actors, who had to talk while
playing basketball (yes, on the Playhouse stage) and who often faced away from
the audience, making the dialogue often difficult to hear. Genjiro (Wasif Sami)
appears rather clueless as he talks about his new haircut and its effect on
girls while Zinhong (Kyle Cao) grapples with the changed behavior of his father now bald from a catastrophic accident; his son misses the way the two interacted in the past. As the teens talk, they come to some universal truths about life, with the
now more sympathetic Genjiro counselling his buddy about how to deal with this new
situation. Kennedy does a fine job getting his young actors to maneuver around
the playing space; I just wish he had gotten them to speak louder.
A Benevolent Alliance of Mourners by Ken Preuss and directed by Lionel Ruland also tackles a serious subject, the death of a young person. Danielle, home from college to attend the funeral of a friend, and Ellie, hired to sing at the service, meet by chance outside the church, where they converse, confess, and connect in unexpected ways. Not much happens during the course of the performance, but Sarah DeVisio (Danielle, left) and Megan Pereira (Ellie, right) have several epiphanies that change them before they open the door to rejoin the mourners. It’s a sweet play and delightful to see them unwrap their protective cloaks to reveal the vulnerability beneath.

Finally, A Dave with Destiny,
also by Ken Preuss and directed by Elizabeth Rogers, is the slightest playlet
of the lot. Dave (Jason Kruk) and Destiny (Jessica Phelan) meet on a street
corner and struggle to discover why each recognized the other. Have they met
before? Is there a deeper connection? Are they crazy? Perhaps all three. The
most fun comes from the two firing off possible connections, one after another,
until they discover why they have a feeling of recognition. It’s a bit silly
but indicative of the interconnectedness of all of us, however wacky it may be.
Rogers keeps the rapid-fire dialogue moving along apace, and Phelan turns in a
polished performance, quite a feat since she took over the role only three days
before!
Since 1995, Jersey Voices has
provided a venue for more than 90 New Jersey playwrights to showcase their work.
The festival of original plays has become a fixture on the local theater scene
and is an event not to be missed! Welcome back to this fine production!
Performance dates are August 6, 7,
13 and 14 at 8 PM and August 15 at 7 PM. All performances are held
at the Chatham Playhouse 23 North Passaic Ave Chatham, NJ. All Tickets
are $15. To access the theater’s online ticketing service, simply go to ccp.booktix.com. For more
information, call the box office at (973) 635-7363 or go to www.chathamplayers.org. It
is highly recommended that tickets be purchased in advance.
Audience members who have not been
fully vaccinated MUST properly wear a mask at all times while in the theater.
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.