Chatham Playhouse Will Host 29th Annual Jersey Voices: One-Act Festival This Month

The Chatham Community Players (CCP) will host its 29th annual Jersey Voices One-Act Festival with five performances between July 28th and August 6th. This year's production will include seven original short plays written by New Jersey playwrights.

 This year's Jersey Voices features seven pieces by local New Jersey playwrights exploring themes of the relationships we have with our family, our past selves, reality, and the world around us. The evening is a great opportunity to see brand new stories brought to life by talented members of our NJ theater community. In the 29 seasons of performances, Jersey Voices has brought the work of over 100 playwrights to live on the stage.

 “This is my 5th season producing Jersey Voices and what has really stood out to me over the last five years is the love that the community has for this project.” says producer Jessica Phelan of Montclair.  “This year we received 166 play submissions (the most ever), had over 20 directors apply to be considered, and over 50 performers come out to audition.  We have four assistant directors this year looking to learn more about the whole process. Jersey Voices is a really special part of the work that Chatham Community Players does as the chance to dive into new work, and, in some cases, work closely with a playwright is not typical in community theater.  I am so proud of the forum that Jersey Voices creates for collaboration and new material.”

 Performance dates are July 28, 29, August 4, 5 at 8pmand August 6 at 7pm at the Chatham Playhouse, 23 North Passaic Avenue, in Chatham. All tickets are $15

 Tickets can be purchased at our Box Office or Online. To access the theater's new online ticketing service, where you can now reserve your particular seat, simply go to ccp.booktix.com. The service is available 24 hours a day and tickets can be purchased online up until three hours prior to curtain on the day of a performance. For more information, call the box office at (973) 635-7363 or go to www.chathamplayers.org.

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

 “Pigeon + Duck” by Amanda Sage Comerford of Hawthorne - A proudly independent single mother debates if her own adult daughter can hack it after finding a positive pregnancy test in the daughter's trash bin. This play features Gabrielle Wagner of Summit and Erin Feith of Florham Park. Directed by Jenna Burke of Summit.

 “Snow Globe” by Blaire Deziel of Summit - Henry and Susan, a brother and sister still living together in their childhood home, reflect on the importance of memory on a cold winter's day. Nick Foil of Somerset and Brooke Harrsch of Vernon. Directed by Julia Frieri Cassisi of Cranford.

 “Three Items at a Time” by Scout Graham of Fanwood- A story of loving acceptance. A mother and her daughter go shopping for Prom dresses with zero success because, we discover, Cory would prefer to wear a suit. Elissa Strell of Warren and Ren Bailey of Basking Ridge. Directed by Lionel Ruland of Parsippany, Assistant Directed by Rachel Gesner of Florham Park.

 “Catch 23” by Gabrielle Wagner Mann of Summit - Two strangers become friends as they discuss the (possibly?) unreliable nature of reality. Gus Ibranyi of West Caldwell and Heidi Hart of Maplewood. Directed by Aaron Kellner of West Orange.

 “Water Bar” by Tracie E. Morrison of Newark - A spoof on high-end "restaurants" but this one just serves water! Filtered, Infused, Turkish, Chilean etc. You get the idea.Bradley Carrington of Summit, Erica Stuppler of Union and Jose Riveria of Springfield. Directed by Joann Lopresti Scanlon of Chatham, Assistant Directed by Eleanor Anderson of Bethlehem, PA.

 “The Dating Pool” by Arianna Rose of Delray Beach, FL - Is hindsight really 20/20? What if you could give your younger self relationship advice? In this surrealistic piece, an older woman dreams that she can do just that. Jodi Maloy of Cedar Grove, Miranda Montalvo of Montclair, Anna |UnwinMcCabe of Morristown, Monica Ross of West Orange and Sarah Pharaon of South Orange. Directed by Sharon Garry of Cedar Grove.

 “Come Fly with Me” by Loretta Bolger Wish of Manasquan - A man and woman take turns panicking over a bumpy flight that rapidly escalates their relationship from seatmates to would-be paramours—until an even more unwelcome disturbance throws them completely off course.Danny Greg of Summit and Ruth Kliwinski of Bloomfield. Directed by Julie Anne Nolan of Little Falls.

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