Vol. 18, No. 12	Nov. 19, 1998

Readers' Theatre grows from act of friendship

Richard Davison, English (left), Joy Schweizer and Jamie Cunningham, theatre,
have played important roles in the operation of the After Dinner Readers' Theatre.

The wife of Edward E. Schweizer, professor emeritus of chemistry and biochemistry, Schweizer had legions of friends at UD and in the community to help her stage a reading of Callahan's play. And, because all of those friends consider her a gourmet cook, "We always had to have dinner," Schweizer said, explaining how the group got its name.

"Most of the time actors prefer to eat after they perform," Jamie Cunningham, theatre, who has directed all of the readings, says. "But here we have a glorious meal at Joy's home and then go and perform."

With seven children and 21 grandchildren, Schweizer says mealtimes at her home have always been big productions. Feeding the cast and crew of a play is relatively simple, she says.

From the beginning, Richard Davison, English, was happy to lend the department's support to the endeavor, seeing it as a way to have shows produced that were being read in English classes. Cunningham saw it as another outlet for the undergraduate theatre students to whom he has a lifelong commitment.

The Readers' Theatre productions are different from fully staged productions in that the actors perform with script in hand. It is, however, much more than just a reading of a script as one might do for a radio play, Schweizer explains. Scenes are still blocked for movement, and there are costumes and props. There also are rehearsals, mostly held at Schweizer's home, accompanied by lots of good food.

"Readers' Theatre is really the only way we can get professional actors from New York to come down and do our shows," Schweizer explains. "It's a one-shot deal and they get a good meal out of it. They still have to look and sound the part, but, you see, these are such good actors that the books don't get in the way."

That first reading of A House For Fools , billed as an English Department Alumni night, was held in the fall of 1995.

"We had so much fun, we said, 'Let's do it again,'" Schweizer said. "That's when we sought funding from the English department. We wanted to do it right and keep the productions free for students to see. We also made a commitment to do classic plays."

There also was an unspoken agreement that each production would include some combination of UD undergrads, community actors and at least one professional actor. Two other Newarkers, Bea Sutton and Fran Exline, have been involved from the beginning and have helped make the group a success.

In addition to A House For Fools, productions have included: Tennessee Williams' Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, with professional actors Jane Lowe and Ted Harting; Noel Coward's Hay Fever with David Howey and Catherine Fitzmaurice, theatre; a special performance by Howey of Shakespeare's Everything & Nothing; and Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman with William Leach and Susan Sweeney, theatre.

With Hay Fever the group moved its productions from Bacchus Theatre in Perkins Student Center to Chapel Street Theatre "to attract more of a crossover audience," Schweizer said.

The group has access to Chapel Street whenever it is not being used for that group's own productions, and the theatre comes equipped with a technical director. The Readers' Theatre blocks its script around whatever set is already in place.

The result is a "wonderful activity for students to see the plays we are studying in class," Davison said. "It's an amazing combination of people and talent from the campus, the community and New York."

"If we didn't have this structured as a Readers' Theatre, there's no way we could do it," Cunningham says. "A full-scale production would take four or five times as long to put together and basically we are able to do this without money and without a theatre of our own-and get really good actors."

"Joy is endlessly good natured. It's not unusual for her to have actors sleeping all over her house," he added.

Students in Cunningham's introduction to acting class often will be assigned to read the plays, go see the show and write a paper on character portrayal.

It's also an opportunity for some of his students, those who are, "serious about acting," to work with professionals.

"There's nothing better for young actors than to get a chance to work with professionals-it's like apprenticing, seeing what it's really like. It's useful for students to meet professionals to learn all the practical aspects of the business-you know, how they earn a living when they're not in a show. All of those aspects."

-Beth Thomas
Photo by Jack Buxbaum

'Three by Two' to be staged Nov. 23

This fall's staged reading, includes three short one-act plays, The Jewish Wife by Bertolt Brecht, The Beast by Anton Chekhov and This Property is Condemned by Tennessee Williams. Free and open to the public, the performance will be held at 7:30 p.m., Monday, Nov. 23, in the Chapel Street Theatre.

UD students Christopher Briscoe, a senior finance major, and Jaclyn Tohn, a freshman elementary education major, will star in the Williams' piece. Professional actors Roberto DeFelice, who attended UD, and Jane Lowe, who has performed in other Readers' Theatre productions, have been cast in the Brecht and Chekov's plays.

While at UD, DeFelice appeared in Jesus Christ Superstar. His regional credits include Herr Mueller in Frankenstein, the father in Whenever a Feather Falls and Joseph in Christmas Show. He recently made his film debut at the New York International Independent Film Festival starring as Peter in Blue Angel. He is currently participating in the Conservatory for Working Actors at the Actors Center in New York, where he studies with Earle Gister and Joanna Merlin.

Lowe, who previously appeared with the Readers' Theatre in Cat On a Hot Tin Roof, began her performing career as a dancer. After graduating from The Juilliard School, she performed with the Louis Falco and James Cunningham dance companies, touring throughout Europe and the U.S. She performed on Broadway as the lead dancer in Oh! Calcutta! and as a Kit Kat girl in Cabaret. Among other roles, she has played Rosalind in As You Like It, Amanda in Private Lives and Birdie in The Little Foxes.

For information, call 731-4682.