Teacher’s play brings Roebling to center stage

Second grade teacher at the Roebling School authors play about the history of Roebling, as told by Charles G. Roebling.

By: Scott Morgan
   ROEBLING — The first half of the story? Easy. Kind of wrote itself, back in July, when a teacher’s brain is saddled with far less clutter.
   The second part?
   Yeah, the second part ….
   Well, to be fair, Carol Borbi is a teacher — second grade at the Roebling School, to be exact — not a playwright. But where there is a will, of course, there is a way. And when all else fails, there is winter break.
   "The second half became ‘How I Spent My Christmas Vacation,’" Ms. Borbi said.
   But hey, she got it done and now her half-hour play about the history of Roebling, as told by Charles G. Roebling, is about to be the talk (and occasionally song-and-dance) of the town. On Feb. 16, somewhere around 80 kids from the Roebling, Marcella L. Duffy and Holy Assumption Roman Catholic schools will present the history of the industrial village that is this year celebrating its 100th birthday.
   Like the village that would go on to be a steel products giant, Ms. Borbi’s play begins with the Jacob Hoffner farm — a peach orchard and potato farm that until the early 1900s was known as the duchy of Kinkora — as visited by Charles Roebling. Roebling (portrayed by Holy Assumption eighth-grader Tim Kinsley) then explains to four children the history of the village from its inception, through its heyday as home to massive wire rope production and onto the modern day historic village.
   But to be fair, Ms. Borbi did not go the entire route alone, and she doesn’t pretend she is the lone creator of the play. She had lots of help from lots of people, and for the record, the major helpers in what Ms. Borbi thrice called "a real joint effort" are Duffy teacher and Roebling villager Linda Reed, Roebling School teachers Beth Sinkleris (the theater person) and Erin Chassey (the music person), Holy Assumption teachers Michelle Scott and Joe Frappoli and retired Roebling School teacher and native villager Claire Stackhaus.
   "Lots of volunteers stepped up," Ms. Borbi said. "I didn’t actually ask people."
   This, of course, goes for the cast and crew, which, it turns out is 80 deep.
   "I didn’t even have to twist any arms," she said with a laugh. "We had loads of kids."
   Most of the kids play machinists, townsfolk, women wearing babushkas and other historical characters from the village’s early days, Ms. Borbi said. But a few get to sing and dance to the few songs the play has to offer, songs set to popular tunes with the words changed.
   Examples? "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" becomes "Jacob Hoffner Had a Farm" and the theme song to TV’s "Wyatt Earp" becomes a musical ode to "Wire Rope."
   In all, though Ms. Borbi said the cast and crew have yet to run an end-to-end rehearsal, she said practice is coming along just fine.
   "I’m real pleased to see the energy of the kids," she said.
   And, of course, she is pleased to see the history of her hometown come alive, especially as the number of original villagers is shrinking. Of those original numbers, she said, "there’s not a whole lot of people left."
   But for those who are, she said, the living history is intoxicating.
   "There’s always such a sense of pride listening to (native villagers) talk," Ms. Borbi said.
   Ms. Borbi’s play on the history of Roebling will show to the public one evening only, Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. at the Roebling School on Hornberger Avenue. Admission is free.