Lawrence welcomes new repetory company
By: Lea Kahn
Take one group of local actors and add one former Rider University administrator who also writes plays. The result is the newly formed Lawrenceville Repertory Company.
The repertory company has its roots in the desire of David and Leona Maffei to form a local theater group. The couple had been active in amateur theatrical groups around the area, including the Bordentown Players.
Many neighboring communities, including Pennington, Newtown, Yardley, Princeton and Bordentown, have their own amateur theater groups, but not Lawrence Township, Mrs. Maffei said.
"I thought, ‘Lawrence has a plethora of people who can do fabulous work. Why can’t Lawrence have a repertory company?’ So we started it. Our community is a close one, and I believe they are always willing to support local things," she said.
Enter Frederick Olessi, a former Rider University administrator who also writes plays in his spare time. He penned "Rumi" and "Masada," two plays that will be produced by the fledgling Lawrenceville theater company later this month.
The Lawrenceville Repertory Company could have chosen a well-known play for its initial offering, but the group decided to produce an original play that had never been performed, Mrs. Maffei said.
"When most repertory companies start up, they do classical plays," said Mrs. Maffei, who has switched to directing from acting. "I didn’t want to do that. I wanted to do original work, to see what I could mold it into. I wanted to do something new that maybe people have not seen. I thought of Fred, because I know his work."
Mrs. Maffei met Mr. Olessi when she won a part in his play, "Gulavade." He wrote the play in honor of Lawrence Township’s 300th birthday celebration in 1997. The play celebrated some of his neighbors in the Eldridge Park neighborhood, where he was raised.
Mrs. Maffei visited Mr. Olessi and outlined her plans for the theater company. She asked him whether he had written any new plays lately, and said the company would be interested in staging them.
A few days later, Mr. Olessi presented Mrs. Maffei with several plays that he had written but that had not been performed. She selected two plays "Rumi" and "Masada."
"Rumi" was written about a 13th century poet, who is the namesake of the play, and Shams, his mentor and beloved friend. Rumi was a well-known teacher who also was revered as a religious leader. After his wife and daughter died, he lost interest in life until he met Shams.
"From then on, Rumi saw only good in the world," Mrs. Maffei said. "The play is a story of love, and how to get the most from life. Rumi’s work is used in marriage ceremonies."
"Masada" is the story of a band of Jewish zealots who held out against the Roman army, from atop a rock outcropping in Israel, she said. The group of men, women and children committed suicide before the Romans could capture them.
The play shows the futility of war, she said. The Romans did not win and the Jews did not win. The sons of the Roman general and one of the Jewish leaders died which demonstrated the "inutility" of war to the two fathers, she said.
Mr. Olessi has attended virtually every rehearsal of the plays, which has been helpful to the cast, Mrs. Maffei said. They met the man who wrote the plays they are performing, which is unusual, she said. And because it is new material that has never been performed, the cast has the opportunity to do it the way they see it, she said.
"Other repertory companies get a script and they do the play and it is a success," she said. "I have directed standard plays. These plays have a smaller cast and we really worked. It wasn’t just blocking the play ‘You stand here and you stand there.’ The actors had to get into the characters and they became the characters."
Mrs. Maffei was so excited about the two plays that she approached Comcast Cablevision, the township’s cable TV provider, to film them for broadcast on the local channel. Comcast agreed, and filmed the plays. They will be broadcast on Channel 19 for one month, she said.
"We will be able to get to people who can’t come out to see the plays, like the elderly or the disabled. It’s a good way for them to see professional work being done," she said.
The Lawrenceville Repertory Company is interested in hearing from local playwrights who want to have their work produced, she said. It’s a chance to give their plays life and to get them off the shelf, she added.
The core group of about 15 actors and backstage staff, plus new members who may join the theater group, are good enough to perform any play that comes their way, Mrs. Maffei said proudly.