 When
Temple Beth Sholom in Stratford shut down its Bingo operation in the spring
of 1998, the synagogue lost its most consistent means of fund-raising.
In the wake of that loss of ongoing revenue, The Temple Players emerged
as a means to not only help raise funds but to introduce issues of American
Jewish life to a diverse audience of theatergoers through high-quality
staged readings.
With an array of theatre
groups nationwide dedicated to the Irish, Hispanic, black, and other ethnic
or special-interest group experience, founder Mark Lambeck realized that
Connecticut did not have a troupe dedicated to Jewish theater. Though
there were many synagogues and Jewish Community Centers throughout the
state that produced plays, they often did popular shows (“Hello Dolly,”
“Annie” or the occasional “Fiddler on the Roof”) and ignored the wealth
of lesser known works that focused on different aspects of Jewish life.
Seizing the opportunity to
bring shows with “identifiable Jewish characters or themes,” to Connecticut
audiences, Lambeck launched The Temple Players in August 1998 with a double-bill
of “Feiffer’s People” by Jules Feiffer and “Death Knocks” by Woody Allen.
The group began ambitiously by producing 4 shows a year in February, June,
August & October and evolved in 2004 into a summer-only theater that
has widened its focus to include original works with Jewish relevance.
THE
KAVA KAFE: The Temple Players perfoms in the Kava Cafe on the
lower level of Temple Beth Sholom, 275 Huntington Road, Stratford, CT (near
Paradise Green). The cafe is set up cabaret-style with round covered
tables and tea candles. It offers refreshments from coffee and soft
drinks to cakes, pastries, and other Kosher desserts which are available
for sale before the show and at intermission.
STAFF:
Mark Lambeck, Artistic Director
Mark is a director, producer,
and sometime actor but primarily a playwright. His works have been
presented throughout Connecticut including at The Warner Studio Theatre
(Torrington), The Little Theatre (New Haven), Playhouse on the Green (Bridgeport),
and Eastbound Theatre (Milford). NYC credits include: The Pulse
Ensemble Theatre, American Globe Theatre, Genesis Rep, and others.
A resident playwright of the Stratford-based SquareWrights and Manhattan-based
Emerging Artists Theatere Company, he has directed with SquareWrights,
the Oronoque Reader’s Theatre, and the Greenwich House Theatre in New York’s
Greewich Village.
Mark's plays, Countdown
to 40 and Bus
Stories are available at www.amazon.com. His plays October People and Intervention are in an anthology of Best 10-Minute Plays published by Smith & Kraus, and Lucky Day was published by United Stages Publishers.
|
M. Devorah Rubin, Producer
& House Manager
Devorah is a poet, essay
writer, and theater enthusiast. She has served as House Manager for
The Temple Players since its inception in 1998. She turned to poetry
when she discovered Live at Ives in New Haven, a poetry workshop.
She has since published three chapbooks: Song of the Bee, Sabbath Journey,
and
Love
Notes. Devorah has taught workshops in chapbook design and poetry
for seniors and is active in local and national poetry associations.
Her poems have been heard annually in the Holocaust Memorial Service sponsored
by the Stratford Clergy Association and selections from her Sabbath Journey
have been used in synagogue services from Connecticut to California.
Her first full-length book of poetry, Time
in the Garden, was recently published (2006) by 1st World Publishing.
|
MaryLou Levine, Business
Manager
Bev Goldberg and Selma
Greenberger, Box Office
Paul Raccuia, Crew Chief
JeriAnn Geller, Stage
Manager
Benji Ruscoe, Sound
Jared Taylor, Technical
Director
Sally Bell, Kava Cafe
Manager
Ed Schwartz, Graphic
Designer
Linda Lambeck, Publicity
Ken Blumberg, Company
Photographer
Stacey Severn, Web Site
OUTREACH:
The
Temple Players is dedicated to introducing mainstream audiences of all
religious backgrounds to issues affecting Jewish life (traditions, inter-marriage,
the Holocaust, anti-Semitism, etc.) through entertaining theatrical presentations.
Our shows are low maintenance and portable. Most of our staged readings
are available to be presented under special arrangement at other venues:
synagogues, community centers, churches, senior centers, etc. We
have performed our shows with the Oronoque Reader's Theatre, SquareWrights,
B'Nai Jacob Synagogue (Woodbridge), St. Andrew's Episcopal Church (Milford),
and the Hartford Children's Theatre.
In the fall of 2010, The Temple Players will be presenting The Rabbi Comedies at a synagogue in Bridgeport and A Biblical Sense of Humor at one in Fairfield.
If your group is interested
in having The Temple Players bring one of our presentations to your venue,
please contact us at: templeplayers@bethsholomstratford.org. |
