By Julia Train
South Jersey Players, Inc., a nonprofit touring theater company, is hosting a dessert theater fundraiser at Ventnor Coffee on Dec. 7 and 8 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $20 per person, which includes regular or decaf coffee or tea, homemade baked goods and the show, which consists of five one-act plays.
Founded by Marlene May in 2017, the South Jersey Players aims to bring fresh, locally written works to the stage, creating opportunities for both emerging and established artists in the South Jersey area.
“The goal of it is to give local playwrights a voice using South Jersey actors,” said May.
The company officially became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in 2020. This designation allows the company to receive tax-deductible donations, which are vital for funding its productions and community programs.
One key funding source is a re-grant from the Atlantic County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs, which has supported the organization for three years. This year, South Jersey Players received $7,000, which they have to match through ticket sales and fundraising.
The fundraiser at Ventnor Coffee is just one of many unique events that South Jersey Players hosts to engage with the community and raise the necessary funds to continue its work. The company performs at a wide variety of local venues, like Ventnor Memory Park and the Margate Library Park. Performances include a mix of short plays and monologues, which are typically 10-minute one acts, though longer works occasionally appear in the lineup.
“I like really not having a storefront, because we can go to different places, and it’s really good for the actors too. They’ve become very flexible,” said May. “It’s not like you have your own theater and you get to rehearse in your theater. It’s really a good skill to have to be able to go to one stage and then go to another.”
South Jersey Players’ relationship with Ventnor Coffee has been mutually beneficial and May feels loyal toward them because they were the organization’s first venue in 2017.
“They were the ones who gave us that initial opportunity,” she said. “That’s where we discovered that our audiences loved new plays. I wasn’t going to do that originally. I was going to do plays by less recognized playwrights, but when we went to Ventnor Coffee, we did five plays by local playwrights, and the audiences went crazy for it.”
For May, the combination of new plays, local talent and community support is what makes South Jersey Players special.
The December fundraiser’s plays include “Please Go Away!” by Sondra Mandel, “Big Louie is Comin’ to Town by guest playwright Jeff Dunne, “Uphill Climb” by Marlene May, “How Do I Love Thee?” by Tom Chin and “Trouble Ocean” by Edward Shakespeare.
Penny Mandel, Joe Chialastri, Edward Shakespeare, Parker Smith, Dayle Friedman, Alfred Margerum, Jerry Brucker, Leesa Toscano and Shirlee DiBacco will be acting in the plays; Tech support volunteers will be Chikita Wallace, Navara Wallace, Kim Halverson and Joey McGowen.
Those interested in attending, please call (347) 920-6399, as seating is limited.
