OCTOBER 14 • 2021 | 43

THEATER

A

n architect, a pedi-
atrician, a drafting/
computer-aided 
design instructor and a direc-
tor of high school theater 
programs share an interest 
in writing plays, and all have 
had their scripts produced by 
community theaters around 
the metro area.
Now they’re preparing for 
a new round of presentations 
brought about by Playwrights 
@ Work, which joins them 
together with about a dozen 
like-minded enthusiasts 
seriously pursuing theatrical 
interests apart from their full-
time careers. 
Participants help each other 
by critiquing plays in progress 
and offering suggestions to 
move along individual proj-
ects to satisfying completion.
Sponsored by the Village 
Players of Birmingham, 
Playwrights @ Work will 
showcase the 2021 One-Act 
Festival Friday-Sunday, Oct. 
15-17, at the stage company’s 
Birmingham theater.
The architect, Stephen 
Sussman, of Bloomfield 
Township, intro-
duces The Prize, 
which is about 
a young man 
immersed in 
Sussman’s day-
to-day profession 
but facing a moral 
dilemma connected to a 
design competition. 
Although not explicitly 
Jewish, the drama features a 
main character with a Jewish-
sounding last name. Another 

Sussman play, Matzoh Brei, 
produced years ago, was asso-
ciated with the playwright’s 
religion. 
“Playwriting is a creative 
outlet for me,” says Sussman, 
whose works have been per-
formed by the Ridgedale 
Players, Rosedale Community 
Players and St. Dunstan’s 
Theatre. “It’s very gratifying to 
hear actors speak my words, 
and it’s a great thrill to watch 
audiences respond.”
In the six-mem-
ber cast, another 
featured play-
wright, pediatri-
cian Udi Kapen, 
portrays the lead 
character.
Kapen, of West 
Bloomfield, takes a leap of 
fantasy in writing The Final 
Frontier, profiling an unhappy 
husband whose daydreams let 
him feel as if he can escape 
into outer space. One of three 
characters, the husband in 
question imagines himself in 
a setting that could bring him 
the relief he craves. 
“I love Star Trek,
” says 
Kapen, whose last play, Elijah’s 
Cup, was presented using 
Zoom as hosted by his congre-
gation, B’nai Israel Synagogue 
of West Bloomfield. This play-
wright, featured among the 
cast, has appeared in some 30 
productions for community 
theaters and especially enjoys 
roles that let him sing. 
“It’s fun to write a short 
play,” says Kapen, who started 
developing his own plotlines 
after appearing in the works of 

others. “It’s also important to 
show the satisfaction of being 
true to yourself.”
The design instructor, 
Jackie Sue Salter of Waterford, 
remains true 
to herself with 
Comic Book Hero, 
a play about a 
comic book writer 
in a rut and find-
ing a way to leave 
that rut by basing 
a story on a friend without 
telling that friend.
“I used to be a comic book 
collector, and I thought it 
would be a lot of fun to work 
on a play about comic books,” 
says Salter, an adjunct instruc-
tor at Oakland Community 
College who wrote three char-
acters into this production. 
Salter has been involved 
with community theaters 
since 1976, appearing onstage 
and more often taking on 
responsibilities required back-
stage. She has worked with 
Clarkston Village Players and 
Pontiac Theatre IV in show-
casing what she has written.
“This will be my fourth 
time in the annual One-Act 
Festival, and I’m glad to be 
part of it,” she says. Other 
plays she has written have 
included portrayals of a cos-
metic entrepreneur and two 
very different sisters reacting 
to their father’s death.
The theater director at 
Clarkston High School, 
Jennifer Ward, of Royal Oak, 
came up with a reality-based 
drama. She relates the emo-
tions of three women called to 

a hospital and waiting to learn 
which one is the mother of a 
shooting victim. Five charac-
ters enter into the plotline.
“I couldn’t let this story go,” 
says Ward, who serves with 
a committee at the Jewish 
Ensemble Theatre (JET) to 
choose plays for staged read-
ings. “I discovered theater 
late in life and found that 
playwriting gives me a way to 
bring my interests together 
— writing, language arts and 
theater.”
“My plays have been per-
formed by the Open Book 
Theatre in 
Trenton and the 
Ridgedale Players 
in Troy,” says 
Ward, who has 
chosen comedic 
themes for other 
projects. “I’m 
very happy to be associated 
with the Village Players and 
the other playwrights in our 
group.”
Cast members for the 
four short plays were chosen 
during open auditions just as 
they are for the longer pro-
ductions. 

Jewish playwrights to shine at Village Players’ Birmingham theater.
One-Act Play Festival

Stephen 
Sussman

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Details

The 2021 One-Act 
Festival runs at 8 
p.m. Friday-Saturday, 
Oct. 15-16, and 2 p.m. 
Sunday, Oct. 17, at the 
Village Playhouse in 
Birmingham. $10. (248) 
644-2075. birmingham-
villageplayers.com.

Jennifer 
Ward

Jackie Sue 
Salter

Udi Kapen

