Next Stage: forum for older thespians

Three faculty members of the University's English department are attempting to make their mark in the world of theater.

Cliff Young, his wife Mary Skees Young and J.D. Shuchter, co-founders of The Next Stage Inc., are bringing together professionals and local talents to perform a wide variety of theater productions.

One-act plays such as Father Joe and Pop, and full-length plays such as Dice of Bone, all have been performed by the nonprofit company and have had a noteworthy amount of success.

"We're trying to do something frequent enough to make ourselves a presence in the theater," said Skees Young, co-founder, producer and director. "We haven't been able to make a splash because we don't have that kind of money."

Funding is the lifeblood of a nonprofit organization, which is why Next Stage relies on grants from other foundations. Funds are raised for the group one production at a time.

Literary councils in both Pennsylvania and Maryland have funded productions of Pop in several cities across the nation. The Pilgrim Project, a foundation from New York, funded the first productions of Father Joe and will aid the group in its September production of Elma.

Twenty-six administrative units of the University also made contributions to the premier production of Dice of Bone, which featured an all-minority cast with four actors from the Actors Equity Association in New York.

Though the group has received funding from many areas of the University, the casting of roles is not geared toward students. Most of Young's plays are directed toward older people and the group has found that casting a college student in a role about a senior citizen is not very convincing.

This fall's production of Elma requires a few actors in their late 20s and students could possibly be cast then, the co-founders said.

Thus far, all of the Next Stage's productions have been issue-driven plays dealing with illiteracy in a family (Pop), changes in a religious institution (Father Joe) and social upheaval brought on by political revolution (Dice of Bone). But the playwright has a different ideology.

"These plays are character driven. They're not arguments; they're not political; they're plays," said Young, playwright-in-residence. "I'm interested in people and people stories."

Take Pop for example. It is a love story that happens to discuss illiteracy.

"All the plays are about change and people coping with change," Skees Young said. "If there's a theme, that's it."

Those involved with Next Stage speak highly of the plays by Young, who earned his Masters of Fine Arts playwriting from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

"He's able to capture the flavor of other cultures, the way people interact," said Geri Weilacher, who also played the role of Janet in Pop. "He's a really good story teller and he's got this rye sense of humor."

Michael Bernosky, a local professional who played the role of Father Joe, said the play itself intrigued him, and he was happy to do a good script close to home.

Len Siebert, a technical theater specialist who appeared in Pop six times, said Young has some really good points to make.

"There's a lot of good information in (Dice of Bone)," he said.

Siebert, a 23-year resident of Port Matilda, has been working with the Young's and Schucter since the early days. His versatility as both an actor and technical specialist has been a welcome asset to the company.

"He can do anything with his hands and he knows everybody in this area," Skees Young said.

Prior to the first performance in 1992, Siebert was invited to the Young residence for a sample reading of Pop.

The play requires three actors and the other roles at the sample reading were read by Weilacher and J.D. Schucter, another co-founder of the company.

These three turned out to be the core cast of Pop and went on to perform the play many more times.

"It's marvelous when you go from a reading to see it performed," Weilacher said.

The group did not anticipate that the readings would eventually develop them into a theater group; it emerged by chance, they said.

But whether they anticipated it or not, that is exactly what it has turned out to be.

"We didn't set out with a program in mind," Schucter said.

Finishing his thought for him, Skees Young added, "We set out to do good plays."

The Next Stage Inc. is currently in contact with production companies in New York for a possible major production of Dice of Bone and will continue to prepare for this fall's four performance run of Elma -- a love story about freedom and commitment.