As William Shakespeare once said, “All the world’s a stage, and the men and women merely players.” One group of residents from Western Reserve Masonic Community has taken this quite literally, forming WRMC Readers Theater nearly a decade ago.
Strangely enough, the group began during a tai chi class. WRMC residents Ray and Jan Bubsey were discussing a play their tai chi instructor, Sandi Harris, was directing for Show Biz Theater at the time. Jan simply asked, “Can we do a readers theater here?” That was enough to get things running. Sandi immediately signed on as the director and proceeded to lead the group, which consisted of six residents: Ray and Jan Bubsey, Rosemary Haumesser, Edna Greenhorn, Bill Pfaff and Barbara Long.
Skits were ordered from New York and the group then selected the ones they wished to perform, divided roles, and began rehearsal. It got a little complicated, explains Jan, “We’re all hams! Sometimes people wanted to play the same parts.” The actors worked it out, however, and have continued to perform regularly over the years.
In 2010, Medina County Arts Council Vice President Jim Gilder came on as the new director. This was very beneficial because, as a retired drama director and English teacher at Cloverleaf High School, he easily selects skits and assigns roles.
The troupe runs on a six-week schedule. At the start of each cycle, Gilder brings the new set of skits and assigns roles. Players meet once a week for the first three weeks to rehearse, then hold a dress rehearsal to finalize staging and sound details. Week five is the performance. Each performance consists of an average of five skits and lasts about an hour. On week six, Gilder brings a DVD of the performance for the group to watch and gives each member a copy of the DVD to keep. The next week, they begin the process anew.
The skits are generally humorous in nature, which suits Ray Bubsey just fine. He says, “The best part is when I get a laugh. We have fun and we do a lot of laughing.”
They started as a small group performing with no microphones in a nook of the rotunda. Over the years, locations and equipment increased as members have come and gone. Today, there are 12 actors—Ray, Jan, Rosemary, and Edna from the original six, as well as Neal Beck, Jack Coberly, Margie Bayne, Louise McCarty, Blin Scatterday, Harry and Eleanor Lawrence, and Larry Shaw—and two sound technicians—Dom Pica and Roy Hoskins. They perform on stage in WRMC’s Chapel for residents and at times the community. They have also performed for the High Twelve Club, Ladies Auxiliary of Knights of Red Cross of Constantine, Medina Scottish Rite Society, and the Social Order of Beauceant.
One of the newer members, Jack Coberly, has recently begun writing for the group. “Readers Theater has been tremendous for me because I always wanted to act and write. This gives me the opportunity to do both.” His most recent effort highlights puns and will require perfect timing of the cast.
They have even talked about taking the show on the road, but it is ultimately about residents joining together to enjoy something they love. Says Rosemary Haumesser, “I’ve always loved drama. As a teacher, I did a lot of plays with my students. Being involved in drama again is wonderful.”
