By Ruth K. Brown
originally published: 10/24/2015
When this reviewer has the opportunity to write about a production presented by South Camden Theatre Company (SCTC), the adjectives that usually spring to mind include insightful, well cast, and thought-provoking. With their latest production and regional premier of CHARLIE VICTOR ROMEO (CVR), SCTC has reached even higher. Now, first of all, this is not like most theatrical pieces. In other words, the usual conventions are not obvious in CVR. The set is a small cramped space filled with electronics; the costumes are uniforms; the movement is non-existent as all action is done seated; and the dialogue is verbatim from recovered aircraft black boxes. In CVR, theatrical expectations are there…they are just subsumed inside the elaborate and extremely specific jargon and situations of airline pilots and ground traffic personnel.
Now add the adjectives unique, artistic, and “sticky” and one comes close to an appreciation of CVR. Director, Joseph M. Paprzycki, worked with his ensemble of seven (7) actors to perform each of the six “flights” that comprise CVR to provide six complete stories each at its most terrifying point. Since passengers do not hear what is happening in the cockpit, CVR is unique. SCTC (many kudos to Robert Bingaman!) puts a visually compelling cockpit on stage with accompanying lights and sounds making CVR artistic. This is accentuated by simple statements of fact projected above the stage. Now to “sticky”. CVR is “sticky” because its words and sounds will not leave you any time soon. Audiences hear the reality and closely controlled desperation of these airline crews as they fight with everything they have to get both them and their passengers home alive. It is not often when theatergoers find themselves paying close attention to straining muscles willing them to hold on!
The ensemble cast of Eric Carter, Kevin Doyle, Jason Cutts, Stacy Skinner, Tyler S. Elliott, Cindy Starcher and Paul Sollimo are to be commended singly and as a group for their work which was “above and beyond”. As the lights come up on each scene, each actor is instantly emotionally invested in what is happening. Each presents a different persona in its entirety. There is no chance for the audience and the actor to establish a rapport. CVR demands ready-to-go characters, and these actors delivered on that demand.
CVR is another example of how SCTC is bringing the theatre arts into Camden. Never to be a venue to consider only those productions usually done to draw large audiences, SCTC has taken another step down its long-standing path of grabbing people as they pass by and giving them an experience they won’t forget! Don’t miss your experience!!
South Camden Theatre Company presents CVR now through November 1
400 Jasper Street, Camden, NJ 08104
For more information visit www.southcamdentheatre.org
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Fellowship For Performing Arts Presents C.s. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters
Friday, November 06, 2026 @ 7:30pm
New Brunswick Performing Arts Center (NBPAC)
11 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJA battle is being waged for your soul from an office in hell! Witness a fast-paced, tour-de-force performance in this acclaimed adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ satiric masterpiece. This international hit offers a faithful stage adaptation of Lewis’
The Screwtape Letters, following Screwtape, a senior tempter in Hell, as he schemes to capture the soul of an unsuspecting human on earth and reveals spiritual warfare in vivid, humorous and powerful ways.
Lewis Center For The Arts Presents "oratorio For Living Things"
Friday, November 06, 2026 @ 8:00pm
McCarter Theatre Center (Berlind Theatre)
91 University Place, Princeton, NJInfusing a classical oratorio with blues, gospel, jazz and soul, this musical and visual journey investigates human experiences of time and memory alongside powerful physical forces that shape the universe. Our exploration emphasizes the significance of the ritual of gathering for live performance in an increasingly screen-focused world.
Featuring the students of the Lewis Center as the cast and crew, this production is the first non-professional performance of this important new work which premiered in 2022 in New York City to great critical acclaim.
Directed by visiting Iranian artist and director Nikoo Mamdoohi, with English to Latin translations by Greg Taubman, Princeton Class of 2006, the professional team includes music direction by Emma Sway, music supervision by Solon Snider Sway, set design by Afsoon Pajoufar, lighting design by Kelley Shih, sound design by Kay Richardson, costume design by Keating Debelak, choreography by Sariel Golomb, and stage management by Milan Eldridge, Princeton Class of 2020. Juniors Lota Alagbe and Peyton McLaughlin serves as dramaturgs.
This project is cosponsored by the Princeton Humanities Initiative. Princeton Humanities Initiative.
It's A Family Affair, The Play
Saturday, November 07, 2026 @ 3:00pm
Avenel Performing Arts Center
150 Avenel Street, Avenel, NJGet ready to be part of an extraordinary theatrical experience.
PHP, Arts & Entertainment presents It’s a Family Affair—a play like no other, and we want you to be there! 🎉
Fellowship For Performing Arts Presents C.s. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters
Saturday, November 07, 2026 @ 4:00pm
New Brunswick Performing Arts Center (NBPAC)
11 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJA battle is being waged for your soul from an office in hell! Witness a fast-paced, tour-de-force performance in this acclaimed adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ satiric masterpiece. This international hit offers a faithful stage adaptation of Lewis’
The Screwtape Letters, following Screwtape, a senior tempter in Hell, as he schemes to capture the soul of an unsuspecting human on earth and reveals spiritual warfare in vivid, humorous and powerful ways.
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/when The Rainbow Is Enuf,
Saturday, November 07, 2026 @ 3:00pm
Middletown Arts Center
36 Church Street, Middletown, NJDunbar Repertory Company presents Ntozake Shange’s
FOR COLORED GIRLS Who have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf, the groundbreaking “choreopoem” – a spellbinding collection of vivid prose and free verse narratives about and performed by Black women. Directed by Darrell Lawrence Willis, SR.
EVENT PREVIEWS
The Village Playbox presents "The Philadelphia Story"
(HADDON HEIGHTS, NJ) -- The Village Playbox presents The Philadelphia Story by Philip Barry across three weekends from November 6-21, 2026 at the First Presbyterian Church of Haddon Heights. This smash Broadway comedy, about an eventful wedding weekend at the estate of a wealthy American family, inspired an Oscar-winning film and the hit musical High Society.
Cumberland Players presents "The Pillowman"
(VINELAND, NJ) -- Cumberland Players presents The Pillowman across two weekends from November 6-15, 2026. With echoes of Stoppard, Kafka and the Brothers Grimm, The Pillowman centers on a writer in an unnamed totalitarian state who is being interrogated about his gruesome short stories and their similarities to a series of child murders.
Playhouse 22 presents "Working"
(EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ) -- Playhouse 22 presents Working weekends from November 6-22, 2026. Based on Studs Terkel's best-selling book of interviews with American workers, Working paints a vivid portrait of the workers that the world so often takes for granted: the schoolteacher, the phone operator, the waitress, the millworker, the mason, and the housewife, just to name a few.
Phoenix Productions presents "Parade"
(RED BANK, NJ) -- Phoenix Productions presents Parade at Count Basie Center for the Arts from November 6-8, 2026. The tragic, true story of the trial and lynching of a man wrongly accused of murder is brought to theatrical life.
16th Annual Tri-State Theatre Festival to take place November 6-8
(SPRING LAKE, NJ) -- South Street Players presents the 16th Annual Tri-State Theatre Festival from November 6-8, 2026. Produced by Rob Sullivan, the festival showcases the best new short plays written by local writers from New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.
Pioneer Productions presents Neil Simon's "Rumors"
(MORRISTOWN, NJ) -- Pioneer Productions presents Neil Simon's Rumors from November 6–15, 2026 at The Stage at Fellowship Hall. This is Simon's celebrated comedy of confusion, deception, and nonstop laughs. Known for its rapid-fire dialogue and relentless comic momentum, Rumors is widely regarded as one of Simon's most ambitious and brilliantly constructed farces.
Burlington County Footlighters presents "The Drowsy Chaperone"
(CINNAMINSON, NJ) -- Burlington County Footlighters presents The Drowsy Chaperone weekends from November 6-21, 2026. When a die-hard theatre fan plays his favorite cast album, the characters come to life in this hilarious Tony Award-winning musical farce.
Axelrod Performing Arts Center presents "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat"
(DEAL PARK, NJ) -- Axelrod Performing Arts Center presents Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's beloved musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat from November 6–22, 2026. The irresistible family musical about the trials and triumphs of Joseph, Israel’s favorite son.
South Camden Theatre Company presents "Sex Please We're Sixty"
(CAMDEN, NJ) -- South Camden Theatre Company presents Sex Please We're Sixty weekends from November 6-22, 2026. Directed by Zuhairah McGill, the comedy by Susan and Michael Parker is a celebration of life!
Mile Square Theatre presents "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf"
(HOBOKEN, NJ) -- Mile Square Theatre presents For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf from weekends from November 6-15, 2026. Written by Ntozake Shange, this groundbreaking "choreopoem" is a spellbinding collection of vivid prose and free verse narratives about and performed by Black women.
