Starting 'Stage Left' From the Ground Up

Not many stage directors possess the drive to form their own theater company, establish a relationship with a local theater, and mount three productions at that theater in two years, all while attempting to land a production slot in one of the largest theater festivals in their metropolitan area.

Fewer still are able to do so at the age of 17.

But East Brunswick’s David Fertik has done just that. His Stage Left Theatre Company, co-founded in 2010 along with 19 year-old East Brunswick native Steve Wei, will mount a production of Richard Greenberg’s “Three Days of Rain” at Playhouse 22 on Cranbury Road in August.

“Stage Left Theatre Company is a theatre company run entirely by students,” said Fertik. “Some of us are college students, some are still high school students. There are no adults telling us what to do. We do what we want, and that makes us produce better art, because it’s something that we are able to put our entire heart and soul into.”

Fertik and Wei came up with the idea to form their own company while still at East Brunswick High School. “I wanted the opportunity to direct something, and he wanted to act in some more experimental shows,” Fertik said. “As we started figuring out possible location options, and the show options, we kept going back to the new facility at Playhouse 22. I had shot a music video there in the winter of 2010, and knew that it was a top-notch facility.”

Their first production in 2010 was of “Two Rooms” by Lee Blessing, an ambitious selection for a group of teens to say the least. “It was a story about a professor who had gone to teach in the Middle East, but ended up getting kidnapped, and it was about how his wife dealt with the struggle of not knowing what's going on,” Fertik said. He knew he wanted to do this show, and he knew where he wanted to do it, but he wasn’t initially sure how to make it happen. “The one thing I hadn't figured out was how I would be able to use the space. Luckily, the theatre needed some teenage assistants for their acting academy, and my mother was the head of the EBHS drama club parents organization, so they had e-mailed her about getting some drama club kids to help out.

“So I volunteered, and then through that they asked me to operate the sound board for the production of 'Brigadoon.' And that's how I got involved with Playhouse 22.”

The next winter the group shifted to comedy, mounting Sir Alan Ayckbourn’s “Table Manners.”  However, not every event between Playhouse 22 and Stage Left Theater Company has been a laughing matter. “We had an incident during 'Two Rooms' with the fire alarms and some fog machines, that actually ended up costing the theatre about $600 to repair the automatically closing garage doors in the theatre,” Fertik said. “That caused a bit of stir, and we had volunteered to raise the money to pay back the theatre, but they were nice enough and basically said that we didn't have to pay them back. Playhouse 22 has always been very helpful, and professional, and I am glad I was able to basically partner with them to get our company off the ground.”

“Three Days of Rain” represents a return to drama for the group. The play is divided in two acts. The first tells the story of a brother, sister, and their childhood friend who suffer a falling out following the reading of the siblings’ father’s will. The second act moves backwards in time, telling the story from the perspective of the previous generation and shedding light on the reasons behind the stipulations of the father’s will. Each act includes three characters played by the same three actors.

Fertik, who begins classes at the University of the Arts this fall, acts as the production’s director, producer and designer. The cast includes Wei, Matt Makin of East Brunswick, and Claire Ann Tsiporukha of Morganville. Stage managers are Sarah Botzenhart and Jamie Brill, both of East Brunswick.

The production runs three performances: Aug. 12 and 13 at 8 p.m. and Aug. 14 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $8. For more details, visit www.playhouse22.org or www.sltheatrecompany.org.