New Faces Debut At Suffield Players Saturday Night

The Suffield Players may have been around for 60 years now, but by no means does the community theater group expect to remain the same.

Designed to teach, inspire and develop new talent, New Faces premieres Aug. 25 for one night to showcase 15 new actors in short plays.

New Faces is the brainchild of Shaun O’Keefe, director of the program.

"Even though community theater is for all to use, you end up having to cast the best talent all the time... and that leaves people out," O'Keefe said last week during rehearsals at . "And how does an actor get better if they never get on stage?"

So earlier this month, the Players put out a call for auditions with the intent to cast all who came forward, as long as the participant was either brand new to the Players or had never held a major role.

"This is the coolest thing," said Mary Fernandez, director of publicity. "It gives people a chance to strut their stuff and learn new things and work with us."

Fifteen actors, ages 17-55, will perform ten minute scenes Saturday night under the direction of Rayah Martin, Jeffrey Flood, Rob Lunde, Kelly Seip, and O'Keefe.

"We've got some really funny stuff," said Seip. "It's fast with only four rehearsals and up it goes. The actors really have to trust the directors. We've got some really amazing people who auditioned." 

For more information, please contact www.suffieldplayers.org