MainStage Series

For over sixty years, The Villagers Theatre has been providing quality entertainment and community service to Franklin Township. Through our MainStage series, we appeal to a broad spectrum of the theater-going public. Productions on the main stage range from Classic “Chestnuts” of American Musical Theatre, such as Hello Dolly!, Showboat and West Side Story, to more recent shows, some just off their Broadway runs or national tours. Five Guys Named Moe made its New Jersey community theatre debut on the Villager’s main stage. Other shows that have been presented on the Villager’s main stage include dramas such as One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and David Mamet’s Speed The Plow. Mysteries like Wait Until Dark and Agatha Christie’s The Spider Web have been presented. Classic comedies like Neil Simon’s Biloxi Blues and Michael Frayn’s Noises Off are always popular, as are recent musicals like Into The Woods and The Who’s Tommy.

In addition to these well know shows, we have also presented new works well in advance of their general publication. Drop Dead by NJ playwrights Billy Van Zandt and Jane Milmore made it community theatre debut at Villagers and Night of the Foolish Moon, by local playwright Luigi Jannuzzi, made it’s world premiere on our stage.

BlackBox Series

The Zaidi Theatre (our black box space) was added to Villagers Theatre in 1988. From the time of its construction until the fall of 1996 it served only as a “multi-purpose room,” being used to host our KidsVill series, rehearsals and special events.  Occasionally, it was used as a performance space for shows that needed more intimacy than provided by the main auditorium or that were a bit more challenging than we felt was appropriate for our traditional Main Stage audience.

That is, until the fall of 1996 when it became the permanent home of our BlackBox Series. It was in this series where we regularly presented more intimate and challenging productions.   It is where our directors, actors and audience members have “a safe place to do unsafe things.” Productions in this series ran from outlandish and absurd comedies like David Ives’ All in the Timing and Christorpher Durang’s Durang Durang, to intense dramas like Lanford Wilson’s Burn This! and David Mamet’s Oleanna.