WILLIAMVILLE \u2014 Rock River Players will continue their spring tradition of offering a lineup of short plays to the public this May, officially renaming the production the Annual Tom Ely Festival of One-Acts in memory of a beloved participant who embodied the spirit of community theater in the region.<\/p>\n
For the fifth year running, the festival will showcase a breadth of local talent, featuring a collection of four short plays all written by area playwrights. The lineup offers moments of laughter and reflection, exploring the universal themes \u2013 of family, memory, technology, connection and grief \u2013 through four distinct lenses.<\/p>\n
Performances will take place at the Williamsville Hall at 7 p.m. Thursday to Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Bench,” written by John Swartz and directed by Charlene Kennedy, offers a poignant character study centered on three people with personal ties to a deteriorating park bench, examining the quiet stories born in shared spaces and the meaning we apply to them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Mockingbird’s Nest,” written by Craig Bailey and directed by Shey Nessralla, who is making his directorial debut, is a futuristic satire examining the intersection of technology, human connection and lengths we\u2019re willing to go to alleviate our guilt.<\/p>\n
\u201cWork and Play,” written and directed by RRP newcomer Jon DeAngelis, provides a riotous collision between the past and present, bringing the audience into one family\u2019s 1940s living room, until their quintessential domestic life is interrupted by the distractions of modern life.<\/p>\n
\u201cAdvocate for the Dead,\u201d written by Miles Ledoux and directed by Kay Beckett, brings an original Agatha Christie adaptation to the stage with an atmospheric drama set against the cliffs of Mallorca, exploring themes of mortality and the paths we leave behind.<\/p>\n
While this production marks RRP\u2019s fifth annual presentation of one-acts, it is the inaugural production renamed in perpetuity to honor the memory of Ely, a core company member who died in 2025. Tom shared the belief that participating in theater is about \u201cmuch more than being on stage.\u201d<\/p>\n
The production celebrates his lasting legacy of inclusion and the spirit of exploration he brought to every production.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year\u2019s lineup offers a vibrant snapshot of the creative talent that exists all around us here in Southern Vermont,\u201d said Amy Donahue, the show\u2019s Producer and RRP\u2019s artistic director. \u201cAnd the opportunity to stage these stories in memory of Tom is a profound honor. We hope this collection of thought-provoking works serves as a fitting tribute to his passion for the power of community theater to bring us together.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the spirit of making the arts accessible to all, RRP is pleased for this production to mark the launch of a sliding scale ticket range of $15 to $25 for general admission, with no one turned away for lack of funds.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tickets are available both in advance at www.rockriverplayers.org<\/a>, or at the door (with cash, check, card, and Venmo\/PayPal all accepted). For any questions about the show or ticket reservations, contact info@rockriverplayers.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n In addition to the eight playwrights and directors, this year\u2019s company includes 19 local artists bringing each piece to the stage: Jonathan Benney, Emmadora Boutcher, Susan Boyd Joyce, Peter Broussard, Aaron Buchman, Tobi Buchman, Amy Donahue, James Duffy, Harral Hamilton, Ena K\u00fcpper, Miles Ledoux, Dyana Lee, Ann Linge, Linda Lipkin, Laura Lockie, Tamar Mentzer, Nick Morgan, and Nicole Winot \u2013 with Jess Guerrero on lights and sound.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.reformer.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" WILLIAMVILLE \u2014 Rock River Players will continue their spring tradition of offering a lineup of short plays to the public this May, officially renaming the production the Annual Tom Ely Festival of One-Acts in memory of a beloved participant who embodied the spirit of community theater in the region. For the fifth year running, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2425049,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[21741,356250],"class_list":["post-2425048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-ovation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Rock-River-Players-present-One-Acts-honor-one-of-their-own.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2425048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2425048"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2425048\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2425050,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2425048\/revisions\/2425050"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2425049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2425048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2425048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2425048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}