Keith Jefferds

Oh, for the good old days! It’s been some years since I’ve needed to see Masquers productions in rehearsal in order to meet the deadline for TPIT magazine. I’d forgotten how rehearsals change one’s perception of a play; although less tidy, in some ways they’re a much richer experience.

Other People’s Money, written in 1989 by Jerry Sterner, is directed by Robert Estes and plays until October 2. The show takes place in a small manufacturing town where New England Wire & Cable, a publicly traded firm, employs most of the town’s inhabitants.

If you’ve never seen the Ranjit Bolt translation of Tartuffe you deserve the experience. The original written by Molière was first produced in 1664 at Versailles. In 2002 Ranjit Bolt updated his translation to a modern play with marvelous rhyming couplets. This production is directed by Paul Shepard.

The Fantasticks opened off-Broadway in 1960 and closed in early 2002 after a record-breaking 17,162 performances. It was the longest-running show of any kind in the United States, and the longest-running musical in the world. This production at the Masquers runs June 9 through July 22 on Fridays and Saturdays starting at 8 pm. Sunday matinees at 2:30 pm on June 25 and July 2, 9 & 16. Call (510) 232-4031 or visit www.masquers.org.

There is a lot of serendipity around. Everything confirms each of our current impressions of the world. Lately, in order to complete my Masquers’ review in time for the This Point....in time publication, I have had to attend a rehearsal rather than the play. There is something unfinished about a rehearsal, but it is also more intriguing: what efforts have been spent and combined to create the illusions of theatre?