Premiering at the Hampstead Theatre in London on November 7th, 1977, Bernard Pomerance’s “The Elephant Man” saw immediate success in London. The story of Joseph Merrick, a man in Victorian London who is known for the extreme deformity of his body, it opened off-Broadway in New York in January, 1979, before opening at the Booth Theatre on Broadway. The original Broadway run saw 916 regular performances, and the play had revivals in 2002 and 2014. The role of Merrick has been performed by noted actors that include David Bowie, Mark Hamill, Bruce Davison, Billy Crudup, and Bradley Cooper.

In real life, Merrick’s condition began to appear at age 5, beginning with rough, gray, elephantlike skin. His condition progressed significantly, and injuries caused further deformation and permanent disability.

Merrick’s mother died when he was 11, and he left school at 13 to get a job, but his increasing debilitation affected his ability to work. In 1884, at age 22, Merrick decided that his appearance might be his ticket out of the workhouse. He worked with entertainment businessman Sam Torr to create the Elephant Man Exhibit, advertised as half-man, half-elephant, across from the London Hospital. He generated much interest from the medical and scientific community, including Dr. Frederick Treves. Eventually landing in London and under Treves’ care, Merrick’s life began to involve endless exhibition within high society circles. After his death, plaster casts of his body and skeleton were displayed at the hospital.

The play focuses on Merrick’s humanity and quest to define himself as a man of society after spending his life as an outcast. Joseph, called “John” in the play, desires to be seen and accepted, but to transcend his life as a grotesque side show act. The lead role of Merrick usually requires an actor to sustain a contorted body posture and skewed facial alignment for the entire performance without the use of prosthetics.

The Garfield Center would like to thank Peoples Bank, the production sponsor for “The Elephant Man”, for their community support.

Playing the title role of Merrick in the Garfield Center production is Ben VanNest. Ben has been involved in Eastern Shore theatre since appearing in TAP’s production of “Night of the Iguana” in 2007. Other roles include Bobby in “Company”, and Jasper in “The Aliens”, among others. He has also been a scenic designer for The Underground Actors and Groove Theatre. A music graduate of Saint Mary’s College of Maryland, he currently works as an Architectural Designer for Rauch Inc.

In the role of Frederick Treves is Brad Chaires. Brad has been seen singing and acting in multiple productions on different stages on the Eastern Shore. He appeared in GCA productions of Annie, Greater Tuna, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, among others. He also appeared in CHT’s A Funny Thing Happened…Forum, and their annual Gala. Brad directed Clue for the GCA in 2021.

Performing as Carr-Gomm, Superintendent of the London Hospital, is Matt Folker. Matt recently appeared at the GCA as Lloyd in Noises Off. He has amassed a large number of productions at various Eastern Shore theatres over the years, including The Rocky Horror Show, and Triumph of Love, among others.

As Ross, freak show operator and emcee, is Patrick Pearce. Patrick also plays the roles of the Nurse, Sandwich, and the Duchess. Patrick recently appeared as Freddie in Noises Off, as well as Harold in Happy Birthday Wanda June, Chris Bean in The Play That Goes Wrong, and Dr. Roy Flemming in Prescription: Murder, among others. Patrick has also directed plays for Short Attention Span Theatre and was co-director for Playmakers in 2022.

Brianna Johnson plays several roles, including the First Pinhead, the orderly Snork and financier Lord John. Also a recent performer in Noises Off, in the role of Poppy, she has also appeared at the GCA in Prescription: Murder, A Rock Sails By, and in CHT’s August: Osage County and Charley’s Aunt. She has also directed several plays for SAST.

 Sheila Austrian will also play several roles, including Pinhead Manager, the Conductor, Bishop Walsham How, and the Countess. She returns to the GCA, where she last appeared in Inherit the Wind. At CHT, she has performed in I Hate Hamlet, Our Town, Equus, Witness for the Prosecution, and Watch on the Rhine, among others.

Debra McGuire will play several characters, including the Policeman, the actress Mrs. Kendal, and a Nurse. She returns to the GCA after last appearing in The Laramie Project. She recently appeared in CHT’s August: Osage County. Debra has appeared on stages in Cecil and Harford Counties, as well as Delaware’s New Castle County, in such roles as Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, Ouiser in Steel Magnolias, and Gertrude and The Ghost in Hamlet, among others.

Cecile Davis will perform in the roles of the Second Pinhead, the Porter, and Princess Alexandria. After starting in dance, and securing a BA in contemporary theatre and film from East 15 Acting School in England, she returned to the Eastern Shore and has performed in various productions in the area. Credits include productions with Shore Shakespeare and TAP, and directing at Saints Peter and Paul and for her nonprofit, The Factory.

Director for The Elephant Man, and the production’s Lighting Designer is E.T. (Talley) Wilford. Talley currently serves as the Artistic Director of Groove Theatre through the Factory Arts Project. For the Groove, he directed many productions including The Jungle Book, The Yellow Boat, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and Torch Song. He also directed productions of Peter and the Starcatcher, The Rocky Horror Show and many of the Stephen Sondheim titles for various other theatres. This is his first production for the Garfield Center.

Other production staff credits include Costume Designer Cecile Davis, Stage Manager Natilee Keating, and Assistant Director and Assistant Stage Manager Galen Marquess. Producers are Steven Arnold, Nic Carter and the Garfield Center for the Arts, and media graphics and playbills are by Francoise Sullivan.

The Garfield Center’s production of The Elephant Man opens October 3rd and runs weekends through October 21st. Tickets may be purchased anytime online at www.garfieldcenter.org, or through the Box Office at 410-810-2060. The Box Office is open on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 10 AM to 3 PM.

 

 

 

 

 

At a volunteer appreciation event held at the Garfield Center for the Arts on Wednesday, July 16th, the GCA’s Executive Director, Steven Arnold, unveiled the 2026 Season. The evening was designed to provide first access to the Season title announcement to the most actively involved part of our community, and the GCA treated attendees to food and refreshments prior to the presentation.

The GCA’s Programming Committee includes Mr. Arnold, Mark Sullivan, Shannon Carter, Melissa McGlynn, Jen Friedman, Brad Chaires, and Nic Carter. It was their task to review title proposals from interested directors, read scripts, settle on a production calendar, and finalize the selected season. Thursday’s event also featured projections showing the new poster graphics for each 2026 title. All of the Garfield Center’s graphics are designed by Francoise Sullivan, the GCA’s webmaster and Marketing specialist.

Opening the new season is a play that will undoubtedly chill audiences to the bone. It is common knowledge that Stephen King knows how to bring a sledgehammer to a horrific story. In the GCA’s first 2026 production, he made that sledgehammer literal. “Misery”, adapted by William Goldman and based on the novel by Stephen King, will be directed by JW Ruth.

“Misery” introduces us to the terrifying meeting between writer Paul Sheldon and ex-nurse Annie Wilkes when Paul is rescued from a car crash. He wakes up as a captive in her secluded home and is forced to write a new Misery novel when Annie discovers that he intended to kill off Misery Chastain, the main character in his books. The incensed and imbalanced Annie has Paul writing as if his life depends on it, and it does. “Misery” will open February 20th and run through March 8th, 2026.

For the second production in the new season, the GCA is thrilled and excited to present a family friendly musical so fun, energetic and wonderful that it will animate the souls of its audience. “The SpongeBob Musical” opened on Broadway in December of 2017, and among its cast was actor and QACHS graduate Matt Wood, who returned to the area 2 years ago to headline the Garfield Center’s Gala. The show will run weekends from April 17th and through May 3rd and its director is Abbey Wark, the Production Manager for Washington College’s Department of Theatre and Dance.

In this original “SpongeBob” story, the citizens of Bikini Bottom face impending doom when a volcano is about to erupt. With the destruction of their homes looming, SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy team up to save the town, while other residents grapple with fear, greed, and attempts to exploit the crisis. The creators of the show commissioned a score of songs from an amazing assortment of contemporary music artists that include Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Sara Bareilles, Cyndi Lauper, John Legend, The Flaming Lips, Panic at the Disco, and They Might Be Giants, among others.

Opening June 19th and running weekends through July 5th, 2026, will be the annual return of “Short Attention Span Theatre.” Frequently premiering new works by local playwrights, the production introduces audiences to 8 short ten-minute plays, each with its own director and actors, and each designed to hold your attention for ‘Just. Long. Enough.’ Once again, the production will be produced by Mark Sullivan.

The Garfield Center’s prized youth theatre camp, Playmakers, will start up camp in 2026 on July 6th and the kids participating in the program will enjoy a month of acting, design and stagecraft learning prior to a performance of their camp’s production on July 31st, August 1st, and 2nd, 2026.

Rocking the Garfield Center stage from October 16th through October 31st is the original stage version of the pop culture phenomenon, “The Rocky Horror Show.” The show will close with a final midnight show on Halloween night. The production will be directed by the GCA’s Executive Director, Steven Arnold.

In Richard O’Brien’s cult classic, sweethearts Brad and Janet, stuck with a flat tire during a storm, discover a dark and eerie mansion belonging to Dr. Frank-N-Furter. There, Brad and Janet encounter a houseful of wild characters, elaborate dances, rock songs, a science experiment resulting in a muscular man named “Rocky”, and the complete and total loss of their innocence.

Featuring one of the most generation-busting soundtracks of all time, the show is retro, cutting edge, nostalgic and envelope-pushing all at the same time. The GCA production will also include call-back audience members and the GCA will sell bags of props – all so that audience members will feel right at home in the kind of Rocky experience they have participated in all their lives.

Closing the 2026 season will be a funny and delightful crossover of two literary classics. “A Sherlock Carol” is by Mark Shanahan and will be directed by Hester Sachse. The show will open December 4th and run weekends through December 20th, 2026.

In the play, Moriarty is dead, to begin with. And Sherlock Holmes is a haunted man. But when a grown-up Tiny Tim asks Holmes to investigate the death of Ebeneezer Scrooge, the great detective must use his gift to solve this Dickens-of-a-mystery. Typically performed by only 6 actors, New York and London reviews for the play celebrated its clever, crowd-pleasing, and funny script. It will be a terrific, family-friendly way to end the GCA season.

Chestertown, Kent County and the region will also be given plenty of opportunities throughout the 2026 calendar year to enjoy music and special events on the Garfield Center Stage. Continuing programming will include Ford Schumann’s Open Mic nights on the final Wednesday of each month, meetings of the Live Playwrights Society on the first Monday of each month, future music performances by local and regional bands and musicians, and a variety of other programs for the community to enjoy. The Garfield Center for the Arts and the staff look forward to presenting this stellar season to all.

For more about The Garfield Center for the Arts, go here.

The Garfield Center for the Arts is excited to continue its popular yearly presentation, Short Attention Span Theatre opening July 11th. The GCA’s annual short play program had its earliest roots in 2005, when it was called 8×10 – The 10-Minute Play Project. The name was changed to Short Attention Span Theatre in 2008. Over the years, it has seen both the premiere of many original plays by local playwrights as well as featured the performances of hundreds of local actors.

This year’s edition received nearly 500 scripts from all over the world. It will feature the work of 8 stage directors, 21 actors, and 8 playwrights, including the premiere of a play by a local playwright and member of Live Playwrights’ Society (LPS). LPS is a local writers group hosted by the Garfield Center hosts and founded in 2009.

“An Apparition in Denmark” is a comedic take on how two simple-minded guards at Elsinore Castle focus on irreverent and misguided things, even as one of the monumental events of “Hamlet” occurs around them.

The play, by playwright Ryan Armstrong from Denver, Colorado, is directed by Allison Jones and will be performed by Dylan Lyles and Alyson Hall.

“Ancient Wisdom of the Shoebill Stork” is a comedy by Jacquelyn Priskorn, a playwright from Troy, Michigan. Directed by John Mann, the play tells the story of an imprisoned stork who has the ability to speak and dispense philosophy and advice. The production will be performed by Chris Neiman, Dominic Delcoco, and James Paul Huff.

“Hope & Greg” is a bittersweet comedy by Emily Beck, a playwright from Fargo, North Dakota. Hope, on the verge of her wedding, is visited one last time in her childhood bedroom by her friend Greg, the monster under her bed. Directed by Brianna Johnson, it will be performed by Shannon Carter and Steven Goss

“Last Words” is a dark comedy by Philip J. Kaplan, a playwright in Brooklyn, New York. At the memorial for their father, Gus and Kristin take snarky turns jabbing each other from the lectern in their tug-of-war over their father’s estate. Directed by Sharon Herz, its performers are Maria DiRenzo and Joseph Fox.

“oRANGE” is a comedy by Erin Osgood from Brighton, Michigan. It tells the story of non-traditional characters, represented by primary colors, and how one simple choice can change everything. Directed by Adrienne Wrona, the cast includes Connor Christopher, James Fordi, Sharon Herz, and Brianna Johnson.

“Over The Hills And Far Away” is by Christopher Zaczek from Havre de Grace, Maryland. Chuck and Greer are a father and daughter on a mountainous hike, repeating one that was made by Greer’s parents years before. As they both struggle to keep the memory of Greer’s mom alive, they attempt to reconnect in the face of their loss before Greer leaves home for college. Directed by Kathy Jones, the cast features Patrick Pearce and Sydney Bortz.

“Rising, Action” is a comedy written and directed by the GCA’s Executive Director, Steven Arnold. It explores what may happen to other story elements in a developing narrative if “conflict” takes a vacation. The cast features John Mann, Allison Jones, Amanda Fry, and Nic Carter.

“The Thread Count in Hades” is a play by Steven Korbar from San Juan Capistrano, California. In the play, Abaddon, the gatekeeper of Hades, may have met his match in the form of extremely annoying Jessica and Carson, the newly acquired souls of a privileged married couple. Directed by SAST Producer Mark Sullivan, it features performers Julia Weicht, Joshua Townsend, and Michael Tucker.

Short Attention Span Theatre opens July 11 and runs three weekends through July 27, with performances at 8 PM on Fridays and Saturdays and 2 PM on Sundays. Tickets may be purchased online at www.garfieldcenter.org or via our Box Office hours on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 10 AM to 3 PM. Ticket buyers may either stop in at the theatre during Box Office hours or call at 410-810-2060.

Playmakers, the Garfield Center for the Arts’ annual summer theatre youth education camp, is gearing up for its 2025 edition. The camp will once again be overseen by director Kaitlyn Wright, this year’s Kent County Teacher of the Year.

Every year, the camp is staffed with counselors and interns, many of whom were past participants in Playmakers. The main distinction between a counselor and intern position is that interns are participating to fulfill school community service hour requirements, while counselors earn a small paid stipend. The GCA may appoint anyone with theatre experience who is interested in the positions, including students, adults and retirees who have never attended or participated in Playmakers.

If you are interested in becoming a counselor or intern for Playmakers, you must be at least 16 years old to become an intern, while counselors must be at least 17 years old. To express your interest in either position, please send an email to the GCA Executive Director, Steven Arnold, at [email protected] and you will receive additional information and application requirements.