First fund-raiser will be held Nov. 13
To understand what Chris Meyer is creating, you have to know his background. He’s a professional actor and director, the third generation of his family to pursue a career in the performing arts.
But his experience goes beyond the stage. In 2001, he directed an off-off-Broadway comedy. The audience response was encouraging. There were performances from Thursday to Sunday. On Monday, the theater was closed. And on Tuesday, the planes hit the World Trade Center. Mr. Meyer was there when the building came down.
The show closed, and its director joined the military.
He was serving in Afghanistan as recently as last year. And he is still part of an organization that is trying to get people out of that country.
His other objective is to create a Veterans Repertory Theater (VRT) in Cornwall. He sees it as an organization that will produce plays that are written by veterans or written about them. “What makes veterans special,” he explains, “is what they’ve seen, their wide stream of experience. It’s very rare that someone gets to experience what they have.”
But Mr. Meyer does not limit his definition of a veteran to someone who has served in the military.
He also includes people in law enforcement, fire, EMS, Foreign Service or intelligence – and their families.
The Veterans Repertory Theater has an active presence on social media and has administrative offices at 16 Quaker Avenue in Cornwall. It has yet to create a theater for its performances. But that doesn’t mean the business is inactive.
As an employee, Lil Faint is fully occupied every day. One of her assignments is to have the company established as an equity theater. She and Mr. Meyer are working on a pair of fund-raising activities at their current location.
The first will take place at 16 Quaker Avenue on Nov. 13. It’s being advertised as “Reverse in Color.”
Veterans will read their poetry and a professional artist will create a mural based on their readings.
There will be wine and hors d’oeuvres. Admission is free, but guests will be encouraged to make a donation. Because space is limited, attendees should make a reservation on the Veterans Repertory Theater website.
A week later, the group will present “Art” in the administrative building. The show will be performed by three professional actors from New York City.
Mr. Meyer expects the audience capacity to range from 16 to 32 people.
He has plans for a Veterans Incubator to encourage creative writing. The program could lead to a veteran becoming an artist in residence. He also hopes to establish a playwriting competition for 10-minute and full-length plays.
The VRT produces a podcast and a literary blog where the copy changes every day.
