Suburban playwright's short plays featured in Elgin festival

As part of this weekend's Elgin Fringe Festival, Elgin Theatre Company will present three short plays by playwright and actor Carl Zeitler called "Reflections and Perspectives."

Performances take place Thursday through Sunday at Imago Studios in Elgin; tickets are $10 and are sold by the festival.

It seems Zeitler has been preparing for this performance since he was 8 or 9 years old, when he accidentally wrote his first short story.

"I remember in the summers I would write fiction, what was short fiction, on a steno pad," he recalled. "My dad would type it up for me and I thought it would be book length, but it turned out to be about 14 pages. I was disappointed that it was only that long."

The Glen Ellyn resident has a degree in creative writing from Southern Illinois University, but spent more time as an actor than a writer once he graduated. During this time, he found that working as an actor afforded opportunities which may not have come about if he had strictly stayed on the writing path.

"I enjoy the theater and the acting had more opportunities to do that," he said. "Once I got to know a venue, some things make themselves available like submitting a play or someone knows a place where these kinds of short plays are being done."

Such was the case for Zeitler after he performed as an actor in an Elgin Theatre Company production.

"Elgin Theatre Company representatives came to me because I had done a production of 'M*A*S*H' and they indicated they would be in the festival and needed something that would fill that shorter time slot and they knew I wrote some short plays," he said.

Zeitler began to consider his repertoire of plays for three that could be linked through a concept.

"I was thinking of ones I could put together that, although they're not connected per se, they would have to do with people reflecting on lives, either in a comedic way or various perspectives." he said.

The first of the three plays is "A Smattering of Perspectives" where two people disseminate a first date over the phone with friends. The second, "Wedded Bliss … Or Not" looks in on a married couple as the wife insists on her husband's participation in taking a magazine survey about the state of their marriage as he is watching football. And finally, "And Then What?" is a play about two recently deceased individuals who have been led to a waiting room by a mysterious host where they discuss their past and their future.

"They are three short plays that I've written at various times and they've been produced separately at other venues, at other productions, sometimes a short play festivals," he said.

Bill Boggs of Schaumburg will play Pierce in "A Smattering of Perceptions," a character he first saw Zeitler play.

"It's been fun for me to interpret things my way and he's given me the freedom to do that," Boggs said.

Boggs sees Pierce as a hipster and his son helped him pull off the hipster look.

"He (Pierce) is kind of sarcastic, but not overly sarcastic," he noted. "He's working on being witty and he pulled it off."

His acting partner, Lynn Homeier of Woodstock, also describes her character, Sloane, as sarcastic.

"Pierce is not quite as sarcastic, he's a little nice," she said.

Homeier acted through grammar and high school and then, at age 45, she went back to the theater.

"I'm 52 now," she said.

Homeier has acted with Zeitler and considers him very talented, and, after reading a few of his plays, is impressed with his writing talent.

"He's a very good playwright. Very intelligent," Homeier said. "I'm friends with Carl, we had done plays in Elmhurst. I told him if he were ever casting anything, I'd be interested."

Boggs agreed and recommended that audiences take the time to see Zeitler's work.

"Carl is a very good and prolific playwright," Boggs said. "And very conscientious as a director."

Zeitler will perform in "Wedded Bliss … Or Not." He's also looking forward to seeing the work of some of the other artists at the Elgin Fringe Festival.

"It seems exciting," he said of the festival. "I've kept up-to-date with all of the artists and when I'm not performing mine, it will be exciting to go and see some of the other artists."

Other cast members include Valerie Meachum of Elgin, Mark Brewer of Mount Prospect, Nancy Braus of Schaumburg, Debbi Dennison of Streamwood.

If you go

What: "Reflections and Perspectives," three short plays by Glen Ellyn playwright Carl Zeitler, presented by Elgin Theatre Company as part of the Elgin Fringe Festival

Where: Imago Studios, 216 Prairie St., Elgin

When: 9 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 15; 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 16; 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 17; and 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 18

Cost: $10 plus the cost of the Elgin Fringe Festival pin, which is $3

Details: <a href="http://www.elginfringefestival.com/tickets">www.elginfringefestival.com</a>