The Free Readers Ensemble launched its 2024-2025 season, marking its 31st year with a performance of Angel Street (Gaslight) at the Nineteenth Century Club Sunday.
The Free Readers Ensemble began in an advanced scene study class at Oak Park Village Players, taught by Larry Baldacci. After years of working together, Paulette Cary proposed forming an ensemble to continue reading plays aloud, leading to the group’s creation in 1993. Its mission is to present diverse theatrical and literary material in a readers theater format to Oak Park, River Forest and the surrounding communities.
Although it started with small audiences, the ensemble steadily grew in popularity as people appreciated their performances. And while some of its founding members, including Jim Mullen, Carol Mullen and Marie Henry have died, new members also have joined over time.
“We decided, wouldn’t it be fun if we always got a chance to work together just as our group? And so, the idea was formed of, ‘let’s do readings together’ and we’ll present it to the public for free and if somebody shows up, that’s great, and if they don’t, that’s okay, too,” Baldacci said.
The Free Readers Ensemble members for this season include Baldacci and Cary, as well as Thad Anzur, Jerry Bloom, Ray Cunha, Larry Dahlke, Mercita DeMuynck, Keith Eric Davis, Barbara Eulenberg, Randall Hoole, David Krajecki, Kit O’Kelly and Stephanie Samuel. All performances the ensemble performs are free to the public.
“When we started, a few people said, ‘Well, who wants to come and see you read?’ But now, 31 years later, we are having a minimum of 80 to 90 people at our shows every month” Cary said. “It’s mind boggling and there are a lot of new people and some old people who have been with us since the beginning. I think it’s due to word of mouth, because we do not advertise.”
The Free Readers Ensemble selects their shows through a collaborative process in which each member proposes ideas for the season. After group discussions, the person who suggests a selected play becomes its coordinator, handling casting and production. Choices are often influenced by current events or themes, ensuring a balance between light-hearted fare and serious dramas, with some plays chosen to align with specific holidays.
Eulenberg said what she loves most about the group is that they have become a family.
“It is just that every time we get together once a month and we know each other’s rhythm and styles of acting so when we do a show, we only rehearse once and then we perform it,” she said.
For O’Kelly, the format affords them the ability to do a variety of shows and be given a role that would never be given on a live stage.
“Although I have not been a member of the company since 2019, I have known most of these people since 1980. You trust them and so that when we come together to perform there is nothing lacking and it is just the sharing that is a blessing to be part of,” O’Kelly said.
Cunha said he recalled reading the screenplay to the movie “All About Eve” when he was cast as the narrator.
“Over the years, I’ve played so many different roles, and as Kit says, these are roles that I probably wouldn’t have been cast in due to age, type, or whatever other reasons,” he said.
One of the things Dahlke loves about this group so much is not only the talent, but also the courage and programming.
“That’s a tribute not only to this group, but to our audience who goes along with us. I just think it’s some of the most savvy and generous in spirit audiences anywhere,” he said.
Hoole will be coordinating “Pygmalion” at the end of the season, and he said he enjoys having the freedom to do whatever he wants since that appeals to the adolescent in him.
“We’re all an older cast than all these characters in Pygmalion are, but the audience doesn’t mind. They go right along with us,” he said.
Angel Street will be read Sunday, Oct. 27 at 3 p.m.
The next performance by The Free Readers Ensemble will be held Nov. 17. They will read “Animal Farm” adapted by Nelson Bond from the novel by George Orwell.
All shows are held at the Nineteenth Century Club at 178 Forest Ave. #1 in Oak Park.
To view the list of upcoming shows for the season, visit the website at www.freereaders.com or the club’s events page at https://ncca.memberclicks.net/event-list-1