On November 7th, Wayland’s Voke Players launched its 2025-2026 season – a theatre group which has used Wayland’s Vokes Theatre since 1937 – with what is being called a “Chekhovian Mashup” called “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike”.
As a brief history, Beatrice Herford, an American actress, built a small theatre in Wayland on her husband’s property in 1897 (named after an English actress named Rosina Vokes). After over 30 years of productions closed to Ms. Herford’s friends and selected actors, she gave permission to a small group of actors name the Vokes Players to use her theatre. The rest is, indeed, history.
While the Wayland Post has offered some Vokes Players coverage in the past, the focus of this article is on the productions themselves. To that end, this author had the recent pleasure of talking with both the director (James Barton) and the producer (Tara Stepanian) about the mechanics of putting a show together at a local community theatre. The discussion ran from how plays are selected through the process of how a show develops to become the final product.
The work begins with the selection of plays for an upcoming season. This is done by what is known as the Play Committee. The members of this committee read a good number of plays, after which it winnows down the number of plays to be considered and places them into categories (straight versus musical as an example). At this point, around 30 plays make it to the point where the Play Committee interviews directors who pitch committee members on why their play should make the final cut.
Once a play is selected, the process of creating a production begins. According to James Barton, every director has their own approach making that happen. In his case, the job of selecting a producer – the person who essentially acts as a project manager who figuratively “keeps the train on the track”. In James’ case, he chose his wife Tara to assume that role.
One of the director’s first tasks is to assemble the design team. As is the case with all directors, James has his favorites, and once that team is selected, a process that typically spans from 6 to 9 months begins (for the fall show, that time span is typically shorter). What then follows is a series of pre-production meetings, during which the design team reads and reviews the play, the final approach and design of which evolves over time.
The next obvious step is auditions, which are totally open and involve actors to either perform a monologue they prepare, or to read a short scene from the play. Auditions take place about a month before the 6-to-8-week rehearsal period, during which the production is fine-tuned even further.
The 2025 – 2026 season includes 3 additional plays, including this year’s musical, “Jesus Christ Superstar”. Tickets are sold for individual shows as well as seasonal subscriptions. Subscribers also take advantage of special events during the year, including the Players’ Annual Scenes and Song Night.
For more information, go to vokesplayers.org or call 508-358-4034.
