The O-town Scene

NYU students to put on original play in Hancock For many years, Delaware County has served as a popular country getaway for city-dwellers seeking a slower pace of life and a breath of fresh air. While you still may have to drive hours to find dependable cell phone reception, world-class theater is now only a stone’s throw away. From July 22 to 24, the Capitol Theater in Hancock at 170 Front St. will pres- ent “Dexter and Lewellyn,” an original play chronicling life in the Southern Tier of New York. Performances will be Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m, and Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. Admission is by donation. Written by Jonathon Ward, a department administrator for the New York University Graduate Acting Program, the play is a collaboration between the NYU program and the Little Victory Players of Hancock. The extensive three-year NYU program, which has been in existence since the 1960s, takes only 16 ac- tors. Drawing people from throughout the country, the cast, as well as Ward and director NYU faculty Scott Illingsworth, spent time researching in Hancock. Under the eye of Hancock resident Jerry DaBrescia, president of nonprofit development group Hancock Partners Inc., the cast visited local landmarks and spoke with residents to grasp what life is like in the area. All of these steps were tak- en to best show what Ward believes is the reality of life in the Southern Tier. Though he currently calls New York City home, Ward spent 10 years living in Elmira. Along with Elmira, Ward also has family ties in Norwich and Oxford. “Upstate is just magnificent. 18 O-Town Scene July 21, 2011 Contributed Jerry DaBrescia describes a plant closing to the NYU cast of ‘Dexter and Lewellyn,’ which was inspired and will be performed in Hancock. I absolutely love it,” Ward said. Even though Ward finds beauty in the area, he does understand the sometimes grim reality of the area. “Upstate communities, like downstate communities, are challenged,” Ward said. In “Dexter and Lewellyn,” which takes place in 1970s, the challenge comes in the form of strained relationships compounded with uncertain economic situations. After high school, Dexter takes a job at a local factory, which may soon move to Mexico. He is joined at the factory by Skip, who is a manager. Lewellyn, who decided to go away to college, has returned home to teach. Maggie, Dexter’s interim girl- friend, works at McDonald’s. Finally, there is Christopher, an out-of-towner from New York City who is making a video to try to save the factory from closing. While both Ward and Er- nest Schenk, artistic director of the Little Victory Play- ers, say no direct names or details of Hancock are used, both the story and characters are based on real-life experi- ences of Ward’s. Schenk echoes the same sentiment. Schenk, who graduated from the NYU Theater Program in 1970, is the CEO of the Little Victory Players, which Schenk founded with his wife in 1990. Along with the Capitol Theater, Schenk has also put on shows at the State Theatre in Deposit and the Unitarian Universalist Church of Oneonta. Altogether, Schenk said the group puts on between six to eight per- formances a year. As a resident of Hancock, Schenk sees the play as a very accurate portrayal of life in the area. “I think it really represents it excellently; it shows it very well,” Ward said. The theater itself is an im- portant local landmark. Built more than 100 years ago, Schenk said, the theater was a center of the community for a long time. The theater was a hardware store, before Schenk turned it back into the theater that it is today. “People are proud to have the theater there,” Schenk said. “They appreciate that it is a cultural center.” _ Jacob Pucci

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