Who
We Are

Yes, we were born in 1970, the offspring of my late partner, Gerald Guarneri, and his friend, and my former student, John Livecchi. They had an idea, a venue, and John wanted to play Hamlet. They offered me the role of “Protector of the Bard,”

I bought in.

That first show in Washington Crossing Park was enough of a success that we were invited back for the next season. We did Twelfth Night and there followed over 20 consecutive summers of producing Shakespeare on that stage. To be honest, there was one exception. Henry IV, Part 1 was played in the Parking Lot when the stage was under repair from hurricane damage the previous Fall.

By the end of the ‘70s, we added a “winter “ show at a small former church in Trenton, where we widened the repertory to include classics from the Restoration to Oscar Wilde. Occasionally, Gerry even did a musical. As our dramatic choices broadened, so did our reputation for acting excellence, and we added a growing number of multi-talented performers. Of course, Shakespeare was always our main focus, and those actors joined us because we were the only community theater in a wide geographical area doing the Bard’s works regularly.

Oddly, our second act was prompted by our departure from both of the theaters that had been our homes for all those years. Happily, my dear friend Kitty Getlik invited us to continue our Shakespeare productions as part of the new summer season at the Kelsey Theater on the campus of Mercer County College. And, in that same general time frame, Trenton State College, where I was Professor of English, reopened the theater in Kendall Hall (which had been closed for renovations for several years). The college Vice President—a theater person herself—was the impetus for bringing the venue to new life by establishing a six show season, and we signed on.

In the manner of an Epilogue to this brief history, it is to be noted that now, in our 56th year, our annual program includes two shows at the Kelsey Theatre, with a Shakespeare or, occasionally, other classical piece in the summer, and two at The College of New Jersey, in the Don Evans Black Box Theater.

This continued growth is made possible by the creative energy supplied by our Executive Committee—Janet Quartarone, Tom Curbishley, Curt Foxworth, Jake Burbage, Lili Timmes, Michael Kierst-Krahel, and newest additions Hannah Rapaport-Stein,  Kate Augustin, and Chris Loos—not to mention an ever-growing number of talented artists and actors that comprise our ensemble.

In quite another context, our man, Shakespeare, wrote, “The play’s the thing.” Those words, reinterpreted, are what drive us forward to a future of great theater for the pleasure of our loyal audience.

—John F. Erath, S70 Founder & President
October 2025