Northeast Stage’s Playlet and Poetry Festival strikes fear into the North Fork

Director Nicholas Auletti (back center) conducts Berkeley Rogers, Esme Cabrera (center) and AD Newcomer during a rehearsal for the Playlets and Poetry Festival. (Image credit: Lee Meyer)

If you’re preparing for an October Netflix frightfest on the couch, you might want to step away from the smart TV. There’s a better way to hit the stage just in time for spooky season on the North Fork. Northeast Stage’s inaugural Playlets and Poetry Festival features a diverse, captivating collection of 10 one-act plays and poems adapted for the stage, well-suited to Halloween adventures.

“I curated the festival because I wanted something different for the Halloween season,” says director Nick Auletti. “It’s a smorgasbord of tricks and treats. There’s contemporary comedy, contemporary drama. I think almost everything supernatural is there, and I think all ghosts and ghouls are covered too. There are werewolves, Dracula, goblins and much more.”

The theatrical adventure began with a book called “13 Plays of the Supernatural,” which Auletti discovered in college while browsing the tomes in his alma mater’s library. He forgot to return it years ago, but continued to enjoy the short, one-act format of the pieces.

Inspired by the stories and how they might unfold on stage, he began with Thornton Wilder’s “Mozart and the Gray Steward,” a play about the great composer who died while writing his famous unfinished Requiem Mass. The other offerings range from the Victorian period to contemporary playwrights like Tara Meddaugh’s “When Marshmallows Burn,” about a mother trying to raise her werewolf son. There’s even an original work by Auletti about a couple of vampires struggling with life in modern-day New York.

“All of these pieces mean something in today’s society, even if it is [set] back in the classical era or the Victorian era,” says Auletti. “I hope to put them in a contemporary light, where my modernization makes it clear to audiences that these are important pieces. It’s also important to have fun.”

Instead of choosing works that were pure drama or comedy, Auletti tried to find a balance by interweaving elements of both.

“I think there’s comedy and drama in every single story,” he says. “And if you can compensate for that, the games have to be there. You have to do it [you] laugh and then bring you back to reality and bring you back up with the comedy. There are always ups and downs. I never see a play as purely dramatic or comedic.”

Auletti says a source of inspiration for his views on theater’s emotional rollercoaster ride is “The Muppet Show,” citing its crazy antics and strong sense of community as his first example of what theater could be.

“I find it very appealing to see all these people going crazy, all these puppets, and then finally having a community where they can showcase their work. For me, theater has always been a community away from home. And everyone is accepted,” he says. “I just fell in love with the idea that we could all do something together, and it could serve the community, and it also brings the artistry and collaboration.”

The actors themselves come from all walks of life, from mothers and retirees to professional actors. This mix creates a synergy between the cast, the characters and the works themselves.

“I think that variety gives each piece a special kind of connection where you can throw random people into a blender and just say, ‘Okay, get along.’ Sometimes it’s not easy, but I’m so grateful for the camaraderie, the chemistry within my cast and with the pieces themselves,” he says.

Auletti believes that theater on the North Fork is experiencing a meteoric rise and a gentle rivalry is emerging with the more established South Fork scene. “I think the North Fork scene is really going through something of a renaissance. [We are] appropriate for the South Fork in the theater. We have Northeast Stage and Corchaug Repertory Theater, a new theater that’s really getting a lot of traction. You have the North Fork Community Theater. You have the Riverhead Faculty and the Community Theater. It makes me really happy.”

The festival runs Friday, October 18 through Sunday, October 20 at the Holy Trinity Episcopal Church Parish Hall (768 Main St., Greenport) and then the following Thursday through Sunday at the Jamesport Meeting House (1590 Main Road, Jamesport). The running time is approximately 90 minutes with a break. To purchase tickets for the festival, click here.