Friends look, and laugh, at adult community life
BY MARY ANNE ROSS Correspondent
Myra Danon and Meryl Berness seem surprised to find themselves playwrights and theater producers. But what started as a casual Wednesday night gettogether for the two residents of the Renaissance at Monroe, Route 33, Monroe Township, has turned into "Fade Out at Clo-Achers," a play that takes a satirical look at life in an adult community.

"We have the same sense of humor," Danon said. "That's how we became friends. We used to talk and laugh about life here. Then we started ruminating and embroidering it and created reactions to hypothetical situations."

Both women are experienced writers, though neither had ever written a play.

Danon started out in teaching and eventually became a copy editor and features writer for local publications, including Greater Media Newspapers.

Berness worked as a teacher for 30 years and has been a guidance counselor in Perth Amboy schools for the past decade.

"I used to write children's stories. I still read them to my grandkids," Berness said.

As the two women became more involved in the group dynamics involved in many activities and situations, the idea came to them of Dr. Spock observing his work on his former subjects, now fully grown up, but with distinct behaviors and idiosyncrasies associated with later stages of life, and meeting up with Mr. Spock of "Star Trek" — an idea too difficult to resist.

Most adult communities are open to people over the age of 55, and cater to active adults and offer a variety of amenities. The adult communities usually have dozens of clubs for residents who share a particular interest.

"We started to wonder what it would be like if an objective outsider observed what goes on in an active adult community. After all, adult communities are really just sleep-away camps for grownups," Berness said, explaining part of the play's basic premise.

After eight months of writing, rewriting and refining, they had a finished product. Last August, Monroe's Cultural Arts Commission sponsored a stage reading at the township's Recreation Center, and both women played roles and enlisted their friends and family members to take on different parts. The response they received from the audience was very positive.

"They said it was really funny, but the acting was a little wooden. That didn't bother us because no one was a trained actor," Danon said with a laugh. "As long as they laughed at all the right times …"

Encouraged by that response, the two friends decided to take the leap into the business side of theater and form a company called Berdanhand Productions. They began looking for a director and found Jessica Pfeiffer, who serves on the board of the Villagers Theatre in Somerset and has directed different types of plays.

Pfeiffer loved the script the moment she read it. She recalled going to meet with Danon and Berness — finding them both to be "very witty women" — and sitting down with them at a kitchen table to look at the script.

"I sat at the small table reading the script for the first time, and every time I laughed — which was a lot — they would ask, 'Which part are you laughing at?'And then we would discuss where I was in the script and what I was laughing at. It was either a punch line of their jokes, or a characteristic coming through in a character, or just their very clever use of words. I told them that day that I admire them so much for doing this, and I think they are very talented writers," she said.

Pfieffer hired professional actors and actresses, and now, Myra and Meryl are enjoying the thrill of seeing their characters brought to life on stage.

"We are going to every rehearsal and it's great," Danon said.

"Fade Out at Clo-Achers," which will be presented from July 10-26 in Freehold Township, uses sharp characterization and witty dialogue in a style the writers have compared to "Seinfeld" and "The Golden Girls." In a series of vignettes, they explore common themes in adult communities such as where dogs can be walked, when grandchildren should be allowed in the pool, and, of course, the formation of clubs.

"We have one club in the play called the Sisters of the Loons. Its founders are very passionate about it, but no one can figure out what it's about," Berness said.

According to Pfeiffer, the play — whose title, by the way, is jokingly derived from the term used to describe a frog's posterior opening— is a laugh-filled gem.

"I think it's their combination of a witty sense of humor, clever wordplay and their unencumbered observations of human behavior that make this script so funny," Pfeiffer said. "They say through their characters what we all think or observe about people all the time."

The show is not geared only to adults over the age of 55.

"I think it has something for all generations," Pfeiffer added.

Danon and Berness are hoping audiences will have as much fun watching the play as they had writing it and bringing it to the stage. Though the show takes swipes at practically everything and everyone, there is one point they want to be very clear about — especially for anyone who might think they see something familiar in some of the characters.

"It's not you," Danon said. "We can't say that enough. It's really just a slice of life that could be from any adult community."

"Fade Out at Clo-Achers" will be performed at the Empire Diner Restaurant Dessert Theater, 4135 Route 9 north, Freehold Township, July 10-26. Showtimes are 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. on Sundays. Tickets are $20; $18 for seniors, and group discounts are available. Dessert and coffee are included in the price. For tickets, email berdanhand@gmail.com or call 609-443-1320 or, after 5 p.m., 908-208-2750. Make checks payable to Berdanhand Productions, P.O. Box 264, Tennent, NJ 07763.