By Terry Byrne, Globe Correspondent / May 3, 2009
By day, Jerry Bisantz is an optician, Ann Garvin is a school nurse, and Alex Savitzky is an IT manager. But by night, the trio team up to run the Image Theatre in Lowell, which, over the past four years has produced plays by more than 50 area playwrights.
"We are not community theater," Bisantz said during a rehearsal break for the company's upcoming production of "The Straight Line," which runs through May 9 upstairs at the Old Court Tavern on Central Street. "We pay our actors, playwrights, and technicians. Not only that, but we make money, and in this economy, that's nothing to sneeze at."
"We like to mix it up," said Garvin. "We did two evenings of cabaret, and we like to do collections of short plays as well as full-length. We look for plays that have heart and dramatic tension."
The plays range from the work of Lowell playwright Jack Neary ("First Night," "Kong's Night Out") to short one-acts. Garvin said one of their most successful events is the "Naughty Readings," short comedies with "adult topics."
The artistic team also tries to tap into the community, with one play about Lowell native son Jack Kerouac ("Kerouac's Last Call") and another about being Irish-American staged in a pub. Although the company is homeless, it has partnered with Lowell's Revolving Museum for cabaret performances around Valentine's Day, performed at a school, and offered a reading at the National Park Visitors Center Theater.
"Lowell has embraced us in an incredible way," said Bisantz.
Tickets $18 in advance, $20 at the door. Go to Imagetheatre.com.
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
This story appeared in the Boston Globe North Regional Edition on Sunday, May 3, 2009