In Cape May, a very dramatic summer awaits

For theater companies at the Shore, summer isn’t a time for kicking back to rest up for the fall season.

In Cape May, two theater companies are preparing a full lineup for vacationers and residents ready to mix the arts with sand, sea, and sun.

“Cape May has historically been a cultural center,” said Craig Fols, the new artistic director at the city’s East Lynne Theater Co. Besides theater, he said, “there’s a chamber music season and a jazz series. It’s amazing how much appetite there is for various kinds of culture.”

Fols is kicking off his first season as artistic director by directing and producing his own play, A Tale of Two Cities Cobbled Together by the Brothers Lovejoy, on stage through July 15.

The play, a theatrical comedy, focuses on the connections among the characters from the Dickens novel, as well as the relationship between two brothers as they examine the story set in postrevolutionary France in the late 1700s.

“You get the whole Dickens story told respectfully,” Fols said.

In Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities — a widely read novel — the main character sacrifices his life for the woman he loves, an idea that captured Fols’ imagination.

“What does self-sacrifice mean today and is there such a thing as honor and what are the cultural values behind it?” Fols said, listing the questions the brothers ask themselves.

Next up at East Lynne on July 26 and 27 is Stephanie & Drew’s Broadway Cabaret, an autobiographical show with Stephanie Lynne Mason and Drew Seigla, who met on stage and fell in love.

Then, the connection between an elderly white woman and her Black chauffeur is explored in Driving Miss Daisy Aug. 2 through Sept. 2 followed by Love Letters, with a rotating cast Sept. 6 through Oct. 14.

More shows will be offered in the fall.

Another Cape May theater company, Cape May Stage, began its season with Shirley Valentine, a one-woman play about a prizewinning trip to Greece. It runs through July 2.

Yasmine Raza’s Art, on the meaning of art and friendship, is up next July 19 through Aug. 27. The Garbologists, about an unlikely friendship on a trash truck, wraps up the summer as it runs from Sept. 13 to Oct. 22, with more programming later in the year.

Cape May Stage was founded in 1989; its shows are performed at the Robert Shackleton Playhouse, 405 Lafayette St., Cape May.

For at least another year, East Lynne Theater Co., founded in 1980, will remain in its longtime home, the Cape May Presbyterian Church, 500 Hughes St., Cape May.

“It’s a magical space,” said Fols, whose duties as artistic director include helping to move the pulpit back to its rightful spot in time for Sunday services.

East Lynne is preparing to transition to a new home. Partnering with the city of Cape May, East Lynne will convert the former Allen African Methodist Episcopal Church into a 117-seat theater — a $700,000 project that will eventually include an addition for a backstage area and offices. Fols is hoping to stage shows there next year.

Cape May bought the church when it was damaged beyond repair in a 2018 fire. Part of East Lynne’s mission in its new home will be to focus on the history of Cape May’s vibrant Black community and the role the church played in it, Fols said.

Fols, who grew up in Medford Lakes presenting plays in his grandmother’s basement, and then enjoyed summers in Cape May, initially thought his job as artistic director primarily involved theater-making.

But now, he said, he sees a bigger picture for himself and East Lynne Theater Co. “I’m in the Cape May business — enhancing the value of this place. It’s a magical place.”

“A Tale of Two Cities Cobbled Together by the Brothers Lovejoy,” East Lynne Theater Co. through July 15, Cape May Presbyterian Church, 500 Hughes St., Cape May, 609-602-8703 or eastwetheater.org.

“Shirley Valentine,” Cape May Stage, through July 2, Robert Shackleton Playhouse, 405 Lafayette St., Cape May, 609-770-8311 or capemaystage.org.

Check with the theaters for COVID-19 protocols. For information on other local events, visit inquirer.com/things-to-do-philly