Jonathan Shoemaker’s career as a producer for feature films and episodic television includes such titles as “The Woman in the Window,” “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” and “Mayor of Kingstown,” among many others.
However, he has left the film world. “What started it was my getting more involved in the world of my kids, so I could be here full time,” he said during a conversation at his house, which is a stone’s throw from the Springs School, where his son Alex is enrolled.
Mr. Shoemaker also wanted to return to writing, but instead of screenplays, which he always thought would be his medium, he began to write plays.
Fast-forward to Friday, Jan. 30, when “This Land Is Your Land,” a program of three of his short plays, all set in Springs, will open a three-day run at Hoie Hall at St. Luke’s Church in East Hampton.
That program marks the public launch of Accabonac Theater Project, a new company founded by Mr. Shoemaker with Nick Weber, an artist, and Tracey McQuade, a writer and yogi, and input from Katie Schreck, a drama and music teacher at East Hampton High School, and others.
“What I want to emphasize about the theater project itself, as well as this production, is that the whole thing is about community,” Mr. Shoemaker said. “Not about being a community theater, but hopefully something a little deeper than that. Its source is community, and its method is community. So all the energy of it is hyperlocal.”
As for the creation of a theater project in a region with several established theaters, including Guild Hall and Bay Street, he said, “We want to present something that is not currently offered. We want to come into the community with respect for people who have been doing theater here for many years, and not try to duplicate what they’re doing.”
Not only are the company’s productions deeply rooted on the East End, Mr. Shoemaker cited their itinerant nature. “We perform in different spaces every time, so it gives us a lot of freedom. For the audiences it means that every time they come to one of the shows, they get to see some other place, and often a place they’ve never been to before.”
As an example, he noted that the project was previewed with an invitation-only event at the Folly Tree Arboretum in Springs, Tucker Marder’s cultural archive of trees. “The majority of our audience had never set foot in that place, and they were all amazed by what they saw.”
As for “This Land Is Your Land,” the three plays — set at the Springs General Store, Springs School, and Ashawagh Hall — “are largely about legacy and passing along things of value to the next generation. As a whole, they follow the concerns of a community that has been here a long time, that’s changing faster than it did in the past, that’s trying to hold on to the right old ways of doing things, but not to hold on so tight that it doesn’t grow in the right direction. And leaving the right thing for their kids.”
The program will begin with “General Store,” a fictionalized account of the changing of the guard at that community landmark. The play stars Carly Cooper and Doug Gallo as a couple who are buying the store but don’t agree on what its future should be. “Their debate is similar to the larger communal debate about the future of the store,” said Mr. Shoemaker.
“Bake Sale” is a “farce about a bake sale gone wrong because there seems to be something wrong with the brownies.” Mr. Shoemaker declined to say anything more than that, except that there’s a moment when two Springs firefighters walk through the set to address an emergency. Mr. Shoemaker, who recently joined the Fire Department, asked the chief if he could use a couple of the hamlet’s firefighters in the play, and the chief agreed.
“Mystery Art” is a fictional play about the first Mystery Art sale at Ashawagh Hall. (The actual sale has taken place a number of times since 2017.) All the art is created on five-by-seven-inch cards, most of it by Springs School students but some by professional artists, some of them famous. The works are unattributed, all hung together, and priced at $20.
“The play is a kind of meditation on the source of creativity and the value of creativity and the results of creativity,” said Mr. Shoemaker. One of the characters is a fifth-grade boy played by his son Alex, who has an important conversation with the show’s curator, portrayed by Sylvia Channing.
Of the actors, three are coming from New York City and the rest are local, but even the ones from the city have strong local connections and have worked here. Everyone working behind the scenes is local. “To a large extent, the idea of ‘Mystery Art’ is a template for what we’re doing. Because we’re mixing professionals and nonprofessionals, talented amateurs with seasoned actors.”
The cast includes Sarah Bierstock, Ms. Cooper, Mr. Gallo, Mr. Weber, Ms. McQuade, Rebecca Knox, Pia Leighton, Kayla Matters, Ms. Channing, Woody Boley, and Alex Shoemaker.
Ms. McQuade is directing “General Store,” Mr. Shoemaker “Bake Sale,” and Mr. Weber “Mystery Art.”
The running time of the plays is approximately an hour and 15 minutes. Performances will happen at Hoie Hall on Friday, Jan. 30, and Jan. 31 at 7 p.m., and Feb. 1 at 5 p.m. Tickets, which are available from the theater project’s website, are $30 for chairs; $15 for the floor, a bar stool, or standing room.
