New Jersey Stage February 2015 | Page 19

Paprzycki. “Remembering the looks on people’s faces when they left the first time was so gratifying and to have so many people want to see it again is very gratifying as a playwright. When people walked out of the show, they were laughing and crying at the same time. in the play; it’s a reminder of just how far the theatre and Camden has come since the first production. A few blocks from the theater in 2007 one could still see crime on a regular basis, but today the neighborhood is much nicer and a safe place to go. Back in the basement, the audience sat on “It’s wonderful to see these old friends back on stage again.” “I’ve made a couple of little changes to the play,” noted the playwright. “I think being a playwright who’s 9 years older and having written another 10 plays or so since we’ve produced this one, I’m a better writer now. You learn to hear more. I think part of it is you hear things more as a more experienced writer and part of it is you hear things as a much older person.” Fortune Cookies is not just a snapshot in time for the characters February 2015 Article Index plastic chairs on a concrete floor, while today’s audience is in nice seats in a state-of-the-art theater. Not only will this production have professional sound and lighting that greatly exceeds that of the original, but the stage will truly resemble a Chinese restaurant and audience members will even smell the food coming from the kitchen. “This is a play about real spirituality and friendship and the whole issue of faith,” explains Paprzycki. “What is faith? Can magic change Next Article 19