The Pegasus Theatre Project, the new resident theater company of the West Windsor Arts Council that was co-founded by Peter Bisgaier of West Windsor, just completed its first production in collaboration with the arts council — Proof, which was performed on the weekends of Sept. 9 and Sept. 18.
Earlier this year, it was announced that the Pegasus Theatre Project would be the resident theater company of the West Windsor Arts Council.
Proof is the winner of the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Award for Best Play.
Bisgaier and two other local theater veterans—Judi Parrish of Ewing and Jennifer Nasta Zefutie of Cranbury — founded the Pegasus Theatre Project in the summer of 2015. Together, the founders have more than 85 years of experience in all aspects of theatre production and serve as co-producing artistic directors. All productions are staged in the performance gallery at the West Windsor Arts Center in Princeton Junction.
“We want to provide New Jersey audiences with an opportunity to see the smaller, more intimate plays that don’t always get the attention they deserve, but are provocative and challenging for both an audience to experience and theatre artists to create,” said Nasta Zefutie.
Bisgaier, a graduate of University of Southern California with a degree in theatre, has worked in all aspects of the field. He was co-producing artistic director of The Empire Theatre Company, where he oversaw the production of three off-Broadway plays, including the New York stage premiere of Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs.
As an actor, he has appeared across the country in such roles as Jonathan Harker in Dracula (Delaware Theatre Co.), Faulkland in The Rivals (Horse Cave Theatre), the title role in The Nerd (Phoenix Theatre), Clive/Cathy in Cloud Nine (Green Room Theatre) and Ernie in Rumors (Montgomery Theater Company).
Bisgaier has directed more than 30 productions, most recently Picasso at the Lapin Agile. As a playwright, he wrote stage adaptations of Reservoir Dogs and the novel Choke by Chuck Palahniuk (Fight Club), as well as several short plays and monologues.
Currently, Bisgaier is busy completing his latest play, Climbing the Slide. His screenplay, The Legend of Santa Claus: The Beginning, has been optioned by AugustRoad Entertainment and is on its way to becoming a feature film.
He serves as the production manager at the WWAC, where he also teaches classes and camps on topics including acting, playwriting and filmmaking.
Pegasus’ next production at the Arts Council will be Art by Yasmina Reza, translated by Christopher Hampton. Nasta Zefutie is expected to direct the play, which is set to run from March 31 to April 9, 2017.
#b#Girl Scouts awarded#/b#
Thirteen Girl Scouts from Plainsboro and West Windsor recently received their gold awards, the highest award that Girl Scouts can earn. In addition, six girls received their silver awards, and 30 received their bronze awards.
Gold Award Recipients and their projects were:
Vrinda Gupta for her “Volleyball Feeding Program,” where girls in middle school were able to attend a series of lessons about volleyball learning the rules and skills needed to play volleyball in high school. It was developed because the WW-P School District does not offer a middle school team and Gupta wanted to give interested girls the opportunity to learn the sport. She is a member of troop 70214, which is led by Dorothy Safranek and Chenthamarai Natarajan.
Sahana Natarajan for “The Gift of Vision.” Natarajan discovered that a majority of eye diseases, like Diabetic Retinopathy, are easily preventable after doing research and visiting a hospital in India. She taught a series of classes to children in grades K-5 at the Boys & Girls Club in Trenton about prevention of the diseases. She also created a website and videos in order to share the information she had learned. She is a member of troop 70214.
Shailee Shah for “Promoting Mental Health for Teens.” Shah conducted mental health awareness presentations in the community to destigmatize mental health disorders, and shared her journey in the Movement for Global Mental e-newsletter and with the Global Mental Health Committee at Mount Sinai Hospital. She is a member of Troop 70217, which is led by Tracey Walters and Puja Mittal.
Taylor Hoogsteden for “Words of Wisdom from the Women at the Gables.” Her project involved the creation of a short film that recorded wisdom to younger women from six women who live in the Gables at West Windsor senior citizen apartments. The film opened up the lines of communication between the generations while also addressing the isolation and loneliness that can be felt by seniors in the community. Hoogsteden is a member of troop 70619, which is led by Pat Hoge and Teresa Adair.
Dana Houck for “Weatherproof Mats for the Homeless.” Houck turned recycled grocery bags into sleep mats that were donated to homeless people in Mercer County. These mats are water resistant, lightweight and provide a thermal barrier to the cold. Houck is a member of Troop 70627, which is led by Diane Weber and Jackie Houck.
Jiwon Kim for “Always Crafting.” Kim conducted a crafting class at the Homefront Family Preservation Center for the children who live there. The crafting class was a way for the children to help express bottled up feelings and emotions through art. Kim is a member of Troop 70627.
Sruthi Pasupuleti for “Outdoor Yoga Classroom.” Pasupuleti created an outdoor meditation garden/classroom at the West Windsor Senior Center, which can also be used by the center’s yoga and tai chi instructors to run classes outdoors. Pasupuleti is a member of Troop 70627.
Megan Weber for “Twiddle Muffs for Autism.” Weber created a network of crafters who made and donated “Twiddle Muffs” to the WW-P School District and the Autism Society. The hand muffs are meant to provide autistic students and adults with a tool to help relieve frustration and calm themselves. She is a member of Troop 70627.
Shruti Jain for “Compilation of Directory of Funding Sources for Programs for Special Needs Children.” Jain identified organizations that might help fund programs for special needs children and compiled a directory listing the organizations, their websites and phone numbers. She also organized a craft workshop for students at Mercer Elementary School. She is a member of Troop 70871, which is led by Tephanie Meiers and Laurie Renz.
Poonam Kulkarni for “English Education of Tribal Girls in Hursul, India.” Kulkarni provided resources and taught English at Kanya Chatralaya, a girls’ school in the small village of Hursul in Nasik, India. For two weeks, Poonam taught English to about 40 girls every day and created lesson plans for other volunteers to continue teaching after she left. She also held book drives to collect storybooks and created a small library in their classroom. Kulkarni is a member of Troop 70891, which is led by Linda Baumann and Betsy Saunders.
Jasmine Soni for “Worldwide Passport.” Soni visited with homeless children at the Cherry Tree Club preschool every Friday during the summer of 2015 to introduce them to cultures from around, hoping to become more accepting of individuals of various ethnic backgrounds. She taught cultural awareness by using easy recipes to make customary snacks, playing music with lyrics from different languages, playing traditional games and dances and reading classic tales during storytimes from countries all over the globe. Soni hosted a Culture Day and also crated a scrapbook of her ‘Worldwide Passport’ experiences to be kept at the school. Soni is a member of Troop 70891.
Rhea Khatri for her “STEM Smart” project (see story on page 1). Khatri is a member of Troop 70964, which is led by Lucinda Cochrane and Arti Khatri.
Dvimidha Muniappan for “Reading Takes You Places!” The goal of Muniappan’s project was to help improve literacy in rural communities in India and around the world. She helped set up a library in a rural public school in India last summer and taught the children the importance of reading, as well as reading to and with them. She is a member of Troop 70964.
Silver Award recipients and their projects were: Ruhi Sakrikar for “Summer Baking with Seniors” (Troop 70629 led by Mary Beth Bardachino and Shambhavi Sakrikar); Abigail Carlson and Priyanka Shenoy for “Music Under the Cherry Tree.” (Troop 71875, led by Linda Carlson and Helen Wojtenko); Aditi Nayak for “Bag the Bags” (Troop 7185); Olivia Young for “Selah Center Literacy Program” (Troop 71875); Shreyasvi Gowda for “Painting with a Purpose” (Troop 71986, led by Nadege Frotte, Rachel George and Kerry Kehler).
Bronze Award recipients were: Sruthi Anupuru, Nandika Bhargava, Srihitha Jagarlamudi, Ruchita Jegan, Vrinda Kantamaneni, Emily Liu, Kyra Mehta, Hanvita Shri Mutyala, Diya Patel, Shrinarayanee Rengarajan, and Bhavana Thelakkat of Troop 70051, led by Mini Krishnan and Kanishika Bhargava, for “Pet Care Packages for New Owners of Cats and Dogs”; Ariane Adcroft, Sophia Azzara, Meera Hajarnis and Danielle O’Shea of Troop 71005, led by Eileen Azzara and Mitali Hajarnis, for their project “Birthday Cake Baking for the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen”; and Frances Brown, Rayna Chaudhary, Pallavi Dalmia, Sophia Djeng, Juliette Cassandra Dominguez, Ava Simone Francis, Dhriti Goudar, Ishita Jha, Sara Karnik, Anika Lal, Suhani Mehra, Kanika Sharma, Jeeya Tyagi, Kylie Grace Vandenberg and Prisha Venu of Troop 72804 led by Leslie Vandenberg, Angela Djeng, Rashmi Jha and Rachna Tyagi for their project “Birthday Cakes for TASK.”
In addition, four girls were honored with the Distinguished Girl Scout Service Award, which recognizes 12th grade Girl Scouts for their commitment to helping the scouting organization. The girls ran Girl Scout troops for younger girls, or helped the West Windsor-Plainsboro Girl Scout Service Unit. Recipients of this award were: Dana Houck, Jade Rowland, Ritu Vyas and Megan Weber.
