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A Bedford County native recently returned to his roots to record a play accepted into the Rogue Theater Festival.
"Helter Shelter" is part comedy, part horror story and features Phil Way's friends from the Bedford County Players theatrical group.
Way, who wrote his first play while in the sixth grade at Chestnut Ridge Middle School, continues to write, direct and produce while also working full time as a server at Eataly NYC Flatiron in Manhattan, a big Italian market that includes several restaurants and counters.
Way said his first play was adapted from something he read in school.
"I really liked a story we read in our textbook and I adapted it into a stage play," he said.
He caught the acting bug when he got a part in the Bedford County Players' production of "The Hounds of the Baskervilles" in 1995 and then wrote an original short play, "The Terror of Bedford."
The story was about a journalist transformed by a mad scientist into a werewolf-like creature that terrorizes Bedford.
"I performed the play with my brothers for our parents in our living room," he said. "It was just for fun. ... I had no idea I would pursue theater in the future."
After graduating high school in 1997, Way ended up majoring in film and video at Penn State University, graduating in 2001. He was hired as a videographer for Sargent's Court Reporting Service in Johnstown, while continuing to act and direct plays as a member of the Bedford County Players.
"I like telling stories," Way said. "When I was a teenager, writing short stories was something I really enjoyed and acting in plays was a lot of fun, too."
He caught a break in 2008, moving to Virginia Beach, where he was an actor and assistant production manager at the Mystery Dinner Playhouse.
The interactive dinner theater was a lot of fun, he said. The cast would perform in a murder mystery and also serve the food in character, while guests could ask questions in an attempt to solve the mystery.
The experience only whetted his appetite for plays, and Way took the plunge, moving to New York in 2010 to pursue a career in play production.
In those 13 years, he has been writing short plays and producing them for festivals around the city at venues such as the Manhattan Repertory Theatre and The Players Theatre.
He won a Perry Award in 2015, the New Jersey Theater award for best production of an original play, for "Do I Know You?" which was part of the Old Library Theater one-act play festival in Fairlawn, N.J. He said "Do I Know You?" was the first short play he wrote after moving to New York.
He produced it for two festivals in the city before submitting it to the Old Library Theater.
"It is a hilarious comedy that I call a love letter to friendship," Way said.
Since that success, he has written, directed and acted in at least 10 short plays.
He has ideas for some full length plays and screenplays but is still working on those, he said.
Working in Bedford 'exciting'
Way's most recent accolade came from "Helter Shelter," a play he wrote during the pandemic.
It was accepted into the Rogue Theater's online festival, and follows on the heels of two others he's had accepted into the festival, one each in 2021 and 2022.
Because the play would be shown online, he decided to recruit his Bedford County friends for the production.
The cast features current members of the Bedford County Players -- Samantha Diehl as Jessica, Nadine Glass as Maddy and Matt Godissart as Jason.
Creating the play with his friends was great, he said. "It was very exciting as I had not seen them since I had moved."
Since the play came about during the COVID-19 lockdowns, Way incorporated a bit of what people were feeling. It features the story of two sisters, Maddy and Jessica, who are forced to quarantine together under the care of their nephew during an apocalyptic disaster.
Their personalities clash in humorous ways at first, but as Jessica begins to go crazy, the situation spins tragically out of control, he said.
Working with his friends in Bedford and recording the play in his old stomping grounds was a sweet homecoming, he said.
Even though they had not seen each other in 10 years, "we got on like it
was only yesterday that I left," he said.
Diehl, Godissart and Glass were asked to be in the play via email, and though they were surprised by the request, they didn't hesitate to join in the fun.
Diehl met Way during her first play with the Bedford County Players, "Sing On," in 2003.
"He is a kind, creative person who has a wonderfully witty sense of humor," she said.
As a director, he cast her in "Saving Grace," she said.
She apprenticed under him so she could learn how to direct, too, she said.
To be part of a play that ended up in a festival was a wonderful opportunity, she said, adding she enjoyed playing the part of the crazy sister and fighting with the other cast members.
Godissart, who has known Way for about 20 years and has performed on stage with him since he was about 12 or 13, said, "Phil is one of the most interesting people I know. ... He tends to be quiet, but then talks in these bursts of words."
Godissart remembers a play he did with Way called "Pure as the Driven Snow."
He played Leander Longfellow, a sort of Dudley Do-Right, who was probably a little dumber, and Way played Mortimer Frothingham, a bad guy with a twirly mustache.
"We had a blast during that show, pretending to hate each other -- chasing each other around the stage was a hoot," Godissart said.
Way messaged him about being in "Helter Shelter," and he jumped at the opportunity to work with him again.
"We recorded and performed it in chunks, but because it's a much smaller play, Nadine, Samantha and I got to do some neat character work to figure out who they were," he said.
Glass said the experience with "Helter Shelter" was a bit nerve wracking as she wanted to make sure everything went well as Way was sharing his vision of where to stand and how to present his script.
"Was it going to be what he wanted," she asked herself.
But, after a few quick rehearsals, Way calmed her nerves by telling a few jokes and sharing some laughs.
While the play may be short, she said the message of the two sisters showing sisterly love during a quarantine was engaging and interesting.
Creating the play "took a few hours -- many retakes at times, but it was an experience I will not forget," Glass said.
Glass said she first worked with Way on a high school senior class play.
"His dream was to be a playwright, and after years of hard work, he has accomplished that," she said.
Mirror staff writer Cati Keith can be reached at 814-946-7535.