by Rita Charleston

The Drama Group's spring show at the First United Methodist Church of Germantown continues through Saturday, April 23, with “The Rover, or The Banish'd Cavaliers,” a 1677 play by Aphra Behn about a swashbuckling romp through mid-1600s Naples at Carnival time. A band of banished English cavaliers have come to seek whatever amorous adventures they might find. Willmore, a rover with a reputation, falls for Hellena, who is determined to experience love before being sent to a convent. Her sister, Florinda, is trying to avoid an arranged marriage in order to marry her true love.

Numerous mishaps, disguises, duels and mistaken identities ensue in this little-known Restoration comedy. And it all falls to the direction of Steve Wei, a 2014 graduate of Temple University, who joined the drama club at his New Brunswick (New Jersey) High School to pursue a girl and ended up losing her because of his role in the school play.

“My first show was 'Tiger at the Gate,' and I had to give a very long kiss to the actress playing opposite me,” Wei recalls. “And that did it. The girl I liked was furious seeing that kiss, and at the end of the show she dumped me.”

Undaunted, however, Wei stuck with the drama club and eventually made his way to Temple to graduate with a B.A. in Theater. Today, Wei, who describes himself as a “performance artist,” spends his time directing as well as acting. He recently formed a partnership with a friend, Minou Pourshariati, to establish Jackpine Theatre. This play is their first collaboration in association with the Drama Group.

According to Wei, Behn (1640-1689), was one of the first English women to earn her living as a playwright, poet, translator and fiction writer. Known for her concern for equality between the sexes, she broke cultural barriers and served as a literary role model for generations of women authors and playwrights to follow.

“Minou and I were looking for projects to do together when we were not otherwise professionally committed,” Wei said. “We finally decided on 'The Rover'  because we wanted to do a show about people who aren't always well spoken for. We founded our company especially with the idea of speaking for those people. That's our core idea.”

Even the name of their company suits that theme. “We named our company after the jack pine tree,” Wei explains. “It's the kind of tree that doesn't grow and flourish unless it's burned first, which, we thought, was the ideal image for people who are put down in society but can learn to rise above it.”

Over the years, Wei, who now lives in South Philly, acknowledges that he's enjoyed every facet of his theatrical existence here in Philadelphia, whether acting or directing in any number of local and regional productions. “I enjoy both things now. I just enjoy them in different ways. It's like enjoying a substantial dinner or eating pizza. My favorite thing about acting is that moment on stage when you and the rest of the cast are in sync and the audience is in sync with the cast. And I think my favorite thing about being a director is watching my cast in rehearsal because once they get on stage they're no longer mine. So I look at fine dining as the director, and the pizza is the acting.”

Performances this Friday and Saturday evening at 8 pm in Pilling Hall at the First United Methodist Church of Germantown, 6001 Germantown Ave. More information at 215-844-0724 or www.thedramagroup.org.