by Rita Charleston

“Blithe Spirit,” Noel Coward's 1941 comedy about the socialite and novelist Charles Condomine, who invites the eccentric and clairvoyant Madame Arcati to his house to conduct a séance, continues at Stagecrafters, 8130 Germantown Ave., through April 29. Joe Herman directs the play that backfires on Condomine, who is hoping to gather material for his next book but instead ends up bringing the ghost of Elvira, his annoying and temperamental first wife, back to haunt him after the séance. Elvira makes continual attempts to disrupt Charles' marriage to his second wife, Ruth, who cannot see or hear the ghost.

Herman, 49, a native of Northeast Ohio, acted in his first play as Scrooge in a “Christmas Carol” in grade school. “That's when the acting bug first hit me and hit me hard,” Herman recalls, “but I dismissed the idea of going into the theater, thinking that if I couldn't be a professional and make a career out of it, I shouldn't even bother.”

And so, he went on to get his BS in Electrical Engineering at the University of Notre Dame, but still harboring that love of theater, he also got his BA in Communications and Theater at the same school. He later went on to graduate school at Northwestern University to attain an MS in Computer Science.

In 2000, when his wife Larissa Wenning, a research scientist, got a job at Merck in Upper Gwynedd, the couple moved here and settled in Upper Dublin. “After being here for a couple of years, I realized what a strong community theater scene Philly has,” Herman said, “including one (Stagecrafters) that was close by. So one night my wife and I got tickets and went to see 'A Cat on a Hot tin Roof,' and I realized then I had to get back to the theater.”

And that's exactly what he did. He made contact with Stagecrafters and landed his first non-speaking role on stage. Since then Herman has acted in 11 productions at Stagecrafters and occasionally at other local theaters as well. “I worked pretty steadily through 2008, but then life keeps you pretty busy. By then we had two children, a boy and a girl, and I had to keep a career going, which meant it became increasingly hard to find the time to act.”

But by 2012 he was back at Stagecrafters once again, picking up his acting roles as well as his directing responsibilities. “The man originally slated to direct this play had to move to California, and so the job was offered to me. I gladly accepted but not without a bit of anxiety,” Herman explained. “Directing can prove to be a very exhausting experience.”

Herman has directed before, including the play titled “Artist Descending a Staircase,” and he admits it's not the easiest thing to do. “The best way to learn is to get involved in all aspects of production, including the lighting, stage management, costuming, set design and more. Then shadow a director around and watch what he or she does to bring it all together.”

Today, when Herman is not totally involved with Stagecrafters and his many duties there (among other things he designed and maintains the theater's IT environment consisting of the website, online ticketing and subscription database), he enjoys his time as either a stay-at-home dad or a freelance computer programmer and software developer.

He insists that everything he does brings him satisfaction in different ways. “Some people are always thinking one step ahead, but I try never to look past the current production I'm working on. For now I'd like to learn a little more about lighting and sound, things I'm not too familiar with. But I'm sure after a little while, I'll get that itch again to be on stage acting again, and it'll be time to scratch.”

For reservations, call 215-247-9913.