Pax Amicus Castle Theatre

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Pax Amicus is a not-for profit, cultural-educational foundation that survives and thrives on ticket sales and individual donations. It is not connected with, supported by, nor does it endorse any religious, educational, civil, fraternal or social organization or point of view.

So no matter what you are looking for, we offer something for everyone!

The Founding of Pax Amicus

But Pax Amicus Theatre actually began seven years earlier. In 1970 Stan Barber and Bob Findlay, tenured teachers at West Morris Regional High School in Chester, left their jobs to found PAX AMICUS. They founded a community art center which they originally housed in a historic, former Presbyterian church in Flanders. They purchased the church with personal loans and mortgages. Within a year of remodeling and rebuilding, they were up and running. Teens, their parents and many good Samaritans assisted them in this endeavor. PAX AMICUS opened its doors with a musical tribute to Jacques Brel, the French and Belgian troubadour who set the tone for the musical and social revolutions of the 1960s and 1970s.

By 1977, Pax Amicus, was a successful community theatre. They then made the decision to purchase the Knights of Columbus Hall. Their plan: convert it into a castle as a home for its growing theatre for children's productions.

Addition & Remodeling

Stan Barber, Pax's co-founder and director conceived and rebuilt the dilapidated, aging building into one of Mt. Olive's most vibrant and visible landmarks. He did this with the help of:

Paul Berry (of Mt. Olive)
George Stults (of Washington Township)
Rusty Cook (of Basking Ridge)
Tim O'Brien (of Chester)
John Hammel (of Morristown)

The re-construction took less than two years. For their efforts, the National Remodelers Association named Pax Amicus Castle Outstanding Building of the Year - FIRST PLACE. The guests of honor at its ribbon cutting ceremony, included Margaret Hamilton, the Wicked Witch of the West, of the MGM film classic of The Wizard of Oz, and an up-and-coming unknown young actor named Kevin Bacon. The ribbon cutting also featured a production of A Man for All Seasons.

For 6 years, both theatres - the Church Theatre in Flanders and the new Castle Theatre - functioned full time, but in 1983, it was decided to move all productions to the Castle, and the old Church was sold to a private family. Sadly, in 2011, a fire destroyed the top half of the old Presbyterian Church (gratefully, no one was hurt) and its future will depend on its present owners.

Boonton, NJ

Downtown Denville, NJ

Historic Chester, NJ

Morristown, NJ

Main Lake Market, Jefferson, NJ

Make It Morris

About

Driving along Route 46, if you look across Budd Lake you will see glowing, reflected in the waters, a castle made of white stone. To many residents of Budd Lake and its nearby communities, returning after a long hard day at work, it is a touchstone, a landmark, an assurance that they have returned safely to their home in Mount Olive Township in northwest New Jersey. And to nearly anyone within stone's throw of the Lake, it is known as Pax Amicus Theatre - or familiarly and fondly, The Castle. Many do not know that it was not always a castle. To the summer residents of the 1940s and 1950s who vacationed on Budd Lake, it was a Jewish Community Center, and then in the early 70s, a fraternal hall for the local Knights of Columbus.