In Theatrical Scenes from Danville, PA, playwright David A. Miller has created five short plays plays inspired by the history (recent and distant) and people of Danville, PA. The creation process included research with the Montour County Historical Society and Thomas Beaver Public Library, interviews with residents of Danville, playwriting workshops with Mr. Toczek’s 6th graders at St. Joseph School, a playwright’s writing retreat, and an online public performance of staged readings of the original pieces by professional actors and student actors from Bloomsburg University.

One of the plays is made up of words from community members gathered through interviews and surveys. Another of the plays was created collaboratively with the 6th graders from St. Joseph School. The cast includes professional actors from the community and students from the theatre program at Bloomsburg University. The actors are Brian Bond, Mary Patricia Burnett, Elizabeth Dowd, Lydia Hannibal, Andy Hubatsek, and Kalie Peterson.

Watch the Performance

Five new, short plays inspired by Danville, PA were first performed in a script-in-hand reading on Thursday, December 17 at 7:30pm on YouTube: https://bit.ly/theatrical-scenes-premiere.

Read more about the project in the Danville News: Danville takes the stage in YouTube Premiere.

Actor Biographies

Brian Bond is a Sophomore Theatre Arts Major (Performance Emphasis) with a minor in Music at Bloomsburg University. Brian has been involved with theater for over ten years, featuring in roles such as Ben (Night of the Living Dead) and Mr. Boddy (CLUE) at Williamsport Area High School, as well as Mr. Myers (FAME the Musical) and Indio (West Side Story) at Community Theatre League. Alongside his many roles, Brian’s a playwright, who has written four plays to date, and is a director who assistant directed #HereToo at Penn State University and directed an original show at Williamsport Area High School titled With Maxine. After school, Brian intends to pursue a career as a theatre director and a professional wrestler.

Mary Patricia Burnett is a Theatre Arts major and a Child Life Specialist minor at Bloomsburg University. She is currently completing her sophomore year. Previous roles include: Wendy Darling (Peter Pan), Cosette (Les Misérables), Sophie Puppeteer (The BFG), Various Roles (Something Grimm), Lisa (Mamma Mia!) Death/ Various Roles (Remembered: A Play Inspired by the Old Rosemont Cemetery), Various Roles (Oklahoma!), and Various Roles (Man of La Mancha).

Elizabeth Dowd is an ensemble member of the Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble where she has acted in somewhere around 150 productions. Favorite roles include Hazel in The Children, Joyce in Body Awareness, Irina in The Seagull, Margie Walsh in Good People, Sister Aloysius in Doubt, Vivien Bearing in Wit. Maggie in Women of Lockerbie, Dotty Otley in Noises Off, Linda Loman in Death of a Salesman, Reggie Fluty in The Laramie Project, and Emma in Betrayal. She has directed over twenty productions at BTE, most recently The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

Lydia Hannibal is an associate artistic member of the Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble. As well as a member of BU Players and the Actors Equity Association. Lydia’s theater credits include The American Conservatory Theater, The Denver Center Theatre Company, Solving Festival Theatre, The Mc Carter Theater, The American Stage Theatre, Crossroads Theater, The Virginia Museum Theatre, and the Market Theater in Johannesburg South Africa. Lydia was last seen in the BU Players production of Everybody, and starts rehearsal in 2021 for the BU Players production of Much Ado About Murder. Lydia is currently writing a one woman play about Mumbet : The Elizabeth Freeman Story.

Andrew Hubatsek has been a member of the Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble since 2000 performing in over a hundred roles from Peter Pan to Shakespeare’s Hamlet. He has written and directed educational touring shows for BTE and also directed numerous plays for mainstage. Before that he worked out of the New York area with theatre companies such as National Actor’s Theatre, Arden Party, Riverside Shakespeare Company and The Whole Theatre. In the deep 80’s he had film roles in Kaythryn Bigelow’s Blue Steel and Stephen King’s Pet Sematary as Zelda, directed by Mary Lambert. Andrew also works as a Simulated Patient for the Education Department at Geisinger/Danville and helped to pilot a Simulated Patient program for Sarah Lawrence College.

Kalie Peterson is a freshman at Bloomsburg University, majoring in Theatre Arts and Political Science. Kalie is currently a member of Bloomsburg University’s Honors College. Her previous theatrical roles include Caroline Bingley and Mrs. Gardiner in Pride and Prejudice, Madame Thénardier in Les Misérables, and Nola in Clockwork. Kalie has also directed the Velveteen Rabbit and the Jungle Book at both the elementary and middle school levels. Additionally, she has done work in costume, hair, makeup, and stage crew, as well as trained in violin and private voice.

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Partners

Tell Me A Story about Danville, PA

Do you have a story to tell about Danville?
Do you have an answer to the question, “What makes Danville special?”

Playwright David A. Miller is writing plays inspired by Danville and he would love to hear your story to serve as inspiration. What began as in-person Tell Me A Story sessions at local establishments (Thomas Beaver Public Library, Old Forge Brewing Company, and Danville Business Alliance) has morphed into Remote Sessions! Pull up a virtual chair and share a story in one of two ways:

	Option #1: Tell Me A Story via Survey Take the Tell Me A Story Survey by clicking here.
	Option #2: Tell Me A Story via Phone Call Send me a message through my Contact Page and let me know how and when you would like to be contacted.