Theater production to take place at president's home

A 19th century Symbolist play is being given an atmospheric staging in a historic Bradford mansion for Pitt-Bradford's spring theater production next month.

The Pitt-Bradford theater program will present Maurice Maeterlinck's “The Intruder” in the living room of 120 School St., which serves as home to the university's president.

“In a theater, this piece would be a simple exercise in rising tension,” said Dr. Kevin Ewert, director of the theater program and of this production. “But played throughout the first floor of 120 School St., it becomes something much more - a delightfully eerie little haunting for an early spring evening in one of the most beautiful buildings in Bradford.”

This is not the first time the theater program has moved outside its usual home on campus in Blaisdell Hall.

In 2012 the original work “An Evening of Stories by Edgar Allan Poe” was staged throughout all six floors of the Seneca Building (now Marilyn Horne Hall) in downtown Bradford. “Obviously, the audience was on the go for that show, with scenes happening all through the building,” Ewert said. “For 'The Intruder,' they'll be seated in the living room to watch the action as it circulates around them.

“Immersive and site-specific productions are a big deal right now in the theater world. While it's fun for the cast to try something new like this, it's even more exciting for an audience to have a theater experience outside the way things usually look and feel and unfold.”

The Pitt-Bradford president's home at 120 School St. is a three-story brick and terra cotta Italianate home with formal garden built by lumber mill owner H.C. Bemis. It was given to the university for use as the president's home in 1963 by Elizabeth Kennedy Fesenmyer and her husband, F. Wayne Fesenmyer.

Because the first floor of the home is now used primarily as space for university events, it lends itself perfectly to this type of occasional use.

Seats are limited to 23 per show at 7:30 p.m. on April 4, 5 and 6, with a second 9 p.m. show on April 5 and 6. Due to the unique circumstances, latecomers will not be admitted.

Tickets are $6 for the general public and $2 for all students. To purchase, call the Pitt-Bradford box office at 814-362-5113. Tickets must be purchased in advance and will not be available at the door.

The cast for the show includes Brooke Imbriale, an interdisciplinary arts major from Beaver Falls; Justin Amadi, a nursing major from Sicklerville, N.J.; Tamia Robinson, a criminal justice major from Philadelphia; Julie Kephart, a biology major from Phillipsburg; Julian Rowe, an interdisciplinary arts major from Harleysville; Naama Paulemont, a chemistry major from Reading; Erica Isenberg, a hospitality management and interdisciplinary arts major from Clarendon; and Shaelyn Snipes, a biology major from Upper Marlboro, Md.