November 16, 2021
WCU's Dept. of Theatre & Dance Presents The Triangle Factory Fire Project
Historical Account of Tragedy Brought to Life Onstage November 19 & 20 
West Chester University’s Department of Theatre & Dance presents the THE TRIANGLE FACTORY FIRE PROJECT, a historical play by Christopher Piehler in collaboration with Scott Alan Evans. Directed by Associate Professor of Theatre John Bellomo the show runs Friday and Saturday, November 19 and 20 at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, November 20 and 21 at 2 p.m. in the Mainstage Theatre, E.O. Bull Center for the Arts, 2 E. Rosedale Avenue, West Chester. General admission tickets are $12 for adults and $7 for children at https://www.wcupatix.com/theatreanddance.
On Saturday, March 25, 1911 at 4:45 P.M. flames sweep through the Triangle Factory. Panic-stricken workers run in all directions. Some make it to the fire escape, only to have it collapse beneath their weight. Others run to the exit door but find it locked. Dozens leap from the windows to their deaths, shocking the crowd of onlookers gathered below. And some - through bravery or sheer luck - make it out alive.
The play uses eyewitness accounts, court transcripts, and other archival materials, including real words spoken by real workers, to create a moment-by-moment account of this horrific event. West Chester University student actors portray Ukrainian seamstresses, Italian, Polish, and Russian immigrants, and millionaire Fifth Avenue socialites.
Director John Bellomo says, “THE TRIANGLE FACTORY FIRE PROJECT paints a heartbreakingly clear picture of a disastrous day in American history. It explores the human toll such a tragedy takes on us all.”
The ensemble cast includes: Sloane Duzy (Devon, PA), Mohannad Elhabbal (Syracuse, NY), Aliyah Green (Downingtown, PA), Kat Gregory (Boyertown, PA), Nyred Jackson (Jamison, PA), April Marion (Lancaster/York, PA), Jonah Padula (Bath, PA), Guinevere Paviglianti (West Grove, PA), Shane Wilson (Oxford, PA).
All faculty, staff, students, and visitors, regardless of vaccination status, are required to wear a mask which covers their nose and mouth when indoors. Face masks may be worn when outdoors, but it is not an obligation of this policy notice. Mask and COVID-19 safety measures at West Chester University will continue to be updated here. Please check ahead for updated information before attending your performance.
The Department of Theatre and Dance at West Chester University, an accredited institution of the National Association of Schools of Theatre, prepares students for the professional and the academic worlds of Theatre and Dance, while raising student awareness of civility, diversity, creativity, problem solving and social responsibility. The department offers a BA Theatre degree program with elective concentrations in Musical Theatre, Performance, and Design and Production, in addition to a dance minor and theatre minor.
Enrolling more than 17,000 students, West Chester University is the largest member of the 14-institution Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. Founded in 1871, the University is a comprehensive public institution, offering a diverse range of more than 200 undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral programs in more than 50 fields of study. In addition to West Chester, the University offers programs through its graduate center, Philadelphia, and online. Six colleges and two schools comprise the University: University College, Colleges of Arts and Humanities, Business and Public Management, Education and Social Work, Health Sciences, and the Sciences and Mathematics, as well as the Wells School of Music, and the Graduate School.