Freeport Theatre to stage 'Massy Harbison,' 'The Curious Savage' and more

For its 33rd season, Freeport Theatre’s summer festival revives its most popular production on the region’s most famous pioneer woman, “Massy Harbison,” in August.

Other theater productions this summer are John Patrick’s “The Curious Savage” in July and Lisa Camerlo’s one-woman show “Deliriously Daffy” in September.

The theater is owned and operated by Rennick and Marushka Steele in a converted barn on a farm owned by generations of the Steele family in Allegheny Township.

The couple, who met while acting in an off-off-Broadway play in New York City, has been entertaining fans with their theater productions for decades.

“It’s gratifying to start with a machinery barn that we transformed into a nice, quaint summer theater,” said Rennick Steele, who is not only known as the thespian soulmate of his wife, Marushka, but also a retired Armstrong School District teacher and a longtime Allegheny Township supervisor.

Over the years, the Steeles fortified and renovated their barn, which started from a gravel floor to an air-conditioned, handicap-accessible, 100-seat theater. Donations from the Rockwell Foundation and other charities helped along the way, the couple said.

This season, given the dearth of good news circulating, Marushka Steele is chatting up the theater’s first production of the season.

“It’s much more fun to talk about a play than what is going on in the world,” she said.

“We want to encourage people to turn off the television sets, turn off cellphones and focus on our theater characters,” she said.

“The Curious Savage,” written by John Patrick and directed by Rennick Steele, is a comedy about a wealthy heiress, Mrs. Ethel Savage, her conniving stepchildren and gentle misfits at a sanatorium.

“It’s gratitude vs. greed, and it’s a comedy,” she said.

Performances run every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from July 8 to 24.

6th production of ‘Massy Harbison’

Marushka Steele describes the success and reliability of her husband’s play, “Massy Harbison,” as “The Nutcracker” of the Alle-Kiski Valley.

Rennick Steele, a voting member of the Cherokee Nation, wrote the play based on Harbison’s harrowing escape from Native Americans. They captured her and three children 230 years ago in a cabin along the Allegheny River in the present-day River Forest golf course in Allegheny Township.

“It’s a story of a heroine,” Rennick Steele said. “That woman had a great constitution to survive and then had lots more children.”

The Harbison play will run every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from Aug. 12 to 28.

Finally, the theater will offer “Deliriously Daffy,” a contemporary comedy about caregiving, from Sept. 23 to 25.

The one-woman show was conceived, written and performed by Lisa Camerlo, with Joe Lege on piano. After the show, a pastor will lead a discussion on the needs of caregivers.

Not in the spotlight, but very much in the theater, will be a small troupe of students.

Junior Drama Camp, now in its fifth year for 8- to 12-year-olds, runs June 20-24.

The camp features Jennifer Bronder, a theater and language arts teacher from Knoch High School, and Tom Abbott, a retired theater teacher from Highlands High School. They will provide structure to guide the fledgling actors.

The students will write their own piece, rehearse it, work with a costume and perform, Marushka Steele said.

“They don’t have to be actors and directors,” she said. “They will learn that culture is important.”

Freeport Theatre is located at the Steele Farm, 2498 White Cloud Road in Allegheny Township. $15 general admission, $12 seniors and military/$10 students. Reservations are recommended by calling 724-295-1934 or visiting freeporttheatrefestival.org.