Hartwick’s Summer Theatre “Invades” Oneonta World Of Learning

A Hawks in Flight Feature

Logan Lumley ‘23 is phoning in her performance in Oneonta World Of Learning’s (OWL) Dinosaur Invasion show – literally.

“I get to work from home and do what I want with my life,” says Lumley. “It’s so much fun.”

Every Saturday and Sunday in July, she dialed in her performance in Dinosaur Adventure, for which she played Sparks, who monitors the invisible, time-traveling dinosaurs invading Oneonta’s Fortin Park. The script was written by Malissa Kano-White, chair of Hartwick’s Theatre Department.

“I was really inspired by [Shakespeare-themed] Sleep No More to do interactive theatre, but for children,” says Kano-White. “When we realized we couldn’t have Logan on site, we had to engage in some creative problem solving.”

Before every show, while the kids make their “time trap” craft with volunteers from OWL, Lumley called in and was patched through a Bluetooth speaker worn by Mario Rosario ‘25, the theatre arts/business administration double major playing the character A1. Armed with the script and a headset, she then directed the kids to the next section of the production.

“The kids love being able to interact and use their imaginations to have fun,” says Lumley. “And they really get into it. There’s a scene where the time portal at OWL headquarters explodes, and I heard the kids through the speaker asking if Sparks was okay!”

“Kids are the co-creators of this theatre piece,” says Kano-White. “They’re telling their own story.”

She hopes that the College’s collaboration with OWL can continue in the future. “I’d love for students to write the script as a J Term course, then tour with the show in June as a summer internship,” she says.

“Every week, I get to hear how excited these kids are,” adds Lumley. “Sometimes I have to put myself on mute and squeal at the top of my lungs.”