Scranton’s historic Hill Section was the site and subject of “The Porches Project,” a play created by Jennifer Rhoads and Hank Willenbrink, theatre program director. The project took place on porches of various homes in the Hill Section and included six original short plays written by University students and alumni, addressing a variety of subjects that have influenced the lives of past and present residents. These subjects included the 1970s flushing of the mines, young sisters affected by the drug epidemic in the 2000s, the resettling of Nepali-Bhutanese refugees, and much more.
Rhoads and Willenbrink spoke with Hill Section residents through community story-gathering sessions and interviews to gather these true stories that the playwrights then used for the foundation of their plays.
This project was inspired by Jane Jacobs, a Scranton native and urban theorist, who emphasized the value of being engaged in your community. Jacobs coined the phrase “eyes on the street” and believed that the life of a community is dependent on having residents who are engaged and paying attention.
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