BLOOMSBURG THEATRE ENSEMBLE

About the Theatre

Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble (BTE) was founded in 1978 by recent graduates of Northwestern University, who relocated to Bloomsburg for two years of master classes with legendary acting teacher Alvina Krause (1893-1981).

Under Krause's inspiration, we established a resident ensemble of actors, directors, writers, and teachers who are empowered to articulate the theatre's mission and determine its artistic programming. Our goal was for a theatre that would, in Krause's words, be "as important to its community as schools and churches."

Nationally, BTE is a leader in the ensemble theatre movement as a co-founder of the Network of Ensemble Theaters. Since 1995, NET has grown into an over 160-member organization to promote ensemble theatre practice, and generate interest in ensemble as a sustainable model for community-based work. Through NET, we toured Letters to the Editor in California in 1998.

For a company based in a small town, BTE is surprisingly international. In 1991, the US State Department selected us to tour The Voice of the Prairie and Along the Susquehanna to five African nations. Two years later, African actors and musicians collaborated with us on a TIC show Under African Skies.

In 2016 Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble was presented the Outstanding Theatre Award by the National Theatre Conference.

Since its founding in 1978, BTE has welcomed and nurtured many new influences to complement the original dream. The successes we have yet to create and risks we have yet to dare are our sustenance.

The Little Prince

4/3 - 4/27/2025

A stranded pilot re-discovers the invisible wonders and absurdities of existence when he meets The Little Prince, a boy claiming to be from outer space, ...

A Closer Walk With Patsy Cline

5/1 - 5/4/2025

The biographical musical A Closer Walk With Patsy Cline will run on the Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble Mainstage from May 1th through 4th. A Closer Walk ...

BTE Improv

5/9

Prepare for droll developments and absurd antics when the BTE Improv cast plays games and responds to your suggestions! Show starts at 7:30 PM....

BTE Improv

6/6

Prepare for droll developments and absurd antics when the BTE Improv cast plays games and responds to your suggestions! Show starts at 7:30 PM....

Sideways Stories From Wayside School

7/10 - 7/27/2025

Sideways Stories From Wayside School, adapted from the Louis Sachar novels by John Olive. Directed by Amy Rene Byrne.

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Full Casts & Complete Lineup Set for Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival

by Chloe Rabinowitz - May 08, 2023

Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival has announced the complete principal casts, creative teams, and events planned for the previously announced summer season....

Past Shows

Discovering Frederick Douglass: The Remarkable Life of a National Leader

3/15

Discovering Frederick Douglass: The Remarkable Life of a National Leader by Gabe Moses and directed by Avery LaMar Pope.

BTE Improv

3/14

Prepare for droll developments and absurd antics when the BTE Improv cast plays games and responds to your suggestions! Show starts at 7:30 PM! ...

The Christians

5/26 - 6/12/2022

Twenty years ago, Pastor Paul’s church was nothing more than a modest storefront. Now he presides over a congregation of thousands, with classrooms for Sunday ...

The Children (Kirkwood)

1/16 - 2/2/2020

Two retired nuclear scientists reside in an isolated cottage by the sea as the world around them crumbles. Together they are going to live forever ...

Superior Donuts

5/2 - 5/19/2013

Alvina Krause Theatre: - Tracy Letts; dir: Elizabeth Dowd....

Flood Stories, Too.

3/7 - 3/17/2013

Alvina Krause Theatre: - Gerard Stropnicky; dir: Gerard Stropnicky....

As You Like It

1/25 - 1/26/2013

An idyllic Forest of Arden provides the lush backdrop for Shakespeare's glorious romantic comedy of courtiers, clowns, philosophers and provincials—all bewitched by the trials and ...

In the Next Room or the vibrator play

5/3 - 5/20/2012

Sarah Ruhl's In The Next Room or The Vibrator Play will be presented by The San Pedro Playhouse at the Cellar Thetre as part of ...

Murder at the Howard Johnson's

3/8 - 3/25/2012

This superb piece of theatrical fluff is designed to leave you chuckling over the ironies of life as you watch the antics of Arlene Miller, ...

Julius Caesar

1/27 - 1/28/2012