Theatre Department Faculty

David Schwingle

Department Head, Theatre
MFA, Playwriting / Hollins University
PRA: Acting, Voice, and Text / Patsy Rodenburg Institute

Bio

David Schwingle is a voice and acting coach (PRA), playwright (MFA), actor, and director. He’s been teaching and creating theatre for over 20 years. David writes new plays, acts in Shakespeare’s, and coaxes actors and new work onto the stage. He has a passion for creating new stories and sharing them with an audience, and he loves helping others do the same. He currently teaches at Bob Jones University and serves as Department Head of Theatre and Fine Arts Artistic Director.

David’s theatrical work has been produced in Manhattan, St. Louis, Roanoke, Upstate NY, and across South Carolina. In 2022 Eleventh Hour Theatre produced his original one-man show, Electric Love. David acted in the show. In 2017 David’s 10-minute play Winning with Shakespeare! won the new works festival at the Atlantic Stage (Myrtle Beach, SC). In 2018 David’s short play Separate was published in Rivers Edge: a Journal of Art and Literature (Vol. 31, Issue 1). In 2020 David’s monologue “Ian” was published in The Best Men’s Stage Monologues by Smith and Kraus. In 2021 David’s one-act play A Roof of Slate was selected as a semi-finalist for the new works festival at Greenville’s Centre Stage.

David was a finalist for The American Prize directing award for his work on King Lear, eventually winning third place. He is the founder of Eleventh Hour Theatre.

He recently played Hamlet (Greenville, SC) for the second time. He is a certified Patsy Rodenburg Associate (PRA), specializing in acting and voice.

Jeffrey Stegall

MA, Interpretative Speech / Bob Jones University
Acting Certificate / Shakespeare Institute

Bio

Jeffrey Stegall has been directing, designing, and acting for over40 years.

He has played the title character in Hamlet, Henry V, Richard II, and The Merchant of Venice, as well as more than a baker's dozen of Shakespeare’s clowns. He also sang the role of Henry Etches in Titanic: The Broadway Musical. His play and opera directing and design credits include over 100 productions.

While at The National Shakespeare Conservatory in New York City, he studied with James Tripp, Mark Zeller, Peter Lobdell, Mary Lou Rosato, as well other Theatre professionals. He also studied Theatre Design at The University of Oklahoma with Forrest Newlin (Scene Design) and Michael Buchwald(Costume Design).

He is founder of The Greenville Shakespeare Company, a nonprofit organization that exists to provide the Upstate of South Carolina and surrounding areas with family friendly, high quality, accessible productions of Shakespeare and other classic works of literature. His most recent production of Much Ado About Nothing marked GSC's 24th season.

Jeffrey has performed his one-man show “An Amazing Grace: The Story of John Newton” at churches in New Hampshire, Indiana, Tennessee, and Texas.

When he’s not in rehearsals, he enjoys leading the music at White Oak Baptist Church and scouring the countryside(domestic & abroad) for antiques with his wife, Kim. They have two wonderful adult children.

Bio

Anne Nolan

ThA page.jpg — Lonnie Polson

EdD / Bob Jones University

Bio

Hello! I'm Lonnie Polson, chair of the Division of Communication at BJU. I grew up in New Castle, Indiana and came to BJU as a student in 1972. My wife Margaret and I have two married daughters and four grandchildren. I enjoy reading, golf, and running. I'm an ordained minister who served for ten years as pastor of Community Bible Church of Holly Springs in Inman, South Carolina. I love teaching college students!

From 1978 to 2012 and from 2016 to the present, I served as a faculty member in the Division of Speech Communication. Classes I've taught include Fundamentals of Speech, Classroom Communication, Small Group Communication, Interpersonal Communication, Intercultural Communication, Acting I, Acting II, Performing Literature, Public Speaking, Oral Communication for the Professions, Advanced Stage Directing, and Media and Society. I've also served in the following administrative positions in the Communication Division: chair of the Freshman Speech Department (1984-88), chair of the Theatre Department (1988-94) and chair of the Speech Education Department (1987-2006). In 2010 I oversaw the realignment of the academic program to form a new Division of Communication. The division houses the departments of Journalism and Mass Communication, Cinema, Communication Studies, Communication Disorders, and Theatre. As a member of BJU's Classic Players, I've acted in or directed over 40 productions. Some of my roles were Othello, King Lear, Henry IV, and Falstaff.

Paul Radford

Meghan Reimers

MFA Playwriting / Hollins University

Bio

Meghan Reimers is an MFA playwright and professional musician working in Greenville. She’s a graduate of the Masters of Theatre Arts program at BJU and the Playwright’s Lab at Hollins University.