(5th in a series of posts on Touchstone Theatre)
For Gadfly, Touchstone Theatre’s “Festival UnBound” actually starts tomorrow with the viewing of “Steelbound,” the play performed twenty years ago that is the point of reference for its sequel “Prometheus/Redux,” which is the centerpiece of the Festival that begins October 4.
The “Steelbound” viewing will take place in the National Museum of Industrial History. Doors open at 6, opening remarks by Hank Barnette at 6:15, and the video at 6:30. Admission free.
Bill George performs as Prometheus in a 1999 production of Touchstone Theatre’s ‘Steelbound,’ a modern-day adaptation of a Greek myth in which a former steel worker laments his fate while chained on top of a steel ladle. (Morning Call text and file photo/TMC)
“Steelbound,” was an adaptation of Aeschylus’ “Prometheus Bound,” a Greek tragedy in which Prometheus stands for human progress against the forces of nature. “Steelbound” featured a prematurely retired steelworker chained to a 24-ton ladle. The cast featured more than 50 people, including former steelworkers and their families and neighbors. The sold-out production was presented in the iron foundry of the closed Steel plant in south Bethlehem. It included music by Ysaye Barnwell, founder of the a cappella group Sweet Honey in the Rock. Some of that music is included in “Prometheus/Redux.”
Festival UnBound
Ten days of original theatre, dance, music, art and conversation designed to celebrate and imagine our future together!
October 4-13
