(30th in a series of posts on Touchstone Theatre)
Prometheus/Redux is arguably the heart of “Festival UnBound.”
A wag might say its the liver of the Festival.
The “real” Prometheus was doomed to have his liver eaten every day only to have it grow back every night — an endless cycle of repast and regeneration.
Our Everyman Steelman lies dying in a local hospital with cirrhosis of the liver, most likely from toxic chemicals bequeathed by The Steel.
What will his fate be?
Twenty years later, our Prometheus, though no longer chained to the huge Steel monolith where we first encountered him in Steelbound, is much the same man spiritually while much the more decayed man physically.
The play almost literally opens with the familiar beautifully haunting choric plea for Prometheus to now cut his ties with his Bethlehem Steel past as he earlier had cut his ties with the Bethlehem Steel place.
For the man hasn’t changed. Age has not improved his vocabulary.
He’s a man who hasn’t moved on from the closing of The Steel.
“I used to be somebody, not any more.”
“I just want to count for something. I can’t bear fading away.”
“You don’t ask a man to build a country and then leave him useless.”
“I was part of the process, now I’m not so sure.”
“Don’t know what I’m supposed to do anymore.”
“I need a place to stand.
“A man needs a purpose.”
“I need a job, a man’s job.”
So, yes, what will his fate be?
Gadfly saw the play yesterday.
You must do likewise.
Today is your last chance.
Sunday, October 6 – 7:00-9:00p (Open Captions and Audio Description)
VENUE: Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts | 321 E. Third Street, Bethlehem, PA
PRICE: $25 adult & $15 student/senior/steelworkers; limited amount of Pay What You Will tickets for purchase; please call 610-867-1689 to order.
Festival UnBound
Ten days of original theatre, dance, music, art and conversation designed to celebrate and imagine our future together!
October 4-13
