\u201cThe Poisoner\u201d is a compelling, thought-provoking and important drama.<\/p>\n
The play, through Sept. 19, Touchstone Theatre, is written by M. M. Haney and directed and was developed by Lee Sunday Evans.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Poisoner\u201d had its first run in 2024 at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, New York City. Touchstone Theatre is the first stop on a seven-city tour that includes stops in Wisconsin and Michigan.<\/p>\n
The opening night Sept. 17 performance was seen for this review.<\/p>\n
One line of dialogue in the play, to paraphrase, says it all: \u201cThe water they put in that glass could kill you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Publicity notes for the play state that \u201cThe Poisoner\u201d is a fictional work inspired by the Flint, Michigan, water crisis of 2014.<\/p>\n
To save money, a state-appointed emergency financial manager switched Flint\u2019s water supply from Detroit\u2019s system of Lake Huron to the Flint River.<\/p>\n
Corrosion-control chemicals were not added to the river water, which compromised Flint\u2019s iron and lead pipes. They leached into the drinking water.<\/p>\n
Lead levels doubled and in some instances tripled in Flint children. Lead can cause irreversible brain and developmental damage.<\/p>\n
The story in \u201cThe Poisoner\u201d is told from the perspective of Ron Finder (Aaron Morton), a fictional investigative journalist. The play takes place in fictional Mack City, Michigan.<\/p>\n
The real-life reporting resulted in government action and media awards.<\/p>\n
In the play, Morton frequently uses direct-address to the audience to explain his reporting, the reaction to it and the results of it.<\/p>\n
Morton, surrounded by cardboard boxes of research material, sits at a desk beneath six ceiling lights in a gray-painted office. He imbues the role with a sincere and steadfast dedication to the craft of journalism.<\/p>\n
The three other actors in the play are double-cast in several roles. Brett Diggs, Haskell King and Maude Mitchell remarkably delineate each character they portray.<\/p>\n
The play runs 90 minutes with no intermission.<\/p>\n
There was a talk-back after the Sept. 17 performance with Touchstone Ensemble member Christopher Shorr, Associate Professor of Theatre Arts and the Director of the Theatre Program at Moravian University; Touchstone Ensemble member Jp Jordan, Touchstone Theatre Executive Director, and \u201cThe Poisoner\u201d playwright M. M. Haney.<\/p>\n
\u201cI identify with all the characters [in \u2018The Poisoner\u2019],\u201d said Haney, adding, \u201cWho is the poisoner?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMany children died. There were miscarriages. Many children had severe deficiencies in their learning. Who\u2019s going to take the responsibility?\u201d asked Haney, a native Michiganer, referring to the Flint, Michigan water crisis.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo me, journalism is the positive in the story. That\u2019s the through-line,\u201d Haney said, adding, \u201cJournalism is the hero.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the Sept. 18 performance, there will be a talk-back with Greg Sussman, president of the South Whitehall Township Civic Alliance, which opposes the Project Atlas Data Center.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Poisoner,\u201d 8 p.m. Sept. 17, 18, 19, Touchstone Theatre, 321 E. Fourth St., Bethlehem. 610-867-1689; http:\/\/www.touchstone.org\/<\/p>\n
PHOTO BY RICHARD TERMINEAaron Morton (Ron Finder), \u201cThe Poisoner,\u201d Touchstone Theatre.<\/p>\n
PRESS PHOTO BY PAUL WILLISTEIN\u201cThe Poisoner\u201d Sept. 17 post-performance talk-back, from left: Touchstone Ensemble member Christopher Shorr, \u201cThe Poisoner\u201d playwright M. M. Haney, Touchstone Ensemble member Jp Jordan, Touchstone Theatre Executive Director.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThe Poisoner\u201d is a compelling, thought-provoking and important drama. The play, through Sept. 19, Touchstone Theatre, is written…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":288794,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154],"class_list":["post-288793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=288793"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288793\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/288794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=288793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=288793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=288793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}