Also affiliated with Festival UnBound will be the world premiere of the mixed-media play, The Secret, about the life of and work of poet Hilda Doolittle (H.D.). The play is the culmination of Finding. H.D., a 12-month public exploration of Doolittle, who is now widely recognized as a queer, feminist visionary, and the most influential literary figure born in the Lehigh Valley. The play will run on Saturday, Oct. 5, through Tuesday, Oct. 8, at the Touchstone Theater at 321 East Fourth St. in Bethlehem.
The Secret is being directed by Jennie Gilrain, a doctoral student in the College of Education and former instructor of theater at Lehigh. Public talks on H.D. were also given by Physics Professor Gary DeLeo, English Professors Mary Folz and Seth Moglen, and now-retired LTS Director of Library Collections and member of the Lehigh Friends of the Library Christy Roysden. Katakalos is overseeing production design and the cast includes William Reichard-Flynn, a grad student in earth and environmental science.
Additional Lehigh-related programs and projects include:
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A sustainability forum hosted in the Lehigh University Art Galleries and led by William Crow, LUAG director
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A performance of original music by Assistant General Counsel Alex Radus as part of the Poets, Troubadours, and Troublemakers event on October 10 at the The Lyric Room at Miller Symphony Hall in Allentown.
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Consulting roles by Kim Carrell-Smith, professor of practice in the history department; Karen Beck Pooley, professor of practice in political science; and Julia Maserjian, manager of special projects in Library and Technology Services and an instructor in the Documentary Film Certificate program
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An exhibit of photography by Ron Yoshida, former Lehigh provost and dean of the College of Education, in the Touchstone Theatre lobby
The university effort was also supported by Lehigh alums Ollie Foucek ’72, an Allentown-based attorney, and Chad Paul, president and CEO of Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania, who played a substantial role in fundraising.
“This scale and richness of university-community partnership [are] rare,” Moglen said. “And it is possible here in Bethlehem because of an extensive network of social, intellectual, and artistic collaboration that goes back for decades now. People like former LUAG director Ricardo Viera and Zoellner Arts Center Creative Director Deborah Sacarakis played important roles in supporting Touchstone Theatre and in early collaborations like the 1999 Steelbound Festival. Over the last 40 years, Lehigh faculty and staff have been incredibly lucky to have partners in local arts organizations, including Mock Turtle Marionette Theatre, Godfrey Daniels, and Touchstone. Together, artists and scholars—along with residents from every corner of the city—have created a cultural ecosystem that makes projects like this possible.”
In recent years, Moglen added, Lehigh’s South Side Initiative and the Humanities Center have nourished this ecosystem and fostered ongoing public humanities and public arts collaborations. “In Festival UnBound, we see the latest flowering of these partnerships. Touchstone Theatre is bringing us all together to ask who we have been in Bethlehem, who we are today—and what kind of city we hope to become.”
For more information on Festival UnBound, including schedule of events and tickets, please go to https://festivalunbound.com/