Celebrating Bethlehem's Southside Culture
Many readers might be familiar with Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale, The Ugly Duckling— but you may not know of Willow Reichard-Flynn’s retelling. Recently performed at the Allentown Public Theatre, Reichard-Flynn’s modern The Ugly Duckling portrays the classic story of a social outcast being bullied for being different, but with a significant twist. In the…
What do science, consciousness, and classical guitar music have in common? For local poet Cleveland Wall, all are a source of inspiration for her latest works. A West Bethlehem resident and poet-performer, Wall has been creating provocative verses since she was a child. She recalls growing up in a household where her parents recited poetry…
Someone murmurs that there’s “no choice but to be immersed,” as I enter the basement of the St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Allentown. I’m here tonight to see Allentown Public Theatre’s (APT’s) performance of Coming Clean, a show providing insight about the national opioid crisis. I’m surprised by the wide age range present at the…
Prison reform projects have been a hot button social and political issue for a number of years– with good reason. Currently, the United States has the highest rate of incarceration in the world. According to a recent study by the Prison Policy Initiative, today, over a million individuals are imprisoned in state prisons, followed by…
According to a statistic from the National Institute of Health, over 100 people die from opioid overdoses each day in the United States. Opioids — a category of drugs which includes varieties of both prescription and street drugs — pose a grave concern due to ease of access. Substance abuse narratives often focus on working-class…