Celebrating Bethlehem's Southside Culture
Juliet, Naked is a great movie that outlines how relationships—and how you are treated within them—are important in order to be happy in life. It is a film that gives examples of how not everything is perfect, but it is that imperfection that allows us to feel happy and real.The film focuses upon Annie, a…
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…
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…
If you’ve attended any productions at Touchstone Theatre in the past few years, chances are, you have seen Alexis Leon’s work. Although Leon’s professional life at Lehigh University, where she works as the Assistant Director of International Internships (through the Office of International Affairs), takes up much of her schedule, she still manages to find…
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…
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Southsider staff. A confession: I have never enjoyed stand-up comedy shows. Despite my friends’ best efforts to introduce me to comedians that they thought I would enjoy, I usually sit in the audience…
Behind this façade of musical satire, Christopher Shorr’s “Dictators 4 Dummies” is grounded in some very real horrors of our current global political climate. I walked in Touchstone Theater on 3rd Street, and immediately, unbeknownst to me, I was already on set of this faux-production. The production assistant, played by Emma Ackerman, was smiling by…
Lady Bird is a film which should be seen by anybody who has a complicated relationship with their parents/children, which includes almost everybody. At its heart is the troubled relationship between Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson (Saoirse Ronan) and her mother, Marion McPherson (Laurie Metcalf). Despite this filial relationship, it’s probably best to understand this film…
A Wrinkle in Time is visually stunning, but it’s not going to be remembered based on its visuals alone. Though the graphics were stunning, they cannot compensate for the story. A Wrinkle in Time follows Meg Murray (Storm Reid), her brother, Charles Wallace (Deric McCabe), and their friend, Calvin (Levi Miller), as they search for…