Coal Free Future Project Presents 'Across the Stones of Fire' 6/4-13
By: Charlie Piane May. 13, 2010
As part of the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity, New York City's premiere eco-friendly theatre festival, the Coal Free Future Project will perform "4 1/2 Hours: Across the Stones of Fire, " a timely and groundbreaking multimedia theatre production that brings the frontline controversies of the coalfields to the New York City stage, on June 4-13 at the Gene Frankel Theatre, 24 Bond Street, Manhattan.
Adapted from Reckoning at Eagle Creek: The Secret Legacy of Coal in the Heartland, the nationally acclaimed new memoir and cultural history by Project member and author Jeff Biggers, "4 1/2 Hours: Across the Stones of Fire" draws from real-life experience on coal mining's dark legacy in our nation. The Coal Free Future Project is a theatre Production Company of actors, writers and filmmakers working with coalfield residents, citizens groups and environmental organizations toward a clean energy transition. Currently on a national tour, their show has been performed in theatrical venues in Chicago, San Francisco, Columbus, Louisville, Lexington and across the Midwest and South, and at various universities, including Yale.Featuring over 35 full production shows at three venues in June, the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity is a month-long series aimed at bringing the theatre arts into community action and discussion. As part of the Festivity's mission to connect artists and audiences with diverse charitable organizations, a portion of the proceeds from "4 1/2 Hours: Across the Stones of Fire" will be donated to the Appalachian Community Fund. For more information, see: http://www.planetconnectionsfestivity.com/homeDirected by Stephanie Pistello, whose New Mummer Group theatre collective revived Tennessee Williams' first play on Alabama coal miners, "Candles to the Sun," at The Actors Theatre of Louisville in 2006, "4 1/2 Hours: Across the Stones of Fire" chronicles the attempts a young coal mining couple in a mountain community to come to grips with their conflicting fates, when their family's 150-year-old homestead is threatened by a planned mountaintop removal operation.
ABOUT THE CAST:
Stephanie Pistello is an actress, theatre director, and the National Field Coordinator for Appalachian Voices in Washington, DC, working full-time on the national campaign to end mountaintop removal. Originally from the coalfields of Virginia and raised in Kentucky, her work draws from her long-time commitment to live music and theatre production, working as a producer, director and actress to create work that inspires social change and collaboration between urban and rural communities. As a performer, Stephanie has worked with Young Jean Lee's Theatre Company, Ann Bogart's Siti Company, and New Mummer Group Theatre Collective. Pistello directed the Kentucky premiere of Tennessee Williams' Candles to the Sun at Actors Theatre Of Louisville. The first full-length play by Williams, Candles to the Sun was a groundbreaking drama about coal miners Alabama in the 1920s-30s, and their attempts to unionize and defend the lives of their families.Videos
