Photos: Get a First Look at THE MOLD THAT CHANGED THE WORLD, Coming to the US This Fall

Fresh from a sell-out run at the biggest arts festival in the world, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Charades Theatre Company is bringing their new musical The Mold that Changed the World to the US.

Get a first look at photos below!

Supported by the CDC Foundation and The Rockefeller Foundation, The Mold that Changed the World will be performed in The United States at Atlas Center for Performing Arts, Washington DC on October 18th to 23rd, 2022 and at the Science Gallery at Pullman Yards, Atlanta on November 1st to 6th, 2022.

The Mold that Changed the World chronicles Scottish scientist Sir Alexander Fleming's famous discovery of penicillin in 1928, arguably one of the greatest advances in medicine ever achieved. The ground-breaking discovery of antibiotics greatly reduced the number of deaths from often fatal infections including meningitis, strep throat, and gonorrhea. But while penicillin saved millions of lives in the decades following its discovery, one of Sir Alexander Fleming's biggest fears has begun to come to fruition. In recent years, more and more bacteria have become resistant to antibiotics. They are "superbugs" which cause illness that is difficult - or impossible - to treat, and they are now the third largest underlying cause of death in the world (Lancet GRAM Report).

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every year at least 2 million Americans develop a superbug infection that is resistant to treatment - and at least 23,000 Americans die as a result. There is urgent need for action on an individual and policy level to reduce the overuse of antibiotics, and here science has turned to the arts for help in communicating the message.

The musical recruits a local chorus of scientists and healthcare professionals who perform alongside a professional cast of West End actors and live 5-piece band. This unique set-up allows the audience to hear from the passionate mouths of those who deal every day with the pressures of superbugs in their work and warns of the potentially dystopian future that awaits if antibiotics fail.

Music, drama, dance and circus wheel acrobatics frame Robin Hiley's Scottish folk-influenced score and Thomas Henderson's thought-provoking and mystical book in an evening of true entertainment.

Photo Credit: Robin Mair

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