THE POISONER To Be Presented By Touchstone Theatre

Touchstone Theatre is set to present The Poisoner – an original production written by playwright M.M. Haney, directed and developed by two-time Obie Award-winning director Lee Sunday Evans, and produced by Uncommon Productions and Citizen56. This universal tale explores the deception, abuse of power, and utter negligence of early 2000s Midwestern water politics.

The Poisoner performs September 17-19 in Touchstone’s 77-seat theatre on the Southside of Bethlehem.

Hardened Chicago Tribune journalist Ron Finder reluctantly agrees to return to his Midwestern hometown, Mack City, to cover an announcement on new economic policy that’s about to be unveiled by the state’s businessman Governor. However, as Ron gathers materials, he not only reveals unsettling problems in the city’s water supply but painful strains in his relationship with his father. 

This play explores how seemingly mundane economic ideas can drastically alter the course of people's lives and our cities. The Poisoner, inspired by the Flint water crisis of 2014, is ultimately a play about governance, power, and the quiet machinery of institutional failure. It aims to engage audiences to amplify awareness about the persistent challenges faced in Flint, Jackson, Newark, and other communities grappling with similar crises.

“Across America, communities continue to confront contaminated drinking water, aging infrastructure, and increasingly contentious battles over who controls scarce water resources,” says playwright M. M. Haney. “At the same time, towns are grappling with the enormous water demands of new industrial development - including AI data centers and advanced manufacturing facilities - raising the same enduring questions: Who bears the costs? Who receives the benefits? And ultimately, who gets to decide?”

The Poisoner was designed to be a launching point for the creators to engage directly with local communities - connecting with organizers, advocates, and residents fighting for clean air, safe water, and community control of local natural resources. Through post-performance discussions and direct community engagement, it aims to bring together residents with differing perspectives to examine these issues - not as abstractions, but as questions that affect their own communities. “If theater can create a space where people listen as carefully as they argue,” says director Lee Sunday Evans, “then perhaps it can help strengthen the civic trust on which democracy ultimately depends. The goal of The Poisoner is to ask not just how a crisis happened - but who benefits when nothing is done to prevent the next one.”

Touchstone's season is sponsored by Astound Broadband. UnBound Year-Round Gold Sponsors are Air Products and Donald B. & Dorothy L. Stabler Foundation. Print sponsorship is provided by Working Dog Press, and media sponsorship is provided by Lehigh Valley with Love and WDIY 88.1FM Lehigh Valley Public Radio. Touchstone is also generously supported by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, as well as many local businesses, foundations, and individuals.

Don't Miss a Philadelphia News Story
Sign up for all the news on the Summer season, discounts & more...