Touchstone Theatre Presents THE LAST PLAY This Month

Touchstone Theatre, the region's only ensemble-based theatre, presents The Last Play - a new, two-person show created and performed by real life father-daughter duo Bill and Anisa George. Audience members will experience the duo's journey through the art and life they have created together in this retrospective look at parenthood and performance. The Last Play performs Fridays and Sundays only March 24 through April 2 in Touchstone's 75-seat theatre on the SouthSide of Bethlehem.

Performance creator Anisa George has shared the stage with her father, Bill George, since she was a baby. She's 40 now; has he managed to teach her anything? What remains of the ten shows they've made together? And why is this the last play? Come share the stage with Bill and Anisa one final time, in a piece that is something between a play, a funeral, and a dance to toast the end times.

Having performed together practically since the day that she was born, The Last Play is a chance for Bill and Anisa George to look back on all of those years. It is a platform to examine the different performances that they have created, both on and off the stage. And, it's an opportunity to ask themselves some tough questions: What exactly do we mean to each other? What mistakes have we made along the way? And, if we could go back and do it differently, what would we change?

More like a setlist of storytelling moments than a traditional play, this intimate production features Anisa and Bill as themselves, completely unscripted, reliving memories of the past. "It's a celebration," Anisa says. "A celebration of all of our work together and our life together. It's a lot about parent-child relationships as well as art making. It's very universal - you are seeing a father-daughter relationship alive on stage." Audiences will experience a different performance each night, as the path the story takes changes depending on the responses Bill and Anisa receive from that night's spectators.

"This is a glimpse into a lifetime ahead for young theatre artists. A showcase of all the ways it can go wrong or right," says Bill, "Very seldom do young people have the opportunity to talk with their fathers like this. If you could ask your father anything right now, what would you ask him?"

"It is emotionally raw. There will be yelling and crying on stage," says Anisa. "It is going to be vulnerable, alive in the moment, there might even be times where you wonder if anyone is in control. But, at its core, is a ritual I am doing with my father who gave me theatre. My father is theatre, theatre is my father. If I'm on stage with him making theatre, that's all I need. That's it."

So, just what is The Last Play? It is laughter, cheekiness, and love; a well-organized and structured psychodrama that just might be Bill and Anisa George's final performance together; and, above all, it is what it must be: a consideration of endings.

Touchstone's season is supported locally by season sponsor RCN. WDIY provides media sponsorship, and Working Dog Press provides print sponsorship. Touchstone also receives support from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

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