RUST: A STORY OF STEEL AND GRIT World Premiere is Coming to Dobama Theatre

The final production of Dobama Theatre's 2024/25 mainstage season is the World Premiere of RUST: A Story of Steel and Grit by George Brant, directed by Laura Kepley. The production will run from April 24-May 18, 2025 at Dobama, Cleveland's Off-Broadway Theatre.

Adapted from the memoir by Eliese Colette Goldbach, this is the true story of one woman's experience in the steel industry, her struggle to find peace, and the courage she summoned to rebuild her life. What she uncovers in the belly of a Cleveland steel mill is much more than molten metal and grueling working conditions. Under the steelyard's orange flame, she finds hope.

Rust was commissioned by Dobama Theatre. In 2020, Dobama reached out to playwright George Brant, a Cleveland resident at the time, to gauge his interest in adapting Ms. Goldbach's celebrated memoir for the stage. After almost five years, two workshops, and numerous meetings and drafts, Rust will make its world premiere on April 25th. The script is already receiving interest from professional theaters across the country for future productions.

The book's author Eliese Collette Goldbach has said she wanted to provide insight into a world that most people, including Clevelanders, will never see, to offer an alternate and authentic perspective of the Rust Belt to outsiders, and to share the unique perspective of a millennial woman steelworker, which compelled her to tell her own story. She says the mill's identity is "not just economic: It's about pride, relevance, country, union. The steelworkers are still so strong."

About Goldbach's memoir, Publishers Weekly said, "A female steelworker's soulful portrait of industrial life. Goldbach's evocative prose paints a Dantean vision of the mill...but she discovers in the plant's quirky, querulous employees an ethic of empathy and solidarity that bridges ideological divides. The result is an insightful and ultimately reassuring take on America's working class."

Playwright George Brant has had several of his works performed on the Dobama stage. Grounded, Grizzly Mama, and The Land of Oz are other titles of Brant's that have been produced and performed on the Dobama stage, with the latter two also being world premieres. Most recently Brant saw his hit play Grounded adapted as an opera by composer Jeanine Tesori for the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

"I've been fascinated with Eliese's story since I first heard her interviewed on NPR," said the playwright. "It's been a true honor and privilege to have been granted the opportunity to adapt her memoir for the stage."

The Dobama Theatre production's cast includes Kelly Strand* (ELIESE), Robert Ellis* (ACTOR 1), Eric Fancher* (ACTOR 2), and Kristie Lang (ACTOR 3) - *denotes member Actors' Equity Association

The creative team for the production includes Scenic Design by Ben Needham, Lighting by Michael Boll, Costumes by Tesia Benson, Projection Design by T. Paul Lowry, and Sound Design by Megan Culley.

Former Cleveland Play House Artistic Director Laura Kepley will direct this World Premiere production.

Performances are Thursdays through Sunday from April 25-May 18, 2025. Evening performances are at 7:30pm and matinees at 2:30pm. For a complete performance schedule, ticket prices, and reservations, call the Dobama Theatre box office at 216-932-3396. Ask about the "pay-what-you-can" performances and opportunities.
Dobama is committed to making live professional theatre accessible to everyone. PAY-WHAT-YOU-CAN tickets are available for anyone that cannot afford a full price ticket. Any available seat can be purchased at a pay-what-you-can price beginning one hour prior to every performance. Simply visit the Box Office to purchase.