BETHLEHEM STEEL (RADIO EDIT)

written by Christina Masciotti

performed by Joel Perez, Paul Boocock, James Himelsbach, Maggie Hoffman, Linda Mancini, and Ben Williams

designed and produced by Ben Williams

dramaturgy by Jody McAuliffe

For Frank Calvanti, the defunct steel plant turned casino in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania is hallowed ground with curative powers. Its dazzling, polyphonic cosmos of slot machines has provided the perfect escape from a grief-stricken year that pushed him to his breaking point. The embezzlement charges he’s now facing only hurl him deeper into desperation until his Gamblers Anonymous sponsor offers an unwelcome, almost unthinkable, corrective: own up to the truth and let your destiny play out. 

“Bethlehem Steel defies familiar tropes of gambling stories to honor what I’ve seen in my family. For example, instead of a compulsion for self-destruction that leads to loan-shark goons chasing you down for a beating – it’s an impulse to self-soothe that, with the addiction, spirals into self-inflicted misery. And instead of glorifying a knack for high-stakes card games or sports betting, I wanted to normalize the fallible person who gets sucked in. The dramatic extremes are still there, but it’s turned more inward. This excerpt (from the full-length play) amplifies that internal focus.” – Christina Masciotti

recorded at The Collapsable Hole, NYC. 2021