Under the orange flame of the steelyard, one woman found something unexpected: Peace and courage.
The new play, ",鈥� explores how it happened. The adaptation of Eliese Colette Goldbach鈥檚 memoir opens Friday night at Dobama Theatre in Cleveland Heights.
鈥淭here's a little bit of a Romeo and Juliet romance going on: She lives on the West Side and her boyfriend's on the East Side,鈥� said playwright George Brant. 鈥淚t feels very Cleveland, but also very Midwest. We are not the only steel town.鈥�
Brant adapted Goldbach鈥檚 work, which follows her mental health challenges and the career struggles that led her to work in her hometown鈥檚 steel industry in 2016. By 2020, she was 鈥� which caught the attention of Dobama鈥檚 creative staff.
鈥淭his is definitely a story that is forged in Cleveland,鈥� said director Laura Kepley. 鈥淗ere is a young woman who got her liberal arts degree and thought, 鈥業 want to be a professor. I want to be a teacher.鈥� And she just couldn't find a job.鈥�
Working in the steel mill was something the main character never envisioned.
鈥淪he enters as a petite woman; as a liberal-leaning woman,鈥� Kepley said. 鈥淭his is a place that the world says, 鈥榊ou don't belong here and this is a dangerous world for you.鈥欌��
The book was first adapted as a one-woman show, but, after workshopping the piece, it became a play so the narrative didn鈥檛 just fall on the main character.
鈥淲e have Eliese telling her story, and she stays herself,鈥� Kepley said. 鈥淲e have three actors who step into probably 30 different characters to really fill out the world. It allows us to vivify, to manifest some of these conflicts, especially as she's encountering some people in the mill with a different world view.鈥�
Kelly Strand plays Eliese, described by Kepley as a down-to-Earth, humble, funny person. She encounters a place full of diverse people and ideas.
鈥淲e get to really have them debate,鈥� Kepley said. 鈥淭he wonderful thing is, they're not just debating. They are actually finding connections. And that is one of the most hopeful things in the play and, I think, one of the most necessary things for our world right now.鈥�
and estimate they鈥檝e worked together on a dozen productions. She previously spent 12 years as artistic director of Cleveland Play House, stepping down in 2022.
鈥淥ne of the things that I realized was that I really longed to be a full-time director again,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 was so happy to lead the Play House, but I was spending more and more time outside of the rehearsal hall. I'm just so thrilled to be able to be focusing all my energy on making work that hopefully elevates, empowers and connects people.鈥�
