Touchstone celebrates 30 years of original, professional, actor-created theatre!
The company is dedicated to being an active force in the renewal of theatre as a vital art form. At our heart is a resident professional acting Ensemble rooted in both the local community of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and the international community of the actor/creator.

The Ensemble is engaged in:
The creation of original work
The ongoing discovery of a theatrical vocabulary in which the emotional dynamics of image, movement and space are as important as the text, be it original or classic
Touring selected works nationally and internationally
Offering educational programs that inspire students of all ages to discover their own creative expression, contribute to serious training in the field and demonstrate the power of theatre as a community building tool

Touchstone is a not-for-profit producing and presenting organization, which fosters inter-cultural, international and community collaborations. The focus of our presenting season is original work by other innovative theatre ensembles and solo artists.

Bill George, Ensemble Member/Touring Manager/Co-Founder
Bill received his B.A. in English Literature from Lehigh University and his M.F.A. in Acting/Directing from the Dallas Theatre Centre of Trinity University. He studied mime with Paul Curtis of The American Mime Theatre, founded the People's Theatre Company in 1977 and later co-founded Touchstone Theatre in 1981 where he was Producing Director until 1990. During a hiatus from Touchstone in 1996, Bill created Little Pond Arts Retreat in Nazareth, Pennsylvania with his wife Bridget--a retreat center dedicated to exploring the art of transcendence--and toured to Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, Britain, and throughout Canada and the United States with his original dramas: The Kingfisher’s Wing and The Marriage of Munirih Khanum. Bill returned to Touchstone as a full-time Ensemble Member in 2003 where he has won numerous awards over the years--including a Fringe First at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland, and a Pennsylvania Solo Theatre Arts Fellowship. Bill has served as a panelist and adjudicator for the National Endowment for the Arts, the Maryland State Arts Council and the Barrymore Awards of Philadelphia.

James P. Jordan, Ensemble Member/Production Manager
James has worked in theatre professionally for the last 18 years. He began his career as a Stage Manager for illusionist Jeff O'Lear's anti-drug programs, which toured both nationally and internationally. During this period, James played in multiple music bands, performing to crowds as big as 5000 people. James graduated from Kutztown University majoring in Telecommunication (video production) with a minor in both Theatre and Music. He appeared in a number of Kutztown University's Theatre productions and played both guitar and trumpet in the University's Jazz band. Post college, James continued to play in small musical projects but mainly recorded in the studio. At this time, he began work at the newly opened Zoellner Arts Center on Lehigh University's campus. During his five-year tenure as Zoellner's Stage Coordinator, James helped in the production of hundreds of events; from lectures to Broadway musicals to some of the best ballets and orchestras in the world. While at Zoellner, James freelanced with many production companies and also began freelancing as both a sound and lighting designer. Now in his 6th year at Touchstone, James has played a crucial part in every production since his arrival, serving in multiple roles including Designer, Composer, Actor, Director and Playwright. James is also in charge of all print and electronic media design for Touchstone.

Lisa Jordan, Ensemble Member/Producing Director
Lisa holds a BA in theatre and minor in music from Kutztown University. After serving as Production/Administrative Intern at Civic Theatre of Allentown for their 2000-01 season, she came to Touchstone to stage manager Christmas City Follies '01. This initial experience with ensemble-created work opened her eyes to whole new world of theatre creation, and she joined the company as Production Manager. Over 40 productions later she has filled many roles, including: stage manager (A Comic Strip, Don Quixote of Bethlehem), lighting designer (Just So Stories, Follies '03), props designer (Hit or Myth), costume designer (Talisman, A Comic Strip) and assistant director (Southside Experience, The Glass Menagerie). In 2005 she joined the Ensemble, and last season, after seven years with the company, she became the Producing Director.  Lisa is honored to fill this new position and to continue collaborating with such a brilliant company.

Cathleen O’Malley, Ensemble Associate/Education Coordinator
Cathleen is an actor, teacher, and clown with over 10 years' experience in creative arts education for children, teens & adults. She has taught and facilitated summer arts curricula at Goucher College, UVA Young Writers' Workshop, University of Washington Summer Day, The Circus Space, and was a 2005-2007 teaching artist with Freehold's Engaged Theatre Project at the WA State Corrections Center for Women. Cathleen holds an MFA in Lecoq-Based Theatre from Naropa University & the London International School of Performing Arts (LISPA), and a BSc in Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh. She has performed her original theatrical works locally and abroad, and is a founding member of international sketch comedy troupe, Relax Your Face.

Amy Meleck, Director of Development
Amy Meleck is a native New Yorker who has lived in the Lehigh Valley since 1983.
A life-long supporter of the arts, Amy began her career in development at the Pennsylvania Stage Company (now defunct) in 1988. She headed the development effort at Valley Youth House for 10 years and was Director of the Annual Fund at DeSales University. Meleck obtained her CFRE (Certified Fundraising Executive) which is the credential awarded by CFRE International to fundraisers who demonstrate tenure in the fundraising profession, continuing education, professional achievement, ethical standards and commitment to service for not-for-profit organizations.

Emma Chong, Ensemble Associate/Stage Manager
Emma is a 2007 graduate of Gettysburg College, where she
took a double-major in English and Theatre Arts with a
minor in Classical Studies. Favorite past roles include
Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, Maria in An Experiment
with an Air Pump, Lucienne in A Flea in Her Ear, and the
ensemble of Metamorphoses; directing projects include
Lebensraum, Wake-Up Call, A Note on the Type, and IMing.
She also enjoys hanging lights, stage management, and just
about anything else theatre-related which she’s tried. Emma
performed for three years with Upscale, Gettysburg’s
all-female a capella group, and with the Gettysburg College
Choir. She is very much looking forward to the coming year
at Touchstone!

Anne Losq, Ensemble Apprentice
Anne is Franco-American, born and raised in the Paris area, while spending summers in the US. After high-school, she crossed the Channel to get a BA in theatre studies from the Royal Holloway campus of the university of London. She came back to Paris for an MA in dramaturgy from the Sorbonne Nouvelle university. She's now making the big jump across the Atlantic to be an apprentice at Touchstone. In England, she participated in student productions as a stage manager for The Fall of the House of Usher (Steven Berkoff's version), acted as Sganarelle in Molière's Don Juan and co-directed Far Away by Caryl Churchill. She was also part of a dance improvisation group in Paris that staged a site-specific performance in the metro. Anne loves vibrant, thought-provoking and inspiring theatre, and is really excited about this upcoming year in Bethlehem!

Mariel Kate Iezzoni, Ensemble Apprentice
Mariel is a Bethlehem local who is returning this year to join Touchstone as an Ensemble Apprentice. She graduated from Pennsylvania State University in May 2010 as a double major in Theatre and English. During college, Mariel participated in numerous productions as an actor and musician, including Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard (Dunyasha), The Odyssey and Mother Courage by Bertolt Brecht. An avid lover of language and art, Mariel spent a semester her junior year to study French in Paris. She is pleased as punch to be back in the Christmas City to be apart of fresh and innovative theatre that is so integral to our community.

Jenn Jaynes, Ensemble Affiliate
Jen Jaynes hails from the suburbs of Philadelphia where she writes and performs for the sketch comedy group, High Dramma, as well as other professional theatre companies in the city. She has her degree in Music Performance from Kutztown University where she discovered her love for physical theatre. This passion led her to apply and participate in Touchstone's Apprenticeship for their 2007-2008 season. She has performed in two of Touchstone's Christmas City Follies productions as well as in their children's show Tales from the Middle East. Along with her theatrical endeavors, she also dabbles in film work and most recently can be seen in the film Calendar Girl alongside Brian O'Halloran of Clerks fame. She sends her love to her friends and family who support her in all of her artistic and ridiculous adventures!

Adam Kissinger, Ensemble Affiliate
Adam lives in Berks County PA and gradutated from Kutztown University with a BA in Theatre and minor in Musical Theatre. He began studying dance at the age of two, acting professionally at twelve, and has been in and out of musical groups since high school, most notably Far From Westfall. Since graduating, Adam has been employed as a Theatre Jobber; he makes his living as a freelance stage hand, performer, set carpenter, et cetera. Outside of Touchstone, where he was an '08-'09 apprentice, Adam is involved with Metamorphosis Performing Company, the Reading Theatre Project, the Yocum Institute of the Arts and Primary Stages, and is the ATD for Kutztown University. Adam is studing to become an instructor in an emotions technique called Alba Emoting, and as a student of stage combat he is also a member of the SAFD, and is working with James N. Brown and Andrew Dell to open a stage combat school based out of the Berks County area.

Mary Wright, Ensemble Affiliate
Mary Wright has been a professional theatre actress, director, playwright and storyteller for more than 25 years. As an Ensemble Member at Touchstone Theatre she wrote and directed /Aesop & Co./ and /The Southside Experience/. She performed as Laura in /The Glass Menagerie/ and as "Little Red" in numerous /Christmas City Follies/ productions. Currently, in addition to being an Ensemble Affiliate and teaching artist for Touchstone, she teaches evening classes in performance at Northampton Community College, is co-directing the musical at Liberty High School, and has been the Freddy-nominated costumer for Liberty's productions for the past four years. She resides in Bethlehem with her husband, and when not involved in theatrical pursuits can be found out in her garden or experimenting with a new bread recipe.

Christopher Shorr, Ensemble Affiliate
Christopher Shorr is is a visiting Assistant Professor at Moravian College, where he is the director of the theatre program and Artistic Director of the Moravian College Theatre Company. Shorr came to Pennsylvania from Petersburg, Virginia, where he was the founding artistic director of Sycamore Rouge—a professional, non-equity theatre and multi-disciplinary arts venue. Primarily a stage director, Shorr has also worked as an actor, playwright, and composer for theatre. Through his work, he strives to prevent audiences, fellow artists, and himself from succumbing to complacency. He is particularly interested in the creation of new theatre pieces (“Tribute: 9-11”—Americulture Arts Festival, MA—an original play commissioned to mark the first anniversary of the event), and in the aggressive re-working of classic texts (“Rina”—Chekhov Now Festival, NYC—his two-person deconstruction of Chekhov’s “Three Sisters”). Current projects include “Clytemnestra’s Daughters”—an original play based on three Greek tragedies—and “The Pan Show”—an original musical (co-written with Touchstone’s JP Jordan) about the horniest god in the world. Shorr holds a BA in Theatre arts from Drew University and an MFA in Directing from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Touchstone is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. The official registration and financial information of Touchstone may be obtained from the PA Dept. of State by calling toll-free within PA 1-800-732-0999. Registration does not imply endorsement.