BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Emma Ackerman is bowing out of her final season at Touchstone Theatre with "Games We Play," a story about friendship and growing up.
It's a fitting end to her last 15 years as general manager of the professional theater and as a vital part of its ensemble cast.
- 'Games We Play' is one of Emma Ackerman's last productions at Touchstone Theatre
- The two-person performance is a story about friendship and growing up
- The play runs Feb. 16-23. Tickets cost $15-$25
"Knowing it was one of my last mainstage productions, I wanted the show to be something new, something I haven't done before, with someone that I trust as a collaborator," she said.
Ackerman, who leaves Touchstone when the season wraps in June, co-wrote and stars in the two-person performance with her real-life pal, Chris Egging, the theater's technical director.
They portray "older millennials" Chrissy and Xan, childhood besties who reconnect 30-something years after drifting apart.
Dial-up drama
The two began working on the play in 2021 after realizing they shared several things in common.
"We both graduated from high school in 2003 and had similar interests growing up," Egging said.
They also both hail from rural towns — Egging grew up in Nebraska and Ackerman is from Bucks County.
"We dealt with stuff that would be typical of our generation in terms of this technical transition," Ackerman said. "We were very much of an age to be playing around with stuff outside in the backyard, playing make-believe. Then the technology of growing up with AOL, dial-up internet, and chunky cell phones."
The collection of scenes portrays the friends from 8 years old all the way up to their mid-30s.
Sword-fighting and silliness
While there are some heartfelt, serious moments on set, the two also jump around and get a tad rambunctious at times.
"We wanted to be physically involved, so there's lots of somersaulting around the stage and sword fighting," Egging said.
Also, if you're a fan of alt-emo tunes listen for the duo's original songs, which are inspired by bands such as Green Day and My Chemical Romance.
"It's largely original music. I play the ukulele and flute, Chris plays the guitar and we both sing," Ackerman said.
Time well spent
During her time at Touchstone, Ackerman has worked in stage management and lighting design and starred in "Dr. Horrible," "Follies," and "Journey from the East."
Meanwhile Egging, who has directed local renditions of "The Mousetrap," "SubUrbia," "The Pillowman," "Waiting for Godot" and "Man of La Mancha," is excited to debut his first time onstage as a writer, director and main character.
"It's an interesting thing to apply the skillset of the creation of the role when you're actually creating the whole thing, not just trying to apply yourself to something that someone else already wrote," he said. "I'm trying to find ways that it's not just Chris up there. It's a character of Xan dealing with his stuff."
Forever friends?
While writing the play, Ackerman and Egging examined the friendships they've collected over the years.
"There's been a lot of looking at old pictures, opening photo albums and remembering old stories," Ackerman said. "Being able to visit with our memories in a really nice way through this process."
"Being able to visit with our memories in a really nice way through this process."Emma Ackerman, general manager of Touchstone Theatre
In fact, Egging's Xan is loosely based on an individual he once idolized.
"It caused me to look back at my relationship with my childhood best friend that has definitely seen shifts of change in how we're connected to each other," he said. "It's still the person that I can go back to if something's blowing up, it's just not the same as what it was. I hold on to this idea of these two 16-year-olds playing around, but now I think about how that relationship has morphed and been okay with it."
It's a theme everyone can relate to, they say.
"The 1990s to early 2000s may be a growing-up story for us, but we hope there are points of resonance that people of any age are going to recognize — the things that were simpler or felt simpler when we were kids. The things that gradually grew to feel more confusing and harder to remember as [we] got older and our brains started to solidify and the way we remember friendship and the way that changes," Ackerman said.
"Games We Play" runs Thursday through Sunday, Feb. 16-23, at 321 E. Fourth St.
Tickets cost $15 (students, seniors) and $25.
