BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Father doesn't always know best. Just ask Touchstone Theatre co-founder Bill George.
- Bill and Anisa George's latest performance, "The Last Play," runs through Sunday at Touchstone Theatre
- In what may be one of their last shows at Touchstone, the father-daughter duo reflect on the 10 plays they've written and directed together
- Touchstone Theatre is at 321 E. Fourth St. in Bethlehem
In the theater's latest production, "The Last Play," Bill teamed up with his daughter Anisa to explore their journey as playwrights and actors.
It's running through Sunday at the theater located at 321 E. Fourth St.
In the two-person intimate performance, the pair (playing themselves, completely unscripted) reflect on the 10 plays they've written and directed together as they relive memories.
A family affair
Bill George and his wife, Bridget, co-founded Touchstone Theatre in 1981, when Anisa's brother, Sam, was a toddler and she was an infant.
One of her first roles was playing Baby Jesus (this is Bethlehem, after all), and she quickly took to theater life.
Her first "big" role came when she was 9, in the theater's "Rootabag Stories," alongside Bill and her brother.
"That will always be the most precious play because it was all of us together," said Bill, who retired from Touchstone in 2022.
He is still part of Touchstone's ensemble member emeritus.
"I had no expectations that Anisa would be my most important collaborator other than my wife Bridget," he said. "In the beginning, all I was trying to do was to be a good father. I needed to spend time with things that I cared about and share them with my daughter."
"And I was spending all of my time trying to make theater. If you’re an artist, you’re basically constantly trying to turn everything around. So if we did a show together, that’s a great way to be together. It was as simple as that."
On stage, the performance is "emotionally raw," with lots of crying, laughing, screaming, and, well, whatever feels right, he said.
The creative process gave the father-daughter pair a chance to look back at their relationship, both professionally and personally.
"I think there was a time when my dad was my most important mentor, and then there was a time when I really wanted to shrug him off and be an artist in my own right. I didn’t want his feedback anymore," Anisa said.
Anisa, who studied at Columbia University and the London International School of Performing Arts, has starred in movies such as "Rachel Getting Married" and held the title of artistic director of George and Co., the Philly-based theater she started in 2005.
"Then there was a time when I invited him back in, and I could see how precious he is in his experience and talent. It’s like an asset," she said. "I had to go through a period of rejection and separation in order to incorporate him again in my process. It feels really right that this is the last play we’re making together. I began at his feet in his tutelage, and I’m ending with him there by my side, and that feels really good."
Anisa, 41, had the idea to pair up with her dad a couple of years ago for what she's calling a "funeral" of sorts.
What remains of her career in the arts is uncertain.
"This play is a ceremony for me; it’s a way of saying goodbye, and moving toward other things. I cherish having been raised in this theater community. It’s a community that runs completely on faith, passion, idealism and love," she said.
"It also costs a lot. It’s like being an activist full-time. There’s so little support in this country. Supposedly this country spends the same amount on the arts as Ireland as a nation, and Ireland is the size of New Jersey. That gives you a sense of how underfunded the arts are in this country. My dad is a complete anomaly. The fact that he is still going at 72 is heroic. There’s no other word for it."
Of his daughter's accomplishments, Bill says he's in awe. A proud father indeed.
"I cherish my relationship with Anisa. This work only makes me cherish it more," he said. "When I look at Anisa now as a theater artist, she’s reached her full powers in my judgment. What she can do is remarkable; it’s hard to find words."Touchstone Theater's co-founder Bill George
"I cherish my relationship with Anisa. This work only makes me cherish it more," he said. "When I look at Anisa now as a theater artist, she’s reached her full powers in my judgment. What she can do is remarkable; it’s hard to find words."
