Touchstone Theatre will host an evening of entertainment to raise awareness about theLehigh Valley Black African Heritage History Project Monday, November 12 at 7p.m. at Broughal Middle School, 125 West Packer Avenue, Bethlehem.

The history project is a collaborative effort to collect, archive and share oral histories of the Lehigh Valleys citizens of African descent.Touchstones Ensemble, along with Playwright Linda Parris Bailey and Musical Arranger Ysaye Barnwell, will use the collected accounts to produce a play, which will premiere on May 30, 2008.The play will feature a multi-racial cast of professional and community actors.

Program partners include Muhlenberg College, Lehigh County Senior Center, Lehigh County Historical Society, Kutztown University, Northampton County Historical and Genealogical Society and Touchstone Theatre.

The November 12 event will feature music by solo vocalists and the Central Pennsylvania Male Singing Association.Actors and project participants, including New York native and story-teller Peggy Pettitt, will provide a reading from the script produced by Ms. Bailey.

Funding for this project has been provided by the Pennsylvania Humanities Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and the United Way.For more information about this event, contact Liz Wheeler at 610-867-1689 or visit www.touchstone.org.

Celebrating more than 25 years,Touchstone Theatreproduces and presents both original and classic productions, with dedication to the renewal of theatre as a vital art form. Touchstone works to foster collaboration on a local and national level through educational and youth empowerment programs, using theatre as a community-building tool. Visit us on the web at www.touchstone.org.