{"id":857253,"date":"2026-06-10T10:27:23","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T10:27:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/857253\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T10:27:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T10:27:23","slug":"franklins-key-an-homage-to-the-mythos-of-ben-franklin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/857253\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cFranklin\u2019s Key\u201d: An homage to the mythos of Ben Franklin"},"content":{"rendered":"

Love Philly? So do we. Let\u2019s be friends. Sign up for the Billy Penn newsletter today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It was only a rumor, of course.<\/p>\n

But, in Revolutionary War times, the rumor was enough to worry the Brits, who had heard that Ben Franklin, Philadelphia\u2019s all-star colonial politician\/meteorologist\/scientist\/inventor, could control the weather.<\/p>\n

Bogus, obviously.<\/p>\n

But what if it were true? That\u2019s the question that forms the heart of Pig Iron Theatre Company\u2019s<\/a> upcoming production, \u201cFranklin\u2019s Key,\u201d<\/a> a comedic, sci-fi exploration of an alternative reality.<\/p>\n

What if, to this day, there\u2019s a secret, underground society of scientists laboring in Philadelphia, who can harness storms, rain, hail, thunder \u2013 not to mention the powerful forces of electricity that Franklin famously captured by hitching a door key to a kite during a thunderstorm.<\/p>\n

For inspiration, the TV shows \u201cAlias,\u201d \u201cThe X-Files,\u201d and \u201cStranger Things,\u201d \u201call invite a wondering about secrets and secret societies and how technology happens away from the public view \u2013 sort of playing with those tropes,\u201d said Dan Rothenberg,<\/a> Pig Iron\u2019s co-artistic director. Rothenberg co-wrote \u201cFranklin\u2019s Key\u201d with longtime collaborator Robert Quillen Camp.<\/a><\/p>\n

Another inspiration?<\/p>\n

The playwrights\u2019 children. Camp\u2019s kids are teenagers and Rothenberg\u2019s child is ten. In a 10-member cast, the lead characters in \u201cFranklin\u2019s Key\u201d are two adolescent prodigies, siblings who uncover Philly\u2019s secret scientific society and must save it from dark forces that want to control it for their own evil ends.<\/p>\n

Pig Iron earned its worldwide reputation for its experimental theater, but for this play, the co-playwrights wanted something that both honored that and differed from it.<\/p>\n

\"\"Alton Alburo and Jameka Monet Wilson star in \u201cFranklin\u2019s Key.\u201d (photo courtesy Johanna Austin)<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter spending a couple of decades in experimental theater, we were kind of thinking of making work that was accessible and warm \u2013 a play that our kids and our kids\u2019 friends could see and love, a crossroads between science and art,\u201d Rothenberg said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then, thinking about Pig Iron\u2019s home in Philadelphia, we decided to put together a love letter to the city and to the myth of Ben Franklin \u2014 not the real historical Ben Franklin \u2014 but his place in the popular imagination.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a champion of science, but he was no tech bro. He believed in the arts and civil society \u2013 like setting up the first fire company and library. He believed in democracy and civil society, which is particularly salient now,\u201d Rothenberg said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis show is supposed to be a gateway drug to our brand to our inventive theater,\u201d he said, \u201cbut it\u2019s rooted in some touchstones that are acceptable to a lot of people in America, like \u201cBack to the Future,\u201d \u201cThe X-Files.\u201d<\/p>\n

Philadelphia landmarks, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art, City Hall, Christ Church Burial Ground, and the Wanamaker Organ, take the stage as portals to this sci-fi\/historical adventure.<\/p>\n

Rothenberg said the audience should be prepared for some amazing special effects (and they are truly amazing, based on last year\u2019s performance). Skylar Fox,<\/a> the Obie Award-winning special effects designer who created effects for \u201cHarry Potter and the Cursed Child\u201d on Broadway, brings his talent to the show.<\/p>\n

Rosie Langabeer,<\/a> a New Zealand-born composer, created the musical score.
\u201cFranklin\u2019s Key,\u201d<\/a> Pig Iron Theatre Co.,<\/a> June 11-28, Plays & Players Theatre,<\/a> 1714 Delancey St., Philadelphia. 267-494-1919 or franklinskey.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Love Philly? So do we. Let\u2019s be friends. Sign up for the Billy Penn newsletter today. It was…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":857254,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5132],"tags":[5229,30812,24071,472,19588,315820,1448,2830,1311,349839,1148,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-857253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-america","tag-ben-franklin","tag-electricity","tag-history","tag-key","tag-kite","tag-pa","tag-pennsylvania","tag-philadelphia","tag-pig-iron-theatre-company","tag-theater","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116725341615714578","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=857253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/857254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=857253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=857253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=857253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}