In November, Iron Age Theater and the Centre Theater proudly present the world premier of "Maroons. The Anthracite Gridiron," by Ray Saraceni, the true story of the hard scrabble Schuylkill County coal miners who created professional football. The biggest underdogs and misfits in the game coming from nowhere and winning it all, only to see their dream season stolen out from under them, an injustice that football fans still hope to see righted.
The play tells the riveting tale of the proud, tough men who played both offense and defense with just leather helmets and their hearts; their hard charging gambler of an owner Doc Streigel; and the coach who created the passing game as the "coal crackers" went up against the big city teams to win Pottsville a championship and show that "pro ball" was the equal to the then dominant college game. The Centre returns to the world of sports and class struggle wit this new play about the Pottsville Maroons. Ray Saraceni is a Paoli native and Villanova University graduate. He has a Phd. in theatre history from Tufts and is a critically acclaimed actor on many Philadelphia stages.
