The Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble, a local performing arts center, is currently producing Gunpowder Joe, a play about Joseph Priestley, the 18th-century scholar generally credited with discovering oxygen. Eli Raeker-Jordan ’17, a biomedical engineering major, constructed one of the props for this play — a replica of an electricity-generating machine based on Priestley’s own diagrams. This article in the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader details Raeker-Jordan’s work, as well as other parts of the play.
The machine replica will be donated to the Joseph Priestley House in Northumberland after completion of the play, which will run through Feb. 5. More information about the production, including location and show times, is at the BTE’s website.