Following a sell-out run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Charades Theatre Company's new musical, The Mold That Changed the World, makes its U.S. debut October 18-23 at the Atlas Center for Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., followed by a November 1-6 engagement at the Science Gallery at Pullman Yards in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Mold That Changed the World, which features a score by Robin Hiley and a book by Thomas Henderson, chronicles Scottish scientist Sir Alexander Fleming’s discovery of penicillin in 1928. While penicillin has saved millions of lives in the decades following its discovery, more and more bacteria have become resistant to antibiotics. These “superbugs” are now one of the largest underlying causes of death in the world.

The musical recruits a local chorus of scientists and healthcare professionals who perform alongside West End actors and a five-piece band. The company includes Jeremy Rose, Emily Bull, Richard Lounds, Scott Armstrong, Sam Keeler, Melissa Veszi, Beverley Grant, Callum Donald, Sarah Haddath, Graham Richardson, and James Ross.

The creative team also includes producer and violinist Jess Conway, musical director Neil Metcalfe, and movement director and choreographer Sheila Grant.

Composer Hiley said in a recent statement, “Since being approached by Dr. Meghan Perry, a clinical infectious disease doctor in Scotland, to write the show, I have come to understand how serious the threat of superbugs are to us all and how little we as the general public know about it. I hope the show gives a voice to the healthcare heroes in our chorus who experience the devastating effects of superbugs in their everyday jobs and want to communicate it to their friends and family before it’s too late.”

For ticket information, click here.