The premieres of two plays are on tap in the Lehigh Valley.

Performing Arts at Cedar Crest College presents “53% of,” a satire about women voters, March 26 through March 29.

Touchstone Theatre is hosting a play reading of “Bellavista Prison,” March 27 and March 28.

“53% of” is named for the 53% of white women who voted for Donald Trump as president in 2016. The play pits the fictional conservative Women for Freedom and Family moms’ group of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, against a group of liberal twentysomething women in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Award-winning Brooklyn playwright Steph Del Rosso uses Bethlehem as a stand-in for Rust Belt conservative voters.

Pennsylvania was a critical swing state in the 2016 presidential election, where the vote of suburban white women was a decisive factor. Northampton County, which encompasses the majority of Bethlehem, was considered a “bellwether” county that flipped from Obama in 2012 to Trump in 2016.

Del Rosso uses Bethlehem’s branding as “Christmas City, USA” to heighten the irony of the play. The Bethlehem scenes are set in a living room overflowing with Christmas decorations, using the religion-based aesthetic to contrast with the characters’ political viewpoints.

In the play’s first act, the women of Bethlehem are excitedly planning for a visit to the city by the president, while their husbands drink beer and insult each other. The second act switches to Brooklyn where liberal women plan a fundraiser or perhaps a march.

Originally developed in 2018 to 2021, the world premiere was Off-Broadway in 2022.

Del Rosso’s goal is to explore white womanhood and politics, class and stereotypes.

The play, directed by William Morris, has an all-female cast.

Del Rosso is a playwright, fiction writer, screenwriter and educator. Her plays have been produced or developed at Second Stage Theater, The Public, Soho Rep, La Jolla Playhouse and The Kennedy Center. She received an MFA from UC-San Diego.

“53% of,” 7 p.m. March 26, 27, 28; 2 p.m. March 29, Samuels Theater, Cedar Crest College, 100 College Drive, Allentown. 610-740-3780, https://www.cedarcrest.edu

“Bellavista Prison” or “El Reclusorio Tranquilidad” is the newest play from Lehigh Valley playwright José Díaz.

The free play reading in Touchstone’s “UnBound Year-Round” is presented in partnership with Touchstone’s Latinx initiative and Panorama Cultural Latin News.

The play looks at what happens when a lawyer defending a woman serving a long prison sentence for bank robbery is more concerned with the convicted woman’s money than with her incarceration.

The play is about the problems and corruption in a women’s prison where crime, sexual harassment and assault are the order of the day.

“Bellavista Prison,” with adult themes and strong language, is not suitable for children.

The play is in Spanish. A synopsis in English is available.

“Bellavista Prison,” 7 p.m. March 27, 28, Touchstone Theatre, 321 E. Fourth St., Bethlehem. 570-657-6812; http://www.touchstone.org/

“Curtain Rises” is a column about the theater, stage shows, the actors in them and the directors and artists who make them happen. To request coverage, email: Paul Willistein, Focus editor, pwillistein@tnonline.com