NORRISTOWN, PA (KYW Newsradio) — Theatre Horizon’s next play is all about its home, Norristown.
The show is called "TOWN", and it was written by Michael John Garcés based on interviews with over 130 Norristown residents. The fictional story both celebrates and interrogates small town American life in the 21st century.
Artistic Director Nell Bang-Jensen wanted members of the local community to be involved from the show's inception.
“I believe that people fall in love with the arts by participating in them,” she says. "We're not just making shows and then offering people tickets, but bringing them into the making, and making sure their interests and desires are at the heart of what we do and who we're doing it for."
Norristown residents are also performing in the play. They held open auditions to cast 50 people from the community.
“I've been deeply moved by the people who came out to audition,” Bang-Jensen says. "We had a 30-year-old guy come out with his grandmother, and they're both participating in the show. We have a mom and her three kids. We have a few participants in our Autism Drama Program.”
She says Norristown’s diversity makes it the perfect setting for a play that reflects American culture.
“The population is about 30% white identifying people, 30% Latinx, 30% African American, 10%, everything else. And you have people who range in age, who range in socioeconomic status.”
It was also important to Bang-Jensen and the creative team to honor the origins of the land they’re performing on.
“We have a few members of the Lenape Council participating in the production, and we really celebrate them as the original caretakers of the land in the third act of the play.”
“TOWN” will be performed outside on the lawn of Eisenhower Science and Technology Leadership Academy, at a busy intersection where passersby can see, and it’s free to watch.
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Bang-Jensen says the team wanted to lower barriers to seeing and participating in theater. That’s why they made the audition process very open, too.
“That was really important to us, to make a really low bar for participation, not in terms of talent, but just in terms of accessibility.”
The show features music by Philadelphia-based hip hop collective Ill Doots, who got their start at University of the Arts. The band worked with Norristown residents to write the lyrics.
“TOWN” runs September 15-18. While tickets are complimentary, reservations are encouraged at theatrehorizon.org.