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TOWN

Theatre Horizon

TOWN, 2022, Theatre Horizon, Norristown, PA. Pictured: Cassidy Gabrielle-Elise Peay. Photo by John C. Hawthorne.

Theatre Horizon, TOWN, 2022, Norristown, PA. Photo by John C. Hawthorne. — Theatre Horizon, *TOWN*, 2022, Norristown, PA. Photo by John C. Hawthorne.

Recipient

Grant Year 2020

Grant Amount $331,560

Status Completed

Updated May 26, 2023

A large-scale play with music will draw on the varied stories of Norristown, PA’s residents as it challenges the myth of American small-town homogeneity. Using Thornton Wilder’s Our Town as a structural provocation, playwright Michael John Garcés and director Nell Bang-Jensen will create a work to be performed by both professional performers and “citizen artists,” with an original score sourced from the sounds of Norristown by artist collective ILL DOOTS. The lead artists will conduct public “story circles” with local residents, collecting personal stories to inform the piece’s script and lyrics while incorporating Our Town’s themes of daily life, love and marriage, and death and eternity.

The total grant amount represents project funding plus an additional 20% in unrestricted general operating support.

Primary EventsEvents & Exhibitions

Theatre Horizon, promotional image for TOWN. Photos by John C. Hawthorne.

TOWN World Premiere

Sep 15–18, 2022
Eisenhower Science and Technology Leadership Academy Lawn 1601 Markley St. Norristown, PA 19401

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uestions of ractice

Interview

Building a Sense of Belonging through Community-Centered Theater

Recipient

Theatre Horizon

Founded in 2005, Theatre Horizon is an organization presenting plays and musicals in Norristown, PA. In addition to performances at its 120-seat venue, Theatre Horizon offers classes and camps for children, as well as a drama program for individuals on the autism spectrum. The company received American Theatre Wing's National Theatre Company Award in 2017, one of only twelve companies in the nation to be honored with this award from the organization that presents the Tony Awards.

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