NORRISTOWN, PA.: Theatre Horizon has announced its 2020-21 season, the first under new artistic director Nell Bang-Jensen.
“In a desensitized and polarized America, I am compelled to create theatre that makes spaces for feelings,” said Bang-Jensen in a statement. “All of the shows in Theatre Horizon’s 2020-21 season center a momentous reckoning with the past as its characters stretch towards a more collective future.”
The season—titled Road Trips, Reckonings, and Red Velvet—will kick off with the Philadelphia premiere of Miss You Like Hell (Oct. 8-Nov.1). This new musical, featuring book and lyrics by Quiara Alegría Hudes and music and lyrics by Erin McKeown, follows 16-year-old Olivia as she reconnects with her free-spirited mother, Beatriz. Miss You Like Hell is a portrait of a mother and daughter whose lives have been deeply complicated by United States immigration policies. Tamanya M. M. Garza will direct.
Next up is the Philadelphia premiere of James Ijames’s TJ Loves Sally 4 Ever (Feb. 18-March 14, 2021), directed by Lauren E. Turner. This play reimagines Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson as a student and a dean at a Southern American university, and sets out to dismantle the legacies that keep us bound amid a swirl of marching bands, step teams, and bubbly tour guides.
Finishing the season will be the Philadelphia premiere of The Cake (May 13-June 6, 2021), written by TV’s This is Us creator Bekah Brunstetter and directed by Nell Bang-Jensen. As a baker wrestles with the decision whether to make a cake for a same-sex wedding, she is forced to confront her long-held beliefs and the state of her own marriage.
In addition to the three mainstage shows, Theatre Horizon will be presenting three limited engagement events. First will be Bang-Jensen’s The Caregivers (Dec. 4-6), a documentary play that emerges from stories and conversations with real-life care providers in Philadelphia and Norristown over the course of three years.
Following will be The Johnny Shortcake Show in Concert (Jan. 23, 2021). Half magical journey, half funky dance party, this event stars Johnny Shortcake, the alter-ego of the legendary Philadelphia funk-rock act Johnny Showcase. Theatre Horizon plans to make a full day of celebration, with activities planned throughout the theatre. Guests will enjoy theatre games in the Horizon classroom, get their faces painted, be able to try on costumes, and more.
The final engagement will be Nassim Soleimanpour’s Blank (April 9-11, 2021). In a joint effort between audience and performer, the play magically unfolds to reveal the stories that are bubbling right under the surface, yearning to be told.
Founded in 2005, Theatre Horizon brings Philadelphia’s finest professional actors and artists to Norristown to present compelling, contemporary theatre.
