Nice Town, Normal People: A Theatrical Exploration of "Home"

Title

Nice Town, Normal People: A Theatrical Exploration of "Home"

Sunday, February 18, 2018 @ 2:00 pm

Location

Matthews Acting Studio

Produced by Rhizome Theater Company, ​Nice Town, Normal People is a dynamic documentary theater piece and community event that explores the many questions of home—who belongs, what it is, what it was, what we want it to be. It features original live music and is composed entirely of words drawn from nearly 100 interviews conducted last summer about the idea of "home." Originally made and performed in the small town of Arroyo Grande, CA (informal motto: nice town, normal people), with the support of the Davis Projects for Peace, the show comes to Princeton as part of the Migrations series of events—to encourage community reflections and reckoning on what "home" means here. Admission is free and all are encouraged to participate. Dean of the College at Princeton University and Professor of Theater Jill Dolan will moderate a post-show discussion.

Performers: 
Makulumy Alexander-Hills is a NYC-based music director and pianist. Working educationally and professionally, he is often found behind a piano at Shuffles Tap and Musical Theater School in Manhattan. Previous credits include Ragtime on Ellis Island, Finding Neverland (ART), Violet (ART), Triangle (Theatreworks), The Man in the Ceiling (Theatreworks), Cabaret (Sarah Lawrence College) and a variety of productions for Stanford University (Evita, Spring Awakening etc). He is proud to be a collaborative member of Rhizome Theater Company. 

Ashlin Hatch makes collaborative theater that explores what radical hope looks and feels like. She is deeply invested in the communities to which she belongs, and— after graduating from Reed College this past spring—is eager to pursue a career leveraging her artistic skills as community-building tools and thinking about how to integrate the methods and dramaturgical structures of play-making into broader social contexts. Recent projects include Water by the Spoonful and The Happiest Song Plays Last (Assistant Director, Profile Theater), The Day’s Mail (Director, Profile Theater), This Must Be the Place (Director, Reed College), and Nice Town, Normal People as it was originally produced in Arroyo Grande, CA.

Kyle Berlin is a senior at Princeton University and co-founder of Rhizome Theater Company. He is passionate about figuring out how we can forge a better, more just world and believes the theater is a good place to rehearse for it, together.