As part of its Art Houses program, Norristown’s Theater Horizon is partnering with local families to stage virtual performances on their home turf, writes Jerald Raymond Pierce for American Theatre.

Nell Bang-Jensen, the theater’s artistic director, wanted to find a way to connect art and the community when many families are stuck at home. She found the solution in Art Houses, which pairs theater artists with local households, giving them the option to create new pieces of virtual theater.

The theater has so far had three successful installations, with the latest one featuring the program’s first Norristown residents.

“One of the things I’m working on as an artistic director is figuring out how to make our relationships with people in our community relational and not transactional,” said Bang-Jensen. “Giving people opportunities for participatory art-making is a way to make our space one for everybody.”

This meant reaching outside the usual theater audience and attempting to bring in participants new to the medium. The attempt was successful, as many of the families selected to participate are only tangentially connected with the theater, usually through family members or friends.

Read more about Theatre Horizon at American Theatre by clicking here.