Norristown theater takes an edgy turn by staging a nude scene

Far from Center City or Off-Broadway or any of the places where you'd most expect it, an experiment in the avant-garde is under way in gritty, workaday Norristown.

There in the county seat not necessarily known for its edgy cultural offerings, theatergoers are being exposed to full frontal nudity.

Everyone involved concedes that while that sort of thing wouldn't rate a mention in New York, for Norristown, it is different.

"You don't expect to see this in Norristown," said Erin Reilly, artistic director of Theatre Horizon, the fledgling company staging the play.

The Credeaux Canvas by Keith Bunin has been open since April 7 on DeKalb Street near Lafayette. The play runs through Sunday.

With only a hint that the play is for mature audiences, theatergoers see an artist and his model, both nude, during the latter part of Act 1.

The characters are clearly uncomfortable with nudity, but audiences seem to take it in stride.

"It seems like Norristown is working some on-edge pieces," said Donovan Hagins, an actor who has performed in Philadelphia and Washington and came to Theatre Horizon for the first time April 16.

Resident director Matthew Decker said the play was "the biggest risk I've ever taken," and an important piece of the company's artistic growth.

The risk seems timely given Norristown's aspiration to become a cultural destination and gathering place for artists and their fans.

Since 2009, the Norristown Arts Council has looked for ways to create an "avenue of the arts" along DeKalb Street similar to the one on South Broad Street in Center City. The local effort is called Norristown Arts Hill.

"By building on the region's strengths, we expect to help revitalize the county seat, provide a little fun, and improve people's lives in the process," said council board member Doug Seiler.

The group would like to see artists and potters working in the empty storefronts along DeKalb, and funky stores and cafes to pamper visitors.

The council's festival last April drew a crowd of 2,000 to see art, photos, and dance near Main and DeKalb. This year's festival is May 7.

As part of the growth, Theatre Horizon hopes to turn the former Bell Telephone building into an arts and theater venue by 2012.

The company has raised $240,000, and it is applying for revitalization grants and seeking other ways to get an additional $200,000.

The company has been around since 2007. With such hits as Fat Pig and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee behind it, Decker and Reilly felt it was time to branch out.

If that meant nudity, fine. Decker loved the play in college, but it has taken years to work up the moxie to stage it.

"When you're young, you're attracted to juicy themes and dramatic situations, and this play had that," Decker said.

Decker grew by directing the tricky scene in which the actor and actress undress. The set was closed at first to all but those involved.

"It was challenging but rewarding. I feel like we've been through the fire and come out on the other side," he said. "We're not going back to doing Rodgers and Hammerstein."

To audiences, the nude scene is just a dramatic device. No one has objected or flounced out of the theater.

"It's actually interesting," said Teresa Wallace of Bala Cynwyd, there with her husband, John Chou. "Technically, the way they did it with the lighting was so tasteful."

"It's good that they want to take risks," Chou said. "They probably could make more money as a fledgling theater if they only did musicals."

The play is about struggling artists who plot to swindle an art collector in a paint-spattered East Village apartment. The characters bare their souls and bodies, but never really see each other.

For Andrew Kane and Clare O'Malley, the nude scene was scary. "The first time we did the scene, I thought I was going to pass out," O'Malley said.

Kane simply willed himself to undress. "I'm a lot about control," he said.

Would each appear naked again? Likely not, she said. "If the script is right, yes," he said. "It's liberating."