XOXO: MONTCO'S VARIETY SHOW is Coming to Theatre Horizon

Theatre Horizon will contnue its 21st season with XOXO: MontCo's Variety Show, a production created and performed by artists residing in Norristown and across Montgomery County. Featuring live music, comedy, spoken word, dance, and storytelling, XOXO is a celebration of love in all its forms—romantic, platonic, familial, and communal—told through the voices of real people who call this community home. Arriving just in time for Valentine's Day, XOXO offers an inclusive alternative to traditional romantic programming, running from February 11 to February 22.

Directed by Ontaria Kim Wilson, a multi-hyphenated artist, playwright, choreographer, and educator with more than three decades of experience, XOXO is being developed through a devised theater process, shaped collaboratively by its performers. Rather than spotlighting specific personas or fictional characters, XOXO centers on lived experience. The cast includes longtime Theatre Horizon supporters, writers, musicians, parents, retirees, and community advocates, many of whom answered the call to participate simply because the invitation resonated. The result is an evening shaped by honesty, courage, humor, and vulnerability, offering audiences the rare chance to witness neighbors sharing what matters most to them.

“For me, XOXO begins with the idea of love letters,” Wilson said. “When we write letters, we're sharing our hearts, our passions, our friendships, our histories. This show is about how we communicate who we are, where we come from, and how we stay connected to one another.”

Performances, which include deeply personal pieces, range from intimate musical moments to unexpected feats of illusion, offering audiences a dynamic mix of humor, reflection, and surprise. Collectively, the evening showcases the many ways people express love, resilience, and connection.

XOXO: MontCo's Variety Show explores shared humanity, using the main storyline of a mail carrier traveling throughout the city on his first day. As someone whose job is to carry messages between people, this role serves as a metaphor for the ways stories travel through a community. With each delivery, he gets a glimpse into the other characters' lives through a dynamic mix of performance styles. XOXO invites audiences to recognize shared experiences across differences, revealing how individual stories intersect in unexpected ways.

Audience members can expect an evening that is joyful, reflective, funny, and deeply human. XOXO unfolds as a fast-moving variety experience, with each performance offering a different perspective on connection and belonging. Together, the pieces form a collective portrait of Montgomery County life, one rooted in generosity, creativity, and the courage to be seen.