Hair-Raising Documentary Theater

A “docu-comedy” about the stuff growing on our heads, “Cuts” is a new play
premiering in Westmont’s Porter Theatre Wednesday and Friday, March 26 and 28, at
8 p.m. A senior project by Casey Caldwell, this play is free and open to the public.

Based on interviews conducted by Caldwell and cast members Sarah Halford,
Nolan Hamlin, and Marie Ponce, the play weaves together poignant and silly stories
with original music and choreography.

“Hair reflects our values of beauty, history, culture and race — all kinds of
difficult, knotty issues,” Caldwell explains. “We have stories about the insanities of
bikini waxing right next to the story of a woman who survived the Holocaust, and
the one image she cannot get out of her head is a woman with beautiful blond hair
getting her head shaved.”

Caldwell directed and co-wrote the play with his cast in a highly collaborative
process. He plans to pursue acting and directing after graduation, eventually starting
a company dedicated to documentary theater.

“One of the primary roles of art is to take something we take for granted and
make it new and fresh and exciting, to expose the life within it,” he says. “I hope this
play does that for people.”

For more information, please contact Beth Lemons in the theater department at
(805)565-7140 or blemons@westmont.edu.