HOME[sic]
Both breathtaking and hilariously relatable; we are all at times a little homesick. PUSH Physical Theatre—the multi award-winning team behind Orlando Fringe’s “best play” HYDE and the Off-Broadway sensation GENERIC MALE—create a visually stunning, acrobatic dreamscape where we long for home while aching to escape it.
Through a spectacular fusion of movement, illusion, and dynamic physicality, HOME[sic] unpacks the fragile, shifting nature of home. As the architecture around us collapses, and reassembles, we struggle to hold onto a place that won’t stay still.
Foundations crack, rooms shift, walls bend, doors vanish. This heartwarming story explores the tension between house and home—what we build, what we lose, and what we’re always searching for. Where do we belong? And what happens when the place we call home refuses to stay the same?
PUSH has won the “International Fringe Encore Series”, “Critics Choice Best Show”, “Outstanding Production” and multiple “Best of the Fest” awards.
All About HOME[sic]:
PUSH’s award-winning work is made possible by generous grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, New England Foundation for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, the Rochester Area Community Foundation, and a growing list of people like you!
A special thanks to the Hochstein School. Without use of their beautiful rehearsal studios HYDE would never happened.
To be homesick may embody a longing for home—or feeling sick of home. Today many people say they ‘don’t feel at home’. But what do we mean when we speak of home? Is it a place? Is it other people? Or do we carry home with us? Using dance, nontraditional partnering, mime and more, Home(sick) will tell stories that draw audiences into questions about home: Where do I belong?’ What makes us feel ‘at home’—or not? What responsibilities do I have to this home, to this community? These stories of home and homesickness will be inspired by many sources and experiences from the core PUSH company, the project’s creative team, and PUSH’s network of partnerships in diverse communities. Sources of inspiration include relationships with others—marriage, relatives, the larger community, the world. Two members of the creative team are married—creative partners living in the same home. What are the boundaries of home, of work, of personal creativity, of professional creativity? Home(sick) can also refer to feeling ‘at home’ with yourself. For one company member, anxiety disorders can cause her to not feel at home in her own body, until she starts moving. PUSH’s largely nonverbal form of storytelling works on an intuitive, physical level. The body can invite the restless mind to settle in and feel comfortable. Two PUSH members are immigrants. Darren, now a U.S. citizen, has lived here 30 years and his accent has faded to the point that when he return to the country of his birth he is perceived as American, an outsider. Yet at ‘home’ in the U.S. his remaining accent labels him a ‘foreigner’ to Americans. Where and how does he truly feel at home? Ashley is in the U.S. on a O-1B Visa for extraordinary ability in the arts, which since 2018 has allowed him to work here, and pay taxes. Unable to vote, he can help shape the country in which he lives only as an artist, working regularly with marginalized populations in his second ‘home’ country. Inspiration for Home(sick) also comes from our work with diverse populations including the students of National Technical Institute for the Deaf, teens with emotional and behavioral issues at the Villa of Hope, and children with disabilities at Monroe Orleans BOCES. Where do I belong? may be the most profound—and urgent—question each of us faces in today’s world. We don’t have to face it alone. Through story-sharing we can find and support each other, on common ground. We can invite each other to feel 'at home.’
Praise for PUSH:
“By far, their performances were the highlight of the entire season. Superb people, superb artists, and superb collaborators. They are a treasure.”
– Mark Cuddy, Artistic Director, Geva Theatre Center
“Amazing...the star of the night!”
– Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas, TLC
“...perfect metaphor-in-motion...myth and magic...super-strong acrobatics...”
– City Newspaper
“That was epic, man...you guys are super-human.”
– Harry Shum Jr, Glee
“...emphasis on the awe.”
– New York Theatre Guide
“The most fantastic, emotional event I have ever experienced. Absolutely remarkable”
– Audience rave
See PUSH-in-Action:
PUSH on TV and Stage
PUSH Collision with Grammy-Winning Ying Quartet
PUSH’s “Dracula”