Sticks and stones: National-tour stage production explores 'Three Hurtful Words'

The three performers who comprise the ensemble for "NWC: Three Hurtful Words" — a stage production they've been taking around the country since they graduated from the University of California-Los Angeles — is not your average entertainment trio.

Ecuadorian Rafael Agustin moved to the United States with his parents in 1988. "I thought America was this big wonderland like Disneyland, but things went downhill from there," Agustin said from Alabama during a telephone interview with all three.

Allan Axibal, a native of the Philippines who moved to the United States about 21 years ago when he was just 4, originally considered developing his talent for slam poetry into a one-man show about dealing with immigration issues.

Miles Ellington Gregley, who is black and grew up in Pasadena, was a little nervous at first about taking "a show like this" out on the road.

"NWC" is an acronym for three racial slurs that we can't print in a family newspaper, and the show has taken the country by storm with its hour-and-a-half presentation of Gregley, Agustin and Axibal giving their personal takes on what it was like to grow up in an atmosphere of racial slurs and stereotypes. It's this season's "On the Edge" series offering at Kingsbury Hall.

The three actors will be doing much more than just spending a couple of nights performing in Salt Lake City. In a unique project encompassing four Utah counties, they'll be "in residence" for nearly three weeks, conducting workshops, panel discussions and a variety of other community events, in addition to performing in Salt Lake City, Ogden, Logan and Park City.

Axibal, 25, said the three met at Mount San Antonio College in Walnut, Calif., but the concept for the show didn't come together until they all transferred to UCLA. "Most of this started with Rafael, who was studying theater and TV and wanted to do a one-man show. I was doing slam poetry and Miles has a background in stand-up comedy."

They're various ethnic and talent backgrounds may differ, but all grew up in a time when racial issues played important roles in their lives. "Rafael went to Leisel Reinhart and Steven T. Seagle (co-writers and co-producers of 'NWC') and they started kicking around ideas for a one-man show. Rafael's stuff had a lot to do with immigration.

"They moved more into his personal life and then brought the rest of us in with our stories and it turned into something more important and compelling."