5 minute read
Greetings from Artistic Director
FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
THERE IS A LIGHT AT THE
Advertisement
end of the tunnel! With the now rapid distribution of vaccine and the easing of restrictions, we are feeling confident in our ability to safely resume in-person performances in the fall. We encourage everyone to get vaccinated, wear masks, and act responsibly so that vision can become a reality. We will continue to monitor public health guidance to ensure a safe return for patrons, staff, and artists. During the hiatus in production activities caused by the pandemic, Trinity Rep has been busy fulfilling its mission of reinventing the public square in new and innovative ways. Much of our programming activity shifted online, available on our website under the heading “The Show Goes On.” From behind-the-scenes discussions, archival production footage, talk-show style content, and community-sourced material, we have found new ways to connect and “gather.” Our new media production of A Christmas CarolOnline reached 200,000 viewers on six continents, and the currently running The Catastrophist is being hailed “a play for our times” (Don’t miss your chance to catch this incredible show before it ends on May 31). The Writer’s Room and America Too have also been reckoning with the past and planting seeds for the future. In addition, we have been utilizing this time to plan for rebuilding a stronger and more equitable theater company, a Trinity Rep 2.0. The loss of staff over the past year has been difficult, but also created opportunities to rethink the way we do and make theater and programming at Trinity Rep. Our Anti-Racism Transformation Committee has been working to develop a strategic plan to advance our vision of being an anti-racist and inclusive organization dedicated to reinventing the public square in service to the full diversity of people in our region. You can read more about this work on page 10. Our reinvention also extends to the physical space of our building and venues. We have been working with architects and contractors to design an extensive renovation and expansion in 2022 and 2023. In March, Rhode Island voters approved with 60% of the vote a Cultural Arts and State Preservation Grant Programs Bond Measure, which among other projects around the state will provide $2.5 million toward Trinity Rep’s $12 million capital project. Many thanks to those that voted in support of this important bond measure. Trinity Rep is currently in the quiet phase of a capital campaign to raise the balance needed to fund our project. Perhaps most exciting is the planned launch of the new season. Next season’s lineup, which you can read more about on page 6, is packed with a mix of drama, comedy, and music that is sure to surprise, delight, and entertain. There is something for everyone, and it features the best of what live theater can be. You will not want to miss it! If you have not secured your subscription for next season, I encourage you take advantage of our low prices, beginning at only $80 for four plays. That’s less than the price of a single Broadway ticket and like getting four plays for the price of three. In addition to guaranteeing yourself memorable evenings out and saving up to 33% off, as a full season subscriber, you get the best prices; the best seats; money-saving discounts; exchange privileges; advanced, discounted access to A Christmas Carol;and other great benefits. Payment plans are also available. Performances will sell out, so subscribe today! Best wishes for a fun and safe summer. See you in the fall!
AS THE WEATHER WARMS
and the days brighten, we have begun to look forward here at Trinity Repertory Company. We have begun plans for shows, with actors on stages in our building, yes! All of the things we love doing, and most of all, things we love doing with you. I hadn’t truly realized how much I missed live performance until one night last month. Students at the Brown/Trinity Rep MFA programs were doing a couple of projects, and faculty and other students were invited to watch. Everything was performed on open stages, with no scenery, very limited costumes, and the most basic lighting. All of the performers remained masked and socially distanced, those of us in the audience remained masked and distanced, and there were more people on the production team than there were in the audience. I watched these brilliant, simple shows, with so many impossible limitations, and yet, I left the theater feeling… cleansed. Rejuvenated. Joyous. I had missed live story telling at a cellular level. And the effect lasted for days. I know how fortunate I was to see these performances. I know that many of you reading this miss the theater with a similar level of urgency. In planning the season that we are announcing in this issue of the magazine, we asked ourselves: What do people need to see right now? As we return to public gathering, what stories will resonate and ring inside people and give them that same energy that I felt that night? Once again, the students at the Brown/Trinity Rep program had the wisdom of their youth to help me think about the answers to those questions. One of them said, “I think people are going to want to see PLAY plays; really rich structurally and in their language, really deep in their exploration of the human condition.” Got it, that sounds right. Another said, “People are going to want to see spectacular things, not in the Hollywood movie sense of spectacular, they’re tired of that. They will want to experience theatrical spectacle, things that can only happen to them live, in the theater.” Check, I can make that happen. A third said, “Audiences will want to see things that are really related to our moment, to our now, while also making ties to our turbulent history.” Yes, absolutely. We need that, too. So we set out to make ALL of that happen. Easy, right? I am thrilled to report that the season we have chosen does ring all of those important bells. We want to make your experience of coming back to the Lederer Theater Center for the first time in over a year that exciting! We have begun the project of putting just such a season onto our stages. You can read more about the lineup on page 6. Trinity Repertory Company, at its finest, has always done the kind of theater that those students so passionately described. Now, more than ever, we need to make this kind of vital, urgent, and engaged work happen every time you walk through our doors. And we will in the season ahead, with you. It has been far, far too long since we’ve been in the same room together. I cannot wait to see you, each and every one of you, at the theater.
Curt Columbus The Arthur P. Solomon and Sally E. Lapides Artistic Director
