Greetings from Artistic Director

FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

WHAT A BLOCKBUSTER

holiday season it was this year with A Christmas Carol Online. We knew the free production, which was created and distributed digitally as a new media production, would be popular and carry on the 43-year tradition in the absence of in-person performances, but it far surpassed even our wildest expectations. A Christmas Carol Online registered nearly 200,000 viewers in all 50 states and around the world, including 37 countries on six continents. It was particularly special because over 140,000 students around the world viewed the production as a part of their curriculum through Project Discovery, complete with a digital study guide and virtual workshops. Thanks to our partnership with the Rhode Island Foundation and Ocean State Job Lot, the production also helped raise $120,000 for the Rhode Island Community Food Bank. Thank you to the over 5,000 donors that contributed to both support the production and Trinity Rep. It was truly heartwarming to experience such incredible generosity from around the world. As we move through winter and into spring, there are additional digital and community engagement projects in the works. You can watch and participate in our new play development process, as we work on the scripts that may be brought to life on our stages after the pandemic. The Brown/Trinity Rep MFA students will also be sharing some of their work. Additionally, our community engagement department will be developing America Too: Reckoning and Resilience, collecting community stories of the past year that will be shared during a public performance later this spring. With this work still ahead, Trinity Rep staff and leadership are already deep in planning for the resumption of in-person programming, as we watch the distribution of the vaccine with hope. The organizational planning work that began this fall in equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism (EDIA); facility renovation and expansion (a state bond referendum that would help fund this transformational project will be on the ballot in March); and strategic planning will ensure that when we reach the other side of the pandemic we can build Trinity Rep back as a more equitable, inclusive, and just organization for our artists, employees, and community. As a part of our EDIA work, our Board of Trustees participated in Scaffolding Change workshops in November and December. During December, we invited broad participation in an EDIA assessment survey, which will help us take actions that will allow people of all backgrounds to thrive at every level of the organization. Our consultants are also reviewing and auditing our current and past practices, as we begin to develop our anti-racism action plan, which we expect to complete in June. We are moving forward with optimism and drive, and we cannot wait to welcome the public back into our theaters when it is safe to do so. I hope you and yours had a wonderful holiday season. All of us at Trinity Repertory Company offer you our best wishes for a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year. Thank you for making Trinity Rep a part of it. We all remain ever grateful for your involvement, support, and patronage.

Stay well,

Tom Parrish Executive Director

FROM THE ARTHUR P. SOLOMON AND SALLY E. LAPIDES ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

FIRST OF ALL, I NEED TO

say thanks to you, our loyal Trinity Rep audience. I have had so many emails, Zoom calls, and socially distant encounters with many of you over the last months. The passion for Trinity Rep and for live theater in general has been heartwarming and emboldening. In the face of the many challenges in the year that has just passed, your love and support was pure nourishment to me and the artists who work at your theater. So thank you. We were delighted by the worldwide response to our production of A Christmas Carol Online, and particularly thrilled by the response in our very own community. It was important to me that our A Christmas Carol this year celebrate our hometown of Providence, Rhode Island… especially with the whole world watching. We have a lot to be proud about, in a state whose motto is simply “HOPE.” My hope is that everyone who watched received the gift of joy, which is what we wanted to make for you. When I say that “we” wanted to bring joy, I want to call forward some of the folks you might not otherwise know, folks who worked tirelessly to bring our A Christmas Carol to life. You saw our brilliant actors onscreen, and they are the visible face of the production. But there are many, many people without whom we could never have brought the show into your homes in December. Some are longtime Trinity Rep family, while others are newer to us, but already feel like they are invaluable. I wish I could introduce you to each and every one of them, but space is limited, so here are a few shout outs. I would like you to know that our production director of more than 20 years, Laura Smith, was indispensable in making the film that you saw happen. She learned how to produce a movie AND deal with a brand new set of union rules, all in the face of the pandemic. She even became a COVID-19 compliance officer to keep our cast and crew safe. She has been making Christmas since the summer, and it would not have happened without her. I would want to introduce you to Kristen Gibbs, who has stage managed at Trinity Rep for the 15 years of my tenure as artistic director, only to take on the new role of assistant director for our film. I could not have begun the project without Kristen’s long-range planning and daily prodding, and I could not have made it through filming without her support. And I want you to know Alberto Genoa and his brilliant team from Genoa Films, who filmed while masked, 14 feet away from any actor, or sometimes watched while the actors set up their shots in their own homes on Zoom. Without Alberto’s tireless good humor and razor sharp vision, our project would have been impossible. Our production team of designers and artisans were incredibly resilient and flexible in the face of every crazy challenge (like mailing Danny Duque- Estrada’s costumes, props, camera, and sound equipment to his home in California). Our marketing folks worked tirelessly to ensure that the audience experience was excellent, and our development department started raising funds for A Christmas Carol’s production in July, when we first announced the project. All the while, our first priority was everyone’s safety. Just one, small example of the unexpected headwinds we faced will show you the commitment of Trinity Rep’s people to bringing this story to life. It was the final day of in-person filming, and we had two more scenes with Ebenezer Scrooge before we wrapped. On our lunch break, the brilliant Joe Wilson, Jr. went home to find his beloved dog, Stella, gravely ill. There was nothing to be done, and Stella passed away that afternoon. We shut down production that day, worried as we watched the COVID-19 cases rising in Rhode Island. That night, Kristen spoke with Joe, who agreed to come continued on next page