Trinity Rep announces 2016-2017 season: provocative journey through stories that haunt our past and shape our dreams

Posted 3/31/16

At an exclusive event last week for subscribers, donors and members of the press, Tony Award-winning Trinity Repertory Company, under the leadership of Richard L. Bready Artistic Director Curt …

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Trinity Rep announces 2016-2017 season: provocative journey through stories that haunt our past and shape our dreams

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At an exclusive event last week for subscribers, donors and members of the press, Tony Award-winning Trinity Repertory Company, under the leadership of Richard L. Bready Artistic Director Curt Columbus announced their 2016-2017 season: Ghosts of the Past, Dreams of the Future.

“The driving force of this season is the 50th Anniversary of our Project Discovery program. We knew we wanted to inspire, challenge and delight our student audiences, while presenting the thought provoking and timely work we’re known for,” explains artistic director Curt Columbus. “The result is a powerful selection of plays that asks us to face the past while dreaming into the unknown of the future.”

The season kicks off with Beowulf: A Thousand Years of Baggage by Jason Craig with music by Dave Malloy, helmed by artistic director Curt Columbus in the upstairs Chace Theater. Based on one of the most famous pieces of literature of all time, Beowulf: A Thousand Years of Baggage is a re-telling of the blood-soaked Old English poem. With music The New York Times called “catchy and pop-infused with echoes of Tom Waits,” Beowulf: A Thousand Years of Baggage is the epic legend seen in a visceral, brutal, and tender new light. “We wanted to open the season with something huge, something epic, something mythic. Beowulf: A Thousand Years of Baggage is an ancient story told as a rock ‘n’ roll extravaganza,” said Columbus.

Next up in the Dowling Theater, winner of the 2014-2015 Obie Award for Best New American Play, is Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ Appropriate, directed by Brian Mertes. In this biting comic-drama, the estranged members of the Lafayette family return home to their run-down Arkansas estate after the passing of the family patriarch. As they sort through a lifetime of mementos, they discover a gruesome relic that turns their reunion into an escalating series of shocks, showdowns and revelations. “Jacobs-Jenkins is one of the most exciting young American playwrights working today and this show wowed New York audiences. We can’t wait to bring it to Rhode Island for the first time,” said Columbus.

Back again after a sold-out run last season is Southeastern New England’s holiday classic – Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol – now available to subscribers for purchase. Ebenezer Scrooge is a greedy businessman infamous for his lack of Christmas cheer. When three ghosts pay him a visit, Scrooge is given the opportunity to examine his life. Perfect for the whole family, A Christmas Carol will start performances in November and will run throughout the month of December.

Kicking off 2017 will be Katori Hall’s The Mountaintop. April 3, 1968. Martin Luther King, Jr. returns to room 306 in the seedy Lorraine Motel after delivering one of his most famous speeches. Suddenly, he is visited by a spirited young maid who challenges him to confront the truth of his life, the question of his legacy, and his ultimate destiny. “This is a play about one of America’s most beloved icons, Martin Luther King, Jr. It transcends a traditional history play and challenges audiences to feel Dr. King’s presence today,” said Columbus.

2017 marks the 50th anniversary of Trinity Rep’s Project Discovery student matinee program. In celebration of this landmark, the educational centerpiece of the season will be a return to one of the first Project Discovery productions, Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream directed by associate artistic director Tyler Dobrowsky. In one of Shakespeare’s most romantic comedies, four fantastic stories are woven together in a single fanciful night: the wedding of an Athenian Duke to his Queen; the comic misadventures of four lovers lost in the forest; an uproarious throw-down between the King and Queen of the Fairies; and the hilarious antics of a group of amateur actors. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of Shakespeare’s most popular and most beloved plays. Its buoyant humor mixed with fascinating social politics creates a complicated and magical text,” Columbus said.

Honoring a commitment to bringing new work to New England, the fifth play of the season will be the world premiere of Faithful Cheaters by Trinity Rep resident playwright Deborah Salem-Smith. Poppy and Theo are always working. Neither has time to pay attention to their marriage. Luckily, now there’s a nose spray for fidelity! One dose daily and presto: enhanced monogamy! Or so Theo hopes….  This uproarious farce dares to take a serious look at contemporary marriage and how to be happy now. “Deb nearly always tackles complicated social issues in her plays. Faithful Cheaters is no exception, except this time, it’s a fall-down, show-your-drawers farce,” Columbus said. Deborah Salem Smith’s work has been praised as “lucid, deeply nuanced and fearless” by The New York Times, and “first-rate, a gem” by The Boston Globe.

Rounding out the season will be the Rhode Island premiere of Lope de Vega Carpio’s Fuente Ovejuna (The Sheep’s Well). Spain, 1476. The Catholic monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, are caught in a dynastic war for the throne of Spain with the Portuguese king. In this power vacuum, many villages have fallen under the thumb of rich nobles, including the small town of Fuente Ovejuna, recently overtaken by the villainous Commander Fernán Gómez de Guzmán who has imposed a series of cruel laws on the townspeople. Can the town band together in the face of such oppression? “In this time of division, it’s important to us to tell stories about people coming together and overcoming difference, and how that changes the life of a community. Producing Fuente Ovejuna encapsulates what we want to do as an institution,” said Columbus.

The company is pleased to offer a variety of subscription packages for the 2016-2017 season, with options for any for theater-goer. Full season packages start at just $114.

Visit the website at www.trinityrep.com to explore the season and subscription choices, or call the box office at 351-4242. Subscribing now also gives patrons immediate access to pre-sale tickets for A Christmas Carol. Additional subscriber benefits include free ticket exchanges, parking and dining discounts, and invitations to special backstage events. The Trinity Rep box office is located at 201 Washington Street, Providence, and can be reached by calling 351-4242.

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