Epic Theatre Company Announces Big Move, 2016-17 Season

By: Apr. 26, 2016
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Epic Theatre Company has announced its 2016 - 2017 Season while celebrating its new home at the Park Theater in Cranston.

The season at the Park includes one of Shakespeare's most charming plays, a witty comedic classic, a searing Tennessee Williams masterpiece, and one of the funniest farces of all time, Noises Off.

Epic will also continue its partnership with the Artists Exchange to produce new and exciting work that will take audiences right to the edge of their seats.

"This is our fifth full season, and we've been given the gift of a gorgeous new space to help us commemorate it," says Epic Artistic Director Kevin Broccoli. "We'll be opening the season with Love's Labour's Lost, one of my favorite Shakespearean plays. Then, we'll be kicking off 2017 with a truly Epic take on The Importance of Being Earnest, followed by the Tennessee Williams masterpiece Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and then we'll close our season with Noises Off, a show that's been on my bucket list for a long time."

In addition to the four mainstage shows at the Park Theater, Epic will also be producing two theater productions for young audiences, including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

"Bringing theater to the next generation is one of our main goals as we move into our new space. In addition to theater aimed at audiences for all ages, we're also going to be building an educational program that can benefit students across the state."

The theater will also be making a return to contemporary work this season as it continues to produce work at Theater 82, right down the street from its new home at the Park.

"The Artists' Exchange has been our home for the past four years, and I look forward to the ongoing work we're going to be doing with them. That includes four productions that will continue Epic's tradition of putting on cutting edge, stripped down work for adventurous theatergoers."

Those productions include the Rhode Island Premieres of both Bootycandy and Rasheeda Speaking, Harold Pinter's dark comedy The Homecoming, and Peter Shaffer's iconic play Equus.

"I've been referring to this group of shows as being part of the Epic Lab-a place for audiences who enjoy bold and boundary-breaking theater."

New work has been a large part of Epic's four-year history, and season five is no exception.

"We've got three fantastic new plays we're developing with other theaters in the upcoming season, tied together by the idea of fame and its consequences: The First (And Last) Acting Class of Marlon Brando, Marilyn, and Bogie and Bacall. These new plays, along with a co-production that's going to pair us with Providence's Out Loud Theatre in the winter, are going to further our relationships with other theaters in the area as a founding member of the Rhode Island Theater Alliance."

Epic will be hosting a kickoff party this summer, and their new season will begin at the Park Theater in September.


Epic 2016 - 2017 Season:

Mainstage

Love's Labour's Lost

By William Shakespeare

Directed by Wendy Overly

The Importance of Being Earnest

By Oscar Wilde

Directed by Kira Hawkridge

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

By Tennessee Williams

Noises Off

By Michael Frayn

Directed by Mark Peckham

Epic Lab Series

Bootycandy

By Robert O'Hara

Rasheeda Speaking

By Joel Drake Johnson

The Homecoming

By Harold Pinter

Equus

By Peter Shaffer

Two productions for young audiences, including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, a Winter Co-Production with Out Loud Theatre, and three works in development, including The First (And Last) Acting Class of Marlon Brandon, Marilyn, and Bogie and Bacall.


Epic Theatre Company seeks to bring provocative contemporary work to Rhode Island as well as new perspectives on classical theater. We strive to continue the tradition of "event" theater, where each production has built-in excitement both for the audiences and the artists involved.



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