Trinity Rep Hosts Second Annual Statewide Performing Arts Kick-Off Party

Trinity Repertory Company invites the public to celebrate the performing arts in Rhode Island and beyond as the host of the second annual season kick-off party,Saturday, August 27, 2016. Across two stages and six hours, over 20 theater and dance companies, musicians and independent artists will gather at Trinity Rep to share previews of upcoming work while re-connecting with loyal fans and introducing themselves to new ones. The party will also feature an interactive art installation by Tape Art, a variety of food trucks, tours of Trinity Rep's historic building and more. This event is free and open to the public. For more information, visit http://www.trinityrep.com.

"This year we've challenged participants to present the 'most Rhode Island' show in their season, and we're expecting some very creative and exciting interpretations of that prompt," says community engagement coordinator Rebecca Noon. "The kick-off party celebrates the richness of the performing arts ecology in Rhode Island and it's thrilling to have so many corners of the community represented at Trinity Rep for this one special day."

The kick-off party features performances by: 2nd Story Theatre, ali kenner brodsky & co., Arte Latino of New England (ALNE), AS220 Theatre and Dance, Bring Your Own Improv, The Community Players, Counter-Productions Theatre Company, Culture*Park Theatre, Doppelgänger Dance Collective, The Empire Revue, Festival 51, Grupo Arcoiris of Rhode Island Dance Academy, Iris Yinette, Living Literature, The Manton Avenue Project, Newport Playhouse, OUT LOUD Theatre, PassiveAgressiveNoveltyCompany, The Players, Stray Creatives, The Rhode Island Shakespeare Theater , Swamp Meadow Community Theatre, Tenderloin Opera Company and Trinity Repertory Company.

This year, the kick-off party also includes a round-table discussion of local arts critics, opening a conversation between performers and critics about the Rhode Island artistic community, as well as musicians Eastern Medicine Singers, Emiline Herreid, and Keith Munslow doing a set for kids. Performers and groups are subject to change.

The State Theater of Rhode Island, Trinity Repertory Company is now in its 53rd season. Since its founding in 1963, Trinity Repertory Company has been one of the most respected regional theaters in the country. Featuring the last permanent resident Acting Company in America, Trinity Rep presents a balance of world premiere, contemporary, and classic works for an estimated annual audience of approximately 145,000. Since 1963, the theater has produced 63 world premieres, mounted national and international tours, and, through its MFA program, trained hundreds of new actors and directors.

This season marks the 50th year of Project Discovery, Trinity Rep's pioneering educational outreach program. Last season, Trinity Rep's educational programs reached over 16,000 Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut students through matinees as well as in-school residencies and workshops. Brown University/Trinity Rep offers professional training for actors and directors in a three-year MFA program.

Subscriptions for the 2016-2017 season Ghosts of the Past, Dreams of the Future are now on sale. The season includes Beowulf: A Thousand Years of Baggage, book and lyrics by Jason Craig and music by Dave Malloy, Appropriate by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, The Mountaintop by Katori Hall, Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, the world premiere of Faithful Cheaters by Deborah Salem Smith and Fuente Ovejuna by Lope De Vega Carpio. For more information and to purchase tickets, call the box office at (401) 351-4242 or visit Trinity Rep's website at www.trinityrep.com.