Trinity Rep to Present Three By Three in Rep

Trinity Rep continues its 2011-2012 season with Three by Three in Rep – a theatrical event featuring three world premieres performed in rotating repertory on the Dowling stage running from February to May.

Three by Three in Rep will open with Sparrow Grass by Trinity Rep Artistic Director Curt Columbus, The Mourners' Bench by George Brant, and Love Alone by Trinity Rep's resident playwright Deborah Salem Smith– all deeply moving dramas that touch on subjects close to our heart and hearth: the bonds and fissures of family, and the meaning of home. Three by Three in Rep will offer ticket buyers the rare chance to see three world premiere plays on their chosen night during the three months, in any order. "Few projects more perfectly represent the heart of our mission than the trio of world premiere plays, Sparrow Grass, The Mourners' Bench, and Love Alone, which will run in true repertory and collectively make up Three by Three in Rep," stated Associated Artistic Director Tyler Dobrowsky.

"All these plays are "locally grown:" created and developed by the playwrights with our resident Acting Company over the past few years through an ensemble-based and collaborative process. Trinity Rep has always had a longstanding commitment to creating bold, compelling productions, and as we near our fiftieth anniversary here in the "creative capital" of Providence, Rhode Island, we are thrilled to continue and honor that tradition with these trenchant and dynamic new plays," Dobrowsky said.

Sparrow Grass, directed by Brian McEleney, is Curt Columbus's bold new play inspired by Racine's Phèdre, the classic tragedy is brought into focus within our current time. A woman's dark and misdirected passion threatens to destroy a family from within. 

The Mourners' Bench, directed by Michael Perlman, is a quietly intriguing interwoven tale of a moment of terrible loss that reaches beyond time. Testing the limits of fate and redemption, these very human characters struggle to overcome their shared dark history. 

In Love Alone, directed by Kim Rubenstein, after a routine medical procedure goes tragically wrong, the lives of both the patient's family and the doctor charged with her care are transformed. Ultimately, the play is a lovingly drawn portrait of how we grieve and how we heal. Love Alone is the recipient of the 2011 Edgerton Foundation New American Plays Award as well as honorable mention for the 2011 Jane Chambers Award. 

The Sparrow Grass cast includes resident Acting Company members Phyllis Kay and Barbara Meek; associate artist Richard Donelly; and Brown/Trinity Rep MFA Students Jaime Rosenstein and Tyler Lansing Weaks. Phyllis Kay will also be featured in The Mourners' Bench, joined by company members Angela Brazil, Timothy Crowe, Janice Duclos, Mauro Hantman, and Anne Scurria. Angela Brazil, Janice Duclos, Mauro Hantman, and Anne Scurria will also share the stage in Love Alone with associate artist Richard Donelly and Brown/Trinity Rep MFA student Leah Anderson.

Three by Three in Rep features set designs by Michael McGarty, costume designs by William Lane, lighting design by Dan Scully, and sound design by Peter Sasha Hurowitz. The Dowling space will undergo complete transformations from play to play, while using the same set pieces. "While it has the same pieces, they are going to be very different," explained Dobrowsky. "Part of the fun of attending these shows is going to be seeing each show and recognizing those pieces in each different set, and knowing how they've been transformed."

Curt Columbus (playwright, Sparrow Grass) joined Trinity Rep as artistic director in January 2006. His directing credits for Trinity include The Merchant of Venice, His Girl Friday, Camelot, Cabaret, The Odd Couple, The Secret Rapture, The Receptionist, A Christmas Carol, Memory House, Blithe Spirit, Cherry Orchard and the world premiere of Stephen Thorne's The Completely Fictional – Utterly True – Final Strange Tale of Edgar Allan Poe. His plays Paris by Night and The Dreams of Antigone premiered at Trinity Rep. His adaptation of Crime and Punishment (with Marilyn Campbell) is published by Dramatists Play Service. Curt's translations of Chekhov's plays are published by Ivan R. Dee, Chekhov: The Four Major Plays. The Dreams of Antigone is published by Broadway Play Publishing, which will publish Sparrow Grass after its 2012 premiere. Curt lives in Pawtucket with his partner, Nathan Watson.

Deborah Salem Smith (playwright, Love Alone) is Trinity's playwright-in-residence. Love Alone received an Edgerton Foundation New American Play Award and also was recognized with an Honorable Mention by the Jane Chambers Playwriting Award. Ms. Smith's plays Boots on the Ground and Some Things Are Private received their world premiere productions at Trinity. Her writing has been recognized by an Emerging American Artist Fulbright for playwriting in Dublin, Ireland; a National Mellon Fellowship in the Humanities; a Colby Fellowship; a Major Hopwood Award; and a MacDowell Fellowship.

George Brant's scripts, which include Elephant's Graveyard and Any Other Name, have been produced and developed by the Kennedy Center, Cleveland Play House, the Playwrights Foundation, among others. Brant's plays have been awarded the Keene Prize for Literature and the David Mark Cohen National Playwriting Award from the Kennedy Center, as well as fellowships from the Michener Center, the MacDowell Colony, the Djerassi Program and the Blue Mountain Center. He is published by Samuel French and Smith & Kraus.

Evening performances are Tuesdays through Sundays at 7:30 pm with selected Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday Matinees at 2pm. Unlike the run of a regular Trinity Repertory show run, these plays are performed in rotating repertory throughout the three month runs, allowing audiences to experience the three world premiere events at their pace! Theatergoers can even tackle all three in one weekend of innovative theater. For a complete, visual calendar of performances, please visit http://www.trinityrep.com/DownloadDocs/3by3_calendar.pdf

Trinity Rep will be continuing its tradition of offering Pay What You Can (PWYC) performances for the first preview of every play. Sparrow Grass will have its PWYC night on February 16 at 7:30pm; The Mourners' Bench has a PWYC night on March 7 at 7:30PM; Love Alone has its PWYC night on February 28 at 7:30pm. PWYC tickets go on sale at 6:30 pm, limit one per person. Additional discounted and rush tickets are also available, call box office for details. For information on group rates (parties of 10 or more) contact Group Sales at (401) 351-4242.

Talkbacks will be held after every performance of Sparrow Grass, The Mourners' Bench, and Love Alone. Audiences are invited to share their response to the play's production and themes for approximately twenty minutes. Visit www.trinityrep.com to view a full performance calendar.

Trinity Rep's 48th season is sponsored by NBC 10, with supporting sponsors Cox Media, Rhode Island Monthly and RISCA. Trinity Rep gratefully acknowledges the support of Mr. and Mrs. Henry D. Sharpe, Jr. and the Sharpe Family Foundation for their ongoing support of Trinity Rep's new play development process.