Trinity Rep to Stage THE HUNCHBACK OF SEVILLE

Trinity Rep continues Season 52 Rebels, Renegades and Pioneers with Charise Castro Smith's dark comedy, The Hunchback of Seville, directed by Taibi Magar (A Christmas Carol 2014). Performances run February 4 through March 6, 2016. Tickets are on sale now and by phone at (401) 351-4242, online at www.trinityrep.com, or in person at the theater's box office at 201 Washington Street, Providence.

At the turn of the 16th century, Christopher Columbus has just returned from the new world with gold in his pockets and blood on his hands. Maxima Terriblé Segunda, the brilliant adopted sister of dying HRH Queen Isabella, is living out her life locked away in a tower... until it is decided that the future of the country is in her nerdy, reclusive hands. In a bitingly funny and madcap take on Spanish history and colonialism, Maxima weaves her way through mountains of prejudice, politics, religion and the horrors of history.

"The play unearths so many incredible questions about who owns our stories. History has been dominated by straight, white, wealthy men, and Charise's play wrests some of that power back. It populates the conversation with the lesser told parts of history: the stories of Moors, Native Americans, Tainos, people with disabilities, poor people and disenfranchised women," remarks director Taibi Magar of the script. "It is a joy to work on something so fresh, so funny and so timely."

The Hunchback of Seville features resident acting company members Phyllis Kay as Maxima Terriblé Segunda with Stephen Berenson, Janice Duclos, Anne Scurria, and Joe Wilson, Jr., with Omar Robinson and Brown/Trinity Rep actors Jesisca Ko and Nicole Villamil.

The design team includes Marsha Ginsberg (set design), Olivera Gajic (costume design), Dan Scully (lighting design), Peter Sasha Hurowitz (sound design), and stage manager Sara Sheets.

Director Taibi Magar is an Egyptian-American director based in New York, and is a recent graduate of the Brown/Trinity Rep MFA program. In 2014 she directed A Christmas Carol at Trinity Rep. In New York, Taibi has directed and developed work for TFANA, Women's Project Theatre, Rising Phoenix Rep, Faux Real Theatre Company and INTAR Theatre. She is a recipient of a Stephen Sondheim Fellowship, Oregon Shakespeare Festival Fellowship, Public Theater Shakespeare Fellowship, and TFANA Actors and Director Project Fellowship (with Cecily Berry and Andrew Wade) and is an alumni of Lincoln Center Directors Lab. Taibi has directed and developed work at Shakespeare & Company and Oregon Shakespeare Festival, as well as many academic institutions, including Fordham, Brown and NYU. She was a teaching fellow at Brown University and is an adjunct faculty member at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Taibi is a proud member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers union and is represented by Ross Weiner at ICM Partners.

Playwright Charise Castro Smith is a television writer and actor from Miami. Playwriting credits include: Feathers and Teeth, Goodman Theater, developed at Atlantic Theater Company and The New Group; Estrella Cruz [The Junkyard Queen], world premiere at Halcyon Theater, developed at Ars Nova; The Hunchback of Seville, Washington Ensemble Theater; Boomcracklefly, Miracle Theater; That High Lonesome Sound, Actors Theatre of Louisville; and Washeteria, Soho Rep. She is currently under commission by South Coast Rep. Select acting credits include Antony and Cleopatra, Royal Shakespeare Company/Public Theater; and The Good Wife, CBS. Charise is the recipient of a Van Lier Fellowship at New Dramatists. Alumna: Ars Nova's Playgroup. MFA: Yale School of Drama. BA: Brown University.

Events for The Hunchback of Seville

Trinity Rep invites the public to several free events in relation to the production. A youth panel will be held following the 2:00pm matinee performance on Sunday, February 7, featuring Trinity Rep's youth ambassadors discussing the show from their point of view. The staff and production team will host a Lunch & Learn on Friday, February 12 at 12:00pm in the Dowling Theater, where they reveal the theater magic that brings the show to life. Following the 2:00pm matinee performance on Saturday, February 20, in collaboration with Rhode Island Latino Arts the community is invited to Latino Voices/Voces Latinas at Trinity Rep, a moderated discussion by Boston-based artist and Emerson College Professor Christina Marin and members of RI Latino Arts.

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