Kevin Broccoli News

Epic Theatre Company's second pop-up show has arrived! The next show is this Today, December 16th at 8pm at Theater 82 in Cranston.

Epic Theatre Company's second pop-up show has arrived! The next show is this Friday, December 16th at 8pm at Theater 82 in Cranston.

James Franco and Me is an idea that could only have come from the brain of Kevin Broccoli.  Set in a hospital waiting room as the protagonist waits for his father to die, this play becomes a kind of meta commentary on life, celebrity, loss, failure and friendship.  Featuring 13 different actors as James Franco with each production completely unrehearsed, there's almost a sinister 'what if it all goes wrong' feeling that the audience has.  That also adds to the drama in a completely unexpected way, especially when the viewer gets completely wrapped up in the performances and then reminds herself that these two people, on this night, have never done this before, and it seems seamless.  One of the things that still gives me chills is the thought that when you're viewing a live production, the performers and the audience are sharing a moment that no one else will ever get to experience.  Broccoli has blown that up into 13 moments, and it's hard to not feel a little frustrated to have missed out on 12 of those.

Epic Theatre Company is beginning the new year with an ageless masterpiece-Tennessee Williams' "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof."  This story of a Southern family coming apart at the seams as they celebrate the birthday of their patriarch is one of the greatest family dramas of all time, and Epic's production will serve as the anchor to its fifth season when it arrives onstage in January 2017.

Epic Theatre is once again taking on a unique challenge with its November production-the World Premiere of "James Franco and Me" by Epic Artistic Director Kevin Broccoli.  The play will feature a different actor each night playing the role of James Franco opposite Broccoli playing…himself.  The two actors will meet each night for the first time onstage in front of an audience with no previous rehearsal or conversation about the show.  Anything could happen-and it probably will.

Epic Theatre Company is over-the-moon about its October production-the Rhode Island Premiere of Bootycandy by Robert O'Hara.

Epic Theatre Company is over-the-moon about its October production-the Rhode Island Premiere of Bootycandy by Robert O'Hara.

After a blockbuster summer, Epic Theatre Company is returning to Cranston for its fifth full season-beginning with the moving and powerful drama 'The Guys' by Anne Nelson, directed by Wendy Overly.

After a blockbuster summer, Epic Theatre Company is returning to Cranston for its fifth full season-beginning with the moving and powerful drama 'The Guys' by Anne Nelson, directed by Wendy Overly.

Epic Theatre is celebrating the summer with a sequel to one of its most successful shows.  After last August's "The Boys of St. Matthew's Present Tartuffe," the cast and crew are back, and this time they're taking on one of the most infamous stories of all time-Les Liaisones Dangereuses.

The first offering in Epic Theatre Company's Summer of Sex is a hilarious, unexpectedly touching and no holds barred original production called THE BEDROOM PLAYS.  This series of ten short works gets increasingly racy with each offering, and the members of the audience have the option to tag themselves out in between each, if they feel like they can't handle the next one.  Those that make it all the way through proudly get to share the social media hashtag #10for10.  While some plays in this collection are stronger than others, as a whole it deserves praise for taking chances, equal opportunity nudity and an incredibly brave and talented cast who make every joke shine.

In keeping with Artistic Director Ed Shea's avowed goal of staging less cynical plays, 2nd Story Theatre in Warren is offering the stage version of the 1971 cult film classic HAROLD AND MAUDE by Colin Higgins, who wrote both the screenplay and this stage version, If you have never seen the film version, which starred Ruth Gordon and Bud Cort, you should get yourself over to Warren; if you have seen the film, you might want to go by a ticket to see what director Kevin Broccoli hath wrought. This production features some fine performances, a couple of almost magical special effects, and a story that is so dated it's current again. As Maude, charmingly played by Isabel O'Donnell, explains to Evan Kinnane's Harold in the second act, 'A cliche today is a profound truth tomorrow, and vice versa.' Somebody say, 'Amen.'

?Epic Theatre is celebrating sunny days and summer nights with the wildest show it's ever put on-Twenty-eight actors, ten directors, and one playwright are coming together to bring you the biggest theatrical event of the summer.

KILL THE VIRGIN, the latest offering by playwright Kevin Broccoli and produced by Counter-Productions Theatre Company is a cheeky and self-aware look at the cliches in horror movies.  Thankfully, unlike the Scary Movie franchise, it manages to stay away from the gross-out humor and instead relies on quick wit and observation of the tropes that we've all seen in teen movies, and may be so accustomed to that they barely register anymore.  Excellent acting and the fine direction of Ted Clement bring this fun and twisted romp to life, and while it's still a bit clunky in parts, it's exciting, genuinely funny and awfully sexy.

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

Epic Theatre Company will present the World Premiere of "Total Strangers."  Inspired by Patricia Highsmith's masterpiece "Strangers on a Train," Kevin Broccoli has flipped the story of two random people who meet and get tangled up in a murder plot by switching genders and creating even more twists and turns than in the original novel and famous film.

Counter-Productions Theatre Company will present the world premiere of Kill The Virgin by Rhode Island playwright, Kevin Broccoli. This absurdist play explores the role of women as featured in one of the most popular modern film genres. Set in "Anytown, America," the play tells the story of Ali, a misfit teenager who suddenly becomes aware that she is actually a doomed character in a horror movie. 'I wanted to write a play about a girl who refuses to be a victim," says Broccoli, "even when the world around her has other plans."

One of the most masterful works of political satire comes alive onstage in Epic Theatre Company's "Animal Farm."  The story of a group of livestock overthrowing their oppressors only to end up resembling their human captors is being reimagined in a lean and mean new production.

Epic Theater Company has announced it's 2016 Summer Season.  In the spirit of its annual Summer Spectacular, we'll be presenting two shows that celebrate the hottest months of the year with 'The Summer of Sex.'

Acclaimed Rhode Island author Ann Hood will be participating in a special talkback after the April 1st performance of Epic Theatre Company's "An Italian Wife" being performed at the Contemporary Theatre Company.  She'll discuss what it's like seeing her book be adapted for the stage and the differences between the novel and the play.