Skip to main content Skip to footer site map

Adrian Hall, Trinity Repertory Company Founding Artistic Director, Passes Away at 95

Hall led Trinity Rep from its first production in 1964 through 1989.

Adrian Hall, Trinity Repertory Company Founding Artistic Director, Passes Away at 95

Adrian Hall, 95, the founding artistic director of Trinity Repertory Company died on February 4, 2023 at his home in Van, Texas. Hall led Trinity Rep from its first production in 1964 through 1989. For the final six years of his tenure at Trinity Rep, he also served as the artistic leader of the Dallas Theater Center in Texas. In 1989, he turned to freelance directing and teaching, which continued to keep him in active in the American theater for decades.

"Adrian Hall was a visionary artist, not only in the way he challenged the aesthetic limits of the stage, but also in the challenging subject matter he produced as artistic director," current artistic director Curt Columbus said. "With Adrian at the helm of Trinity from the late 1960s onward, the work onstage addressed topics that were rarely discussed in public forums at the time - the persecution of gays and lesbians, the legacy of slavery and its impact on how we deal with race in America, the limits of democracy and freedom, and so much more. His boundary-breaking vision for the theater as a public square is the greatest legacy that he left us, one that we will continue to carry forward."

In 1963, a group of Rhode Islanders, interested in forming a professional regional theater in Providence, recruited Adrian Hall, a New York-based director originally from Texas, to be the artistic leader of the nascent company. By the next year, the theater began performing at Trinity United Methodist Church, located on Broad Street in Providence.

During the two and a half decades under his leadership, Trinity Rep grew and thrived. In 1966, the company received substantial funding from the newly founded National Endowment for the Arts to fund the landmark Project Discovery program, which allowed high school students from all over the state to attend professional live theater for free. This brought a fair amount of attention to the theater, both in the state as well as nationally, and the funding from the NEA also helped to stabilize the theater's financial health. In 1968, Trinity Rep became the first American theater company to perform at the Edinburgh International Festival in Scotland.

Hall led the efforts to move the company into a larger space. The company purchased and renovated Emery's Majestic Theater on Washington Street in downtown Providence and in 1973, moved to its present home, the Lederer Theater Center. Later that decade, Hall laid the groundwork for Trinity Rep's commitment to actor and director training, starting the Trinity Rep Conservatory in 1977. This program would later evolve into the current Brown/Trinity Rep MFA program.

Trinity Rep's reputation continued to grow, culminating in the company receiving the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theater Company in 1981. During the next decade, the theater produced four television productions for PBS, toured India and Syria, and continued to show a strong commitment to the development of new works.

Adrian Hall's impact is still present at Trinity Rep. His annual production of A Christmas Carol has now been part of Rhode Island's holiday tradition for more than four decades. Hall's vision of creating a brand-new production each year with a new cast, director, and design team has led the company to consistently produce one of the most highly-attended productions of the show in the country. In addition, Hall developed the Trinity Rep aesthetic with longtime collaborator Eugene Lee, who remains the company's resident scenic designer. Their approach to design and direction remains an important part of Trinity Rep today and has led the audience to expect the unexpected from the company's designs, staging, and performances.

Trinity Repertory Company

Rhode Island's Tony Award-winning theater, Trinity Rep has created unparalleled professional theater for and with its community since its founding in 1963. Trinity Rep strives to facilitate human connection and has been a driving force behind the creativity that fuels and defines the region for more than 50 years.

Trinity Rep is committed to reinventing the public square and inspiring dialogue by creating emotionally stimulating live productions that range from classical to contemporary and innovative education programs for all ages and abilities. Its annual production of A Christmas Carol has brought families together for more than four decades and made memories for nearly two million audience members.

Trinity Rep's 2022-23 Season runs through June 2023, and includes productions of The Inheritance, A Christmas Carol, By the Queen, The Inferior Sex, and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. For more information, visit Trinity Rep's website at www.trinityrep.com.



THE CHILDREN Closes Gamm Season in April Photo
The Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre (The Gamm) closes its 2022-23 season with The Children, British playwright Lucy Kirkwood’s award-winning and Tony nominated play. A riveting eco-drama infused with dark humor, The Children runs from April 27 to May 14.

Review: WITCH provokes at Burbage Theater Co Photo
What did our critic think of WITCH at Burbage Theater Co? In the world of WITCH - written by rising playwright Jen Silverman - demons are self-proclaimed 'merchants of hope' for people whose desires and fears have been forged by capitalism and patriarchy. Scratch (Zach Gibb) - a 'junior salesman' who believes earnestly in the merit of his profession - has been roaming the dark corners of an historically indeterminate Edmonton, where he's been collecting souls in exchange for wishes. It's easy work until he meets Elizabeth (MJ Daly), the town outcast who leads him to reconsider the value of the souls he takes and the deals he makes in exchange for them. After all, what's a wish worth in a system that confines our imaginations within its walls? And wouldn't a soul outside these walls be more valuable - and dangerous - than anything we could conceive from within them?

Photos: Go Inside Rehearsals For INDECENT At Wilbury Theatre Group Photo
See rehearsal photos of Indecent at Wilbury Theatre Group!

Review: ELEMENTS at Newport Contemporary Ballet Photo
What did our critic think of ELEMENTS AT NEWPORT CONTEMPORARY BALLET at Newport Contemporary Ballet?


More Hot Stories For You


The Official RuPaul's Drag Race WERQ THE WORLD Tour Takes The Stage At PPAC, August 15The Official RuPaul's Drag Race WERQ THE WORLD Tour Takes The Stage At PPAC, August 15
March 27, 2023

RuPaul's Drag Race WERQ THE WORLD, the largest drag show on earth, takes the stage at the Providence Performing Arts Center (PPAC) in Providence, RI on Tuesday, August 15, 2023 at 8P. RuPaul's Drag Race WERQ THE WORLD is an 18+ show. 

Photos: Go Inside Rehearsals For INDECENT At Wilbury Theatre GroupPhotos: Go Inside Rehearsals For INDECENT At Wilbury Theatre Group
March 27, 2023

See rehearsal photos of Indecent at Wilbury Theatre Group!

Cotuit Center for the Arts to Present A PARTY AT THE CROSSROADS in AprilCotuit Center for the Arts to Present A PARTY AT THE CROSSROADS in April
March 26, 2023

'A PARTY at the CROSSROADS: A Post-Modernist's Cabaret' is a work of adult-oriented storytelling theater with original soul, blues and jazz music; written and performed by Mwalim (with a little help from his friends), directed by The ZYG 808. The show will be running at Cotuit Center for the Arts in the Vivian and Morton Sigel Black Box theater from April 7 - 23.

Emerson Theater Collaborative to Present PICKING UP STONES in AprilEmerson Theater Collaborative to Present PICKING UP STONES in April
March 26, 2023

Emerson Theater Collaborative will produce Picking Up Stones: An American Jew's Moral Dilemma, a play written by Sandra Laub on April 29, 2023 at the United Theatre in Westerly, RI.

Jim Jefferies Comes To The VETS In Providence This SummerJim Jefferies Comes To The VETS In Providence This Summer
March 23, 2023

Australian comedian Jim Jefferies (Legit, FX; The Jim Jefferies Show, Comedy Central) brings his world-wide Give 'Em What They Want Tour to The VETS in Providence August 26, 2023.