Brown/Trinity Rep to Stage SIDE SHOW

The Brown/Trinity Rep MFA Programs present Bill Russell and Henry Krieger's Side Show directed by Ashley Teague '17 beginning May 5, 2016.

Lurking in the darkest corner of the 1930's entertainment industry is the freak show where conjoined twins Violet and Daisy are stars. When an enterprising showman plucks them out of the only home they have ever known--the cruel, voyeuristic world of the side show--and transforms them into vaudeville stars, the twins' deepest desires for love, individual identity, and a place where they truly belong come to a head. Based on the real lives of Violet and Daisy Hilton, Side Show is a haunting, raucous musical that speaks to the freak in all of us.

Director Ashley Teague finds special relevance in Side Show during this election cycle, "Now is a time in our country where our political life has become a three ring circus and there are candidates who stand up and freakify whole groups of people," she says. The musical, "offers a chance for people to hear the story of Daisy and Violet and the hardships they experienced, while creating space to reflect on how we see 'freaks' in our own world."

Ashley Teague strives to create theater that uplifts the issues of our time and celebrates the human spirit. Her work connects with its community in a deeply personal way and endeavors to push the boundaries of what that connection can do. As a staff member at Cornerstone Theater, she developed and produced their Talk It Out series, which travels throughout California creating community-engaged theater aimed at changing public policy around issues of school pushout. Prior to that, she worked as a producer for theatrical, creative content on films such as Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, Tyler Perry's For Colored Girls, John Madden's The Debt, Paul Haggis' The Next Three Days, and Gus Van Sant's Promised Land. Recent directing credits include Romeo and Juliet (Brown/Trinity Rep), Bean (Hollywood Fringe Festival, Best of); Jesus Hopped the A Train (Lyric Theatre);, Willful (California State Capitol); Healthy Richmond (East Bay Center for the Performing Arts); Ajax (Theater of War Production); The Shadow Box Collective Studio: LA, The Book of Liz Bedlam Theater, Halfway Home Blank Theater and Parallel Lives Cabaret Theater.

Side Show runs May 5-15, 2015 at the Pell Chafee Performance Center, 87 Empire Street, Providence, RI. General admission is $12 with a discounted price of $8 for seniors and $6 for students. Tickets are on sale now at Trinity Rep's box office, by calling (401) 351-4242 or online at trinityrep.com.

Brown University/Trinity Rep MFA Programs provide a three-year professional training program for eighteen students under the auspices of an Ivy League University and Rhode Island's Tony Award-winning theater company. Brown University's Department of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies is internationally recognized for the quality of its faculty and instruction. Trinity Rep, with its deep tradition of resident artists, provides powerful artistic assets and creates a firm foundation for a new generation of theater artists.