THE GETAWAY DRIVER World Premiere Cast Set at Trinity Repertory Company

Trinity Repertory Company has announced that Resident Company Members Rebecca Gibel and Rachael Warren will star in the world premiere of The Getaway Driver. Written by Playwright-in-Residence Deborah Salem Smith and Resident Company Member Charlie Thurston, the new crime drama is inspired by the remarkable true story of Katherine Ann Power and Clare Schroeder.

Gibel, who previously played Sheila Cianci in 2019's biodrama The Prince of Providence, will portray Katherine, a former guerrilla anti-war activist who was the getaway driver in a deadly crime. Warren, who recently starred as Diana in the musical Next to Normal, will play Clare, the daughter of the police officer Power's accomplice killed.

Directed by outgoing Artistic Director Curt Columbus, The Getaway Driver runs Sept 3 – Oct. 4, 2026. A rolling world premiere, the production will open at Central Square Theater in Cambridge, MA in November 2026, followed by Northern Stage in White River Junction, VT in February 2027. Cast details of subsequent runs will be announced by each theater.

'Whenever we tell people what the play is about, their jaws drop,' Thurston said. 'They can't believe it's true. I can't wait for audiences to go on this ride.'

Single tickets for The Getaway Driver at Trinity Rep are now available online at TrinityRep.com/Getaway or by phone at (401) 351-4242. Alternatively, patrons can save up to 25% compared to single tickets, as season subscribers. Find more information on 2026/27 Season subscription packages at TrinityRep.com/Subscribe.

THE PLAY

In 1970, Katherine Ann Power, then a young anti-war activist, drove the getaway car for a robbery she hoped would change the world. Instead, it ended in tragedy and she disappeared, beginning the longest run of any woman on the FBI's Most Wanted List. More than 20 years later, she becomes ready to tell the truth. But as she seeks redemption, another voice emerges—Clare Schroder, the daughter of the person who was killed that day. Unfolding like a true crime thriller, this world premiere traces the long shadow of a single decision.

'Sometimes you hear a story that stays with you,' Salem Smith said of her real-life inspiration. 'You go on with your life, but you can't stop thinking about the people, because the story's both riveting and moving in the most unexpected ways.'

THE CREATIVE TEAM

Deborah Salem Smith is Trinity Rep's Playwright-in-Residence. Her plays include The Getaway Driver and Someone Will Remember Us (both co-written with Charlie Thurston), Anna K., Faithful Cheaters, Love Alone, Some Things Are Private, and Boots On The Ground (co-created with Laura Kepley). She has been awarded an Edgerton Foundation New American Play Award, an Emerging American Artist Fulbright, a National Mellon Fellowship, and a National Jane Chambers Playwriting Award Honorable Mention; she was also a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award in Drama and for the IRNE Award for Best New Play. Smith was a Huntington Theatre Playwriting Fellow, a MacDowell Colony Resident, and a recipient of the Bray Visiting Scholar/Creative Artist Fellowship. She has received many commissions, and developed plays at Fiasco Theater, Huntington Theatre Company, Trinity Rep, and Playmakers Repertory Company.

Charlie Thurston has written plays for Huntington Theatre Company, The Filigree Theatre, Wilbury Theatre Group, Local Theater Company, and Creede Repertory Theatre. A Trinity Rep Resident Artistic Company Member since 2013, his Trinity Rep performance highlights include The Prince of Providence, The Song of Summer, Ragtime, Othello, Beowulf: A Thousand Years of Baggage, and A Christmas Carol. Most recently, Charlie originated the role of 'Bill' in the play Liberation on Broadway, which won the Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. He has performed at New York Theatre Workshop, Roundabout Theatre, Yale Rep, La Jolla Playhouse, Philadelphia Theater Co., American Repertory Company, Goodspeed Musicals, and Cleveland Play House; as well as in film and television.

Curt Columbus was Trinity Rep's Artistic Director from 2006 through 2026. His directing credits for Trinity Rep include The Roommate, POTUS..., Becky Nurse of Salem, Sweeney Todd, Tiny Beautiful Things, Macbeth, Ragtime, Beowulf: A Thousand Years of Baggage, Middletown, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, The Merchant of Venice, His Girl Friday, Camelot, Cabaret, Blithe Spirit, A Christmas Carol, Cherry Orchard, and the world premieres of The Completely Fictional—Utterly True—Final Strange Tale of Edgar Allen Poe and Social Creatures. Trinity Rep has been home to the world premieres of three of his plays, Paris by Night, The Dreams of Antigone, and Sparrow Grass, and produced his translations of Chekhov's Cherry Orchard and Ivanov, as well as Feydeau's A Flea in Her Ear and Lope De Vega's Like Sheep to Water (Fuente Ovejuna). His adaptation of Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment (with Marilyn Campbell) has won awards and accolades around the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. His translation of Chekhov's Three Sisters, developed at the Arden Theatre in Philadelphia, is published by Dramatists Play Service, as is Sparrow Grass and his translations of Chekhov's Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Cherry Orchard, and Ivanov.

The production's creative team includes Scenic & Costume Designer An-lin Dauber, Lighting Designer Christina Watanabe, Sound Designers D.J. Potts and Kaileykielle Hoga, and Video Designer Peter Sasha Hurowitz.

CAST

Rebecca Gibel (Katherine) has been a Trinity Rep Resident Company Member since 2013. Performance highlights include Sheila Cianci in The Prince of Providence, Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors, Lizzy in Pride and Prejudice, Evelyn Nesbitt in Ragtime, Desdemona in Othello, Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Ado Annie in Oklahoma!, Anna in Ivanov, Guenevere in Camelot, and Cecily in The Importance of Being Earnest. She's been seen onstage at Shakespeare Theatre Company, Huntington Theater Company, Cleveland Play House, Arden Theatre Company, Actors Theatre of Louisville, ArtsEmerson, Intiman Theatre, Capital Rep, Fiasco Theater/McCarter Theatre, Fault Line Theatre, and The Feast. She was featured in the 2021 Academy Award Winner for Best Picture, CODA (SAG Award, Outstanding Ensemble). Rebecca's other film and television credits include Don't Look Up, Salem's Lot, How I Learned To Die (Visionary Award, Tribeca Film Festival), 'Bridge & Tunnel,' 'NOS4A2,' The Plot Against America, Spencer Confidential, 'Law & Order: SVU,' 'Blue Bloods,' 'Defending Jacob,' 'American Woman,' and 'Castle Rock.'

Rachael Warren (Clare) has been a Trinity Rep Resident Company Member since 2002. Select credits include Diana in Next to Normal, Hermione in The Winter's Tale, Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd, Suze in Fairview, the voice of Audrey II in Little Shop of Horrors, Darcy/Wickham in Pride & Prejudice, Mother in Ragtime, Grace in Into the Breeches!, Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Warrior One in Beowulf: A Thousand Years of Baggage, Tilly in Melancholy Play, Nancy in Oliver!, Sally in Cabaret, Betsy/Lindsey in Clybourne Park, Ophelia in Hamlet, Wendy in Peter Pan, Rebecca in The Long Christmas Ride Home, Sabina in The Skin of our Teeth, Lady Percy/Katherine in The Henriad, Mary in Dublin Carol, and her Trinity Rep debut as Eliza in My Fair Lady. She performed in national tours of the musicals Tommy, Chess, and Company, as well as onstage at The Gamm Theatre, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Wilbury Theatre Group, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, American Repertory Theater, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Cleveland Play House, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Hartford Stage, Goodspeed Opera, The Wallis Annenberg Center, and Virginia Stage.

SPECIAL EVENTS

Continuing Trinity Rep's tradition of offering affordable tickets for all, the theater will hold Pay What You Wish performances of The Getaway Driver on Thurs Sept 3 and Tues Sept 8 at 7:30 pm. Pay What You Wish tickets are limited to two per person. These tickets can be purchased advanced online or by phone beginning on Thurs Aug 13 at 12 pm, or the day of the performance at the theater while supplies last.

Returning this season are Neighborhood Nights, where Rhode Island residents can access a 20% discount on 6 pm Sunday evening performances, based on where they live. Providence County residents are eligible for a Neighborhood Night discount for every Sunday evening performance. The Neighborhood Night performances for Kent, Washington, and Bristol & Newport Counties are on Sept 13, 20, and 27, respectively. Guests may claim this discount by entering their county name in all capital letters at checkout (i.e., PROVIDENCE).

The Sensory Friendly performance of The Getaway Driver, designed to meet the needs of guests with sensitivities to light and sound, will be held on Wed Sept 23 at 7:30 pm. All performances Sept 30 – Oct 4 are open captioned. To learn more, visit TrinityRep.com/Accessibility.

Trinity Rep's 2026/27 Season is sponsored by the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (RISCA) with supporting sponsorship by the Providence Tourism Council. Southwest Airlines is the official airline of Trinity Rep.

ABOUT Trinity Repertory Company

Founded in 1963, Trinity Repertory Company is one of the nation's leading regional theaters, recognized for artistic excellence, innovation, and its long-standing resident company of artists. The recipient of the 1981 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theater, Trinity Rep has built a national and international reputation for bold, engaging work.

Rhode Island's official State Theater since 2014, Trinity Rep serves as a cultural anchor for its community. Guided by its mission to 'reinvent the public square,' the company creates theater that stimulates, educates, and sparks dialogue, presenting a dynamic mix of classic, contemporary, and new works. Trinity Rep has produced more than 75 world premieres and is widely recognized for its distinctive, collaborative style of performance. Its annual production of A Christmas Carol has brought families together for nearly five decades and made memories for over two million audience members.

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