Trinity Rep Announces Their 2012-2013 Season

Trinity Rep has announced that its 2012-2013 Season "will be studded throughout with explosive theatrical events that celebrate the notion of epics – fantastical tales that cut across generations, brought to life as only our resident Acting Company can." "Next season's plays will explore tales that are epic not only in their scale of time, but in their undertaking, their nod to the spectacular, and their fearless look at the uncomfortable and the taboo," stated Artistic Director Curt Columbus. "This season affords us the exhilarating chance to showcase our resident Acting Company's ability through once-in-a-lifetime theatrical events, world premieres, and more."

About the season: The season will open with Shakespeare's epic tragedy, King Lear, in a co-production with Dallas Theater Center (DTC). Directed by DTC Artistic Director Kevin Moriarty, who came up through the Trinity Rep Conservatory to then take the helm of the directing program at what was then the Brown/Trinity Rep Consortium, this powerful masterpiece shows us the havoc that loss and madness can wreak on one man's life, his family, and his kingdom. Resident Acting Company member Brian McEleney stars as Lear. In the winter of 2013, the company will travel to Dallas to remount the production on DTC's stage.

In November, Sarah Treem's (writer for HBO's In Treatment) The How and the Why will be presented in the intimate Dowling Theater. 

Back again after a sold-out run is the holiday classic – Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol – now available on sale to subscribers. A Christmas Carol will play from November 9 – December 29.

Artistic Director Curt Columbus and Marilyn Campbell's adaptation of Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment will provide the centerpiece of our Project Discovery educational program – from January through March.

April will usher in Social Creatures, a world premiere by Jackie Sibblies Drury – an edgy new playwright from the Brown MFA program in the tradition of the critically acclaimed likes of Sarah Ruhl and Adam Bock – was commissioned by Trinity Repertory Company to develop for its resident Acting Company. The end result is a strangely beautiful, beautifully strange "dramedy." A sidesplitting and truly terrifying look at what lies ahead for us at the end of the line, audiences have seen nothing like it before.

Closing the season from June to July is the New England premiere of a show-stopping, absolutely massive comedic undertaking – 16 actors will perform Alan Ayckbourn's House & Garden in tandem on two stages. Fans of 2010's smash hit Absurd Person Singular will be delighted to know that director Brian McEleney will helm these gems. While the actors race from House (in the Dowling Theater) to Garden (in the Chace), the lucky audience stays put, seeing each production one at a time, in either order, and enjoying Ayckbourn's wacky characters, gin-soaked truths and high-speed topsy-turvy story.

2012-2013 Season | September 2012 – July 2013

King Lear by William Shakespeare

Directed by Kevin Moriarty

A co-production with Dallas Theater Center
September - October

Our resident Acting Company joins forces with the acclaimed Dallas Theater Center for a co-production of Shakespeare's masterpiece. The aging King Lear decides to divide England between his three daughters. Driven by flattery, foolishness, ambition and greed, one generation betrays another. Lear loses his daughters, his power and perhaps his mind, and yet there is still hope: in the end, love endures. In the winter, Trinity Repertory Company's actors will venture to Dallas to remount this thrilling co-production. Resident Acting Company member Brian McEleney stars as Lear.

The How and the Why by Sarah Treem
November - December

This intimate production features two brilliant characters – one in her fifties, one her twenties – each with her own take on the controversial debate surrounding the theory of evolution. In this funny, gripping new play, a mentor and her protégé bond and spar over the personal and professional consequences of their own diametrically opposed theories. Fast and witty, inspiring and provocative, this wry gem from Sarah Treem (of HBO's In Treatment) is both engrossing and powerful.

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Adapted by Curt Columbus and Marilyn Campbell
Directed by Brian Mertes
January – March

Artistic Director Curt Columbus's adaptation of Crime and Punishment has been produced worldwide to boundless acclaim since its premiere in 2002. Now, the production touches down at Trinity Rep, which will spin Dostoyevsky's classic psychological novel into a ninety-minute, three-actor tour-de-force with a modern, poetic flair. Moving seamlessly between past and present, the play's tension – will a man get away with murder? Should he? – builds to an explosive climax.

Social Creatures by Jackie Sibblies Drury
Directed by Curt Columbus
April – May
A world premiere

April will usher in Social Creatures, a world premiere by Jackie Sibblies Drury – a remarkable new playwright from the Brown MFA program, whose work is in the tradition of critically acclaimed graduates like Sarah Ruhl and Adam Bock. The play was commissioned by Trinity Repertory Company for development by its resident Acting Company. The result is a strangely beautiful, beautifully strange "dramedy." A sidesplitting and truly terrifying look at what lies ahead for us at the end of the world, audiences have seen nothing like it before.

House & Garden by Alan Ayckbourn

Directed by Brian McEleney

June - July

Two interconnected plays performed simultaneously

From the author of Absurd Person Singular comes the theatrical event of the season: a pair of interlocking comedies that take place simultaneously, with one cast performing both shows in two different theaters at the same time. Teddy and Trish are hosting a big gArden Party for the town. Friends, family, a London writer, and a French movie star… what could go wrong? Fans of Ayckbourn will know the answer: Anything and everything. House or Garden alone would be an uproarious romp around the English countryside, but together they make a theater experience not to be missed. While the actors race from House (in the Dowling Theater) to Garden (in the Chace), the lucky audience stays put, seeing each production one at a time, in either order, and enjoying Ayckbourn's wacky characters, gin-soaked truths and high-speed topsy-turvy story.

Non-subscription Holiday Programming
November 9 – December 29

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, adapted by Adrian Hall and Richard Cumming
Trinity Rep's annual production of this holiday classic has completely sold out the past three years – be sure to buy early!

Dates, times and directors are subject to change.

Full season subscriptions for all six plays are now on sale by calling the box office at (401) 351-4242. Subscribing now also gives you immediate access to pre-sale tickets for A Christmas Carol. Subscribers receive tickets up to 30% off regular single ticket prices, with full season packages starting at just $150. Subscriber benefits also include free ticket exchanges, parking and dining discounts, and invitations to special backstage events. Flex Pass Subscriptions and special discounted packages are also available for seniors, military and students. The Trinity Rep box office is located at 201 Washington Street, Providence, RI, 02903, and can be reached by calling (401) 351-4242.

Trinity Repertory Company
Since its founding in 1963, Trinity Repertory Company has been one of the most respected regional theaters in the country. Featuring the last permanent resident Acting Company in America, Trinity Rep presents a balance of world premiere, contemporary, and classic works for an estimated annual audience of approximately 120,000. In its 47-year history, the theater has produced 58 world premieres, mounted national and international tours, and, through its MFA program, trained hundreds of new actors and directors. This season marks the 45th year of Project Discovery, Trinity Rep's pioneering educational outreach program. Last season, Trinity Rep's educational programs reached nearly 15,000 Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut students through matinees as well as in-school residencies and workshops. Brown University/Trinity Rep offers professional training for actors and directors in a three-year MFA program. The 2011-2012 Season continues with The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare; the world premieres of Sparrow Grass by Curt Columbus, Love Alone by Deborah Salem Smith, and The Mourners' Bench by George Brant and closes with Marc Camoletti's Boeing-Boeing, translated by Beverley Cross and Francis Evans. For more information or to subscribe, call the box office at (401) 351-4242 or visit Trinity Rep's website at www.trinityrep.com.

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