Trinity Rep to Celebrate 50 Years of Project Discovery with Fall Gala

Trinity Repertory Company is commemorating 50 years of the student matinee program, Project Discovery, with the Project Discovery Gala on Saturday, September 17, 2016, kicking off a year-long celebration of the education program.

All proceeds from the event will benefit K-12 education programs at Trinity Rep. The gala begins at 6pm with a catered reception, followed by a live auction, and a special performance of Trinity Rep's Beowulf: A Thousand Years of Baggage. Elizabeth Chace, Sally Lapides and Art Solomon will serve as the event's co-chairs.

The Honorary Committee includes U.S. Senator Jack Reed, U.S. Senator ShelDon Whitehouse, U.S. Representative David Cicilline, U.S. Representative Jim Langevin, Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza, Former Artistic Director Oskar Eustis & Laurie Eustis, Founding Artistic Director Adrian Hall, Jocelin Hamblett, Norman E. McCulloch, Jr. & Dorothy R. McCulloch and Lynne Randall.

Event Committee members include Paul Choquette, Martha Douglas-Osmundson, Dr. Joseph L. Dowling, Jr., P. William Hutchinson & Jeri A. McElroy, Doris J. Licht, Joe Madden, Suzanne & Ira Magaziner, Brooks & Paige Magratten, Heidi Keller Moon, John Palumbo, Kibbe & Tom Reilly, and Milly Romanzi.

"For 50 years, Project Discovery has introduced students across Rhode Island and southern New England to the magic of live theater," said Artistic Director Curt Columbus. "It is thrilling to celebrate this milestone anniversary for a program that has touched so many lives in our community. We're tremendously proud of Project Discovery and look forward to having students in the theater for the next 50 years."

Through reduced-rate school day performances of Trinity Rep's mainstage productions, Project Discovery has introduced well over 1.3 million students to the power of live theater. Project Discovery's educational outreach components include digital study guides, in-school workshops and residencies with Trinity Rep teaching artists and actors, along with professional development for teachers.

Tickets and sponsorships are available and individual tickets are on sale now. For more information, call (401) 453-9237 or visit www.trinityrep.com.

PROJECT DISCOVERY HISTORY
From its early years, Trinity Repertory Company has been known not only for its resident Acting Company and productions, but also for educational outreach.

Trinity Rep's first young audience of 30,000 high school students came in the 1965-1966 season for Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. After Providence's Trinity Square Players (the early Trinity Rep) won a national competition for a grant funded by the Office of Education and the National Endowment for the Arts, Trinity Rep began to offer three or four Project Discovery productions each year. In the first three years of Project Discovery, every high school student in Rhode Island came to see ten different productions. Over 90% of those students reported that it was their first time experiencing professional theater. Since then, Project Discovery has thrived and grown. In 1998, the one millionth Project Discovery student arrived and the numbers continue to grow. Support programs have developed to enhance the students' learning experience, including comprehensive standards-based study guides, classroom residencies, workshops, and post-performance discussions and analysis of the play with the actors and artistic team. The success of Project Discovery has led to replication at hundreds of theaters across the country. For a more in-depth history of the Project Discovery program, visit www.trinityrep.com.

Trinity Repertory Company
The State Theater of Rhode Island, Trinity Repertory Company is now in its 53rd season. 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 145,000. Since 1963, the theater has produced 66 world premieres, mounted national and international tours, and, through its MFA program, trained hundreds of new actors and directors.

Subscriptions for the 2016-2017 season Ghosts of the Past, Dreams of the Future are now on sale. The season includes Beowulf: A Thousand Years of Baggage, book and lyrics by Jason Craig and music by Dave Malloy, Appropriate by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, The Mountaintop by Katori Hall, Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, the world premiere of Faithful Cheaters by Deborah Salem Smith and Fuente Ovejuna (The Sheep's Well) by Lope De Vega Carpio. For more information and to purchase tickets, call the box office at (401) 351-4242 or visit Trinity Rep's website at www.trinityrep.com.

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