MORRIS NATHANSON, a Pawtucket-based artist and designer who was also a founding board member of Trinity Repertory Company, received a 2018 Rhode Island Pell Award for Excellence in the Arts from Trinity Rep at the theater group’s 22nd annual Awards Gala on May 21. The award is named after the late Claiborne Pell, a former U.S. senator from Rhode Island, to recognize artistic excellence. When Nathanson began his involvement with Trinity Rep, he was put in charge of the theater group’s relocation to the Emery’s Majestic Theater, Trinity Rep’s current home.
What made you want to get involved with Trinity Rep? I’ve always been extremely interested in theater. One of my dearest friends, Milton Stanzler, who actually came up with the idea with having this type of theater in Rhode Island, contacted me and asked me if I could be one of the founders of this group. I agreed and that’s actually how it started. It started at this little church on Trinity Square [Trinity Union Methodist Church].
What was it like to restore the theater? It was very exciting and a wonderful project to be involved with because it was bringing the first major professional theater group to Rhode Island. At that time, there was a strong feeling to create regional theater groups in the country. So, for people in areas [such as] Providence and Rhode Island, they wouldn’t have to rely on Broadway to see professional theater.
How has Trinity Rep grown since you first became a board member?The growth is like gardening. You plant a seed and then, if you take care of it, it can grow. Then that seed becomes a major plant or tree. When Adrian Hall became the director, what he realized was that he didn’t have a mature theater audience in Rhode Island. His idea was Trinity at that time had to create one. It had to be done from the ground up. What was so powerful about that was he reached out to the schools and young people, and eventually created an audience. The growth of Trinity was not only due to the great, wonderful directors and actors but also the fact that an audience had been created.
What advice would you give to an aspiring artist looking to make his or her mark on the world? My advice, whether being a designer or working in theater, is that you have to do it with a passion that allows you to overcome your early doubts and lack of a major salary. There are so many things to overcome, but you have to have enough passion to stay with it, to follow the things you really want to do. You have to find another day job that will help sustain you and allow you to move ahead and not give up your real dream.
