CURT COLUMBUS, artistic director of Trinity Repertory Co., is now the Arthur P. Solomon and Sally E. Lapides Artistic Director thanks to a multiyear donation by Solomon, co-founder, chairman and CEO of the DSF Group, and Lapides, president and CEO of Residential Properties Ltd. This is only the second time in the theater’s history that the position has been endowed.
What does the renaming of your position to the “Arthur P. Solomon and Sally E. Lapides Artistic Director” mean to you? It’s particularly important to me, in that Sally and Art are good friends of mine. I know their commitment to arts, activism and social justice, and their support brings all of those things to my position.
In what ways do Solomon and Lapides support the theater’s commitment to the community and the arts? They have long supported arts-education programs and have done work for things [such as] marriage equality and are involved in a lot of political campaigns. They have a broad-reaching interest in making R.I. a better place to live, and we share that. Art and Sally are very involved with us in our MFA programming with Brown University, and with our programs for school kids.
You’ve now been artistic director at Trinity for more than a decade. What has been your greatest accomplishment thus far at the theater? I’m really proud of the educational focus of our institution. I’m proud of our commitment to the resident-company model. And I’m proud of our connection to the broader Providence/Rhode Island community. We’re working to grow and be more reflective of the changing population in Rhode Island.
I feel that the era when our work and values could live separately has ended. I think that’s true for everyone in whatever business. Moving forward in the 21st century, our social values have to become our work as well. The ways we see ourselves as a safe and inclusive space have to be reflective of the art we make, the people who work here and the people in our audience.
What’s in store for the future at Trinity Rep? A continuation of the commitment to company, community and education. We’re the state theater of R.I., and as such have to maintain a commitment to local art for local audiences as our primary goal. That separates us from a lot of other places and theaters – we have to have the local art be first. We are local artists making local art for local audiences. Many theaters draw people in from other communities, with little to no connection to place or the long-term growth of community.
What’s been your favorite project to direct? My favorite is always the most recent thing we’re doing. I’m in love with our fall rep – to have our classic play “Death of a Salesman” in conversation with the brilliant new play “Skeleton Crew.” We currently have two plays happening on the same stage – no one else does that. You can see “Skeleton Crew” on a Wednesday afternoon and “Death of a Salesman” on Wednesday night. Our audience is getting the experiences of two completely different plays in one room, where they can see how space and actors transform, and hopefully have a conversation with both plays at the same time.
