PROVIDENCE – In-person performances will return to Trinity Repertory Company’s stage in November.
The theater group announced Wednesday that five performances, including two new shows, will comprise the 2021-22 performance schedule as part of Trinity Rep’s 58th season. The group is returning to the stage after a year of primarily digital programming due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
However, five shows that were initially part of last year’s Trinity Rep schedule, including the revival of Trinity’s Rep’s most successful production, “The Prince of Providence”, will not be part of this year’s schedule.
Trinity Rep’s season will kick off with its annual signature “A Christmas Carol” production, which will run from Nov. 4, 2021, through Jan. 2, 2022. The production was held virtually last year due to the pandemic.
Two performances that were also canceled due to the pandemic – “Tiny Beautiful Things” (Jan. 13, 2022, through Feb. 13, 2022) and “Fairview” (May 19, 2022, through June 19, 2022) – will also return to the stage at Trinity Rep this upcoming season.
Trinity Rep also said returning to the stage also marks the reemergence of an organization fresh from a series of strategic changes from the past year. The theater group said it worked toward making structural changes that would result in a “stronger, more accessible and more equitable organization after hearing from We See You White American Theater – a collection of Black, Indigenous and people of color theater artists – and Trinity Rep’s own performers.
Two new performances will be part of the schedule for Trinity Rep this year. “August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean” will take place Feb. 24, 2022, through March 27, 2022.” Then “Sueno” will take the stage from April 7, 2022, through May 8, 2022.
“We’ve chosen a season of plays that will resonate deeply, that have great language and ideas, that show the depth of the human condition, and are all surprising, funny, and provocative,” Trinity Rep Artistic Director Curt Columbus said in a statement.
But, “Sweeney Todd,” “Sweat,” “The Diary of Anne Frank,” “Anna K” and “The Prince of Providence” – which was initially scheduled before the pandemic to be revived in June – will not return to the stage this season. Trinity Rep spokesperson Kate Brandt told Providence Business News Wednesday that were multiple factors, including budgetary, licensing and actor availability, that led to those shows not being part of the upcoming year’s performance lineup.
“Mostly they just weren’t the stories that we felt needed to be told in this upcoming year. The timing just wasn’t right,” Brandt said. “Some may appear in future seasons, but we’re not that far ahead in planning just yet.”
While the vaccination rates and COVID-19 case declines are proving optimistic, Trinity Rep said delaying the start of the new season until November seemed to be the “most prudent course,” especially since the theater group has multiple months in advance to produce, rehearse and perform live theater. Trinity Rep will also continuously update its safety plan before the start of the performances, it said, and such plan can be found on its website.
“Since the beginning of the pandemic, the health and safety of our artists, staff, students, audiences, and community have been of the utmost importance,” Trinity Rep Executive Director Tom Parrish said in a statement. “Patrons can rest assured that we will have protocols and systems in place that meet or exceed health and safety guidance when we resume performances.”
Ocean State Job Lot Charitable Foundation and the R.I. State Council on the Arts are Trinity Rep’s season sponsors. Tickets can be purchased by calling (401) 351-4242 or visiting Trinity Rep’s website.
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.
