The Shift from Stage to Screen

The Shift fromStage

In early March, things were changing so quickly that plans that had been carefully laid out over many months were shifting hourly. A Tale of Two Cities was mid-way through its run, and the cast of Sweat was about ready to move from the rehearsal hall to the stage where the set was already built. The final show of the season, Sweeney Todd, was deep into the design and preparation stage, ready for the start of rehearsals in a few weeks. Adapting to the unexpected has long been a strength of Trinity Rep, but those days and weeks pushed us to new levels of quick thinking and rapid pivots. Over the course of two weeks, we went from business as usual to a few ticket exchanges and additional hand sanitizer, then, as state and local guidelines shifted and the scope of the pandemic became clearer, we proceeded with limited capacity before finally cancelling all remaining performances of the 2019-20 Season — 83 performances in all, plus dozens of related events, classes, and fundraising events. As the dust settled from this monumental shift, we took a moment to mourn the loss of the season, then formulated countless budget and schedule scenarios for an uncertain future, and, like so many of you, moved our meetings online and our workstations to our dining rooms, guest rooms, and other nooks and crannies in our own homes. While we all knew that the performing arts and arts education are significantly more impactful in person, we also knew that keeping our audiences, staff, and artists safe was our number one priority. Our education team shifted to spring online classes and developed an entirely new summer program, Summer Actors Studio (SAS) which was a huge success. Online fall

to

Screen

classes are in session now

for students in grades K-12 and adults. Our work with schools is reduced, but our relationship with Esek Hopkins Middle School continues, as do our TRAIN programs at Bradley Hospital, Seven Hills RI, Sargent Rehabilitation Center, and The Autism Project, which you can read more about on page 11. Our artistic and production teams and resident acting company members rallied and generated over 70 pieces of content — and still growing — for our The Show Goes On collection on our website (visit trinityrep.com/theshowgoeson to see it all.) Here is a sampling of what you can enjoy until we are able to meet again at the theater.

Your Half Hour Call with Curt Columbus and Guests

The centerpiece of our digital content is a Facebook Live show, Your Half Hour Call with Curt. This virtual talk-show is held on the first and third Thursdays of each month at 7:30 pm and is sponsored by Washington Trust. In each episode, Curt and guests consider a new topic showcasing a different aspect of theater-making at Trinity Rep. The series includes video clips from past performances and questions from the Facebook audience. The next morning the episode is posted on our website. Past guests include resident acting company members; actor and former artistic director Richard Jenkins; production director Laura Smith; playwrights Sarah Ruhl (The Clean House, Melancholy Play: a chamber musical), Lauren Yee (The Song of Summer), and George Brant (The Mourners’ Bench, Into the Breeches!, The Prince of Providence); and young actors participating in TRAIN (Trinity Rep Active Imagination Network). Above, Curt spoke with Marcel Mascaró (top right) about next summer’s production of Don Quixote for Teatro en El Verano, with Executive Director Tom Parrish about changes to the 2020-21 Season, and with resident actor Rebecca Gibel about this season’s production of A Christmas Carol Online.

Our resident acting company members generously shared with us a treasure trove of stories in blog posts and short videos that highlight behind-the-scenes tales. Learn about how Brian McEleney’s lack of sports skills followed him to the theater, Stephen Berenson’s up-close and personal interactions with barnyard animals on stage, Rachael Warren’s costume problem in Peter Pan, Stephen Thorne seeing “devil eyes”

PHOTO BY MARK TUREK

coming from the stage management booth, Angela Brazil getting stuck in traffic, Daniel Duque-Estrada avoiding laughter during Fade, Mia Ellis getting stuck in a dressing room, and Rebecca Gibel and Charlie Thurston reminiscing about Barefoot in the Park. The actors also gave beautiful readings of Shakespearean sonnets and other poems and stories.

New Access to Previous Productions

Not everything in our online collection was created anew. We were also able to make available existing content from our archives. We’re revisiting Trinity Rep Radio Theater, a WRNI (Rhode Island Public Radio) and Trinity Rep partnership from 2006 to 2009. Seventeen hour-long episodes are available featuring short stories, poems, and monologues performed by Trinity Rep acting company members. We’ve also posted links to clips from past shows like black odyssey, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Ragtime (above).