September 19 – October 26 in the Dowling Theater

PROVIDENCE – Trinity Repertory Company opens their 45th season with the world premiere of Artistic Director Curt Columbus' new play, The Dreams of Antigone (formerly titled Antigone Anew).  Directed by Brian McEleney, the show opens in previews September 19 and runs through October 26 in Trinity Rep's intimate Dowling Theater.  Tickets are on sale now at the Trinity Rep box office, 201 Washington Street; by phone at (401) 351-4242; and online at www.trinityrep.com.

In the hands of artistic director Curt Columbus, one of the world’s oldest plays becomes a modern-day retelling of an ancient story of courage and faith which asks the question: Can one person change the world? Inspired by Sophocles' classic play and adapted by Curt Columbus and our resident acting company, The Dreams of Antigone reframes questions about personal and social responsibility through the lens of modern times.

When asked about the plot of the play, playwright Curt Columbus states, “It’s quite a story – Antigone is a young woman who confronts a political monolith and demands change. The king, the government, the authority, is forced to react. She’s a revolutionary figure.” He goes on to explain, “Our play doesn’t stop with one person’s stand, but shows us the whole family, the whole community, wrestling with difficult questions– it’s a much more democratic impulse than Sophocles imagined.”

Columbus describes his modern take on Sophocles’ Antigone as “Orwell’s 1984 meets Brazil, at Gosford Park.”  “We are keeping with Trinity Rep’s time-honored style of taking classic plays, shattering  the glass with a hammer, choosing the shards we like, putting a new frame around it and saying “now, look at this.” That’s what Adrian Hall did, Dick Jenkins, Brian McEleney – so much of the great work here has been done that way. We’re following in that tradition.”

Director Brian McEleney and playwright Columbus are continually re-imagining the world of the play by working closely with Trinity Rep resident acting company members Stephen Berenson, Angela Brazil, Janice Duclos, Mauro Hantman, Phyllis Kay, Barbara Meek, Anne Scurria, Fred Sullivan, Jr., Stephen Thorne, Rachael Warren, Joe Wilson, Jr. and Brown/Trinity Rep consortium actor Aaron Rossini (’09).

The play’s modern feel will be created by set designer Tristan Jeffers, resident costume designer William Lane, lighting designer John Ambrosone, and sound designer Peter Sasha Hurowitz.

Curt Columbus (playwright) joined Trinity Rep as artistic director in January 2006. He has directed his own translation of Cherry Orchard for Trinity, as well as productions of A Christmas Carol, Memory House and Blithe Spirit. Upcoming directing projects include The Receptionist and The Secret Rapture. Last season saw the premiere of Curt’s play with music, Paris by Night. Curt was the associate artistic director of Chicago’s famed Steppenwolf Theater Company from 2000-2005, where the world premieres of his translations of Cherry Orchard and Uncle Vanya were presented. Other Steppenwolf credits include translating Maria Arndt and directing The House of Lily, Division Street: America and Our Town. He was also the artistic director of Chicago Park District’s Theater on the Lake and an artistic associate at Victory Gardens Theater from 1990–2006. His adaptation of Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment (with Marilyn Campbell), which was first presented by Writers’ Theatre in Glencoe, Illinois, was awarded a Joseph Jefferson Award for best new adaptation and is published by Dramatists’ Play Service. Productions of Crime and Punishment have been seen across the country, including upcoming presentations in 2009 at Berkeley Rep, Indiana Rep, and the Cleveland Playhouse. Curt’s new translations of Anton Chekhov’s plays have been published by Ivan R. Dee, including a volume of translations called Chekhov: The Four Major Plays. From that collection, Seagull premiered at Writers’ Theatre in September 2004, and Three Sisters premiered at Strawdog Theatre in October 2005. Curt was honored with a 2005-2006 Joseph Jefferson Citation for New Adaptation for his translation of Three Sisters.

Director Brian McEleney has been a member of the resident acting company since 1983. At Trinity Rep he helmed last season's acclaimed All the King’s Men, along with past productions of Our Town, Hamlet, Stones in His Pockets, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Dinner with Friends, Master Class, Proof, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, and A Christmas Carol. He is head of the Brown/Trinity Rep Consortium’s Acting MFA program.

New this season is a unified curtain time of 7:30 PM for all evening performances. Regular performances start at 7:30 pm on Tuesday through Sundays with selected Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday Matinees at 2pm.

The first performance on September 19 at 7:30PM is Pay What You Can (PWYC). PWYC tickets go on sale at 6:30 pm, limit one per person.  Regular ticket prices for Trinity Rep’s 45th Season are $20-60. Trinity Rep continues to offer a limited number of $20 tickets on sale for each performance. For information on group rates (parties of 10 or more) contact Denise Giblin at (401) 453-9223. Discounted and rush tickets are also available, call box office for details.  

Talkbacks will be held after every performance of The Dreams of Antigone. Audiences are invited to share their response to the play’s production and themes for approximately twenty minutes. Visit their website at www.trinityrep.com to view a full performance calendar.

Trinity Rep’s 45th season is sponsored by NBC 10, with supporting sponsors Cox Media, Rhode Island Monthly, RIPTA, and RISCA.   

Trinity Repertory Company
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 nearly 160,000. In its 44-year history, the theater has presented 54 world premieres, mounted national and international tours, and, through its graduate-level theater arts conservatory, trained hundreds of new actors and directors. Project Discovery, Trinity Rep's pioneering educational outreach program launched in 1966, introduces over 20,000 Rhode Island and Massachusetts students a year to live theater. Trinity Rep's 45th season presents six subscription productions and an annual production of A Christmas Carol. The 2008-2009 Season includes The Dreams of Antigone by Curt Columbus, The Receptionist by Adam Bock, A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, The Secret Rapture by David Hare, The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde and Shapeshifter by Laura Schellhardt. For more information, call the box office at (401) 351-4242 or visit Trinity Rep's website at www.trinityrep.com.