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Boston Globe
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Richard and Sharon Jenkins, other familiar faces to return to Trinity Rep to direct in 2025-26 season
'Directors like Richard and Sharon Jenkins, Amanda Dehnert, and Ben Steinfeld have a long history with our company, but their work hasn't been on our stages for a while,' Columbus said in a Richard and Sharon Jenkins will be the creative minds behind 'A Christmas Carol,' when it returns for its 49th year this holiday season. Steinfeld will direct a production of 'The Winter's Tale,' by Related : The lineup, which includes several other productions 'promises to inspire, engage, and connect us all, while returning us to the roots of what makes Trinity Rep's brand of theater-making so uniquely captivating,' Executive Director Katie Liberman said in a press release announcing the forthcoming Get Globe Rhode Island Food Club A weekly newsletter about food and dining in Rhode Island, by Globe Rhode Island reporter Alexa Gagosz. Enter Email Sign Up 'Each story explores themes of connection, hope, and forgiveness, narratives that resonate deeply with the world we live in today,' Liberman said. Advertisement According to Trinity Rep, due to Related : Here is the schedule for the upcoming season: 'Cold War Choir Practice:' Written by recent Brown University graduate Ro Reddick and directed by 'Brown/Trinity Rep alumna' Aileen Wen McGroddy, 'Cold War Choir Practice' will have its world premiere when it takes the stage in Providence. 'A dark comedic thriller, the new play follows a Black family's unexpected foray into cults, espionage, the Cold War, and choir practice as they deal with family tensions,' the company says. The show runs Sept. 4 through Oct. 5. Advertisement 'A Christmas Carol:' Emmy Award-winner, Academy Award-nominee, and former Trinity Rep Artistic Director Richard Jenkins will co-direct the Charles Dickens classic this year, alongside acclaimed choreographer Sharon Jenkins. The show runs Nov. 6 through Dec. 31. 'The Roommate' and 'The Winter's Tale:' According to Trinity Rep, for the first quarter of 2026, a 'contemporary play and a classic work will run in a rotating repertory.' The first is 'The Roommate' by Jen Silverman. Directed by Columbus, the play is described as 'a one-act comedy about second acts in life.' The other is Shakespeare's 'The Winter's Tale,' directed by Steinfeld. The two productions run in 'Primary Trust:' Directed by resident company member Tatyana-Marie Carlo, this Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Eboni Booth is 'a hilarious, heartwarming story about an isolated man who finds connection outside his comfort zone,' according to Trinity Rep. The show runs from April 9 through May 10, 2026. 'Next to Normal:' With a book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey and music by Tom Kitt, the Tony Award-winning rock musical 'explores a suburban housewife's struggle with bipolar disorder, her loved ones' journey in learning to see each other for who they truly are, and discovering what it means to be family,' according to Trinity Rep, which said Dehnert, a former associate artistic director at Trinity, will return for the first time in over 20 years to direct. The show runs from May 28 through June 28, 2026. Advertisement Christopher Gavin can be reached at
Boston Globe
10-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
M. Night Shyamalan to film ‘supernatural romantic thriller' in R.I. this summer with Jake Gyllenhaal
'Night is a visionary who always attracts top-notch talent in front of and behind the camera,' Steven Feinberg, executive director of the state Film & Television Office, said in a statement. 'Rhode Island is a special location steeped in history, beauty and great mystery. With all of these amazing ingredients in the hands of a master filmmaker, we can expect M. Night Shyamalan and his outstanding team to tantalize our senses and make a movie we can all be proud of!' Get Globe Rhode Island Food Club A weekly newsletter about food and dining in Rhode Island, by Globe Rhode Island reporter Alexa Gagosz. Enter Email Sign Up Further details about the film have not yet been reported. But in announcing the partnership with Shyamalan Advertisement 'I'm teaming up with the brilliant Academy Award-nominated director M. Night Shyamalan to create a film adaptation that will blend the heartfelt, timeless romance you know and love with his signature touch of mystery and suspense,' Sparks said. In separate statements on Thursday, Rhode Island House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi and Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio touted the production is slated to bring jobs and help boost the state economy. Advertisement Rhode Island most recently served as a backdrop for 'Ella McCay,' a movie starring Emma Mackey, Woody Harrelson, and Jamie Lee Curtis 'With our unique landscape and talented local artists, Rhode Island is an ideal location to film a motion picture or television series,' Governor Dan McKee said in a statement on Thursday. 'Every time a production shoots here we see a positive impact on our local businesses. This is the type of energy that keeps moving our economy forward.' Christopher Gavin can be reached at
Boston Globe
01-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
‘Fat Ham' is a frivolous but fearless re-conception of ‘Hamlet'
Get Globe Rhode Island Food Club A weekly newsletter about food and dining in Rhode Island, by Globe Rhode Island reporter Alexa Gagosz. Enter Email Sign Up Given the play's long and varied history, the question 'to be, or not to be' comes to mind regarding playwright James Ijames' 'Fat Ham,' which made its off-Broadway debut at The Public Theatre in 2022 and transferred to Broadway in 2023. Does the world need another play that walks in the shadow of Shakespeare's masterwork? Advertisement The answer is no, particularly since the Broadway production of 'Fat Ham' lost in all five Tony categories for which it was nominated. Still, Wilbury Theatre Co.'s thoroughly enjoyable Rhode Island premiere of the play is a welcome indulgence. Advertisement 'Hamlet' is set in Denmark in the late Middle Ages and finds its melancholic lead character and his level-headed friend Horatio visited by the ghost of Hamlet's dead father, the King, who asks his son to exact revenge against his uncle. Claudius had murdered him in order to seize the throne and marry Hamlet's mother, Gertrude, which has led Hamlet to grapple with emotional trauma and a sense of betrayal that has him questioning his identity, responsibility, and life itself. 'Fat Ham' transfers this story to a contemporary time and place — a backyard barbecue in North Carolina (realistically rendered by scenic designer Shanel LaShay Smith, lighting designer Andy Russ, and costumer Jaimy A. Escobedo) — over the course of one eventful afternoon. Juicy (a remote but endearing Dana Reid) isn't a Danish prince. He's a Black, queer, and sensitive heir to the family barbecue and butcher business, one that he has turned his back on for an online degree in human resources. The party is a celebration of the nuptials between his Mom, Tedra (a dynamic Maria Albertina, who fully embraces Ijames' depiction of 'Hamlet's' Gertrude as a sex-starved vixen) and his Uncle Rev (Jermaine L. Pearson, a particularly caustic Claudius equivalent). In attendance are Juicy's Horatio-adjacent friend Tio (an engaging Jeff Ararat, whose exaggerated stoner antics often go too far to be funny), childhood friend Opal (a flat-out terrific Autumn Mist Jefferson, who serves up an intriguing take on the insecurities of 'Hamlet's' Ophelia), her brother, Larry (an appropriately stoic, Laertes-like Mamadou Toure), and their Bible-toting Mom, Rabby (a delightful Michelle L. Walker). The act of revenge is an opportunity for Juicy to prove to the men in his family that he isn't soft and he isn't weak. Advertisement One has to squint hard to find other 'Hamlet' connections in this play, for 'Fat Ham' has reduced the epic five acts to a 90 minute one-act, and it is a full-fledged comedy rather than a dark tragedy. Missing is Shakespeare's poeticism, though director Don Mays and his cast find the lyric rhythms in Ijames' writing. A few short direct address soliloquies pop up as well, as does the pilfering of some of Hamlet's best lines, but those moments are few, forced, and slow to develop. There are also moments that just don't work. The brief game of charades, for example, which replaces the performance of a traveling troupe of actors in 'Hamlet' that is intended to gauge Claudius's reaction and potentially expose his guilt, goes nowhere. There's a karaoke scene that is fun but frivolous. And the play's ending, which fizzles out, is disappointing as well. Still, one can't overlook the reason why 'Fat Ham' received the 2022 Pulitzer Prize and admire the work accordingly. The play is a fearless portrayal of a sensitive and self-aware main character — purposefully cast as Black and gay — who chooses to break a cycle of trauma and deny a legacy of brutality in service of his own liberation. Unlike Hamlet, Juicy chooses pleasure over pain. Amidst the laughs and missteps, Ijames crafts a tender story. And that story is well rendered in this intimate Wilbury Theatre staging. FAT HAM Book by James Ijames. Directed by Don Mays. At Wilbury Theatre Group, WaterFire Arts Center, 475 Valley St., Providence. Through April 13. Tickets are $5-$55. 401-400-7100, Advertisement Bob Abelman is an award-winning theater critic who formerly wrote for the Austin Chronicle. Connect with him
Boston Globe
25-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Burbage Theatre falls short in its staging of ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time'
Advertisement ' Get Globe Rhode Island Food Club A weekly newsletter about food and dining in Rhode Island, by Globe Rhode Island reporter Alexa Gagosz. Enter Email Sign Up The productions at London's West End in 2013 and on Broadway in 2015, as well as What is clear from the current Burbage Theatre Co. staging of this play, under Karen Carpenter's direction, is that productions, too, fall on a spectrum. Here, designers Trevor Elliott (set/projections) and Audrey Visscher (lighting) operate with just enough technological bells and whistles to keep things interesting and operating in the same theatrical spirit as the original productions. But rear projections on the two wall-sized screens that surround the small performance space, coupled with uninspiring illumination and an imbalanced soundtrack, keep this staging from feeling immersive. Having a tilted mirror suspended above the stage so that audience members in the rear of the house can see what's taking place on the edge of the stage floor further undermines all that is artsy and tech-savvy in the production. Advertisement Without all the dazzling production pyrotechnics, attention automatically gravitates to the performers and their contributions to this enterprise. Elijah Russell's portrayal of Christopher, who is rarely off stage during the production's two-hour run, is authentic and always interesting. And because the stagecraft doesn't quite hold up its end of getting the audience to understand the agony of Christopher's existence, Russell's casual but risk-taking performance certainly does. He carries the show and is a pleasure to watch. Christopher's special-education teacher, Siobhan — a thoroughly delightful Allison Crews — provides Christopher's inner voice throughout the show by reading his journal aloud. This turns what we see and know of the parents, the neighbors, and others into an extension of Christopher's autism, which limits the range and depth with which they can be depicted. The wonderful Michael Thibeault and Amie Lytle, as the parents, do what they can to flesh out their characters and add a semblance of pathos to their portrayals, but the script offers little to work with. Members of the ensemble (H. Avery, Paula Faber, Mireya Hoffens, Philip Iredale, Omar Laguerre-Lewis, and Teddy Lytle), who portray assorted neighbors, passersby, and the occasional household appliance — all the while delivering and removing props and furnishings — are similarly handcuffed. But instead of finding a common stylistic approach to their characters and their execution of Philip Iredale's mob movement choreography, their work is as inconsistent as their British accents. Advertisement Carpenter, as director, finds humor and tenderness in this work. Just not a way to better elevate the efforts of the actors and the artisans. THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME Play by Simon Stephens, based on the novel by Mark Haddon. directed by Karen Carpenter. At the Burbage Theatre Co., 59 Blackstone Ave., Pawtucket. Through April 13. Tickets are $30, including fees. 401-484-0355, Bob Abelman is an award-winning theater critic who formerly wrote for the Austin Chronicle. Connect with him .
Boston Globe
17-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Filmed in R.I., ‘Ella McCay' gets September release date, report says
Get Globe Rhode Island Food Club A weekly newsletter about food and dining in Rhode Island, by Globe Rhode Island reporter Alexa Gagosz. Enter Email Sign Up Related : Advertisement The film also stars Ayo Edebiri, Kumail Nanjiani, Jack Lowden, Rebecca Hall, and Albert Brooks. James L. Brooks, known for titles such as 'Broadcast News' and 'As Good as it Gets,' wrote the script, Variety reported. The movie was filmed around the Ocean State last winter. The Rhode Island Film & Television Office estimated at the time the production would result in hundreds of full-time and part-time jobs and millions of dollars for the state economy. 'What I need is for this film to represent America in sort of the best sense possible,' James L. Brooks said last year. 'We looked at a lot of places, and I'm so glad we are here. We feel it every day. Everybody who goes out and is in this city just appreciates the graciousness of it and how much we've been welcomed.' Actress Jamie Lee Curtis, left, actress Emma Mackey, and director James L. Brooks in Rhode Island last year. David L. Ryan/Globe Staff Speaking to reporters and state officials, Curtis praised the state for its film tax credit, a benefit of 30 percent of state-certified production costs that can be directly attributed to activity within the state. To receive the credit, films and television shows need to be shot primarily in Rhode Island and a minimum of $100,000 must be spent on the ground. 'We are here because there weren't a lot of opportunities around the country and particularly in California,' Curtis said last year. 'So for my friends in California, and California government: This is how you do it.' Advertisement Material from a previous Globe story was used in this report. Christopher Gavin can be reached at
