Columbus hosted talk-backs debut with Hamlet
TALK- BACKS & FREE PLAY READING ENHANCE HAMLET AUDIENCE EXPERIENCE
Curt Columbus hosting talkbacks post show | Free I HATE HAMLET Reading
February 18 at 2PM
Beginning with Hamlet, Trinity Rep audiences are invited to join in twenty-minute discussions after each show. The talk-backs will be moderated by Curt Columbus, who became artistic director in January. Wide-ranging topics include the play and its context; political, social or literary themes; and elements of the production. The talk-backs are one of Curt Columbus’ first initiatives as artistic director. “The theater experience doesn’t end when the curtain comes down,” he says. “The theater is one of the few places where large groups of us can share an experience, and then share a conversation about it.”
In this model, a discussion leader (Columbus, for Hamlet) will introduce a topic and make sure that all can participate, that no one “takes over”. No one is more or less an expert than anyone else. Without the actors there, people can say whatever they like, even “this didn’t move me.” After audiences take part in a few of these talk-backs, over time, a larger conversation will take shape about theater and its role in our lives.
Columbus says “Hamlet is a play is so apt for our time – in a world of war and evil, both personal and institutional, our hero simply can’t do anything. Many of us feel pulled by apathy and outrage….there’s so much to talk about, it’s the ideal play to create dialogue.”
Free I Hate Hamlet reading at Trinity Rep Feb 18th at 2PM
In conjunction with its production of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Trinity Rep offers a reading of I Hate Hamlet by Paul Rudnick on Saturday February 18, 2pm in the Chace Theater. A soap opera star has just landed the role of a lifetime – but can’t stand Shakespeare. A visit from the swashbuckling ghost of John Barrymore shows him the error of his ways. Directed by Laura Kepley, the play reading features Hamlet company members Timothy Crowe as Barrymore and Janice Duclos, Stephen Thorne, Cynthia Strickland, Rachael Warren and Fred Sullivan, Jr. Admission is free, but seating is limited and reservations are required. Trinity Rep subscribers receive preferred seating.
The reservation line is (401) 521-1100 x411.
