The Jamestown Arts Center welcomes the Brown/Trinity Rep MFA program for two avant-garde Shakespearean performances, The Taming of Hamlet on Saturday, April 29 at 7 pm and Imogen on Sunday, April 30 at 7 pm.
The two Brown/Trinity Rep MFA productions revisit and reimagine Shakespearean texts. The performances are created, acted, directed, and produced by Brown University’s Department of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies in conjunction with Providence’s Trinity Repertory Company.
“The Brown/Trinity Rep performances have historically been a big crowd favorite at the JAC,” shares Maureen Coleman, Jamestown Arts Center’s executive director. “We have partnered with the Brown/Trinity MFA program since the very early JAC days. The talent is incredible; we literally have front row seats to the talents of tomorrow’s groundbreaking theater artists.”
The Taming of Hamlet, Saturday, April 29 at 7pm
A melding of the oft-deleted induction from Taming of the Shrew and the text of Hamlet as clowning, this adaptation focuses on exploding the hazy line between comedy and tragedy, between dreams and reality, and between “madness” and “sanity.”
The audience finds themselves dropped into the story of Christopher Sly, a drunk braggart, and the Leading Player and his traveling troupe of trunk-based, mischievous actors. As a bit of a game and a bit of a challenge, the troupe plots to prop Christopher Sly up as a Lord and perform for him “a kind of history.” What follows is a mind-melding psychological breakdown of the playing space, the performances, and the Leading Player’s psyche.
Director Andrew Watring offers, “Drawing inspiration from dark comedies like American Psycho and Funny Games, this Hamlet seeks to play, to unnerve, and to achieve a world shift for the ages.”
Director: Andrew Watring
Cast:
Katsuto Sakogashira Christopher Sly / Polonius / Laertes
Austyn Williamson Leading Player / Hamlet
Sara States Bawdy Player / Gertrude / Hostess / Marcellus
Allison Jones Maverick Player / Claudius / Hamlet Sr. / First Clown / Messenger
Tay Bass Lover Player / Ophelia / Horatio
Imogen, Sunday, April 30 at 7pm
Labeled as a comedy, a romance, and a tragedy, Shakespeare’s Cymbeline is often noted as one of the most complex plots the bard ever wrote. What holds it all together, and the heart of play, is the story of Imogen; a brilliant, resilient, and deeply compassionate princess. Known as one of Shakespeare’s “perfect women,” she is often at the mercy of the men around her, her fate remaining in their desires. This adaptation seeks to solely explore Imogen’s arc within Cymbeline, challenging how her destiny is decided and who gets to make that decision.
Director Sharifa Yasmin offers, “Imogen is an epic journey of good and evil, love and loss, and a young princess’s transformation into the woman she’s forbidden to be.”
Director: Sharifa Yasmin
Cast:
Rosalyn Tavarez Imogen
Layan Elwazani Pisania / Lady Helen
Nicholas Byers Posthumus / Lord Aaron
Germainne Lebrón Iachimo / Lord Malcolm
David Bertoldi Cloten / King Cymbeline
Tickets in-advance are $15, JAC members/seniors/students $10. Tickets at the door are $18, JAC members/seniors/students $13.
At a Glance:
WHAT: Brown/Trinity Rep Shakespearean project performances
WHEN: The Taming of Hamlet – Saturday, April 29 at 7pm; Imogen – Sunday, April 30 at 7pm
WHERE: Jamestown Arts Center, 18 Valley Street, Jamestown
TICKETS: Tickets in-advance: $15, JAC members/seniors/students $10
Tickets at door: $18, JAC members/seniors/students $13
Brown/Trinity Rep:
The Brown University/Trinity Rep MFA programs combine in-depth classroom work and an ongoing relationship to a working professional theater. Brown University’s Department of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies is internationally recognized for the quality of its faculty and instruction. Trinity Rep, with its deep tradition of resident artists, provides powerful artistic assets and creates a firm foundation of real-world experience. Together, the two organizations have produced a model of theater training that is rigorous and technically demanding, without intellectual or creative limitations. Brown/Trinity Rep includes the MFA programs in Acting and Directing. Students in each of the disciplines have many opportunities to study and work with fellow students from other areas, including the MFA playwrights and the Ph.D. students in Brown’s Department of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies.
About the Jamestown Arts Center:
The Jamestown Arts Center is a multidisciplinary visual and performing arts space that hosts art exhibits, theater, dance and musical performances, film screenings, and educational programming, including artist talks and hands-on art classes for all ages. The JAC opened in 2010 in a former boat repair shop redesigned by award-winning architects Estes/Twombly. The JAC has won five of Rhode Island Monthly’s “Best of Rhode Island” awards, including the Editor’s Pick for Outdoor Art in 2021.
The Jamestown Arts Center is a leading arts and cultural hub for Rhode Island and beyond, where creativity, ideas, and innovation flourish. For more information visit: jamestownartcenter.org