Rhode Island's Trinity Repertory Company shuffle their 2001-2002 lineup to add two productions with two well-knowns. Marion McClinton will direct Keith Glover's blues musical Thunder Knocking on the Door (Feb. 15-March 24) and Tony Kushner's Homebody/Kabul will make its New England premiere March 15 April 21. The previously announced world premiere of David Henry Hwang's Savage In Paradise has been delayed until next season.
Tony nominated director McClinton takes on the blues fable with music by Keb' Mo' that takes place at a crossroads in the American South. The play which has made the regional theatre rounds was set for an Off-Broadway run at the Minetta Lane Theatre last May but was canceled. McClinton, who helmed the Broadway production of King Hedley II, will try his hand at the work.
Tony Kushner's Homebody/Kabul will make its New York debut at New York Theatre Workshop in November. Following its run in NYC, audiences will get the chance to take in the work at Trinity Rep. Kushner's first work since Slavs and Angels in America deals with a British family's experiences in the Taliban controlled Afghanistan. The two-part play has been in the works for some time and has become timely in the wake of the recent tragedy involving the Middle Eastern nation. Despite the sensitive subject matter, neither Trinity Rep nor New York Theatre Workshop intends to cancel the show.
David Henry Hwang’s new play Savage in Paradise was set for a Feb. 8-March 17 run, but as artistic director Oskar Eustis states in a release, "David and I believe that his ambitious, multi-layered play will benefit from a few more months' development." The world premiere of the work about artist Paul Gauguin's time in Tahiti will be delayed until next season. Hwang is known for his M. Butterfly and Golden Child.
* The 38th season at Trinity Rep begins with Michael Frayn’s comedy Noises Off (Aug. 31-Oct. 7), followed by Donald Margulies’ Dinner with Friends (Sept. 21 Nov. 4). Trinity Rep continues with its 25th anniversary production of A Christmas Carol (Nov. 16-Dec. 28) and Marc Wolf performs his Another American: Asking and Telling (Jan. 4-Feb. 10, 2002). McClinton-helmed Thunder Knocking on the Door takes the place of David Henry Hwang’s new play Savage in Paradise and Kushner's Homebody/Kabul is the latest play added to the lineup (March 15-April 21, 2002). J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan then runs (April 26 June 9, 2002). Bookending the Trinity Rep season is Michael Frayn’s 2000 Tony winning play Copenhagen (May 17-June 30, 2002).
For more information, visit Trinity Rep’s website at www.trinityrep.com or call the box office at (401) 351-4242. — by Ernio Hernandez
