Between modern takes on classic plays and exhibits centering Black and Indigenous voices, the Providence arts scene has a busy month ahead. The Herald has compiled a list of events bringing arts and culture to the heart of the Ocean State in the coming weeks.
Trinity Rep’s Annual Revival of “A Christmas Carol”
Every year, Providence theater company Trinity Repertory brings the Charles Dickens holiday classic “A Christmas Carol” to life. Its 46th annual production is running for the holiday season through Jan. 1 at Trinity Rep’s Chace Theatre. This year, the production was directed by Aileen McGroddy MFA’21 and stars several Brown/Trinity Rep MFA students.
“Soul Tapes” with Brown/Trinity Rep's MFA Programs
The Brown University/Trinity Repertory Company’s MFA Programs in Acting and Directing are presenting a “brand new” production, “Soul Tapes.” The play is directed and written by directing student JaMario Stills, adapted from "The Soul Tapes of Black Folk" by Will Johnson. It is “a celebration of Black being through the ages,” according to the company website.
The play is running through Nov. 20 at the Pell Chafee Performance Center.
“Les Misérables,” Providence Performing Arts Center
Providence Performing Arts Center’s production of the Tony-award winning musical “Les Misérables” is running from Nov. 15 to 20. Producer Cameron Mackintosh’s production of the classic has been widely acclaimed for its “brilliant staging,” among other things. The show is part of the Performing Arts Center’s “Encore Series.”
“Decoys and Effigies” by Jason Travers
Providence welcomes a new exhibit by artist Jason Travers, opening Nov. 17 and running through Dec. 9. The exhibit will be on display at the Chazan Gallery at the Wheeler School. Travers teaches drawing at Rhode Island College and art history at Anna Maria College. Through his paintings, Travers “seek(s) a deep visual connection rooted in Romantic impulses that began in 19th Century experience,” according to the gallery website.
“Perceptions of Organizational Change, through a Kaleidoscopic Lexicon of Color”
The John Nicholas Brown Center exhibit “Perceptions of Organizational Change” is on display in the Nightingale-Brown House until Dec. 22. It is a culmination of Rhode Island-based artist Deborah Spears Moorehead’s residency, responding to the Center for Public Humanities’ wallpaper, “Les Vues d’Amérique du Nord,” which has been criticized for its depiction of Black and Indigenous peoples. Spears Moorehead created four large panels that draw on her Seaconke, Pokanoket and Wampanoag ancestry to respond to the “inaccurate and false depictions of Indigenous people” in the 1835 French wallpaper, according to the event description.
Pembroke Hall’s “Hortense J. Spillers: A Life Recorded” Exhibit
The Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women is hosting a new exhibition, “Hortense J. Spillers: A Life Recorded,” displaying the personal and professional papers of renowned Black feminist Hortense J. Spillers. Her work focuses on the intersectionality of “race, gender, psychoanalysis, Black culture and sexuality in literature,” according to the Pembroke website. The documents include her personal diary and correspondence from Toni Morrison.
The exhibit will be on display weekdays through Dec. 21.
