A very special production of Shakespeare en el Verano (Shakespeare in the Summer) presented by Rhode Island Latino Arts (RILA) and Trinity Repertory Company was held here at The Steel Yard, Sunday, July 16th. This year’s production premiered a new bilingual English-Spanish adaptation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The production also took place in Jenks Park, Central Falls, WaterFire and the South Providence Library.
The Steel Yard was so honored to host the performance as well as to announce the debut of the Custom Mobile Stage for Trinity Repertory Company, with all the bells and whistles including, get ready for it, CONFETTI CANNONS!
Over the past 6 months, through an NEA Artworks Grant, the Steel Yard’s Public Projects department has been working closely with Trinity Rep to design & fabricate a brand new mobile stage to replace their wagon. The project brought many design challenges but in the end, Tim Ferland, Public Projects Director, Jenny Sparks, Client Relations, James Lentz, Mark Desantis and the rest of the Public Projects Team produced a more portable, spacious, sturdy stage with wings that fold out with custom hinges. The stage provides more space for actors and includes 3 trap doors, staging boxes, a custom decorative skirt, and stair case! “This was a really exciting and fun project to work on and was a great partnership. We love tackling new challenges and creating new products. Trinity Rep was wonderful to work with and brought some amazing ideas to the table.” Said, Jenny Sparks. The stage is intended to be used for many more productions but will be debuted and performed on for the first time this weekend at the Yard!
Shakespeare en el Verano: Romeo & Juliet was presented by RILA & Trinity Repertory is co-directed by Tyler Dobrowsky, Associate Artistic Director, Trinity Rep & Marcel Mascaro. The production features members of the Providence community, Brown/Trinity Rep MFA Acting students with Trinity Rep’s Young Actor Summer Institute staff & faculty. The production is funded in part by the Centennial Grant from the Rhode Island Foundation.
The script, translated by Franklin Diaz and edited by Marcel, uses contemporary Spanish, which Marcel says makes it more accessible to Spanish speaking audiences. The production is written and designed to be entertaining for monolingual and bilingual speakers alike as they experience iconic scenes performed in both Spanish and English. Tyler, says “even monolingual speakers will be able to track the story through the physical life of the play.” The cross-cultural conversation this reinterpretation animates for the diverse collection of voices — audience members — our new Community Engagement Coordinator, Steve Velazquez, worked to converse with throughout the marketing for this event, and will continue to converse with as the Steel Yard begins to implement new approaches for expanding the Yard community.
To learn more about this amazing production, the impact that it has already had, consider reading this spectacular write up in Providence Monthly written by Megan Manning!
The Steel Yard’s campus is a platform for professional artists, makers and the community to practice and learn the industrial arts. We are a National Historic Registered property located deep in the heart of Providence’s ‘Industrial Valley.’ The Yard is an OUTDOOR venue, there are no indoor spaces available for events. please plan accordingly.