Brown/Trinity Rep to Present Timberlake Wertenbaker's OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD

The Brown/Trinity Rep MFA Programs continue their season with Our Country's Good, by Timberlake Wertenbaker, a captivating exploration of the purpose of art and the resilience of the human spirit. Our Country's Good, under the direction of Ashley Teague ('17), runs Feb. 23 - March 11, 2017. All performances take place at the Pell Chafee Performance Center, 87 Empire Street, Downtown Providence.

Our Country's Good is set in the first Australian penal colony, where a group of convicts mounts a play for their guards. The play rehearsals incite the convicts' struggle to reclaim their dignity in light of a homeland that has abandoned them.

"As a society, we find ourselves in a time where groups of people are marginalized and their civil liberties under attack. Our Country's Good speaks to these times of dehumanization and asks, 'How do we reclaim our voices?'" remarked director Ashley Teague. "Making theater is an act of identity and an act of activism. Theater mirrors our world and gives us a chance to look at ourselves and see where we want to go, something the characters in this play will experience as well as ourselves."

Ashley Teague strives to create theater that uplifts the issues of our time and celebrates the human spirit. Her work connects with its community in a deeply personal way and endeavors to push the boundaries of what that connection can do. As a staff member at Cornerstone Theater, she developed and produced their Talk It Out series, which traveled throughout California creating community-engaged theater aimed at changing public policy around issues of school pushout. Prior to that, she worked as a producer for theatrical, creative content on films such as Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, Tyler Perry's For Colored Girls, John Madden's The Debt, Paul Haggis' The Next Three Days, and Gus Van Sant's Promised Land. Recent directing credits include Romeo and Juliet (Brown/Trinity Rep), Bean (Hollywood Fringe Festival, Best of); Jesus Hopped the A Train (Lyric Theatre); Willful (California State Capitol); Healthy Richmond (East Bay Center for the Performing Arts); Ajax (Theater of War Production); The Shadow Box Collective Studio: LA, The Book of Liz Bedlam Theater, Halfway Home Blank Theater and Parallel Lives Cabaret Theater.

Brown/Trinity Rep MFA Class of 2017 Actors: Julia Atwood, Rachel Clausen, Sinan Eczacibasi, Alexis Green, Matt Ketai, Jake Loewenthal, Maggie Mason, Marina Morrissey, Laura Lyman Payne, David Samuel, Chris Stahl, Will Turner, Lucy Van Atta, Alec Weinberg and Brad Wilson.

Our Country's Good plays twelve performances between Feb. 23 - March 11, 2017 at the Pell Chafee Performance Center, 87 Empire Street, Providence, RI. General admission is $15 with a discounted price of $10 for seniors and $7 for students. Tickets are on sale now online at www.trinityrep.com, by calling (401) 351-4242 or at Trinity Rep's box office at 201 Washington Street, Providence, RI.

Since its founding in 1963, Trinity Repertory Company has been one of the most respected regional theaters in the country. Featuring one of the last long-standing resident acting companies in America, Trinity Rep presents a balance of world premiere, contemporary, and classic works for an estimated annual audience of 120,000.

Since 1973, Trinity Rep's home has been the Lederer Theater Center, a historic landmark built as the Majestic Theatre in 1917. With an annual budget of $7.4 million, the theater employs over 100 artistic and administrative staff and annually generates nearly $12 million in economic activity. In 1981, it won the Regional Theatre Tony Award, and in 2014 it was named the State Theater of Rhode Island.

The Brown University/Trinity Rep M.F.A. Programs combine in-depth classroom work and an ongoing relationship to a working professional theatre. 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 theatre training that is rigorous and technically demanding, without intellectual or creative limitations.

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