Dale AJ Rose, Interim Artistic Director of Connecticut Repertory and Director of Performance Studies for the Department of Dramatic Arts You may be surprised to see the picture on the left is not one of Gary English. It's a picture of Dale Rose, that's me, the Interim Artistic Director for CRT. After 15 years Gary has decided to step down from artistic and administrative duties to pursue more teaching and other professional interests. Gary will continue to direct for CRT and will remain a vital part of the artistic life of CRT and the Department of Dramatic Arts.
As you may know, CRT completed a wildly successful season that began with A Man for All Seasons and ended with Hair. We continued to grapple with complex issues of identity, family, honor and dignity while revealing solutions, as only the theatre can, through heart, intellect and humor.
We have another exceptional season ahead. All of the plays ask us to open our minds and hearts, to question accepted definitions of justice, science and state, identity, the cult in culture, tolerance and societal icons. We refer to our work as "Entertaining Ideas" because while these are serious subjects with penetrating ideas, these shows are also exciting and entertaining.
In the Main Stage Series, six individuals tell, in their own words, how the justice system failed them even as they become The Exonerated from death row. Brecht's Galileo asks us to question science as a social institution and its proper relationship to government. Through a series of hilarious mistaken identities, Comedy of Errors ask us to look beneath the surface to uncover our true human identity and The Who's Tommy questions the thin line between societal icons and cult fanaticism.
For the Studio Series we are offering two fresh contemporary plays. Abraham Lincoln's Big Gay Dance Party is a hilarious farce on the political and social face of tolerance while Too Much Memory is a uniquely American take on Sophocles' Antigone.
I am reminded how often Gary has referred to CRT as a communal experience between artist and audience and I would like to share the words of Konstantin Stanislavsky who invited his community to the theatre as: "...One large family where the audience and artist live together in closest harmony or are engaged in mortal quarrels. The theatre is a beloved member of the communal family; sometimes capricious, ill-tempered, ugly and at other times fascinating, tender, generous and beautiful. The theatre is our second home, it nourishes us, stimulates us and awakens us to our senses. The theatre is a source of heartaches and immeasurable joys. The theatre is air and wine, which we must all breathe in frequently and be intoxicated by it."
I invite you to share the air and wine of our 2009-2010 season and welcome your intoxication.
Dale Rose