Theatre Works

Greetings to all -

This coming Monday the Theatre Works BOD (Board of Directors) will meet to discuss the rest of our current season and possibly discuss which productions we’ll be putting up next season.

With 25 years under our belt it has become necessary for us to find more interesting ways to entertain our dedicated subscribers, as they’ve seen quite a few of our productions already, and simultaneously attract new audiences.

Our 2nd show of this season, Steve Martin’s adaptation of Carl Sternheim’s ‘The Underpants’, was a hit among our season subscribers and brought some new faces to our theater.

We have a lot of decisions to make at our meeting; Whether or not to bring back our Stage 2 productions, possibilities of dinner and a show, maybe even extending our seasons. It should be a very productive and enlightening process.

One thing about our theater group that has been puzzling us as of late is our exposure and involvement in the community. It is sometimes a bit of a shock when we talk about our theater to residents of the city of Woonsocket and they politely ask ‘how long have you been in town?’ and ‘are you at the Stadium?’

I speak for the Board when I say that in the future I hope we can be more actively involved in community events and you will see us around town for certain.

Regarding our decisions and season choices – We’d love to hear what you think about our shows and play selections. For those of you that are on our mailing list, you will hear from me directly, but for those of you that aren’t, please send your thoughts and comments about our theater to me at jsmith@twri.org.

I look forward to hearing from all of you.

Kind regards,

Joshua Smith
Visual Media Director

Hello, everybody!  My name is Ben and I play the part of Benjamin Cohen in Theatre Work’s production of The Underpants.  I’m pleased to report rehearsals are going very well and I’m very excited to see the show come together so quickly.

I can’t wait for you to meet the rest of the cast.  Each actor is putting a lot of time and attention into their roles.  With the script committed to memory, my attention is now focused on finding the little details, those ticks and quirks that makes Cohen tick and quirk.  To say Cohen is “awkward beyond the point of being socially crippled” is putting it mildly.  I am proud to say I am never the coolest cat at the party, but Cohen takes it quite a bit further.  In creating Cohen, I get revel in those embarrassing interpersonal moments we all try so hard to forget.  It’s more fun than I would have thought possible and I think it will add quite a few laughs to a script already chock full of comedy.

One of the biggest challenges for the cast right now is working in such tight quarters.  I’m a big fan of the Mason’s auditorium, but the stage is probably no bigger than half a tennis court.  Add furniture and props and suddenly it takes quite a bit of finesse for a cast of seven adults to appear graceful and un-cramped.  Find your child’s shoebox diorama of the first Thanksgiving and you’ll understand the scale I’m talking about.  Oh, and I’m 6’4”, so I count as two squaws and a Squanto.

This is my first show with TWRI and I couldn’t be more thrilled.  With Connie at the helm, the ensemble by my side, and a supportive community eager to support by any means necessary, I can say with confidence that Woonsocket is in for a treat.  Bring your friends and family and we will see you soon!

Cheers!
Ben

What a great opening weekend! We have kicked off the first show of our 26th season with great success! Thanks to all who made it possible and thank you to all of our patrons who came out to see The Odd Couple (Female Version) and make it such an amazing weekend.

Mark and and I (Josh) spent some time at the Theatre this weekend putting up the walls for our first show of the season; Neil Simon’s “The (Female) Odd Couple”.

One of the recurring challenges is utilizing the space that we have, or don’t have, on our stage. With limited wing space (as in 0%) we have to build our exits/entrances based on the two doors on the stage. If you are standing on stage and looking out over the audience the door to your left would exit into our dressing room and only ‘wing’ space. The stage right door leads off into the kitchen and to a space that can only be used as an exit and changing space if our actor isn’t required to make an entrance from stage left.

Mark has been building our sets for at least 10 years now and is always coming up with new and more efficient ways of putting up flats and creating unique sets.

We were able to acquire some very unique pieces for set decoration from our local Salvation Army. Check our flickr pool for some shots of the set as it’s going up during the next few weeks.

Mark and and I (Josh) spent some time at the Theatre this weekend putting up the walls for our first show of the season; Neil Simon’s “The (Female) Odd Couple”.

One of the recurring challenges is utilizing the space that we have, or don’t have, on our stage. With limited wing space (as in 0%) we have to build our exits/entrances based on the two doors on the stage. If you are standing on stage and looking out over the audience the door to your left would exit into our dressing room and only ‘wing’ space. The stage right door leads off into the kitchen and to a space that can only be used as an exit and changing space if our actor isn’t required to make an entrance from stage left.

Mark has been building our sets for at least 10 years now and is always coming up with new and more efficient ways of putting up flats and creating unique sets.

We were able to acquire some very unique pieces for set decoration from our local Salvation Army. Check our flickr pool for some shots of the set as it’s going up during the next few weeks.