{"id":110922,"date":"2026-09-23T19:32:36","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T19:32:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/?p=110922"},"modified":"2026-09-23T19:32:37","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T19:32:37","slug":"uri-theatres-season-lineup-includes-long-awaited-return-of-cabaret-proof-charlottes-web","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2026\/09\/uri-theatres-season-lineup-includes-long-awaited-return-of-cabaret-proof-charlottes-web\/","title":{"rendered":"URI Theatre\u2019s season lineup includes long-awaited return of \u2018Cabaret,\u2019 \u2018Proof,\u2019 \u2018Charlotte\u2019s Web\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Sept. 23, 2026 \u2013 This season, the University of Rhode Island\u2019s Theatre Department<\/a> will take audiences on a journey through the trials and tribulations of a brilliant mathematician\u2019s family, a nightclub in 1930s Berlin, the French Revolution, and an enchantingly unique friendship between a young pig and a spider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All the while, student actors, designers, directors and stage managers will bring their creativity to the URI Fine Arts Center\u2019s various stages to both delight the public and also develop the necessary skills to thrive in the performing arts realm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cProof\u201d and \u201cCabaret,\u201d will premiere in the J Studio and Robert E. Will Theatre, respectively, this fall at the Fine Arts Center, 150 Upper College Road, on the Kingston Campus<\/strong>. In the spring, \u201cThe Revolutionists\u201d and \u201cCharlotte\u2019s Web\u201d will be staged under the bright stage lights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The season commences Oct. 16<\/strong> with \u201cProof\u201d by David Auburn, directed by URI alum and Providence College professor of theatre Jimmy Calitri \u201901\u2014with URI theatre student Princess Johnson serving as student assistant director. Calitri returns to URI to lead \u201cProof\u201d after previously directing \u201cGuys and Dolls\u201d and \u201cLittle Shop of Horrors\u201d on campus a few years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning play centers around Catherine, the daughter of a recently deceased, brilliant yet mentally ill mathematician, Robert, and a complicated family dynamic about handling grief. \u201cProof\u201d explores themes of loss, love, legacy, and the elusive nature of truth\u2014blending science with human emotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis play will most importantly shed light on mental illness and our responsibility toward anyone with any such illness. It\u2019s about understanding dementia and the decision to be responsible for that person with it,\u201d Calitri said. \u201cAlso, this play is about how we process grief. The goal is for the audience and actors alike to identify with the characters and to either have it be therapeutic for them if they experienced similar situations or to understand it if they never previously experienced it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Invoking history and thought<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The season also includes a student-led full-length production of Adam Bock\u2019s dark comedy \u201cThe Receptionist,\u201d Nov. 12-14 at 7:30 p.m., and Nov. 15 at 2 p.m.<\/strong> at J Studio. Directed by Jay Harkness\u2014a senior from North Carolina, majoring in theater\u2014\u201cThe Receptionist\u201d centers around a cheerful office receptionist whose daily routine is upended by an unsettling visitor from the central office. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harkness, a first-time director, says \u201cThe Receptionist\u201d is a \u201cwhiplash play,\u201d where it begins a certain way and then changes direction leading the audience to begin questioning what everything previous was about. He is looking forward to the challenge of leading the production from start to finish. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith where I\u2019m at in my academic career, directing a play will be a true test for me to achieve my goal of working in theater,\u201d Harkness said. \u201cI am also a firm believer that theater is both meant to be entertaining and make people think about things that they normally don\u2019t think about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, beginning Dec. 4<\/strong>, John Kander, Fred Ebb and Joe Masteroff\u2019s landmark play \u201cCabaret\u201d\u2014originally performed on Broadway in 1966\u2014will perform live at URI for the first time since 1992. URI Professor of Costume Design David Howard<\/a> will direct the 1998 revival version of \u201cCabaret\u201d by Sam Mendes. Howard describes this version as a \u201cvery aggressive adaptation\u201d of the Broadway classic. Parker Frenze, a senior majoring in theatre, will serve as the student assistant director.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dance-driven musical is set in 1930s Berlin in the shadow of the Nazi\u2019s rise to power, focusing on the Kit Kat Club and the lives of American writer Cliff Bradshaw and English performer Sally Bowles. Howard says \u201cCabaret\u201d will be an opportunity for URI to educate the audience both about how life was during Nazi Germany and ask a simple, yet difficult question of what they would do in a similar situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDoing a play like this on a university campus affords us the opportunity to do deep-diving into the world of these young people for those who never truly experienced \u2018Cabaret\u2019 before,\u201d Howard said. \u201cWe are thrilled to bring back an iconic Broadway standard to once again delight the URI community and beyond.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Feb. 26<\/strong>, URI Associate Teaching Professor of Voice\/Movement and Acting Tracy Miller<\/a> and student assistant director Sonia Thomas, a junior majoring in theater, will explore themes of feminism, activism, violence and legacy\u2014all while leading to the guillotine\u2014with Lauren Gunderson\u2019s \u201cThe Revolutionists.\u201d Using contemporary language, the comedic play centers around four real women during the French Revolution\u2019s Reign of Terror: playwright Olympe de Gouges, assassin Charlotte Corday, former queen Marie Antoinette, and Haitian rebel Marianne Angelle, who meet in a Parisian prison cell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miller says this production will also highlight the power of the written word. Additionally, history is not always told through the female lens, thus bringing \u201cThe Revolutionists\u201d to the J Studio stage is all the more important, she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTelling this story through the female perspective gives us a broader picture of what it was like during the French Revolution and what it meant. The stakes are different for these lead characters,\u201d Miller said. \u201cWhen we\u2019re considering women who at the time had less rights, their risk and stakes are much higher.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m really excited to help portray a story that has audiences thinking deeper about what women and women activists went through during the French Revolution,\u201d said Thomas, who helped Miller lead URI\u2019s production of \u201cA Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream<\/a>\u201d last year. \u201cPlus, assisting in directing the play helps me build experience and knowledge of different directing styles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCharlotte\u2019s Web,\u201d based on the classic E.B. White children\u2019s book that was adapted by Joseph Robinette\u2014directed by Associate Professor of Acting and Directing Rachel Walshe<\/a>\u2014will close URI Theatre\u2019s 2026-27 season beginning April 23<\/strong>. Robinette\u2019s adaptation brings to life on stage the story of Wilbur the pig and his spider friend, Charlotte, to showcase the power of friendship that will enchant audiences throughout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCharlotte\u2019s Web\u201d also touches on a topic that Walshe says is powerful for young people: death, and how one lives their life\u2014and how they impact others\u2014in a short period. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a beautiful story where we further understand that we all have an expiration date in life. But, living a life with purpose in the time we have has a powerful effect on others,\u201d Walshe said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2026-27 SEASON<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cProof\u201d by David Auburn<\/strong>
Oct. 16-17 and 21-24, 2026, at 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 18 and 25, at 2 p.m.
J Studio, URI Fine Arts Center<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Receptionists\u201d by Adam Bock (student-led production)<\/strong>
Nov. 12-14, at 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 15, at 2 p.m.
J Studio, URI Fine Arts Center<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCabaret\u201d by Joe Masteroff, John Kander and Fred Ebb<\/strong>
Dec. 4-5 and 9-12, at 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 6 and 13, at 2 p.m.
Robert E. Will Theatre, URI Fine Arts Center<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Revolutionists\u201d by Lauren Gunderson<\/strong>
Feb. 26-27 and March 3-6, 2027, at 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 28 and March 7, at 2 p.m.J Studio, URI Fine Arts Center<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCharlotte\u2019s Web\u201d by E.B. White and Joseph Robinette<\/strong>
April 23-24 and 30, and May 1, at 7 p.m.
April 24-25 and May 1-2, at 2 p.m.
Robert E. Will Theatre, URI Fine Arts Center

Tickets are available now by visiting URI Theatre\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Sept. 23, 2026 \u2013 This season, the University of Rhode Island\u2019s Theatre Department will take audiences on a journey through the trials and tribulations of a brilliant mathematician\u2019s family, a nightclub in 1930s Berlin, the French Revolution, and an enchantingly unique friendship between a young pig and a spider. All the while, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":110924,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[12,1913,1912],"class_list":["post-110922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","tag-college-of-arts-and-sciences","tag-public-engagement","tag-special-events"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110922"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110922\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110925,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110922\/revisions\/110925"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}