Theater & Dance Announces Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 Productions

Linnea Mayo ’26

Arts & Entertainment Editor

With the semester back in full swing, the Trinity College Theater and Dance department has much in store and has officially announced its upcoming fall play, “Baltimore.” Directed by Godfrey Simmons and written by Kristen Greenidge, “Baltimore” follows Black residential advisor Shelby and the challenges she faces when a racially charged incident divides her dorm community. The audience will see her under increasing pressure from everyone around her to address the controversy and watch as Shelby must choose whether to confront the issue head-on or watch her community unravel. 

The play will explore the complexities of racism on college campuses with a mix of humor and intensity. It references crucial events such as the Black Lives Matter movement, and the deaths of Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Freddie Gray and Sandra Bland. “Baltimore” was first workshopped by the playwright, Greenidge, at the University of Maryland and coincided with a course on race for students involved in the play. Greenidge has since held workshops across college campuses and rewritten the play after each one. Despite its title, the play is not set in Baltimore. Instead, the title draws inspiration from Countee Cullen’s poem “The Incident,” which recounts how a racial slur shaped a young boy’s view of his hometown. Greenidge continues to keep a copy of the poem on her bedside table, actively reading and drawing inspiration from it while working on the play. “Baltimore” will premiere at the Austin Arts Center the weekend of Nov. 21 to Nov. 23.

The Theater and Dance department’s fall dance concert, entitled “Bodies Becoming: Three Evenings of Choreographic Research” will be completed across three separate performances: Sept. 26, when Associate Professor of Theater and Dance Rebecca Pappas will be choreographing; Oct. 24, when Sara Smith will be choreographing; and Dec. 5, featuring Brandon Couloute’s choreography. The entire process will be directed by Pappas, who aims to have “student dancers stretch their minds and bodies.”

The Theater and Dance department has also announced their spring theater production “Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play,” a black comedy written by Anne Washburn and directed by Michelle Ong-Hendrick. Presented with an arrangement with Concord Theatricals, “Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play,” will follow six apocalypse survivors across various time jumps as they attempt to recount the episode “Cape Feare” from the show “The Simpsons,” and other pieces of media. The storyline moves through 7 and 70 years into the future. “Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play” auditions will go out later this semester and the play will premiere April 9 through April 11 2025 at Garmany Hall and Goodwin Theater. 

Rather than a traditional spring dance concert, Associate Professor of Theater and Dance Peter Kyle will direct “New Performance Mix” that will be a “curated showcase of short plays and dances created, directed and performed by Trinity students.” This showcase will be performed on March 6 through March 8 in the Trinity Commons Performance Lab.