At the Trinity Rep Conservatory – now Brown/Trinity Rep – MFA candidates learn the technique of acting through voice, movement, dance and scene study. But the most important lesson students learn is that they are responsible for their own professional and artistic development. This is a lesson that the members of the Elemental Theatre Collective have taken to heart.
“When I first conceived of doing the play this way (with only six actors) it grew out of my experiences at Trinity – especially The Trinity Summer Shakespeare Project – a small cast of actors telling a great story in a dynamic fashion,” says Max Vogler ’00, who plays Salieri in the production. “Of course, the production has grown considerably since then, with live musicians to augment the storytelling, but the roots are still based in what we all learned at Trinity. Mounting the production in Providence with the Elementals seemed like a natural fit.”
Elemental was founded in 2004 by two Trinity graduates, Brian Platt ’02 and David Rabinow ’02, who stayed in Rhode Island while others made their way to New York or Los Angeles. After struggling to find consistently satisfying work in New England and missing the camaraderie and talent of their classmates, they decided to create Elemental. Their goal was to give themselves and their colleagues a place to develop theatrical projects that allowed them to challenge themselves artistically while striving to produce accessible and exciting theatre. And now, just down the street, these former Trinity students are making the most of their lessons learned in Elemental’s forthcoming co-production of Peter Shaffer’s masterpiece, Amadeus.
Director Alexander Platt ’02 and actor Max Vogler ’00 started developing this adaptation while they were both living in New York City. When Platt relocated to RI to serve as Elemental’s Artistic Director, he recruited Vogler to mount the project in Providence. Platt cast several fellow Trinity graduates – Tanya Anderson ’01, D’Arcy Dersham ’02 and Kelly Seigh ’02. Also joining the cast is Philippe Bowgen ‘12, a current student at Brown/Trinity Rep. Their former teacher, Kelli Wicke Davis, serves as Movement Consultant, and Dersham is a current faculty member, teaching Speech to the first year students. Bryan Kimmelman, who is playing the part of Mozart, says he is growing as an actor in response to the creative atmosphere in the room.
Elemental Theatre Collective, in association with Big Table Productions, will stage Peter Shaffer’s Tony Award winning play, Amadeus, this October and November. Directed by Elemental’s Artistic Director Alexander Platt, the play opens in previews October 29 and runs through November 22 at the Round Top Center at Beneficent Church in downtown Providence. Tickets are available by calling (800) 838-3006 or visiting www.brownpapertickets.com.
