Nearly a year ago, Angela Brazil and Stephen Thorne, two members of Trinity Repertory Company’s resident acting company, met with me, the Community Engagement Coordinator, to talk about A Christmas Carol. Having acted in the show many times, they’d recently signed on to direct the 40th anniversary production, and wanted to use this Rhode Island tradition to amplify our institution’s commitment to community engagement.

They would invite non-profits doing work they admired; each group would select their own team of 7-10 performers of any age, gender, race, or ability; each group would have two rehearsals at their space before their performance at Trinity Rep

For the 18 groups who decided to participate, there was sacrifice that we, as the larger institution, needed to acknowledge and address, and so we got to work addressing them. We allocated small travel and food stipends from the Community Engagement budget; our development department offered trade they have with the parking garage; the education director stepped in as Assistant Director to help rehearse the community groups; we negotiated a limited number of comp tickets with the marketing department; and throughout the run, actors in the show self-organized to provide snacks for the community group's dressing room.

Read the full article on community engagement by Rebecca Noon at Americans for the Arts