Trinity Theatre Company has been in San Diego since 2012, presenting arts education and mainstage productions. But it’s flown pretty much under the radar.
That, says founding artistic director Sean Boyd, is because he started the company when he was still in high school. Now, he’s paying his actors a stipend and is ready to increase his company’s visibility.
Judging by his most recent production of the very quirky, oddball 1999 dysfunctional-family comedy, “Fuddy Meers,” by David Lindsay-Abaire, he and his company are definitely worth a look-see.
Under Boyd’s direction, the cast of “Fuddy Meers” (a stroke victim’s mangling of ‘funhouse mirrors’), centered by the ebullient performance of Kandace Crystal as the amnesiac Claire, captured the wacky, off-the-wall sensibility of this play about family and memory — and violence (excellent fight choreography by Kellen Gold). A few lengthy blackouts, but a very committed ensemble who deftly mined the humor and the play’s dark absurdity.
Next up in their adult productions (they have a full slate of student productions as well), are two nutball comedies by the Reduced Shakespeare Company (Adam Long, Austin Tichenor, and Reed Martin), running back-to-back: “The Complete History of America (Abridged)” and “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged).” Boyd appears with his brother in the wacky, hilarious Shakespeare riff (he has previously performed at Cygnet Theatre and Scripps Ranch Theatre, among others).
The mission of Trinity Theatre is “to produce lesser-known productions that carry great societal value, in hopes of unifying friends, family and the community.”
A noble and lofty goal. May the theater make it so.
Trinity Theatre Company’s upcoming productions are:
- “The Complete History of America (Abridged)” runs from May 31 to June 9
- “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)” plays from June 14 to June 23
- Both are at the Tenth Avenue Theatre & Arts Center, 930 10th Avenue in downtown San Diego
Pat Launer, a member of the American Theatre Critics Association, is a long-time San Diego arts writer and an Emmy Award-winning theater critic. An archive of her previews and reviews can be found at patlauner.com.