Curt Columbus Stepping Down as Trinity Rep’s Artistic Director
The longtime leader in Rhode Island’s theater community is preparing for his final season after twenty years.
Curt Columbus will leave Trinity Rep next year. (Photo by Marisa Lenardson)
A longtime fixture in Rhode Island’s theater scene is preparing to say goodbye.
Curt Columbus, the longtime artistic director at Providence’s Trinity Repertory Company, will step down from his role in fall 2026, according to an announcement from Trinity Rep. The theater is conducting a national search for his successor.
“This is not a decision I take lightly, nor is it sudden,” Columbus says. “In 2015, I first put together a succession plan. But it is time for new adventures, for me and for Trinity Repertory Company. I firmly believe that every artistic endeavor needs renewal and revitalization. While I could stay at Trinity Rep forever, the health of the theater and its artistry depends upon this kind of change. In the meantime, I hope you will celebrate with me, the work we’ve done together, and what the future holds.”
Columbus was named artistic director in January 2006 and has served in the position for twenty seasons. He’s the second-longest serving artistic director in the theater’s sixty-two-year history, second only to Founding Artistic Director Adrian Hall. His time at Trinity Rep included seeing the theater through the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as kicking off a renovation process that began in 2017 and remains underway.
“All of Rhode Island owes a debt of gratitude to Curt for his commitment to community engagement, dedication to education, enthusiasm for the important work Trinity Rep does and inviting everyone around him to share in the pure joy of experiencing the theater’s great stage work,” says Board of Trustees Chair Kibbe Reilly. “I’m immensely grateful to him for his persistence and passion.”
Prior to his move to Rhode Island, Columbus worked for nearly two decades in the Chicago theater scene, where he was the associate artistic director of Steppenwolf Theater, director of the University of Chicago’s University Theater and an artistic associate at Victory Gardens Theater. Beginning in January 2006, he became the sixth artistic director at Trinity Rep, where he directed more than twenty-five productions. Columbus oversaw a period of artistic growth for the theater that included productions of both new and nationally known works as well as local stories. Under his leadership, the theater has prioritized producing at least one new work each season, including 2012’s Social Creatures by Pulitzer Prize winner Jackie Sibblies Drury and 2019’s The Song of Summer by Lauren Yee. Locally authored shows have included 2023’s La Broa’ (Broad Street), inspired by oral histories collected by Rhode Island Latino Arts Executive Director Marta Martínez, and 2019’s The Prince of Providence, based on the book by former Providence Journal reporter Mike Stanton.
Columbus also premiered several of his own plays during his time at the theater, including Paris by Night, The Dreams of Antigone and Sparrow Grass. The theater also produced his translations of Chekhov’s Cherry Orchard and Ivanov, Feydeau’s A Flea in Her Ear and Lope de Vega’s Like Sheep to Water (Fuente Ovejuna). According to an announcement from the theater, he played a key role in expanding Trinity Rep’s commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion, anti-racism, education and community engagement.
“Curt’s visionary leadership has shaped Trinity Rep’s artistic legacy for nearly two decades, bringing bold storytelling to our stages while deeply connecting us to our community as the state theater of Rhode Island,” says Executive Director Katie Liberman. “I am proud and ever grateful to have had the chance to work by his side in partnership, and to call him a dear friend. As I celebrate his extraordinary contributions, and acknowledge my gratitude, I also look ahead with excitement to this moment of transformation. Trinity Rep is poised to build on our strong legacy of artistic excellence with a new chapter that continues to inspire, challenge, and connect with our audiences.”
The theater has hired Management Consultants for the Arts to lead the national search for Columbus’s successor. The agency is working alongside the theater’s artistic director search committee, which includes representatives from the resident artistic company, the board of trustees and staff.
Trinity Rep is launching its sixty-second season this September, including productions of Cold War Choir Practice, A Christmas Carol, The Roommate, The Winter’s Tale, Primary Trust, and Next to Normal. For more information, read Rhode Island Monthly‘s story or visit the theater’s website at www.trinityrep.com.
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