Best Small Theater With Big Ambitions
Center Stage
Who says that you have to have ornate sets and opulent costumes to put on convincing and satisfying theater? CENTER STAGE recently brought audiences into a Monte Carlo casino by using their imaginations in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Artistic director Russ Maitland doesn't believe that a little black-box theater should concede big shows to the big guys. And he does believe that audiences who like comedies and musicals can also like serious dramas, like Doubt: A Parable, which he staged this season, along with the lighter The Fantasticks and It's a Wonderful Life. Next up? Violet, by Jeanine Tesori, with libretto by Brian Crawley (May 8-23). The 2003 Obie winner is about a disfigured young woman who takes a bus journey of healing. Cats it's not. | At the Courthouse Center for the Arts, 3481 Kingstown Road (Route 138), West Kingston | 401.782.1018 | courthousearts.org
