Dear Patron:

   As the first crocuses brave the world and herbs and vegetables begin their journey from the earth to our tables, I understand anew that theatre is like farming. Here at Perishable Theatre our growing season is year-round, but every single performance that we bring to the public begins with a seed.  Not only has Perishable spent the last 25 years cultivating performances, but we are dedicated to the locavore audience- we provide performances that are home-grown, developed and produced by people who live in our neighborhoods, shop in our markets, vote in our elections. 

      For example, look at Amy Lynn Budd’s new work, The Thing that Ate My Brain..Almost premiering at Perishable from April 24-May 10.  Amy has developed this show over three years within the Resident Artist at Perishable Theatre program, the sole aim of which is to incubate innovative performance work.  Amy started as Perishable Theatre’s office manager, then grew into an administrative role with the Perishable Theatre Arts School, introducing burlesque and puppetry classes to round out the already solid curriculum. Rather than move away to a city with more opportunity for a budding theatre artist, Amy elected to put down her roots in Providence, eventually marrying and settling here.  Now this performance is employing more than a dozen local artists and technicians to bring it to full bloom. 

      Amy is one in a long line of artists whose creative seeds have grown into leafy green performances thanks to Perishable’s programming.  The list of our prestigious alumni has grown over 25 years- because Perishable has been an important part of these artists’ growth. Playwright Quiara Alegría Hudes (Women’s Playwriting Festival 2003) garnered rave reviews on Broadway for In the Heights, the Tony Award-winning musical for which she wrote the book. Actor Masi Oka (Women’s Playwriting Festival 1997) has been taking the world by storm as Hiro in the NBC series Heroes.   Seth McFarlane (actor-1994) left Providence and created the successful animated television series, The Family Guy . In the past 9 months alone, Perishable has opened its space to over a dozen independent artists, teachers and performing groups, effectively providing the tools for them to grow their own productions, advance their own artistry, enrich local audiences.  Without Perishable Theatre, many a creative field would lie fallow.

      Please invest now in a truly sustainable enterprise: Perishable Theatre.  Your donation of any amount not only supports our daily operations (more than 85% of our operating budget goes to our program) but indicates your support of local, independent theatre that grows experiences for all of us in Rhode Island and throughout New England. Please help us continue to cultivate and harvest innovative performance that enrich Rhode Island for all of us.  

Sincerely, Vanessa Gilbert Artistic Director