Curt Columbus became Trinity Repertory CompanyâÂÂs fifth artistic director in January 2006. He is also the artistic director of the Brown/Trinity MFA programs in Acting and Directing. àHis directing credits for Trinity include Macbeth, Ragtime, Beowulf: A Thousand Years of Baggage, Middletown, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, The Merchant of Venice, His Girl Friday, Camelot, Cabaret, Blithe Spirit, A Christmas Carol, Cherry Orchard and the world premieres of Stephen Thorne's The Completely Fictional, Utterly True, Final Strange Tale of Edgar Allan Poe and Jackie Sibblies Drury's Social Creatures. àTrinity has been home to the world premieres of three of his plays, Paris by Night, The Dreams of Antigone, and Sparrow Grass. àTrinity has also produced his translations of ChekhovâÂÂs Cherry Orchard and Ivanov, as well as FeydeauâÂÂs A Flea in Her Ear and Lope de VegaâÂÂs Like Sheep to Water (Fuente Ovejuna).
Prior to becoming the Artistic Director of Trinity Rep, Curt lived and worked as an actor, director, adaptor and playwright in the Chicago theater scene for almost twenty years. His directing credits there include The House of Lily, Division Street: America, A Dybbuk, Macbeth, Our Town, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Earth and Sky, The Death of Zukasky and many, many more. He was artistic associate of Victory Gardens Theater from 1989âÂÂ1994, the director of the University of ChicagoâÂÂs University Theater from 1994âÂÂ2000, and the associate artistic director of ChicagoâÂÂs Steppenwolf Theater Company from 2000âÂÂ2005, where he premiered his translations of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya and Cherry Orchard.
CurtâÂÂs adaptation of DostoevskyâÂÂs Crime and Punishment (with Marilyn Campbell) has won awards and accolades at theaters around the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. His translation of ChekhovâÂÂs Three Sisters was developed at the Arden Theatre in Philadelphia. àIt is now published by Dramatists Play Service, along with his translations of ChekhovâÂÂs other major plays, Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Cherry Orchard, and Ivanov, as is his translation of de VegaâÂÂs Furente Ovejuna. àDPS also publishes his original play, Sparrow Grass. ÃÂ
Curt was awarded the 2019 Kennedy Center Medallion for his work co-creating the LORT/Kennedy Center ASPIRE Leadership Fellows Program for future theatre leaders of color as part of the American College Theater Festival. He lives in Providence, Rhode Island with his husband, Nate Watson.