Born in 1934 in Detroit, Meek worked at Trinity beginning in 1968. Her starring role in THE VISIT was a historic first for a woman of color. It was one of the first instances of color-blind casting in American theater history and broke barriers for all. Over the span of her career, she would also appear in television shows such as ARCHIE BUNKER’S PLACE, a spin-off of ALL IN THE FAMILY, and television films such as Robert Penn Warren’s BROTHER TO DRAGONS, Edith Wharton’s THE HOUSE OF MIRTH, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s LIFE AMONG THE LOWLY, MELBA, BIG BROTHER JAKE, SEE HOW SHE RUNS, and JIMMY B. AND ANDRE.

She earned the Elliot Norton Award for Sustained Excellence, the R.I. Pell Award, an Honorary Doctor of Arts from URI, the Foundation for Repertory Theatre Award, the Wayne State University Arts Achievement Award in Theatre, the Norton Prize for Sustained Excellence, and the Edward Bannister and Christiana Bannister History Makers Award from the Rhode Island Black Heritage Society over the span of her long career. She also performed at at Vienna’s English Theatre, the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, the Hilberry Repertory Theatre, the Dallas Theater Center, the Cleveland Play House, The Repertory Theater of St. Louis, the Hampton Playhouse, The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center and the Brandeis University Theatre. A fan of jazz and opera, she leaves one child. She said that her favorite production was LESLIE MOLSON.

As news broke of her passing, figures from around the state expressed their feelings of loss.

I have known Barbara Meek for 35 years. We are both former Detroiters and grew up in a wonderful city that collapsed. 35 years ago Barbara and I went to the Biltmore Hotel for a get to know each other drink. She had one or two drinks and I drink four diet cokes trying to keep up. She could not understand why an ex-Detroiter did not need a good strong drink. We talked from 3 to 6pm and off she went to Trinity Rep to perform in a play. I went to that play later in the week and had been a Trinity Rep and big Barbara Meek fan every sense. Once or twice a year we would talk. I mean ready talk about Detroit or Trinity or Ed Hall or life. Ten days ago she and I had a drink over the phone. She had a good strong drink that a former Detroiter would have and I had ice tea. We talked 30 minutes about her start at Trinity Rep and how wonderful her career had been in Providence. She said it was a great opportunity to work all of the time with the most interesting people on a regional playhouse stage. We were preparing for a roundtable that she was to be a part of at Brown University later this month. She will be missed. On Tuesday I called her to make final plans for her involvement in the Stages of Freedom Roundtable. Her voice was strong and she told me to have Robb [Dimmick, a collaborator on the project] put everything in writing because it had been a rough day. But she expected to return to her role at Trinity Rep the next day. So I thought that this was just one of my many conversations not the last one. Great actresses don’t die they just live in our memory. May God bless Barbara. – Ray Rickman, Executive director of the Stages of Freedom: Black Performing Arts in Rhode Island, a cultural nonprofit, and president of the Rickman Group.

I knew Ms. Meek only through her outstanding reputation. The NAACP Providence Branch is deeply saddened by her passing and wish to express our condolences to her family and friends. – Jim Vincent, NAACP Providence President

This beautiful, funny, brilliantly talented woman, Ms Barbara Meek, has left us, and left us the poorer. My heart aches that I will not see her again. She left a legacy of wonderful work, but an even greater one of outrageous comments and observations that endeared her to all of us. Age could not wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety. – Bob Colona, Rhode Island College Theater Department

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This show was simply a fantastic offering that was worth every minute. Like several other recent renditions of The Bard’s work, this piece is set in contemporary times and features costuming that seems like it just walked off Smith Hill.

The play opens with a scene ripped right from the headlines. The Cobbler and Carpenter walk the streets and cover the walls with posters of the victorious Caesar that resembles Shepard Fairey’s HOPE poster for Barack Obama. When the Flavius and Marullus stop them with the opening lines of the play, they are truncheon-carrying police officers in full combat gear that interrogate the commoners by throwing them on the ground and pinning them, staging that is hauntingly reminiscent of police brutality that led to the death of Eric Garner. The famed Soothsayer that bids Caesar “Beware the Ides of March” has become a mentally ill homeless man that intones his lines in a Gollum-like snarl.

Anne Scurria plays the title role in a gender-bending change that brought out new motifs in the play never seen before. She is powerful, cunning, and knows how to maintain control of her grip on power. The hubris that leads to her death is a tenable and real emotion that is not uncommon in our own political world these days. The fear and loathing of her growing power expressed by Cassius and others takes on a misogynist tone that is both disturbing and familiar. When Brutus conspiratorially speaks of Caesar’s “falling sickness,” it is in a tone strangely akin to whispered conspiracy theories about Obama being a secret Muslim or perhaps recent comments about a woman president having PMS.

Brutus, played by Stephen Thorne, is a compelling and fascinating character. By nature, he is a loyal and civically-engaged citizen, looking to create a better world for the next generation. His angst about the plot to halt Caesar’s ascent is able to be expressed without being hammy or overwrought, a tough balance in some situations. Cassius, played by Brian McEleney, is a crafty tactician looking to not only restore the balance to Roman governance, he wants to cement his own hold on affairs. My only wish for this character is that he might have included a bit more of the subtle homoeroticism that has always intrigued me when reading his lines. Casca, played by Fred Sullivan, Jr., is a not-so-closeted political gadfly, the ultimate wheeler-dealer with his own agenda. Special mention should also be given to Barbara Meek’s performance as Cicero, the elder stateswoman who is dignified and reserved, horrified by the violence of assassination yet able to continue on with the duties of state.

Joe Wilson, Jr. plays Marc Antony in a performance that is something special. A well-spoken, younger black politician playing against an elder white woman brought to my mind the complex relationship that has defined how Obama and Hillary Clinton interact. This is a great achievement that shows promise for a young actor. His ability to emote and speak regally is a great asset Trinity should utilize often in future plays.

I thought that this play was well-staged, mixing audio-visual elements such as mock newscasts projected on the walls and live action camera people shooting angles on speeches being delivered at that very moment. The designers know how to play with this kind of inter-textuality and create a motif that keys in to how removed we as outsiders are from the political process. In the lobby outside the theater, there are posters featuring news headlines that play on popular internet sites like The Onion or Fox News, a great touch. My only qualm was with the insistence on using knives and swords, when Baz Luhrman adapted ROMEO AND JULIET in the 1990’s, he created a line of firearms called ‘Sword’ and ‘Blade’ that made things seem less anachronistic. It also might have been interesting to see the Battle of Phillipi set in the historic Levant and making reference to the American Empire’s expansion. Yet these are just minor critiques as compared to the overwhelming success.

I had the opportunity to sit down and talk with the show’s star, Annie Scurria, about a wide range of topics, including contemporary politics, feminism, and various ideological strains, which I post below.

What we are embarking on as a community is quite remarkable. Other states are already looking to Rhode Island and YouthBuild Providence as a model. Too many students age out of our public schools after a personal crisis. We are taking a stand by saying that young adults who have left school for whatever reason and want to return to the classroom should not be excluded from a brighter future. We are re-engaging drop outs by exposing them to new worlds, developing their identities as scholars, and sparking their engagement as citizens.

I am pleased to share that our students attended the preview performance of “It’s a Wonderful Life” at Trinity Repertory Theater. YouthBuild students gave the performance a five star rating.

We are building an ongoing relationship with Trinity Rep. A few weeks ago, on a service learning day, our students toured the theater. As we were leaving the building, one of the students spotted actress Annie Scurria and introduced herself. It was a sweet and inspiring moment. Our student and Ms. Scurria had a second chance to speak on December 9. After a standing ovation for their performance, the company actors met with our students in the lobby. It made our night.

Attending local performances has proven to be a vibrant educational tool. After seeing two shows, we have had dynamic conversations about what community means, and about questions of history, representation, and authenticity. You can see the impact first hand in student Ervin Figueroa’s video:

Our students are asking for more theater opportunities, which is a request we can’t deny. During our spring semester, YouthBuild will host a local playwright and retired theater teacher who will develop one act plays with our students.

We are proud to include Rhode Island’s Future as a friend and partner in the fight against anti-intellectualism, low expectations, and poverty.

P.S. YouthBuild Providence relies on individual donors to sustain our theater arts program. Bring history and literature to life, consider making an online gift to the Balcony Fund.