KINGSTON, R.I. – Sept. 23, 2019 – Preparing for the upcoming season, the University of Rhode Island Theatre Department has been navigating ongoing renovations in the Fine Arts Center. Some staff have made do with makeshift office space, while Department Chair David Howard’s office is temporarily housed in the box office. And over the summer, hundreds of thousands of costume pieces were stored in J Studio to accommodate construction.

But all has gone smoothly, said Howard. The department’s primary work and education spaces – Robert E. Will Theatre, J Studio and G Studio – were made priorities over the summer, and auditions for the fall shows, rehearsals and classes have gone on without a hitch.

“We have collaborated with all these wonderful people who are working on our building. They know our needs and they’ve been very accommodating,” said Howard. “But no matter what, we’re theater people. Theater people can get frustrated, certainly, but ultimately, we know our show has to go on.”

The renovations have not stopped the construction of a 2019-2020 season that will pack quite a punch, full of humor and song and villains – a despotic principal, a five-headed dragon, a murderous king, a killer rabbit, and Knights who say “Ni!”

The season kicks off Oct. 10 with “A Brief History of the Earth and Everything In It (as performed by Ms. LoPiccolo’s Third-Grade Drama Group from the William Jennings Bryan Elementary School in Springfield, Missouri,” which is being presented in conjunction with the URI Honors Colloquium: Religion in America.

“We had looked at ‘The Crucible’ and other plays that initially hit you when talking about religion,” said Howard, “but this is one of the few plays that actually faces religion as a conversation.”

That conversation is presented in large part by “third-graders” at William Jennings Bryan Elementary School, who are putting on a subversive musical to combat Principal Dr. Godfrey Marsden. “Dr. God” has been reshaping the school and curriculum to match her fundamentalist Christian beliefs, as she also courts conservative voters in her run for governor.

“It’s important to remember that this is satire,” said Howard. “Much like ‘South Park’ or ‘Family Guy,’ the issues and reactions are big, strong statements that we’re hoping people reflect on. It allows us to discuss the world today and what we do when science and fact are challenged by belief.”

“A Brief History” was written by Cranston, R.I., playwright Dave Rabinow, who has taught playwriting at URI, and has been staged three times since its 2011 debut. Theatre Lecturer Rachel Walshe, who directed last season’s “The Wolves,” will direct the play, which runs Oct. 10-13 and 17-20 in J Studio, which is back to normal. (While the play is about third-graders, the production is for mature audiences.)

“This play is a very careful balance of intellectual thought, common sense, humor, warmth and a kind of goofiness,” Howard said. “I think it’s a great play for Rachel. She also has children and one of them is around 8 years old, so she understands the vernacular. She knows what’s a believable 8-year-old. That’s something incredibly important to bring to the story.”

In November, the scene shifts from protesting third-graders to battling elves, giants, sword-wielding warriors, and a five-headed dragon in Qui Nguyen’s “She Kills Monsters.” A weighty comedy, the 2011 play follows the story of Agnes Evans as she tries to connect with her late sister, Tilly, through Tilly’s obsession with the game Dungeons & Dragons.

“It’s spectacle, it’s adventure, it’s sentimental – but not in a saccharin way,” said Howard. “It’s about a young woman trying to get to know her sister using what her sister loved. Though you have this Dungeon & Dragons world, it’s ultimately about people trying to make a connection.”

First-time director Madison Cook-Hines ’19, who spent the summer working with Gloucester Stage Company, will head the production, which will include a number of puppets. It’s one of Cook-Hines’ many strengths. In the spring, she put on a one-night, independent play that she wrote, directed, cast and staged, and even created the puppets and props for it.

“Madison is a perfect fit for this play,” Howard said. “She has a love for puppetry and a love of interpretation through unconventional means and this play needs that.”

“She Kills Monsters” runs Nov. 14-17 and 21-24 in the Will Theatre.

It may be hard to find a theme for the season’s first half. But Howard said, “Act 2 is definitely about kings in turmoil.” In particular: Shakespeare’s Richard III and Monty Python’s King Arthur.

While the Theatre Department puts on Shakespeare every other season, “Richard III,” the tale of the power hungry, deformed, Machiavellian ruler, is not a typical selection, said Howard.

“When we talk about Shakespeare, the thing that always comes up is ‘Romeo & Juliet’ or ‘MacBeth’ or ‘Taming of the Shrew,’” he said. “We’ve never done one of Shakespeare’s histories in the 20 years I’ve been here. Or have we done a villainous tragedy to this extent. This starts at villainy and just goes forward. There’s something interesting and juicy about that. Even though he gets his comeuppance in a way, it still doesn’t slow him.”

“Richard III,” which runs Feb. 20-23 and Feb. 27-March 1 in J Studio, will be directed by guest artist and alumnus Joe Short, a theater production technician at Harvard University who directed URI’s 2016 production of “columbinus.” The play will also feature an entire supporting production staff made up of students – costume and scenic designers, painters. “We’ve had a lot of students in the mix to start the process of getting more students in leadership positions,” Howard said. “That’s very exciting.”

“Monty Python’s Spamalot,” the musical re-creation of the 1975 movie “Monty Python and The Holy Grail,” presents a far more bungling king, as Arthur leads Sir Lancelot, Galahad, Robin, and the other Knights of the Roundtable, on a quest for the elusive grail.

“The thing about the movie is the source material was done with $5,” said Howard. “If you think about the other movies being made at the same time, it was ingenious. It was flipping film on its ear. The play does ask a lot – you have to have the Knights of Ni on stage and the Black Knight has to get his leg cut off – and yet to embrace the whole-hearted Monty Python, it can be made to feel like magic, even when done in a way that’s simple.”

Paula McGlasson will continue her long run of directing the season-closing musical, with her team of music director Lila Kane, choreographer Dante Sciarra, set designer Cheryl deWardener, and lighting designer Jessica Winward. “Spamalot” runs April 16-19 and 23-26 in the Will Theatre.

“I think ‘Richard III’ and ‘Spamalot’ are a great pairing,” said Howard. “Most of us have some connection to ‘Monty Python and The Holy Grail,’ or this musical. Its tongue-in-cheek bawdiness will be a nice way to end our season.”

Tickets go on sale online starting Sept. 23 for all this season’s shows. For information about tickets, go to web.uri.edu/theatre/current-season/. For “A Brief History,” “She Kills Monsters” and “Richard III,” tickets are $20 for general admission, $15 for seniors, students, faculty and staff. For “Spamalot,” tickets are $20 for general admission, $18 for seniors, students, faculty and staff. All performances are in the Fine Arts Center, 105 Upper College Road, Kingston Campus.