What he does:
Theater, obviously. As a writer, director and actor he’s worked at many local theaters, including Perishable, 2nd Story, the Artist’s Exchange and Barker Playhouse. As founder of his own theater company, he’s produced his own work, including last year’s The Acting Company, which showcased 150 original monologues he penned just for that show.
What he’s doing next:
Epic Theater, which is currently based out of Zabinski Music Studio in Pawtucket’s Hope Artiste Village, has a busy year ahead. Throughout the winter and spring, it will be presenting intriguing works staged by up-and-coming local directors, including The Edge of Our Bodies, a one-woman show about a teenaged girl traveling to New York to tell her boyfriend she’s pregnant, and Six Degrees of Separation, an American classic about race and class that hasn’t been staged in Rhode Island for some time. Broccoli seeks out unique, challenging works and stages them in a grassroots, low budget way, allowing him to take the kind of artistic risks that more established theaters can’t. “We’re never going to set up more than 30 chairs to start with because, realistically, that’s what we’re going to pull in,” he says. “But what that does is allow us to tell stories that you might not do if you had to pull in more than 30 people.” He points to a recent production called Mr. Marmalade, which he calls “the most offensive thing I’ve ever seen,” and claims, “I don’t think any theater in town could present it without losing money.” But Epic Theater can.
Why small theater is a big deal:
Broccoli is attempting to establish an alternative model of how theater can be done in Rhode Island. By presenting challenging works and providing a showcase for homegrown talent, he is helping a community of emerging voices to coalesce. “I’m a huge bigmouth when it comes to the issue of using local talent,” Broccoli says. “If I wanted to use actors from out of state, I couldn’t. But what I’ve learned is that I don’t need to.” It might sound less than epic, but judging by the awe and adoration Broccoli inspires in his peers and the lines at his auditions, it’s filling a need in local theater. “As long as we’re presenting these stories honestly and getting really good actors, that’s all we should need right now,” he declares.
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