WARWICK, R.I. – The Community College of Rhode Island Players’ 2025 Summer Rep is just around the corner.

The annual theater season begins Thursday, July 31 with CCRI Players’ adaptation of William Shakespeare’s “The Comedy of Errors”, which will be directed by Karen Carpenter and run through Sunday, Aug. 3. The performance, rehearsals for which began this week, is the first of a two-part series that will conclude with a four-day run of Shakespeare’s “Richard III” premiering Wednesday, Aug. 20.

Both plays will be held at the Bobby Hackett Theater on CCRI’s Knight Campus in Warwick, RI. Tickets are available online and priced at $5 for CCRI students; $10 for seniors, college students and CCRI employees; and $20 for general admission.

“The Comedy of Errors” is one of Shakespeare’s more “fast-paced shows” and is “full of slapstick humor,” as described by Acting Managing Director Tammy Moore, a CCRI alumna and adjunct faculty member for the past 23 years in both the English and Performing Arts departments. With an overarching theme of discovering one’s identity, the play is as relevant now as it’s ever been.

“Audiences can expect a performance filled with comedic expertise, laugh-out-loud scenes, and tender heartfelt moments, all through the words of Shakespeare,” said CCRI Players President Sophia Bryant.

The full cast list is as follows:

• Sebastian Arboleda, Warwick
• Mariana Villa, Pawtucket
• Ayana DeSimone, Coventry
• Anthony Sanchez, Providence
• Aliza Almonte, Johnston
• Max Hayden, Warwick
• Eddy Tavares, Pawtucket
• Puck Schmidt, Warwick
• Jalen Rodriguez, Woonsocket
• Eddie Cardona, Cranston
• Sophie Bryant, Smithfield
• Rae Chiaverini, Pawtucket
• Alivia Verasammy, North Smithfield

Hayden, who graduated in the spring, will continue his career this fall at the Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theater as one of three new fellows in its 2025-26 Gamm Fellowship Program. The 10-month paid program is a partnership between the theater and Rhode Island’s higher-education institutions to provide on-the-job opportunities for artists of color.

Verasammy and Chiaverini will serve as stage manager and assistant stage manager, respectively, for "The Comedy of Errors." They'll flip roles for CCRI's performance of "Richard III."

In purchasing a ticket to this unique Shakespeare performance, audience members also will be supporting CCRI’s Theatre Program.

“Summer rep is a vital part of the program because it provides students with an opportunity to collaborate and learn beyond the classroom by taking on significant responsibilities in all aspects theatrical production,” Moore said. “Additionally, it serves as a crucial fundraiser that helps support student participation in the Kennedy Center, American College Theatre Festival. (ACTF) which exposes students to workshops and performances that help them grow as performers and technicians and offers real world experience and lasting connections.”

Established in 2017, the Summer Rep program welcomes non-CCRI students and gives participants an opportunity to design and produce two shows in eight weeks while replicating a professional setting.

"The CCRI Summer Rep project serves as a vital learning journey for our students, helping them become accustomed to the intensity of the summer stock model, an important component of professional theatre experience,” said CCRI Theatre Program Coordinator Ted Clement.

“As a project that's open to the wider community, it provides the program with an essential recruiting device."