01:00 AM EST on Wednesday, November 17, 2004

Now in its 41st season, Trinity can claim having had only four artistic directors.

Founder Adrian Hall remained the longest, from 1964 until 1989.

Hall was not only credited with building a resident performing company but with developing a distinctive style of theater concerned less about fancy sets and frills and more about the heart of the play.

He formed important alliances with award-winning set designer Eugene Lee and composer Richard Cumming, with whom he collaborated on a number of productions, including their beloved A Christmas Carol.

It was under Hall that the theater moved from Trinity Square Church in South Providence to its present home at the former Majestic Theatre on Washington Street.

The company made trips to India and Syria, and in 1981 Trinity won a Tony as outstanding regional theater company.

In all, Hall spent almost a quarter-century at the helm of Trinity Rep. His successor would last just one beleaguered season.

Anne Bogart's single season was marked by provocative theater and budget shortfalls, and layoffs. She resigned in 1990, after the board cut the budget from $4 million to $3 million.

It would be up to former company member Richard Jenkins to stabilize the company and reinstate to some extent Hall's brand of theater. He stepped down after four years, in 1994.

Enter Oskar Eustis, who moved to stabilize the finances and renew the theater's commitment to new plays. He was also instrumental in building a first-class training program for writers, directors and actors.