Writing for Performance: Life After Life in the Common Burying Ground

Writing for performance can be a full-body, collaborative experience. Rather than considering just the words on the page, theatricality asks creators to consider place, movement, characters, and more. In November of 2025, a group of Newport neighbors staged the culmination of two years of lively effort with an original production called . With the goal to tell as many of the 8,000 stories that lay buried there, the artists involved delved into multi-disciplinary research that became a script, which was then further informed by the 50 actors who took the audience members on a ride as wild as humanity itself.
Whether or not you caught Life After Life in performance, and invite you join us for a conversation in the rehearsal space next to the Burying Ground, where members of the creative team will share their path to writing and producing this beloved community production, and invite you to ask the questions that this rich experience inspires. (And if you're curious to know more about the production, check out the performance video .)
Life After Life, a live performance, was developed through research, written into a script, and then performed by 50 community members. Throughout the performance, visitors/attendees were swept through Newport’s Common Burying Ground and God’s Little Acre in the company of the creative team and actors, experiencing the intertwining, overlapping stories of some of the 8,000 people resting in this fragile and sacred place.
This event is free and open to the public but seating is limited and registration is required. Event begins at 1pm. Come early to wander the Graveyard. Video and Photos of Life After Life can be found here.
Please contact [email protected] with any questions. We hope to see you!

Accessibility

LitArts RI is actively committed to cultivating a community that values and reflects diversity, equity and inclusivity and to providing programming that is accessible to all attendees. Please let us know about any accommodations we can make to allow you to participate fully in this event.

Health Safety Guidelines

If you have tested positive for Covid-19 within a few days of attending an event at LitArts RI, please contact Staff so we can let others know of possible exposure. We ask that you wait 14 days or until testing negative to return to the Center.

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