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12/13 plays announced
We’re proud to announce the seven plays for our upcoming season, featuring an array of accomplished artists who have collectively earned 11 Obie Awards and five Tony Awards.
Troublemaker, or The Freakin Kick-A Adventures of Bradley Boatright
We reserve the right to change plays and dates in order to bring you extraordinary theatre.
chinglish
Written by David Henry Hwang
Directed by Leigh Silverman
A co-production with South Coast Repertory
Main Season | Roda Theatre
August 24–October 21, 2012
West Coast Premiere
David Henry Hwang won three Obies and the Tony Award for Best Play with popular scripts like M. Butterfly and FOB. Now he’s back with a canny comedy of cross-cultural errors. In Chinglish, an American businessman heads to Asia to score a lucrative contract for his family’s firm—but the deal isn’t the only thing getting lost in translation when he collides with a Communist minister, a bumbling consultant and a suspiciously sexy bureaucrat. Two-time Obie-winner Leigh Silverman returns to Berkeley Rep to stage the twists in a terrific play she took to Broadway. Love is on the line, and laughter fills the ledger in Chinglish.
“Hilarious…This well-made comedy takes a poignant view of the profound isolation and terrible vulnerability of people who are lost without their native language.”—Variety
“One of the funniest plays in memory…There’s sex, heartache, even a bit of song and dance…Chinglish manages the neat trick of being about issues, yet populated with real humans while consistently funny. I haven’t heard an audience laugh that much in years.”—Chicago Sun-Times
“Thrilling…Hwang has built a bilingual farce about mistranslation that explores the cultural differences between China and America using two languages, and then layered a love story on top of it to illustrate the divide…The result is a thoughtful, funny and poignant piece.”—Associated Press
“One of the three best plays of the year!”—Time Magazine
VIDEO: David Henry Hwang on CNN
David Henry Hwang and CNN’s Erin Burnett discuss the linguistic phenomenon of Chinglish. The interview includes clips from the Broadway production.
PRINT: David Henry Hwang’s opinion piece
The playwright’s opinion piece for CNN about his upbringing and the need to “overcome language barriers and laugh together.”
AUDIO: An interview on All Things Considered
David Henry Hwang and Melissa Block discuss Chinglish. The interview includes soundbites from the play.
an iliad
Adapted from Homer
By Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare
Translation by Robert Fagles
Directed by Lisa Peterson
A co-production with La Jolla Playhouse
Limited Season | Thrust Stage
October 12–November 18, 2012
An ancient tale comes roaring back to life in a compelling new telling filled with contemporary wit and wisdom. The clash of swords and shields, the broken hearts and broken oaths, the bonds of friendship and family—An Iliad arises on a bare stage, told by an old man who’s seen too much. Obie Award-winner Lisa Peterson directs a stunning show that captures the grief and glory of the battle for Troy. Homer removes his armor on behalf of all humanity and reveals the truth within each of us. A hawk, a dove…An Iliad races through time to become breathtakingly relevant today.
“Explosive, altogether breathtaking…Brilliantly meshes past and present calamity, with touches of the most caustic dark humor suddenly shifting into unimaginable pathos.”—Chicago Sun-Times
“Spellbinding…Smartly conceived and impressively executed, An Iliad relates an age-old story that resonates with tragic meaning today…As he talks about ruined civilizations and how blind rage can overwhelm people whether they are on a battlefield or merely cut off by a car on the highway, the poet asks viewers, ‘Do you see?’ Indeed we do.”—New York Times
“Intimate, unstuffy, timely, accessible—while preserving a sense of timelessness, and grandeur [An Iliad] enthralls and pierces your heart with images of fallen warriors, bereft wives and parents, and the bitter landscape of a long, fruitless, uselessly barbaric war.”—Seattle Times
“Mesmerizing…A fascinating picture of the general pointlessness of war down through the centuries.”—Associated Press
“Live theater still has the power to freak people out in violent, visceral ways…And if there’s any justice in the universe, An Iliad will tour to (and spook) audiences across the country for years to come.”—The Stranger
VIDEO: About An Iliad
Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare discuss their adaptation of An Iliad at McCarter Theatre Center in 2010.
the white snake
Written and directed by Mary Zimmerman
Based on the classic Chinese fable
A co-production with Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Main Season | Roda Theatre
November 9–December 30, 2012
World-premiere production
Mary Zimmerman is mesmerizing. From Metamorphoses to The Arabian Nights, audiences have embraced her enchanting adaptations of epic tales. Now the Tony Award-winning director casts a spell with The White Snake, a classic romance from Chinese legend. As she falls for a charming young man, a snake spirit discovers what it means to be human. But a monk objects, and the bride must unveil her magical powers to save their love. With the alluring and hypnotic White Snake, Zimmerman unwraps another exquisite gift for the holidays.
“Zimmerman has the kind of transforming theatrical touch that reconnects audiences to what live theater is all about. Mystery, magic, a heightened awareness of the physical, music, spectacle and a showman’s audacity.”—San Francisco Chronicle
“Tony-winning theater alchemist Mary Zimmerman has become famous for breathing fresh life into primal fables, from Metamorphoses to Argonautika. Time and again, she reconnects us to the myths and fables dancing at the edges of our collective subconscious.”—San Jose Mercury News
“Terrific…Tony Award-winning director Mary Zimmerman’s moving world-premiere production already has audiences grasping for appropriate superlatives. The work is a remarkable piece of theatrical imagination, the kind Zimmerman has specialized in with productions such as Metamorphoses, Argonautika, The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci and Arabian Nights…Zimmerman has created an epic tale of love and sacrifice with spectacular visual appeal, plenty of humor and remarkable emotional depth.”—Sacramento Bee
VIDEO: Mary Zimmerman on The White Snake
The White Snake plays in Ashland in 2012. The following is a three-part video series on Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s YouTube channel featuring creator Mary Zimmerman talking about the story (part 1), her writing process (part 2) and her early thoughts on the production (part 3).
troublemaker, or the freakin kick-a adventures of bradley boatright
Written by Dan LeFranc
Directed by Lila Neugebauer
Limited Season | Thrust Stage
January 4–February 3, 2013
World Premiere
Get ready for Troublemaker, or The Freakin Kick-A Adventures of Bradley Boatright. Only Berkeley Rep could unleash this wild world premiere, commissioned from hot young playwright Dan LeFranc. It’s nineteen mighty-four. In working-class Rhode Island, Bradley and his bestest friend tangle with rich kid Jake Miller and his middle-school goons. And their nemesis has help from a bunch of zombies and grown-ups! Put down that backpack, turn up the soundtrack and let’s cut class. Faster than a speedboat, more fun than a video game, Troublemaker has a sassy mouth and an irresistible heart of gold.
“Dan LeFranc was awarded the New York Times Outstanding Playwright Award…In this most vibrant of theatrical communities, we thought it would be fitting to focus on the most powerful of new voices.”—New York Times
VIDEO: The amazing Dan LeFranc
This intriguing video delves into the playwright’s writing process and his use of illustrations in his text, examples of which are shown in the slideshow.
fallaci
Written by Lawrence Wright
Directed by Oskar Eustis
Main Season | Roda Theatre
March 8–April 21, 2013
World Premiere
Known around the world for his essays in The New Yorker and his bestselling books about al Qaeda and Scientology, Pulitzer Prize-winner Lawrence Wright also pens provocative plays. Now he turns the spotlight on a fellow reporter and her fascinating contradictions with the debut of Fallaci at Berkeley Rep. Legendary Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci gained fame by grilling Kissinger, Castro, Khomeini, Qaddafi and other public figures who squirmed under her ferocious questioning. In this world premiere, a young woman interviews the fiery author at the end of her life, when she became a darling of the right. What begins as a discussion of journalism ends with two women exchanging life-changing lessons about destiny and empathy. Don’t miss this sizzling new play staged by renowned director Oskar Eustis.
“The journalist Lawrence Wright possesses a knack for clarifying complicated problems. Obviously this comes in handy in his regular line of work, but it is just as useful in his secondary vocation, as a public raconteur trying to elucidate thorny topical issues from the unlikely pulpit of an Off Broadway stage.”—New York Times
“Like that cool professor whose courses always fill up first, Wright is the kind of conveyer of wisdom who doesn’t so much lecture as seduce.”—Washington Post
“Wright has established himself as a lyrical truth-teller about the most divisive subject of our time: radical Islam and the West’s confrontation with it.” —GQ
“Fallaci became a journalist at the age of 16 to help pay her way through medical school, but ill health forced her to give up her studies, and the day job developed into a dazzling career. Aside from the star-style interviews which made her name, she was an accomplished war reporter—in Vietnam, Latin America, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. In 1968, she was shot and seriously wounded in the student riots before the Mexico City Olympics. She distilled her experiences into several bestselling books, such as Inshallah, a novel about Italian troops stationed in Lebanon in 1983.”—London Guardian
PRINT: Remembering Fallaci’s life
Fallaci’s obituary in the London Guardian.
PRINT: The Art of the Interview
Christopher Hitchens discusses Fallaci’s interviewing style in this Vanity Fair article.
WEB: LawrenceWright.com
Read, listen to and watch samples of Lawrence Wright’s work as a journalist.
pericles, prince of tyre
Written by William Shakespeare
Conceived by Mark Wing-Davey with Jim Calder
Directed by Mark Wing-Davey
Main Season | Thrust Stage
April 12–May 26, 2013
Action, adventure, emotion and awe…Expect that and more when Mark Wing-Davey brings a nimble take on Shakespeare to Berkeley Rep. The Obie Award-winning director served up such diverse works as Mad Forest, The Beaux’ Stratagem and 36 Views. Now he delivers a riveting look at Pericles, Prince of Tyre. A virtuous man clings to the mast of a storm-tossed ship as his family reels from palace to brothel to a sacred Greek temple. Knights and pirates, villains and kings…Discover the excitement of Shakespeare all over again in Pericles. We promise: despite the tides of fate, the good guys are “led on by heaven and crown’d with joy at last.”
“Innovative British director Mark Wing-Davey first burst upon the local scene with his electrifying version of Caryl Churchill’s Mad Forest at the Rep in 1992, then staged ACT’s long-running production of Angels in America.”—San Francisco Examiner
“Mr. Wing-Davey combines the instincts of the painter with those of the photojournalist.”—New York Times
dear elizabeth
By Sarah Ruhl
A play in letters
From Elizabeth Bishop to Robert Lowell
And back again
Directed by Les Waters
Main Season | Roda Theatre
May 24–July 7, 2013
West Coast Premiere
Sarah Ruhl and Les Waters, acclaimed collaborators who created Eurydice, In the Next Room (or the vibrator play) and Three Sisters, return to Berkeley Rep with another tale of love and longing. Dear Elizabeth follows the beautiful and bittersweet friendship between Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell. Across oceans and continents, across three decades, these esteemed poets found a true marriage of minds in their eloquent correspondence. Dubbed the Dickinson and Whitman of the 20th century, they traded hundreds of vibrant, witty and passionate letters that now spring to life on stage. This West Coast premiere paints an intimate portrait of two extraordinary—and quite ordinary—lives, told anew by two of the finest artists of our time.
“These star-crossed lovers found the muse in each other…Bishop and Lowell passed almost immediately from awkward introduction to rapturous intimacy. Though they were delighted by that most valuable specie of literary life, gossip, it was soon apparent what necessary company these brittle, gifted intelligences were.”—New York Times
“There’s such life in these letters that the reader can’t help but feel included in an intimate bond between two lively, vulnerable, and complex souls. Because their exchange stretches across decades, we watch these fast friends struggle, deepen, and change, and help to shape each other’s work.”—Mark Doty’s review of the collected letters
“Ruhl, like Dickinson, is a wild original… Even when she tackles darker topics—heartbreak, loss, disease, and death—her touch is light.”—Smithsonian
“The Golden Ruhl has the Midas touch.”—Washington Post
“Ruhl’s playwriting is inspired…In Les Waters, who directed her exciting Eurydice a few seasons back, she has found an expert collaborator.”—The New Yorker
“Ruhl, perhaps the hottest female playwright in the country, and Waters have proved themselves to be a crack team with luminous stagings from Eurydice to the Pulitzer-nominated The Vibrator Play. Now they work their poetic alchemy on the lives of Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell, two 20th century poets who memorialized their marriage of true minds in hundreds of unforgettable letters.”—San Jose Mercury News / Bay Area News Group
“Ruhl’s a great intellect, a true entertainer, an authoritative American voice.”—New York Magazine
PRINT: Dear Elizabeth
A sample of Robert Lowell’s letters to Elizabeth Bishop in the New Yorker.
PRINT: Words in Air
A New York Times book review of the collected letters between Robert Lowell and Elizabeth Bishop.
AUDIO: In the Waiting Room
Hear Elizabeth Bishop recite her poem.
We reserve the right to change plays and dates in order to bring you extraordinary theatre.
David Henry Hwang, the renowned playwright who’s won three Obie Awards and the Tony Award for Best Play, brings his new comedy Chinglish to Berkeley Rep for its West Coast premiere before the show goes to Hong Kong.
At Berkeley Rep, an ancient tale comes roaring back to life in Obie Award-winner Lisa Peterson’s visceral new version of An Iliad.
Tony and Obie Award-winner Denis O’Hare co-wrote a breathtaking new version of An Iliad, which comes roaring back to life at Berkeley Rep.
Mary Zimmerman, the Tony Award-winning creator of Metamorphoses and The Arabian Nights, unwraps another exquisite gift for the holidays with The White Snake at Berkeley Rep.
Berkeley Rep introduces audiences to hot young playwright Dan LeFranc with the wild world premiere of Troublemaker, or The Freakin Kick-A Adventures of Bradley Boatright.
(Photo by Cheshire Isaacs)
Pulitzer Prize-winner Lawrence Wright comes to Berkeley Rep for the world premiere of Fallaci, a new play about the last days of legendary Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci.
(Photo by Kenny Braun)
With Pericles, Prince of Tyre, Obie Award-winning director Mark Wing-Davey brings the Bard back with a bang at Berkeley Rep.
MacArthur genius Sarah Ruhl returns to Berkeley Rep for the West Coast premiere of her latest show, Dear Elizabeth.
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