BERKELEY REP STAGES THE WORLD PREMIERE OF THE PEOPLE’S TEMPLE, A THEATRICAL INQUIRY INTO THE JONESTOWN TRAGEDY BERKELEY CA, FEBRUARY 28, 2005Fact Sheet Berkeley Repertory Theatre is proud to stage the world premiere of The People’s Temple, a theatrical exploration of the roots, the rise and the tragic demise in Jonestown, Guyana of the movement led by the Reverend Jim Jones. The show—which emphasizes moving forward rather than looking back—is directed by Leigh Fondakowski, best known for her work on The Laramie Project, a groundbreaking play that received its West Coast premiere at Berkeley Rep in 2001. The script was written by Fondakowski with Greg Pierotti, Stephen Wangh and Margo Hall, and the show is presented in association with Z Space Studio. The People’s Temple is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts and by Executive Producers Jean and Michael Strunsky and the Ira & Leonore Gershwin Philanthropic Fund. The show also benefits from Berkeley Rep’s Season Sponsor BART and three production sponsors: San Francisco Chronicle, SF Gate and Seagate Properties. Performed in the Roda Theatre at Berkeley Rep, The People’s Temple begins previews on April 15, opens on April 20 and closes May 29, 2005. As head writer for The Laramie Project, Fondakowski led her collaborators in sculpting interviews with Wyoming residents into a stirring portrait of the effects of hatred on a small town. Her newest work explores the unique mix of radical politics, racial integration and Pentecostal fervor that attracted thousands of followers to Peoples Temple and its leader, Jim Jones. A tale of faith, community and survival, the show spans 25 years of Temple history—which culminated in 1978 with 913 deaths at the jungle settlement known as Jonestown, the assassination of Congressman Leo J. Ryan and the murders of three journalists. The play weaves together music from the Temple, archival materials and interviews with survivors to create a conversation between the living and the dead. After decades enshrouded in secrecy, the stories of Jonestown survivors are now being told, many for the first time. In its quest to make sense of the inexplicable—and perhaps to find healing in the process—The People’s Temple explores this historic event with a candor only hindsight can provide. “At the start of this project,” Fondakowski explains, “one survivor explained his desire to talk with us by saying, ‘I’m tired of hiding my life.’ While we’re not historians, nor reporters, we are artists who can tell these tales. We’re going beyond the horror to explore the lives of individuals caught up in an idealistic movement, people all of us can relate to and understand. Why did people join, and why did they stay? How did the movement go seriously awry? And why has history told only one sensational aspect of the story, rather than seriously investigating who these people were and what took place?” “When we presented the West Coast premiere of The Laramie Project, it had indelible impact for its unforgettable combination of artistic excellence and social significance,” says Tony Taccone, artistic director of Berkeley Rep. “We are honored to reunite many of the artists from that remarkable work to explore this dramatically charged subject. It is our fervent hope that, by examining this significant time in our culture, we can open channels for communication and provide some measure of healing in our community.” “It is fitting to premiere this play at Berkeley Rep,” Fondakowski continues, “because the movement had such a presence in the Bay Area. Furthermore, as one of the community leaders we interviewed said, with the sudden murders in San Francisco of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk nine days after the Jonestown tragedy, all real dialogue about Peoples Temple ceased.” In fact, due to its focus on a pivotal moment in local history, The People’s Temple has already ignited an extensive community collaboration: • The show was commissioned and originally developed by Z Space Studio in San Francisco and developed through the Z/Magic New Works Initiative. • The script draws on the Peoples Temple Collection at the California Historical Society. CHS is organizing a lobby display about Peoples Temple for Berkeley Rep and will offer extended hours for events and exhibits during the run of the show. • Heyday Books in Berkeley is publishing Dear People: Remembering Jonestown, edited by Denice Stephenson, the play’s researcher and the archivist for the CHS Collection. The book’s release coincides with the play’s premiere and will further illuminate the lives of Temple members with photographs and documents from the CHS archive. • Finally, Berkeley Rep has sent theatre professionals into five East Bay high schools to guide students in creating their own docudramas. These interactive workshops meet state education standards for language arts and performing arts, and the students’ parents and peers will witness the original works of art they produce. A member of Tectonic Theatre Project since 1995, Leigh Fondakowski was head writer and associate director for The Laramie Project, and she received an Emmy nomination as co-screenwriter when the script was adapted for HBO. Her other original play, I Think I Like Girls, played to sold-out audiences in San Francisco and La Jolla, and was voted one of the Top 10 Plays of 2002 by The Advocate. Her directing credits include I Think I Like Girls at Encore Theatre and La Jolla Playhouse; La Voix Humaine by Jean Cocteau at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh; Agatha by Marguerite Duras at the French Alliance in New York; Gwen John, adapted from the novel by Jane Warrick at HERE and new plays by Stephen Belber, Julia Jordan and Anne Marie Cummings. She was the first recipient of the Emerging Writer/Director Project, a grant to fund the creation of original work for the stage, and has spent the last three years developing The People’s Temple. In writing the show, Fondakowski’s collaborators included head writer, Greg Pierotti, who was an associate writer and original cast member of Laramie, the dramaturg for I Think I Like Girls and an original cast member of Tectonic’s Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde; Stephen Wangh, a playwright who was an associate writer for Laramie and the dramaturg for Gross Indecency and Margo Hall, an actor, director and founding member of Campo Santo in San Francisco, where she has worked on numerous world premieres. This team was supported in its efforts by Project Researcher/Archivist Denice Stephenson of the California Historical Society and the artistic director of Z Space, David Dower. Hall and Pierotti are also in the cast for this production as part of an ensemble of accomplished actors. Miche Braden has portrayed Billie Holiday, Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith on stage and sung with musicians like Lionel Hampton and Milt Hinton. Velina Brown is a longtime member of the San Francisco Mime Troupe, seen most recently at the Magic Theatre in the world premiere of The Sweetest Swing in Baseball. James Carpenter has performed in more than 30 shows at Berkeley Rep, including this season’s world premiere of Charles Mee’s Fêtes de la Nuit. Colman Domingo is a familiar face on local stages and on TV, whose recent off-Broadway credits include Henry V at the New York Shakespeare Festival. Lauren Klein’s extensive experience includes roles in the original Broadway casts for Arthur Miller’s Broken Glass and Neil Simon’s Lost in Yonkers. John McAdams appeared in the original cast and film of Laramie, as well as the world premiere of Gross Indecency. Barbara Pitts was seen in the original cast and film of Laramie, the world premiere of I Think I Like Girls and most recently in new plays at the Magic Theatre. Kelli Simpkins’ extensive credits include the original cast and film of Laramie, Daphne in I Think I Like Girls and the films A League of Their Own and Chasing Amy. Adam Wade is an actor, director and recording artist who made history as the first African American to host a game show, “Musical Chairs” on CBS. One member of the ensemble has yet to be cast. A project of this complexity requires skilled collaborators, and Fondakowski has assembled an expert team: Sarah L. Lambert (scenic designer), Gabriel Berry (costume designer), Betsy Adams (lighting designer), Jake Rodriguez (sound designer), Jean Isaacs (choreographer) and Martha Swetzoff (video designer). Berkeley Rep’s resident production stage manager, Michael Suenkel, will stage manage the show. There will be seven special events associated with this production: • Teen Night @ the Rep begins at 6 PM on Friday, April 15 and includes dinner, a preview performance and a behind-the-scenes discussion with a member of the artistic team. Tickets are $5 for members of Berkeley Rep’s Teen Council, $20 for all other teens. For more information, call 510.647.2978 or e-mail school@berkeleyrep.org. • Opening night festivities take place on Wednesday, April 20. • Target® Play Date, which allows parents to attend a discounted matinee while their kids enjoy five hours of supervised activities at the Berkeley YMCA, is on Sunday, May 1. • Page to Stage, a free moderated discussion with Fondakowski sponsored by Cody’s Books and Peet’s Coffee and Tea, occurs on Monday, May 2 at 7 PM. • Three post-play discussions moderated by theatre professionals follow the performances on Thursday, May 5; Tuesday, May 17 and Friday, May 20. Tickets to The People’s Temple are priced from $10 to $55, depending on the day of the week. Discounts are available for groups of 15 or more, as well as half-price rush tickets for students and seniors. For every weekday performance, 20 half-price HotTix go on sale that day at NOON at the Berkeley Rep box office (cash only). Berkeley Rep also offers $20 tickets for anyone under 30 with valid ID; this discount is subject to availability and is not offered for Saturday night shows. Berkeley Rep’s Roda Theatre is located at 2015 Addison Street, one block from Berkeley’s downtown BART station and close to AC Transit bus lines. The theatre is accessible to the handicapped, offering wheelchair seating and special services for those with hearing- or vision-impairment. The box office is next door at 2025 Addison Street. For tickets or information, call 510.647.2949 or toll-free at 1.888.4BRTTix—or simply visit www.berkeleyrep.org. ABOUT BERKELEY REPERTORY THEATRE Founded in 1968, the Tony Award-winning Berkeley Repertory Theatre has established a national reputation for its ambitious programming and dynamic productions. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Tony Taccone and Managing Director Susan Medak, Berkeley Rep seeks to engage its audience in an ongoing dialogue of ideas. Through its bold choice of material and vivid style of production, Berkeley Rep reflects a commitment to diversity, excitement and quality. The company is especially well known for its presentations of important new dramatic voices and its fresh adaptations of seldom-seen classics. In 2001, Berkeley Rep opened The Roda Theatre, a 600-seat proscenium theatre that complements the 400-seat Thrust Stage, and the Berkeley Rep School of Theatre, housed in the Nevo Education Center. The addition of these two buildings has transformed what was once a single stage into a vital and versatile performing arts complex. ABOUT Z SPACE STUDIO The Z Space Studio has been developing Bay Area theatre since 1993. Founded by Artistic Director David Dower, the Studio has exploded to become a leading center of new play development, a home for individual artists’ residencies and an incubator for small companies. Works emerging from the Z Space in recent years include Josh Kornbluth’s popular monologues Love & Taxes and Ben Franklin: Unplugged, as well as his films Red Diaper Baby and Haiku Tunnel; the many Word for Word hits, including Stories by Tobias Wolff, Immortal Heart and Epiphanies; Anne Galjour’s Okra; Herbert Siguenza’s Cantinflas; Charlie Varon’s The Peoples Violin; Tanya Shaffer’s Let My Enemy Live Long; Cherylene Lee’s Carry the Tiger to the Mountain and Gary Leon Hill’s 8 Bob Off and Say Grace. Currently underway at the Z Space are new works by The Civilians, Brian Freeman (commissioned by Berkeley Rep), Doug Jacobs (of “Bucky” renown), Wes “Scoop” Nisker and more. Find out more at www.zspace.org. THE PEOPLE’S TEMPLE WHO written by Leigh Fondakowski with Greg Pierotti, Stephen Wangh and Margo Hall directed by Leigh Fondakowski designers: Sarah L. Lambert (sets), Gabriel Berry (costumes), Betsy Adams (lights), Jake Rodriguez (sound), Jean Isaacs (choreography), Martha Swetzoff (video) and Denice Stephenson (researcher/archivist) featuring: Miche Braden, Velina Brown, James Carpenter, Colman Domingo, Margo Hall, Lauren Klein, John McAdams, Greg Pierotti, Barbara Pitts, Kelli Simpkins and Adam Wade WHAT The People’s Temple, a world-premiere play, presented by Berkeley Repertory Theatre in association with Z Space Studio WHERE Berkeley Rep’s Roda Theatre / 2015 Addison Street / Berkeley Berkeley Rep’s Box Office / 2025 Addison Street / Berkeley WHEN Previews April 15–19, 2005 / performances April 20–May 29, 2005 • Tuesdays and Fridays, 8 PM • Wednesdays, 7 PM (except opening) • Thursdays and Saturdays, 2 PM & 8 PM • Sundays, 2 PM & 7 PM • No matinees during previews or on April 21, April 30, May 5, May 14 and May 19 • No performance on Friday, May 27 SPECIAL EVENTS TEEN NIGHT @ THE REP: Friday, April 15, 2005, 6 PM OPENING NIGHT: Wednesday, April 20, 2005, 8 PM TARGET® PLAY DATE (discounted tickets with childcare): Sunday, May 1, 2005, 2 PM PAGE TO STAGE (free talk with Leigh Fondakowski): Monday, May 2, 2005, 7 PM POST-PLAY DISCUSSIONS: Thursday, May 5, 2005; Tuesday, May 17, 2005; Friday, May 20, 2005 TICKET PRICES Standing room (once sold out) $10.00 Under 30 with valid ID (some restrictions apply) $20.00 Preview Performances (Fri/Sat/Tue 8PM, Sun 7PM) $39.00 Opening Night (Wed 8PM) $50.00 Tuesday and Thursday evenings 8PM $43.00 Wednesday evening 7PM $43.00 Friday evening 8PM $49.00 Saturday evening 8PM $55.00 Sunday evening 7PM $45.00 Thursday and Saturday matinees 2PM $43.00 Sunday matinee 2PM $45.00 DISCOUNTS 20 half-price HotTix go on sale at NOON Tuesday–Friday Student/Senior half-price RUSH tickets sold one-half hour before curtain Groups of 15+ contact 510.647.2918 or groups@berkeleyrep.org TICKET INFO 510.647.2949 or 1.888.4BRTTix (toll free) or www.berkeleyrep.org For photos, interviews, etc. contact: Terence Keane, Director of Public Relations 510.647.2917, tkeane@berkeleyrep.org BACK TO TOP