BERKELEY REPERTORY THEATRE ANNOUNCES 2005/06 SEASON Tony Award-winning theatre to present Tony Kushner and Maurice Sendak’s Brundibár, Rita Moreno in The Glass Menagerie, world premieres from Culture Clash and Jordan Harrison, Heather Raffo’s Nine Parts of Desire, Theatre de la Jeune Lune’s staging of The Miser and Our Town, directed by Jonathan Moscone BERKELEY CA, MAY 13, 2005Fact Sheet Today Berkeley Repertory Theatre announced plans for its 38th season, which will feature the bold mix of work that defines this Tony Award-winning theatre: scripts selected for the 2005/06 Season include four vivid, new plays and three fresh interpretations of classic texts. Among the highlights are Brundibár, a collaboration between illustrious playwright Tony Kushner and renowned artist Maurice Sendak, and The Glass Menagerie, starring the legendary Rita Moreno. Brundibár will be directed by Kushner’s longtime collaborator, Berkeley Rep Artistic Director Tony Taccone, and Tennessee Williams’ Menagerie will be staged by the Theatre’s associate artistic director, Les Waters. The season also features three other hot new works: the world premiere of Zorro, written and performed by Culture Clash; the world premiere of Jordan Harrison’s Finn in the Underworld, directed by Waters; and Heather Raffo’s Nine Parts of Desire, a solo show portraying women in war-torn Iraq, directed by Joanna Settle. In addition to The Glass Menagerie, two other iconic plays will receive inventive and imaginative productions at Berkeley Rep next season: Theatre de la Jeune Lune, winner of the 2005 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre, brings its outrageous adaptation of Moliere’s The Miser to Berkeley, as staged by Dominique Serrand, and noted director Jonathan Moscone returns to The Roda Theatre to present a new look at Thornton Wilder’s Our Town. The season is comprised of five Main Season shows and two Limited Season plays, all of which are presented at Berkeley Rep’s two-theatre complex on Addison Street in downtown Berkeley. The Theatre proudly welcomes Wells Fargo as an official sponsor of the 2005/06 Season, along with returning Season Sponsor BART. “I’m now in my ninth year as artistic director,” remarked Taccone, “and I feel that Berkeley Rep is really enjoying a sense of freedom in our ability to select plays that speak to our community. I look forward to the full range of our choices: from the aesthetic challenges of Brundibár and the politically compelling content of Nine Parts of Desire to the revelatory staging of The Miser and the incredible artistry of Rita and Les for The Glass Menagerie. This is the most eclectic season we’ve done, balancing the reinvestigation of classical work with the presentation of new plays. I’m thrilled that we continue to work successfully with artists such as Tony Kushner, Rita Moreno and Culture Clash, while attracting new talent such as Maurice Sendak, Heather Raffo and Jordan Harrison.” This is Wells Fargo’s first time as an official season sponsor and the culmination of a long and fruitful partnership with Berkeley Rep. “We believe supporting these performances is consistent with creating an exceptional community culture,” said Robert Ceglio, Wells Fargo Community President. “On behalf of our 15,000 team members in the Bay Area, Wells Fargo is proud to serve as this season’s sponsor of Berkeley Repertory Theatre productions.” The Main Season opens in September in The Roda Theatre with a timeless play by one of Berkeley High School’s most distinguished graduates, Our Town by Thornton Wilder. Opening in the first years of a new century, Our Town still speaks to us about the beauty and transience of life through its bittersweet portrait of a small American town. But the Pulitzer Prize-winning script has become so familiar that audiences forget how its debut revolutionized theatre. Anyone familiar with Berkeley Rep knows that this production will cleave to the revolutionary spirit of the original with a presentation that is utterly fresh and invigorating. After bringing Ghosts to Berkeley Rep’s stage in 2004, Jonathan Moscone returns to direct this beloved classic. The season continues in October on the Thrust Stage with a limited engagement of Jordan Harrison’s Finn in the Underworld. For this world premiere, OBIE Award-winning director Les Waters delves back into the underworld from which he unearthed 2004’s soulful Eurydice and magnificent Yellowman. This scintillating new play from one of America’s most gifted young writers is a haunting tale of heredity in which the sins of the father are visited upon his heirs. The playwright is a Stanford graduate who leapt to national notice when his first script, Kid-Simple, premiered at the Humana Festival in 2004. He studied under Paula Vogel at Brown University and is the recipient of the 2003 Heideman Award, the Weston Prize, a Lucille Lortel Fellowship and two Jerome Fellowships from the Playwrights’ Center. Expect ghosts and mystery this October when Waters and Harrison spin their tale of family secrets. The second Main Season show opens in November, when Berkeley Rep proudly presents Brundibár, a once-in-a-lifetime collaboration between two artistic giants: Tony Kushner (Angels in America, Homebody/Kabul) and Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things Are, In the Night Kitchen). Having penned the brilliant libretto for Caroline, or Change, Kushner gives us a new libretto for this remarkable musical fable—and the show features stunning costumes and sets by Sendak in his singular style. An allegory of innocence triumphing over evil, Brundibár was originally composed in the ominous years leading up to World War II and was performed by children imprisoned at Terezin, the Nazi’s notorious “model ghetto.” In it, a brother and sister struggle to save their mother against the ruthless intentions of the town’s tyrannical organ-grinder. According to Kushner, Brundibár is “a testament to the creative power of human beings, even in dark times, to turn ugliness into music.” It will be directed by his longtime collaborator, Artistic Director Tony Taccone, and performed by a multigenerational cast that includes children from local choirs. In 2003, Kushner and Sendak published a picture-book version of this tale; now audiences can enjoy it live! Presented in The Roda Theatre, Brundibár promises to be one of the theatrical events of the year, and is expected to transfer to New York and Boston in 2006. January brings Nine Parts of Desire, Heather Raffo’s one-woman show directed by Joanna Settle, who also staged its acclaimed New York run. “Raffo, an American actress of American and Iraqi heritage, is the sole performer on the stage, but she’s far from lonely,” declared the New York Times. “She inhabits her characters with such compelling vibrancy that they do not entirely disappear when she moves from one to the next.” A portrait of the extraordinary—and ordinary—lives of a cross-section of Iraqi women, Nine Parts of Desire lifts the veil on women in the war zone. “A triumph,” raved the New Yorker, “an example of how art can remake the world.” The Main Season’s third production will be presented on the Thrust Stage, which has hosted other prominent solo performers such as Sarah Jones and Anna Deavere Smith. In March, the popular performance troupe, Culture Clash, returns to Berkeley Rep for the world premiere of Zorro in The Roda Theatre. Following Culture Clash in AmeriCCa, the 2002 hit which also premiered at Berkeley Rep, these heroes of humor present a limited engagement of their latest show. With Zorro, the irreverent trio—Richard Montoya, Ric Salinas and Herbert Siguenza—takes on a legend to examine questions of homeland security in the Wild West…when Anglo-Americans struggled with issues such as Mexican immigration, Indian gambling and a governor born on foreign soil. At long last, it’s a Latin look behind the mask of this mainstream icon invented by an Irish American. This new script is being commissioned and produced by Berkeley Rep with Zorro Productions, Inc. and La Jolla Playhouse. After her celebrated performance as Maria Callas in Master Class, Rita Moreno returns to Berkeley Rep in April for another incredible role: Amanda in The Glass Menagerie. Tennessee Williams’ autobiographical masterpiece is brought to the stage by Associate Artistic Director Les Waters, who gave audiences a lush and lyrical look at Williams’ Suddenly Last Summer in 2003. In this classic tale of endurance and forgiveness, a young man is torn between obligation to his family and the need to lead a life of his own. Expect another breathtaking performance from the woman who has won the Oscar, the Tony, the Grammy and two Emmys—and this time she’ll be on Berkeley Rep’s intimate Thrust Stage. The season concludes in May with a wild take on Moliere’s The Miser. This savagely funny comedy about a love affair between a man and his money arrives at Berkeley Rep in a production by Theatre de la Jeune Lune, winner of the 2005 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. Founded by graduates of the famed Lecoq School of Physical Theatre in Paris, Jeune Lune’s exuberant style transforms classic texts into dazzling new creations that are physically, visually and theatrically spectacular. Harpagon, the title character, is a paranoid buffoon and the incarnation of bourgeois greed, hoarding a hefty stash of cash. Now his frustrated children have to outsmart the old man to get the money they need to marry the mates they want. In a hilarious and contemporary new adaptation by David Ball, The Miser is staged in The Roda Theatre by Dominique Serrand, co-artistic director of Jeune Lune. Berkeley Rep Main Season productions run for at least 6 1/2 weeks and have a minimum of 51 performances. The two Limited Season shows, Finn in the Underworld and Zorro, run for 4 1/2 weeks. There are four reduced-price preview performances prior to the opening night of each production. The regular performance schedule is Tuesdays at 8 PM; Wednesdays at 7 PM (except for openings, which are at 8 PM); Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 PM; and Sundays at 2 PM and 7 PM, with additional matinees on alternate Thursdays and Saturdays. There are no Thursday matinees for Limited Season shows. Brundibár and The Glass Menagerie may follow slightly different schedules. Season subscriptions are on sale now: the seven-play package includes tickets to all shows, the five-play package includes all the Main Season productions and the three-play package includes both Limited Season shows plus one Main Season production. Subscription prices range from $72 to $371—meaning that season subscribers save up to 30% off single-ticket prices! Plus, for the 2005/06 Season, subscriptions to preview performances have been lowered 35% as an incentive for adventurous and budget-conscious theatergoers. Berkeley Rep also offers generous discounts on subscriptions and single tickets for K–12 educators, people under 30 and senior citizens. Single tickets, which are priced between $30 and $59 depending on the day of the week, go on sale in August. For every show, there are five special events: Teen Night @ the Rep, which invites local teens to see the first preview at a discount, along with dinner and a presentation by one of the show’s artists; Opening Night, which includes a catered, post-show party; and three post-show discussions moderated by theatre professionals. Each year, three select productions also offer night/OUT on the first Thursday after opening. This event for the lesbian/gay/bisexual/ transgender community features a post-play party with hors d’oeuvres, drinks and music mixed by cutting-edge Bay Area DJs. For the 2005/06 Season, night/OUT will be held during the runs of Brundibár, Nine Parts of Desire and The Glass Menagerie. For schedule and ticket information, visit www.berkeleyrep.org or call the box office at 510.647.2949 or toll-free at 1.888.4BRTTix. Box office hours are from NOON to 7 PM, Tuesday through Sunday; the box office is closed on Mondays. Berkeley Rep’s box office is located at 2025 Addison Street, Berkeley, CA 94704, only half a block from Berkeley’s Downtown BART station and close to AC Transit bus lines. The Thrust Stage is at the same address; The Roda Theatre is immediately next door at 2015 Addison. Both theatres are accessible to the handicapped, offering wheelchair seating and special services for those with hearing- or vision-impairment. 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. BERKELEY REP’S 2005/06 SEASON OUR TOWN written by Thornton Wilder directed by Jonathan Moscone September 9–October 23, 2005 (Press Night: Wednesday, September 14) Main Season Play #1—The Roda Theatre “It’s a little play with all the big subjects in it,” Thornton Wilder wrote to his friend, Gertrude Stein—and that little play proved him right by forever changing American theatre. Opening in the first years of a new century, Our Town still speaks to us about the beauty and transience of life through its bittersweet portrait of a small American town. Like life, the story moves from the carefree to the profound: characters grow up, fall in love, get married, bear children and—in the heart-rending final act—encounter untimely death. The Pulitzer Prize-winning script from one of Berkeley High’s most illustrious graduates has become so familiar that we forget how its debut revolutionized theatre. Calling it “hauntingly beautiful,” The New York Times declared that Our Town broke through the barriers of modern theatre to capture the “quintessence of acting, thought and speculation.” Anyone familiar with Berkeley Rep knows that our production will cleave to this revolutionary spirit with a presentation that is utterly fresh and invigorating. After bringing Ghosts to Berkeley Rep’s stage last season, Jonathan Moscone returns to direct this beloved American classic. FINN IN THE UNDERWORLD written by Jordan Harrison directed by Les Waters October 6–November 6, 2005 (Press Night: Tuesday, October 11) Limited Season Play #1—Thrust Stage World Premiere OBIE Award-winning director Les Waters, who staged 2004’s soulful Eurydice and magnificent Yellowman, brings us the world premiere of a scintillating new play from one of America’s most gifted young writers. The mystery begins when Gwen and Rhoda must clean out their mother’s house. Little remains, other than the grandfather clock, until they literally bring the house’s ghosts to life. That’s when Gwen’s son, Finn, encounters Carver, a neighbor who holds the key to the family’s secrets. Playwright Jordan Harrison’s sparse, poignant writing is in perfect harmony with this haunting tale of heredity. As they pack up the house and unpack its secrets, his characters discover that the memories we never talk about grow larger…and the rooms we create to keep our families safe are the very places we must avoid. BRUNDIBÁR libretto by Tony Kushner adapted from Adolf Hoffmeister music by Hans Krása sets and costumes by Maurice Sendak directed by Tony Taccone November 11–December 28, 2005 (Press Night: Wednesday, November 16) Main Season Play #2—The Roda Theatre Berkeley Rep is proud to present Brundibár, a once-in-a-lifetime collaboration between two artistic giants: Tony Kushner and Maurice Sendak. Not only is Kushner the acclaimed author of Angels in America and Homebody/Kabul, he wrote the brilliant libretto for Caroline, or Change—and now he’s penned a new libretto for this remarkable musical fable. Sendak’s singular style is famous from books such as Where the Wild Things Are and In the Night Kitchen—don’t miss his spectacular sets and costumes for this production. An allegory of innocence triumphing over evil, Brundibár was originally composed in the ominous years leading up to World War II and was performed by children imprisoned at Terezin, the Nazi’s notorious “model ghetto.” In it, a brother and sister struggle to save their mother against the ruthless intentions of the town’s tyrannical organ-grinder. In 2003, Kushner and Sendak published a picture-book version of this tale; now audiences can enjoy it live! According to Kushner, Brundibár is “a testament to the creative power of human beings, even in dark times, to turn ugliness into music.” It will be directed by his longtime collaborator, Artistic Director Tony Taccone, and performed by a multigenerational cast that includes children from local choirs singing the show’s moral: “Let us be brave, and make bullies behave!” NINE PARTS OF DESIRE written and performed by Heather Raffo directed by Joanna Settle January 20–March 5, 2006 (Press Night: Wednesday, January 25) Main Season Play #3—Thrust Stage “Heather Raffo, an American actress of American and Iraqi heritage, is the sole performer on the stage, but she’s far from lonely: she inhabits her characters with such compelling vibrancy that they do not entirely disappear when she moves from one to the next.” So begins the New York Times’ radiant review of Nine Parts of Desire, a work so compassionate that it reveals our shared humanity in a way that CNN never can. A portrait of the extraordinary—and ordinary—lives of a cross-section of Iraqi women, Nine Parts of Desire lifts the veil on women in the war zone. “A triumph,” raved the New Yorker, “an example of how art can remake the world.” ZORRO written and performed by Culture Clash March 3–April 2, 2006 (Press Night: Wednesday, March 8) Limited Season Play #2—The Roda Theatre World Premiere California was born from a clash of cultures, and now Culture Clash explodes the romantic myths surrounding its creation. Following their 2002 hit, Culture Clash in AmeriCCa, these missionaries of mayhem return to Berkeley Rep with the world premiere of Zorro. Employing their usual irreverence, the trio takes on this legend to explore questions of homeland security in the Wild West—when Anglo-Americans struggled with issues such as Mexican immigration, Indian gambling and a governor born on foreign soil. At long last, it’s a Latin look behind the mask of this mainstream icon invented by an Irish American. Zorro rides out of the pages of pulp fiction, through the Hollywood image machine and beyond the barriers of class, race and ethnicity to become a hero for the oppressed in every land. Both history and histrionics play a role when Zorro is unsheathed! THE GLASS MENAGERIE written by Tennessee Williams directed by Les Waters April 6–June 4, 2006 (Press Night: Tuesday, April 11) Main Season Play #4—Thrust Stage Following her celebrated performance as Maria Callas in Master Class, Rita Moreno returns to Berkeley Rep in another legendary role: Amanda in The Glass Menagerie. Expect another breathtaking performance from the woman who won the Oscar, the Tony, the Grammy and two Emmys! Tennessee Williams’ autobiographical masterpiece about Amanda and her fractured family is brought to the stage by Associate Artistic Director Les Waters, who gave audiences a lush and lyrical look at Williams’ Suddenly Last Summer in 2003. In this tale of endurance and forgiveness, a young man is torn between obligation to his family and the need to lead a life of his own. Williams called this his “memory play,” and its expressionistic beauty illuminates the subjective nature of memory: for Amanda, it serves as a refuge; for her son, it’s a prison he will never escape. Don’t miss Rita Moreno in The Glass Menagerie on the intimate Thrust Stage. THE MISER written by Molière adapted by David Ball directed by Dominique Serrand May 12–June 25, 2006 (Press Night: Wednesday May 17) Main Season Play #5—The Roda Theatre Greed is good! Or so thinks Harpagon, paranoid buffoon and incarnation of bourgeois greed, who has beggared his family to safeguard his hefty stash of cash. But now his frustrated children have to outsmart the old man to get the money they need to marry the mates they want. Can Harpagon hold onto his hoard (and get himself a hot young bride in the bargain), or will his offspring loosen his stranglehold on the family fortune? This savagely funny comedy about a love affair between a man and his money gets a dazzling new production at Berkeley Rep from Theatre de la Jeune Lune, winner of the 2005 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. According to the Boston Globe, it has “such grace and wit that it’s churlish to be miserly with one’s praise.” So make an investment in The Miser—you’ll earn laughter with interest. For photos, interviews, etc. contact: Terence Keane, Director of Public Relations 510.647.2917, tkeane@berkeleyrep.org BACK TO TOP