07/08 main season
written and directed by mary zimmerman
adapted from the voyage of jason and the argonauts
co-produced with mccarter theatre center and the shakespeare theatre company
the roda theatre
november 2–december 23, 2007
west coast premiere
running time: 2 hours and 30 minutes,
including one 15 minute intermission
extended through december 23
the art
watch the trailer
Watch a trailer for the show (2.7MB, QuickTime required)
free speech
We like theatre that inspires talk. Please meet us for any of these free enrichment events.
docent presentations
Every Tue and Thu—
30-minute look inside each play beginning at 7PM
post-show discussions
Nov 29, Dec 4 and 14—
lively 30-minute post-show Q&A with the cast or other company members
30-below
Nov 2—pre-show Triple Rock beer tasting and the coolest post-show party for the under-30 crowd
night/OUT
Nov 8 —post-show party for the LGBT community
book club
Nov 16—moderated discussion of Myths to Live By by Joseph Campbell beginning at 6:30PM
tastings
Join us for complimentary tastings at 7PM before select Friday and Saturday evening performances.
Nov 9—Chocolate /
Charles Chocolates
Nov 10—Champagne /
Domaine Carneros
Nov 30—Wine /
Raymond Vineyards
Dec 1—Salumi / Fra’ Mani
Dec 7—Beer /
Pyramid Breweries
Dec 8—Small-batch spirits /
Craft Distillers
Tony Award-winning director Mary Zimmerman returns to Berkeley Rep for the West Coast premiere of Argonautika. This time, Zimmerman joins Jason on his ancient quest for the Golden Fleece—an epic journey of love and loss, hubris and honor, danger and adventure. Jason confronts giants, kings, sirens, nymphs, centaurs, sea monsters and one heartsick sorceress. In her latest perilous voyage, Zimmerman shows us that love is the bane of all mankind—and yet it’s all that we know of heaven on this earth. See Argonautika in Berkeley before it sails for the East Coast.
bring the kids
Their tickets are half-price when they’re under 30!
Parental advisory: Argonautika explores mythical themes. If they’ve read the great myths, there’s nothing in the show they haven’t heard before—except for a few instances of adult language which they’ve likely heard on the street and in school.
the artist
Mary Zimmerman received the 2002 Tony Award for directing Metamorphoses. Like her other hits—Journey to the West, The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci and The Secret in the Wings—that show made its West Coast premiere at Berkeley Rep. Recipient of a MacArthur Genius Grant, Zimmerman will direct Lucia di Lammermoor to open the 2007/08 Season at New York’s Metropolitan Opera.
the buzz
“Theatrical wizard Mary Zimmerman’s stunningly imaginative, engagingly comic, affecting and invigoratingly immediate Lookingglass Theatre retelling of the ancient myth of Jason and the Argonauts’ quest for the Golden Fleece, and his ill-fated romance with the virginal sorceress Medea, is a 2 ½-hour treat in its Berkeley Rep West Coast premiere. Graced with beautiful, deceptively simple design, inventive stagings, beguilingly wry puppets and a thoroughly engaging cast, it’s a modern take on an old tale of ambition, deception, heroism, love and unintended consequences.”—San Francisco Chronicle (November 9, 2007)
“Zimmerman has the kind of transforming theatrical touch that reconnects audiences to what live theater is all about. Mystery, magic, a heightened sense of awareness of the physical presence of the actor in space and time—all these form the defining grammar of her work.”—San Francisco Chronicle (October 17, 2007)
“The adventure of a lifetime…The experience of seeing the show really is like going on an adventure into some uncharted theatrical territory, and returning with memories to treasure for a long time.”—Contra Costa Times
“Channels the power of myth to touch us where we live today…[Zimmerman] recounts the epic of Jason and the Argonauts to reveal the hero’s journey as a metaphor for all of us…Images flow seamlessly from one stage picture to another, as Jason (Jake Suffian) rides the ocean’s waves to his destiny…Sets the heart pounding and the imagination ablaze…”—San Jose Mercury News
“Argonautika is a masterpiece.”—Chicago Tribune (July 4, 2007)
“A sizzling theatrical adventure, full of mythical flourish and dramatic excitement…smart, fresh, endlessly imaginative and thoroughly enjoyable…replete with Zimmerman’s ability to take one step back from the fanciful story and ponder its deeper truths.”—Chicago Tribune (October 30, 2006)
“A spare, lucid, elegant show…it’s so remarkably ambitious, enjoyable and meaningful overall that pointing out small weaknesses would be pointless.”—Variety
“Not to be missed…The show takes place in a beautiful, open-backed wooden box (set by Daniel Ostling, stunning lighting by John Culbert) that is meant to evoke the deck of the Argos. To my mind, the set seemed to be more of a storytelling gymnasium in which the actors get a workout taking turns as narrators, playing multiple roles, flying in and out of the set, setting up the ship’s rigging and fighting Michael Montenegro’s terrific bare-bones puppets.”—Chad Jones’ Theater Dogs
the dates
press photos
production sponsor
restaurant sponsor
season sponsors
