Berkeley Rep Blog
Emotional Creature meet and greet
posted by Karen McKevitt on Tue, May 22, 2012
in Our shows
This morning the Berkeley Rep staff welcomed the cast and artistic team of Eve Ensler's Emotional Creature!
Joaquina Kalukango, Olivia Oguma, Sade Namei, Molly Carden, Ashley Bryant, and Emily S. Grosland.
Managing Director Susan Medak introduced Eve Ensler along with director Jo Bonney. Artistic director Tony Taccone recalls when Eve first spoke with him about the project: "I had an exuberant conversation with her, and when you talk with her she gets you to play in her band."
Eve gave a spirited and engrossing talk about the origins of Emotional Creature. Here is a short excerpt: "As I traveled, it seemed girls had a particular life, and a tough life, espcially in poverty-stricken countries. In this country too, there's a commodification of girls, how you're supposed to look. On the flip side, girls are amazing. It's very powerful to be a girl when everyone's been told not to be one."
The meet and greet concluded with a presentation of the set design. We're stoked to have Eve, Jo, and the fierce cast of Emotional Creature here at Berkeley Rep!
(Photos by Mary Kay Hickox.)
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Berkeley Rep does Bay to Breakers!
posted by School of Theatre on Mon, May 21, 2012
in General theatre talk , School of Theatre
On Sunday morning, four Berkeley Rep employees took a break from preparations for Black n Blue Boys / Broken Men, and laced up their running shoes for Bay to Breakers.They joined over 23,000 other runners (dressed in everything from serious race attire to ball gowns, banana costumes, and birthday suits) in a race across San Francisco and came in 13,432, 13,433, 16,802, and 16,803 place. Not bad for a bunch of theatre geeks!
Pictured above (L to R): Community Programs Manager Ben Hanna, School of Theatre Registrar Katie Riemann, Education Fellow Hannah Lennett, and Marketing and Communications Fellow Kyle Sircus
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Floating set
posted by Karen McKevitt on Sat, May 19, 2012
in Our shows , Scene shop
Whenever she's working on a set for a Berkeley Rep show, Scenic Charge Artist Lisa Lazar emails awesome photos with commentary to the entire staff. Here's her step-by-step of the set for Dael Orlandersmith's Black n Blue Boys / Broken Men, which begins performances on May 25.
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Teen Council thanks Red patrons for claiming their arts!
posted by School of Theatre on Tue, May 15, 2012
in School of Theatre , Teen Council
By Hannah Lennett, education fellow
If you saw a performance of Red, you probably encountered Teen Council’s young arts advocates on your way out. They stood with buckets full of bracelets, asking for donations to help fund their trips to Washington, D.C. and Boston to advocate for arts education.
Between their calls to “Claim your arts” and the generosity of Berkeley Rep’s patrons, we were able to raise over three times our goal for the campaign, give out over 1,000 bracelets, and learn the last scene of Red by heart!
Next on the fundraising docket in our effort to send our advocates from coast to coast:
Dramathon 2012:
A 24-hour teen play-reading fundraiser extravaganza. Stay tuned for more information about this wild and wacky day of theatre.
Interested in donating to #claimyourARTS?
Visit http://www.berkeleyrep.org/teenconferencefund/index.asp to make a quick and easy online donation.
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Got $15 and a high school ID?
posted by Cari Turley on Fri, May 11, 2012
in News , Our shows
We're committed to making Eve Ensler's new powerhouse Emotional Creature available to everyone, which is why we've been giving away free tickets to local non-profits serving people in need. But why stop there? You probably already know that we offer half-price tickets to all our shows to people under 30, but for this show -- which speaks so directly to high school students -- we thought we could go a little further.
That's why we're rolling out $15 rush tickets for all high-school students to every performance of Emotional Creature. Starting 90 minutes before each show, we'll sell any open seats for $15 to anyone with a current high school ID. Spread the word!
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RIP Maurice Sendak
posted by Karen McKevitt on Tue, May 8, 2012
in News
In November 2005, Berkeley Rep presented the musical fable Brundibar, which was adapted by Tony Kushner and featured a stunning production design by Maurice Sendak, the celebrated children's author who passed away today.
Artistic Director Tony Taccone says, "We were deeply saddened to hear today that Maurice Sendak had passed away. Maurice was an astonishing, brilliant, hysterical, ornery, loving, ferocious genius of a man. Working with him on Brundibar was a great thrill for everyone involved. We are honored that we were able to play a part in his theatrical life and will cherish his memory forever."
Berkeley Rep's production of Brundibar. Photo by Kevin Berne
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Rounding out the season with Fallaci and Elizabeth (and Lowell -- oh my!)
posted by Kyle Sircus on Thu, May 3, 2012
in News , Our shows
Berkeley Rep is rounding out its 2012-13 season with two thoughtful new plays about some fascinating women. First, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Lawrence Wright's Fallaci, a world premiere about the ferocious Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci. And last, but certainly not least, Sarah Ruhl and Les Waters (the team behind Eurydice and In the Next Room) reunite to bring Berkeley Rep audiences Dear Elizabeth, a new play about the passionate friendship between poets Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell.
Sarah Ruhl (above) returns to Berkeley Rep with Les Waters with
Dear Elizabeth, a new play about poets Robert Lowell and Elizabeth Bishop.
Photo courtesy of Berkeley Repertory Theatre
These two selections round out a fantastic season that includes work from the world's top theatre directors: David Henry Hwang's Chinglish (directed by Leigh Silverman), An Iliad (directed by Lisa Peterson), Mary Zimmerman's The White Snake (brought to you by the same theatrical mind behind Arabian Nights and Metamorphoses), the world premiere of Dan LeFranc's Troublemaker (directed by Dexter Bullard), and Mark Wing-Davey's thrilling new adaptation of Shakespeare's Pericles, Prince of Tyre.
Will we see you there? Order your ticket package now to ensure the best seats at the consistently lowest prices.
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From Russia and Rothko with love
posted by Kyle Sircus on Tue, May 1, 2012
in Our shows
After a wonderful first week of Bay Area performances over in the Roda Theatre, several members of the In Paris team ventured across the courtyard to take in the evening performance of Red. What better way to unwind than with a trip to the Rothko studio? Even the man behind the mustache himself -- Mikhail Baryshnikov, of course -- took in the passionate performances by David Chandler and John Brummer. Now that Red's been extended until May 12, maybe David and John can glean some movement lessons from the other master who's taken up residency at Berkeley Rep.
When the red emerges from the black...in Paris. Mikhail Baryshnikov dazzles in Berkeley Rep's In Paris. Photo by Maria Baranova
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Hedge your bets on "Red"
posted by Kyle Sircus on Fri, Apr 27, 2012
in Our shows
At one of his more combative moments in Red, Mark Rothko asks Ken, his young assistant, "What does red mean to you?" If Ken held a post at Christie's later in life, perhaps his answer would be "green."
As reported by the New York Times yesterday, Mark Rothko's "Orange, Red, Yellow" is expected to sell for a bid between $30 and $50 million. That's a lot of dough for this canvas! Beyond this hefty sum, though, what's interesting about this article is its analysis of the intricate bets taking place this season with art on auction. (It just so happens that Edvard Munch's "The Scream" is expected to sell for between $150 and $200 million, a price that would deem it the most expensive piece of art ever sold at auction.)
While there's still time to hedge your bets on the real deal from Christie's, perhaps a more realistic route is to catch our version of Rothko's studio in Red's two-week extension. There are still tickets available for this passionate play that swept Broadway before winning the 2010 Tony Award for best play. Be sure to catch our Red before it's swallowed up by the black on May 12!
David Chandler stars as Mark Rothko in Berkeley Rep's production of Red.
Photo courtesy kevinberne.com
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"In Paris" lands on Wednesday!
posted by Karen McKevitt on Thu, Apr 19, 2012
in Our shows
Mikhail Baryshnikov and company are en route -- ready to open one of our most anticipated shows of the season. That's right: In Paris starts next Wednesday!
The show made its U.S. premiere in Southern California, and the reviews are in. Here's a bit of what people are saying:
“Sophisticated and often haunting…The piece has continued to resonate inside me, not unlike the memory of past loves, long extinguished though never completely forgotten.”—Los Angeles Times
“Intoxicated with beauty, brains and culture…A theatrical rough and tumble, half commedia dell’arte and half vaudeville, in which the genius lies less in the risky concept and edgy execution than in the play’s commitment to getting the emotion out to the audience through the tone, color and rhythmic flow that lies beyond mere words and gestures.”—Huffington Post
“While it’s a treat to see the master move, which he does toward the end of the 80-minute performance, it would be a mistake to come solely for him. This well-paced and quietly beautiful play, based on a story by Nobel Prize winner Ivan Bunin, is a dark, moving labor of love.”—Entertainment Weekly