Berkeley Rep Blog
Category archive: At the theatre
Whetting your appetite for the 2010/11 season
posted by Chad Jones on Fri, Aug 13, 2010
in At the theatre , Our shows
Rehearsals have begun for Compulsion, our season-opening show, which means the new season is officially under way.
There's buzz on an international scale for the shows of our 2010/11 season, so here's a little peek into what you can expect in the coming months.
You may remember playwright David Edgar for his work on the momentous two-play cycle known as Continental Divide, a co-production of Berkeley Rep and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival from 2003 or from his extraordinary adaptation of Dickens' Nicholas Nickleby (seen a few season ago at the California Shakespeare Theater). Well David will be back at Berkeley Rep as one of 12 playwrights addressing the complex history of Afghanistan in The Great Game: Afghanistan.
David recently wrote a fascinating piece about the play for The Guardian in London. He describes The Great Game as a "mosaic of fiction and faction," which is to say imagination and fact. He continues:
"The Great Game is thoroughly contemporary: a hybrid of hybrids. Nonetheless, unlike much postmodern drama, it retains a central, coherent theme: that western interventions in Afghanistan have almost always produced the opposite effect from that which was intended."
You can read David's essay in its entirety here (and also watch a very cool video about the show).
Above photo: (l to r) Jemma Redgrave, Tom McKay, and Nabil Elouahabi star in The Great Game: Afghanistan, an epic production from London receiving its West Coast premiere at Berkeley Rep. Photographer: John Haynes
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Arabian Nights returns for the holidays
posted by Chad Jones on Wed, Aug 11, 2010
in At the theatre , News
Get ready for another magic carpet ride.
Two seasons ago, The Arabian Nights inspired nightly standing ovations and whoops and hollers from Berkeley Rep audience members. Now the show returns for a special, ultra-limited holiday engagement December 11-30.
Director Mary Zimmerman, the remarkable Tony Award-winning creator of Argonautika and Metamorphoses, once again breathes new life into the legend of the 1,001 nights. To save her life, a beautiful bride must spin hypnotic tales of genies, jesters, thieves, and kings - winning her freedom by eventually winning her husband's heart. He falls under Scheherazade's spell, and Zimmerman enchants the audience as well with her signature style that transforms simplicity into the sublime. Amid a thousand tales of honor, revenge, and humor, only love emerges victorious.
Calling The Arabian Nights one of 2008's best shows, Robert Hurwitt raved in the San Francisco Chronicle, " Zimmerman and her cast transport the audience through hilarious and poignant tales of greed, sex and revenge, each tale opening into another and another, to a lingering, redemptive and provocative end."
Tickets for this non-subscription event are on sale now only by phone – and only to Berkeley Rep subscribers. Not a subscriber yet? Call the box office at 510 647-2949 between noon and 7pm Tuesday through Sunday and reserve your seats for any three or more subscription plays. Then you too can reserve your seats for The Arabian Nights. The show goes on sale to everyone else this fall. Be sure to sign up for email to guarantee that you are notified when they do.
Above photo: Mary Zimmerman's The Arabian Nights returns for special, ultra-limited holiday run. Photo courtesy of kevinberne.com
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Mandy Patinkin to make Berkeley Rep debut
posted by Chad Jones on Mon, Aug 9, 2010
in At the theatre , Backstage buzz , News
Let's start off the new season with some exciting news. Tony and Emmy Award-winning actor Mandy Patinkin (pictured above) will star in Rinne Groff's Compulsion, the first show of the 2010/11 season.
Oskar Eustis, the artistic director of The Public Theater, directs this co-production of Berkeley Rep, The Public, and Yale Repertory Theatre, where Compulsion debuted in January (also starring Mandy Patinkin).
Of course we love Mandy for his incredible body of stage, film, and TV work, not to mention his extraordinary albums and concerts. But he lives in cinema history forever with one of the most memorable lines of all time. You know the movie and the line I'm talking about.
The movie is The Princess Bride, a treasure from 1987. And the line, "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die," ranked 88 out of 100 on the American Film Institute's list of 100 years of great movie lines.
For this and for so many other reasons, we're thrilled that Mandy Patinkin will be making his Berkeley Rep debut alongside cast members Hannah Cabell, last seen here in Sarah Ruhl's In the Next Room (or the vibrator play), and Matte Osian, last seen at Berkeley Rep in Mad Forest.
Compulsion begins previews September 13 and opens September 16 on the Thrust Stage. The show continues through October 31.
What is your favorite Mandy Patinkin role? Leave your answer in the comments section.
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Feed Edward!
posted by Megan Wygant on Thu, Jul 1, 2010
in At the theatre
I don't usually wish I worked at a movie theatre, but right now, at this moment, I do — because then, I'd have a kicky tie-in between what you're seeing on screen right now, and what we're planning behind-the-scenes.
Here's the thing: next Tuesday — July 6 — from 11am to 4pm, Berkeley Rep is joining with the American Red Cross to hold a blood drive at the Roda Theatre. If I worked at a movie theatre, this would have a very obvious tie-in. But, I don't. And you know what? I don't think I need to tie this to the current Fireworks festival to make it relevant. Here's why a blood drive is more than relevant. Necessary even:
- Every two seconds someone in the U.S. needs blood.
- A single blood donation — your donation — can help up to three people.
- The blood used in an emergency is already on the shelves before the event occurs — maintaining a good blood supply is an important part of our local ongoing emergency preparedness.
- A single car accident victim can require as many as 100 pints of blood. And yet, violent injuries are not the only situations requiring a blood transfusion. Patients who have sickle-cell anemia, are undergoing chemotherapy, or suffering from other chronic conditions often receive blood transfusions as an ongoing part of their treatment.
During the summer, while people are traveling or otherwise taking a break from their regular work-a-day lives, the blood supply traditionally drops. But the need for blood never slows down. If you're able and willing, please come down to Berkeley Rep on Tuesday, July 6 and help us maintain this vital resource for East Bay Area residents.
You can make a donation appointment online at http://www.redcrossblood.org/make-donation. Find us by typing in the sponsor code "REP."
Edward or no Edward, we hope to see you here.
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Digging Scoop and his Crazy Wisdom
posted by Chad Jones on Wed, Jun 30, 2010
in At the theatre , Backstage buzz
Wes “Scoop” Nisker is known for his decades of work as a Bay Area radio news anchor and commentator as well as for his teachings in Buddhist meditation and philosophy. But he has a secret: there’s theatre in his past.
Back in the day, he dabbled in stage work with the San Francisco Mime Troupe, and in the late ‘70s, he was part of a performance work called The Empire Strikes Out, which ran at Intersection for the Arts in San Francisco and at the Julia Morgan Theater in Berkeley.
As his journey took him into the Buddhist community, Scoop performed some short pieces during workshops and at conferences until people encouraged him to go public. That’s when he started performing different versions of Crazy Wisdom Saves the World Again at venues such as The Marsh and Freight & Salvage.
For the last few months, Scoop has been working on Crazy Wisdom with Mina Morita, Berkeley Rep’s Bret C. Harte Directing Fellow, along with Literary/Dramaturgy Fellow Rachel Viola, to transform Crazy Wisdom from a lecture piece to something more theatrical. This revamped, more theatrical version will have two performances as part of Berkeley Rep’s Fireworks festival July 2 and 3.
“It used to be very casual,” Scoop recalls. “It was me getting up and making observations, musing on life and the universe. Now the show is being given thematic and dramatic arcs than it never had, which is interesting and exciting. It’s also hard work!”
According to Scoop, the underlying theme of the show hasn’t changed, which is essentially him musing on stuff. “The new structure gives me freedom to get into the character that is me, to let the character come into it and let it be full-blown exposition,” Scoop says. “My main objective is to share my own wonder, my own excitement about the things that I am taken with – science, the universe, existence, what it’s all about. In the show I describe myself as kind of a cosmic journalist and a comic philosopher.”
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Leaving us In the Wake
posted by Chad Jones on Fri, Jun 25, 2010
in At the theatre , Backstage buzz , Our shows
As we head into closing weekend for Lisa Kron's In the Wake, we'd like to leave you with a few parting thoughts courtesy of the Los Angeles Times.
Charles McNulty, in his essay "The Kushner effect, an Angel in American playwriting," celebrates the lasting legacy of Tony Kushner's epic Angels in America, a play that has inspired a generation of writers to bring national scope and creative imagination to the stage. He writes:
Three plays in recent months have pressed an awareness of the continuing artistic impact of Angels: Rajiv Joseph's Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, Julia Cho's The Language Archive and Lisa's Kron's In the Wake...
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Today only! Great offer for Berkeley Rep friends from Hotel Shattuck Plaza
posted by Chad Jones on Fri, Jun 25, 2010
in At the theatre
Now that it's officially summer, life is gloriously full of activity.
It's Pride Weekend, with events all around the Bay Area, and the A's are playing a triple header against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Here at Berkeley Rep, it's closing weekend for Lisa Kron's In the Wake, and we see the final performances of Dan Hoyle's The Real Americans as part of the Fireworks festival.
To provide an oasis of calm amid the craziness, the Hotel Shattuck Plaza has a special one-day offer for Berkeley Rep's friends: 25% off already reduced room rates this weekend (Saturday, June 26 and Sunday, June 27).
Call the hotel today (Friday, June 25) at 510 845-7300 to reserve a discounted room for this weekend. Say you want the "Friends of Berkeley Rep" rate. Reminder: this is a one-day offer!
Have a great (busy) weekend!
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Meet Dan Hoyle's secret weapon
posted by Chad Jones on Thu, Jun 24, 2010
in At the theatre , Backstage buzz
Sure Dan Hoyle is a skilled journalist, a fascinating writer, and an incredibly talented performer. But he also happens to make savvy choices when it comes to picking his collaborators.
If you were a young solo performer seeking to develop new work, to whom would you turn for help? Dan went straight to Charlie Varon (Rush Limbaugh in Night School, Rabbi Sam), one of the country's best solo performers who also helps steer other solo shows — often at The Marsh in San Francisco — toward brilliance.
Charlie and Dan first collaborated on Tings Dey Happen, a show about Dan's experience as a Fulbright Scholar studying Nigerian oil politics on the Niger Delta. That show went so well they embarked on a second show, The Real Americans, about Dan's cross-country trip in search of "the real America."
Both shows had critics raving and audiences thronging. And both shows just happen to be part of Berkeley Rep's Fireworks festival. The Real Americans begins performances tonight and runs through Sunday, June 27. And Tings Dey Happen runs June 30 and July 1.
The San Francisco Chronicle's Rob Hurwitt sat down with Charlie to talk about his collaboration with Dan in today's newspaper. Read the interview.
Visit our online box office for Fireworks ticket information or call 510 647-2949.
Above photo: Charlie Varon, director and co-developer of Dan Hoyle's Tings Dey Happen and The Real Americans. Photo by Liz Hafalia, courtesy of the San Francisco Chronicle
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More Dan Hoyle and The Real Americans
posted by Chad Jones on Wed, Jun 16, 2010
in At the theatre , Backstage buzz
When you hear the phrase "due to popular demand" it can seem like so much promotional hoo-ha. But when we say it, we mean it. Due to popular demand, we've added one more performance of Dan Hoyle's acclaimed solo show The Real Americans to the Fireworks festival. Dan has sold out his Real Americans performances June 24-26, so another one just had to be added.
Tickets are $25. You can order them here. When they're gone, that's it!
While we're on the subject of the dynamic Mr. Hoyle, you should check this new profile from the San Jose Mercury News/Contra Costa Times. Karen D'Souza talked to Dan about bringing Americans and Tings Dey Happen to the Fireworks festival.
Karen had this to say about Dan:
"If his father, Geoff, has been dubbed the clown prince of the Bay Area theater scene, Dan is the Marco Polo of monologuists. The quick-witted performer scours the globe and then fills the stage with a menagerie of characters, from Alabama NASCAR fans to Nigerian warlords, with equal parts chutzpah and empathy. In show after show he etches quicksilver portraits of the people, politics and issues that make the 21st century such a beguiling time to live."
Karen also talked with Charlie Varon, who helped develop Dan's shows and directed them.
"`A lot of solo performers can run through a series of characters one after another,' says veteran director Charlie Varon (Rush Limbaugh in Night School). `Dan's work is so much more rich and complex than that. He can play everyone sitting at the table all at once. With his physical dexterity and his intellectual adventurousness, he can create an entire universe.' While many assume that Hoyle inherited his mimetic gifts from his father, Varon, who began collaborating with him back on Circumnavigator in 2004, is quick to point out that he has labored long to hone his skills.
`A lot of people think it's native talent, but he works very hard to make it look easy,' Varon says. `You can't overestimate the number of hours he will spend rehearsing a bit of business in the mirror.'
Read the whole article then order your tickets before they're gone! Dan's Tings Dey Happen runs June 30-July 1 and Wes "Scoop" Nisker's Crazy Wisdom Saves the World Again closes the festival July 2-3.
Above: Dan Hoyle photo by Cheshire Isaacs
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Check out David Sedaris' recommended reading list
posted by Chad Jones on Tue, Jun 15, 2010
in At the theatre , Backstage buzz
We're beyond thrilled to have David Sedaris with us this week as part of our Fireworks festival. The first performance of An Evening with David Sedaris took place last night, and it was, as expected, full of laughs and great writing. (David also mentioned his new mission: get people to buy tickets for In the Wake next door at the Roda — he may even have said something about "hot lesbian action with a message.")
David read five stories from his forthcoming book Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary, and if you were at all concerned about David diverging from his series of bestselling memoirs, relax. The fables are an ideal vehicle for his humor, insight, and wonderfully macabre leanings. As if the evening wasn't enjoyable enough, David then read from his diary.
During the question-and-answer session, David was asked about books he's reading or recommending these days, and his answer was Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned, a short-story collection by emerging author Wells Tower. He raved about the title story, which is about Vikings. Speaking of Vikings, David also gave a shout-out to the Viking movie Valhalla Rising.
David is often asked about his favorite books, so he has kindly created a virtually permanent recommendation list. Below you will find a few of his recommendations, and you can find the complete