Berkeley Rep Blog
Category archive: Our shows
Special events with human rights orgs
posted by Karen McKevitt on Tue, Mar 8, 2011
in News , Our shows
Guest blogger and Berkeley Rep Fellow Jennifer Wills offers this post today, International Women's Day:
As the 2010-11 Bret C. Harte Directing Fellow, I came to Berkeley Rep looking for proof to my belief that theatre really does have an impact, that maybe it can make a difference. What I’m learning is that while creating or watching theatre does not usually change the world directly, it does have the potential to change people’s perceptions of the world, and that could change a lot.
Today is International Women’s Day, a global day when women and men all over the world celebrate the economic, political, and social achievements of women past, present and future. Here at Berkeley Rep we are celebrating today with our production of Ruined, Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play that gives voice to women of the Congo. In sharing their stories she also gives voice to women around the world who find themselves as victims and survivors of rape, war, and abuse.
As artist-activists, Berkeley Rep is teaming with several human rights groups in the Northern California area and beyond to offer you more opportunities to learn. Tonight, we are hosting a pre-show discussion with Anneke Van Woudenberg, a senior researcher with Human Rights Watch who spends a lot of time on the ground with women like those in Ruined. Or come to one of our many other events this month and next:
- March 17: post-show discussion with our staff or speak to representatives from Women for Women International who will be in our lobby to answer your questions
- March 22: post-show discussion with International Medical Corps
- April 4: our free Page to Stage series featuring a panel on human rights with speakers from Human Rights Watch, Global Fund for Women, Cal Human Rights Center and International Medical Corps
- April 6: post-show discussion with International Rescue Committee
Find more information about these events on our site.
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Rhapsodizing about Ruined
posted by Karen McKevitt on Mon, Mar 7, 2011
in News , Our shows
Lynn Nottage's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama about resilient women in the war-torn Congo opened last Wednesday and earned rave reviews from our local critics. In fact, this production has been wowing audiences and critics around the country, and tickets here in the Bay Area are going fast, so don't miss this brutal yet beautiful play.
Here are some choice excerpts:
“Nottage finds hope for us all in the resilience of a few… Ruined seethes with the brute energy of combat and soars with hard-won compassion and love… Nottage's Pulitzer Prize winner and a dynamic cast make the drama as engrossing as it is thought-provoking… More remarkably, Nottage finds a ray of hope, even joy, for the women and men trapped in this ongoing nightmare. The pain and the glory make an indelible impression in director Liesl Tommy's richly textured staging.” – San Francisco Chronicle
“Undeniable… Randy Duncan's choreography is explosive. The cast is uniformly riveting. Each actress sensitively delivers her own aria of suffering [and] for her part, Patano captures Mama's gentleness as well as her steel. She's tough enough to suggest a diamond hardened under pressure but soft enough so that the play's rare moments of uplift ring true. Sophie's singing has a transcendent quality that suggests the healing power of art. Christian's mockery of the butchers that plague the land is unexpectedly funny. And an unexpected romance has tearful charm.” – San Jose Mercury News / Bay Area News Group
“Emotionally gripping… The wonder of Ruined emerges in moments of beauty – whether in a song performed by Sophie (backed by musicians Adesoji Odukogbe and Alvin Terry), an athletic dance performed by the male patrons of Mama Nadi’s (choreographed by Randy Duncan) or a flash of brave compassion from a surprising source. In the face of mankind at its worst, there can be sparks of beauty and enlightenment, of fleeting joy amid horror. Those sparks – much like extraordinary pieces of theater – are what we aim for.” – Chad Jones’ Theater Dogs.Net
Photo of Oberon K.A. Adjepong (left) and Tonye Patano in Ruined courtesy of kevinberne.com
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Ruined opens, Wozniak cries, and more news
posted by Karen McKevitt on Wed, Mar 2, 2011
in News , Our shows
The highly anticipated production of Lynn Nottage's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Ruined opens tonight! It's already played to critical acclaim, awards, and enthusiastic audiences at La Jolla Playhouse and the Huntington Theatre in Boston -- where people even braved the blizzards to see it! So, we hope to see you at our Roda Theatre.
On Sunday, the San Francisco Chronicle ran an interview with Lynn Nottage conducted by theatre critic Robert Hurwitt. The topics in Ruined have really inspired Berkeley Rep's staff to hook up with local human rights organizations to put together post-show discussions, panels, and more. We even put together a resource list for all of you who would like to help those surviving the war in the Congo. And keep watching this blog for more posts about these organizations and more inspired by the play.
Berkeley Rep has been in the news quite a bit over the last few days. The Chronicle ran a feature profile on Managing Director Susan Medak, who celebrates 20 years here. And, if you haven't been on Facebook lately (or aren't a friend, or haven't liked us, or whatever), you've missed news that Steve Wozniak came to Mike Daisey's The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs -- and cried. And now the Woz is talking about trying to affect change.
Between Ruined and The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs, we're heartened to see that theatre really can shine a light on issues happening around the globe, issues that are now directly affecting us -- and we're affecting them.
Photo of Carla Duren and Pascale Armand in Ruined by kevinberne.com
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How did Mike make out?
posted by Karen McKevitt on Tue, Mar 1, 2011
in Our shows
Judging by Facebook and Twitter, a lot of people who saw The Last Cargo Cult are dying to know how Mike Daisey made out. We not only kept track of Mike’s “financial experiment,” but also jotted down amusing audience reactions -- and some surprising things we found in the bowl.
Drum roll, please! Mike ended the run with a $1,169 and half cent profit. Yes, someone contributed half a penny on closing night.
Here are some choice audience reactions as they entered the theatre:
“Oh my God, I got a dollar!”
“Ten bucks? Dad, I got ten bucks!”
"No thanks. I don't need it."
“Cool. Now I can get a cookie.”
“Oh. Did I drop this?”
“I get $5 and he gets $1? I like this!”
“How do I have to humiliate myself to keep this?”
“There’s a small hole in this dollar. I bet that’s significant.”
When handed a $10, a confused woman kept repeating, “But parking was only $5.”
A wife got $100 while her husband got $1. She said, “Relax, it isn’t real.”
A woman who received $100 spent preshow examining it for flaws.
A woman stood her ground until the moneyhandler gave her $5 instead of $1.
When a wife got a $1 and her husband got a $5, she said, “I am not giving this back! This is blatantly unfair.”
“Why don’t I just give it to the homeless man outside?” (She refused the money and went into the theatre slightly peeved.)
And more than once, some $100 bills were used at the concessions counter. Hmmm.
And, some amusing objects made their way into the bowl as well:
$1s in shreds, ripped, and folded.
A $2 bill.
A $5 folded into an intricate swan.
Two women left their phone numbers for Mike.
Two Metro cards for the New York City subway.
A business card for a stand-up comedienne.
A business card for a store called Strange Cargo with the motto “Loot and booty.”
Thanks to everyone who saw The Last Cargo Cult! Especially if you saw The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs as well. (Hey, did you know Wozniak came to see the show? Well, that’s a different blog post….)
Photo of Mike Daisey by kevinberne.com
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The impact of Agony
posted by Karen McKevitt on Wed, Feb 23, 2011
in Our shows
What impact did The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs have on our audience members? We surveyed nonsubscribers who saw the show between February 9 and February 13, and here’s what they had to say.
51% of respondents “plan to tell everyone to see it right away,” while 37% are going to recommend it to friends they think would enjoy it. (Hurry, it closes on February 27!) A mere 2% are going to keep it to themsleves.
Will having seen the show affect your future purchases of electronic equipment?
Absolutely. 23%
I hope so. 23%
Maybe. 23%
Probably not. 26%
No. 5%
Care to comment on that? [Here are some select responses.]
My work requires electronic tools and there is no way around buying them. Mike's show gave me a deeper understanding of the contradictions we live with. It was very helpful to give us handouts about ways we can express our views with corporate leaders. We have to speak up.
A devastating and timely message -- really made me think.
I already disliked Apple for many of the reasons Mike mentioned. One of my friends worked for Foxconn and had told me about much of what he described. Even though I avoid Apple products like the plague, I learned from the show that I also ought to be wary of other companies. It would be nice to inform people about companies that do not use these types of assembly techniques (if such companies exist).
It would influence my concern of practices and my choice of brand. I will still want one computer and one cell phone.
What can you do? Every single manufacturer of electronic equipment uses these factories in China. Apple is not alone. I think Mike is doing the right thing by picking on a high profile case and making an example of them. I will still buy apple products. I am locked in unfortunately, but I will agitate to get them to end their exploitation and especially their hypocrisy -- why tout the environmentally friendly qualities of their products when they use slave labor?
I think the best I can do is badger Apple. It was a great show -- smart, heartfelt, funny, disturbing.
Here are some other comments about Mike Daisey:
Mike is an amazing and deep reporter/performer and I hope I get to witness all his work going forward. Thanks Mike, for telling so much truth in such a vivid and honest way.
I truly enjoyed the presentation until Mike turned it into a call for action. I found it much more compelling as a discussion of the situation. Theater has an incredible experience to shift the conversation around it, but this is best done by giving people something to talk about, not by directly asking them to act on it.
I was mesmerized by both shows. I like the mixture of funny and meaningful.
Thanks to everyone who responded to the survey! What do you think? We'd love to read your comments too!
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Taking a bite out of Apple
posted by Karen McKevitt on Fri, Feb 18, 2011
in News , Our shows
Have you seen the cover of Wired's March 2011 issue? Check it out:
Thanks to Cult of Mac for posting it.
Yep, it looks like the media finally caught up with the story -- at least, in a more substantial way. On Monday, Huffington Post reported on Apple's 2011 supplier reports, which revealed (shock!) "child workers, bribes, unsafe conditions," and quoted COO Tim Cook as commending Foxconn for, among other suicide prevention tactics, "even attaching large nets to factory buildings." Mike Daisey already pointed out in his show that anyone who goes to the length of throwing themselves off a building will probably climb out of the net. Mike, too, has seen the nets.
And the San Jose Mercury News published this AP article on Wednesday detailing the reports' findings and Apple's response.
It's interesting -- even, as Mike might say, "awkward" -- that these articles are surfacing the week that Steve Jobs and other Silicon Valley gurus are meeting with President Obama to discuss "how to innovate," and a week before the Apple shareholders meeting, which is scheduled for February 23 -- not to mention Steve Jobs' birthday, which is February 24.
Mike Daisey's The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs plays for one more week, Tuesday, February 22 to Sunday, February 27.
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It's John Frum Day!
posted by Karen McKevitt on Tue, Feb 15, 2011
in Our shows
Perfectly timed to this week's run of Mike Daisey's The Last Cargo Cult, it's John Frum Day! How will you celebrate?
Here are some photos of the official celebration:
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The curious consequences of international success
posted by Rachel Steinberg on Mon, Feb 14, 2011
in Our shows
Just how popular is Ruined?
Well, this past weekend, a woman arrived at the Berkeley Rep box office to pick up two tickets for the 2:30 matinee of Ruined on February 5. Knowing Ruined wasn’t opening until March 2 (previews start February 25) and that our matinees are almost always at 2:00, never 2:30, the box office staff was flummoxed.
I heard this story from a box office staff member over lunch. As the resident Canuck of this year’s fellow class, I had inkling as to what had happened. Far, far away in my northerly home nation is the friendly city of Toronto, and not so far, far away from its downtown core is a Berkeley Street. And right on Berkeley Street is a theatre called -- wait for it -- the Berkeley Street Theatre.
Perhaps by now you see where this is headed.
As fate would have it, Toronto’s Berkeley Street Theatre is also home to a production of Ruined this year -- in fact, theirs is closing the same month (February) that ours begins.
After a Google search, Berkeley Rep’s staff figured out what had happened. The patron in question did have tickets for Ruined…in Canada.
I called the box office in Toronto. Apparently this was not the first such instance of confusion: “Yeah, we’ve definitely had people looking for you guys before.”
The lesson here, folks? Do make sure your tickets are for the right Berkeley. Not that Canada isn’t a lovely place, but take it from a native: it’s really, really cold up there right now.
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Model employees
posted by Cari Turley on Fri, Feb 11, 2011
in At the theatre , Our shows
Here's a typical Wednesday at Berkeley Rep: Patron Services Manager Katrena Jackson and I are standing in the rain, pretending to tear some fabric, while Art Director Cheshire Isaacs takes pictures.
As it turned out, those photos were a proof of concept for the Ruined poster, and the real shoot took place a few days later with three different "volunteers": E.T. Hazzard, who's a carpenter in our scene shop; Samantha Budd, our graphic design fellow; and Kate Vangeloff, our marketing and box office fellow. Sam and Kate held the fabric up while E.T. "tore" it (those are his hands in the photo), and the result -- after much photo-wizardry by Cheshire and Sam -- is the poster you see below.
After my near-brush with stardom, I started wondering about the other faces (and limbs) in our other show posters. Were they not, as I previously imagined, trained models who sipped Evian and called their agents between shots? Or were they actually just the staff members sitting closest to Cheshire when he got his big idea?
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Composer fan art
posted by Karen McKevitt on Fri, Feb 11, 2011
in Our shows
When Lamnho Gi saw Lemony Snicket's The Composer is Dead several weeks ago, he was so inspired by the design that he created this whimsical ink drawing and sent it to us!
Check out Lamnho's portfolio for more rad drawings -- and thanks, Lamnho, for sharing your work! You rock.