Berkeley Rep Blog
Category archive: Our shows
Joaquina's Emotional Creature blog: First week of rehearsal completed!
posted by Karen McKevitt on Thu, May 31, 2012
in Backstage buzz , Our shows
The cast of Emotional Creature is blogging about their experience preparing for the world premiere of Eve Ensler's new play here at Berkeley Rep -- we knew these gals would embrace social media! These will be co-posted by Berkeley Rep and V-Girls.
Here's a post by ensemble member Joaquina Kalukango:
First official week of rehearsal completed! We started the day off with dialects, and realized we know a lot more than we give ourselves credit for. Thank God for our dialect coach Lynne who has an incredible ear and wonderful spirit! There are so many rhythms and beats in our heads, I can’t wait to see how it all comes together. We also celebrated Eve’s second birthday with a chocolate covered fruit arrangement.
Quote of the day:” I dance biology” (Atlanta accent)
–Joaquina
Eve's birthday bouquet:
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Olivia's Emotional Creature blog: Dance, dialects, and altars
posted by Karen McKevitt on Wed, May 30, 2012
in Backstage buzz , Our shows
The cast of Emotional Creature is blogging about their experience preparing for the world premiere of Eve Ensler's new play here at Berkeley Rep -- we knew these gals would embrace social media! These will be co-posted by Berkeley Rep and V-Girls.
Here's a post by ensemble member Olivia Oguma:
Hello Emotional Creatures!! Today was a stomp-tastic day!! We learned a few of the dances that involved very structured clapping and stomping combinations in preparation for our choreographer Luam who is coming Tuesday morning to work with us and fine tune all our moves! We watched some videos of the stomp dances from the workshop production of Emotional Creature and then Charl, our musical director, and Jo, our director, helped us get them down. When she arrives she will fine tune the dances. We have watched some videos of her choreography and she is amazing! We also got the chance to work individually with our spectacular dialect coach Lynne who is helping us with all the dialects we have in the show. Some of the dialects we are doing range from Congolese to British to Chinese to Bulgarian. We have a lot on our plate, but Lynne makes it simple and gives us helpful hints and tricks that make it easy for us! I cant believe we have only been in rehearsal for 10 days-- We have become such a tight knit group of Emo-Creatures! The energy in the room is infectious and amazing –- can’t wait for all the V-GIRLS out there to see this awesome show!
Love, Olivia
P.S. We also were encouraged by Eve to make an altar in our rehearsal room ! Here is our awesome altar …everyone brought something special to us..I brought a small doll, Emily made paper cranes, Eve put some flowers she got for her birthday on the altar as well. It’s so beautiful!
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Sade's Emotional Creature blog: Every day is a chance to listen and learn
posted by Karen McKevitt on Mon, May 28, 2012
in Backstage buzz , Our shows
The cast of Emotional Creature is blogging about their experience preparing for the world premiere of Eve Ensler's new play here at Berkeley Rep -- we knew these gals would embrace social media! These will be co-posted by Berkeley Rep and V-Girls.
Here's the very first post by ensemble member Sade Namei:
Today, we started our music rehearsals with with Charl (pronounced, Shawl). Singing, dancing, clapping–no child play, I assure you…Ok, maybe a little. And we’ve learned that it’s hard to talk and walk at the same time!!! Anybody? Ok… just me. Thank God for humor! Lesson learned: Have a sense of humor and you can get through anything…Anybody? Just me? Ok. Everyday, we learn something wonderful from each other. Every day is a chance to listen, learn, pause, check-in and keep learning. It’s pretty incredible being here. The challenge is enormous but the stakes to not overcome them are even higher…
Hope to see you soon. off to memorization. Keep reading.
–Sade
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Introducing Black n Blue Boys
posted by Karen McKevitt on Fri, May 25, 2012
in Our shows
The amazing Dael Orlandersmith begins previews tonight for her fierce new play, Black n Blue Boys / Broken Men.
So this is the perfect opportunity to check out her introduction to the play in this video, which was taken at our staff meet-and-greet. These interviews are usually reserved for staff, creative team, and producers -- but this time we're sharing this interview with you!
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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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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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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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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