Born With Teeth

A U R O R A T H E AT R E C O M PA N Y P R E S E N T S

BY Liz Duffy Adams

DIRECTED BY Josh Costello

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SEPT APR 71

I N T I M A T E . I N C L U S I V E1 . I N S P I R I N G . G E T I N .

Dear FriendsLiz Duffy Adams and I have been crossing paths for years. We met at various performances and events, I had read and seen and been inspired by her plays, and I came close to directing one over a decade ago. This production marks our first collaboration — and I’m already hoping to have a second.

Liz is a nationally celebrated playwright; her recognitions include the Glickman Award for Best New Play in the Bay Area, a Women of Achievement Award, the Lillian Hellman Award, and many more. American Theatre Magazine says “Hers is an utterly unique and captivating voice.” Aurora brought Liz to Berkeley for a short workshop of Born With Teeth in 2019, prior to its hugely successful world premiere at Houston’s Alley Theatre. This is the play’s second production.

In Born With Teeth, Liz takes the latest historical research about William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe – that revealed their collaboration on the Henry VI cycle – and uses it to spin a tale of friendship and betrayal, lust and love, and fiery artistic collaboration. And she sets this story in an Elizabethan England very different from the sanitized one often presented in movies about Shakespeare. England in the 1590s had gone back and forth between Catholicism and Henry VIII’s Church of England multiple times in living memory. Catholics in France and England were plotting the queen’s assassination, and the queen’s spymasters were tasked with rooting out secret Catholics. Trusting the wrong person, saying the wrong thing, or even just being accused of holding the wrong beliefs could get you tortured or killed.

How does living under such a regime affect our ability to make art, to fall in love, to stay true to our beliefs and values? This is, unfortunately, not a rhetorical question in many parts of the world, and there are those who would impose authoritarianism in the United States as well. One of the remarkable things about Liz’s play is that it wrestles with these dark and profound issues while also sharing the pleasure and joy of two immensely talented artists, two hot-blooded young men, discovering a connection between them that will change both of their lives forever.

Born With Teeth is the first production of Aurora’s intimate, inclusive, and inspiring 32nd Season.

I hope you will get in on the four plays to come as well, perhaps as a subscriber or flex pass holder. This is a difficult time for the whole theatre industry – income has not yet recovered from the pandemic even as expenses continue to grow – and I’m so grateful for the support of our patrons that allows us to continue serving as the storyteller for our community.

Thank you, and enjoy the show!

Josh Costello ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

TIME AND PLACE Part 1: Winter 1591 Part 2: Summer 1592 Part 3: May 1593 A private back room in a London tavern.

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Josh Costello

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Robin Dolan & Nicole Elise Shultz CO-MANAGING DIRECTORS

AURORA THEATRE COMPANY PRESENTS

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BY Liz Duffy Adams

DIRECTED BY Josh Costello

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THE CAST Dean Linnard* �������������������������������������������������������������������������� KIT Brady Morales-Woolery* ����������������������������������������������������� WILL UNDERSTUDIES Jamin Jollo ���������������������������������������������������������������������� KIT, WILL

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CREATIVE TEAM Ulises Alcala** Costume Designer Samantha Alexa Lead Props Kate Boyd Scenic Designer Cliff Caruthers** Composer & Sound Designer Philippa Kelly Dramaturg

Eleanor Maples Assistant Stage Manager Chelsea Pace Intimacy & Fight Director Lisa Ann Porter Dialect Coach Scott Reardon* Stage Manager Jeff Rowlings** Lighting Designer

PRESENTING SPONSORS Craig & Kathy Moody SPONSORS Jessica Broitman & Gibor Basri Ellen & Barry Levine Aurora Theatre Company gratefully acknowledges the following foundations and government agencies for their support: City of Berkeley Civic Arts Program & Civic Arts Commission, National Endowment for the Arts, Harold & Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, and The Shubert Foundation.

BORN WITH TEETH received a reading and the world premiere production at the Alley Theatre, Houston, TX Rob Melrose, Artistic Director Dean R. Gladden, Managing Director BORN WITH TEETH is presented through special arrangement with TRW PLAYS 1180 Avenue of the Americas, Suite 640, New York, NY 10036. www.trwplays.com

Special Thanks to John & Molly Gordon

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*Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers, The Director is a Member of

the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, a national theatrical labor union.**United Scenic Artists Member

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KIT& WILL

Born in 1564, William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe were separated in age by just two months. William was the third child of eight to be born to his parents but the first to survive; Christopher was the second of his parents’ nine children, and became the eldest when his sister died four years later. Christopher’s father was a shoemaker, and William’s a glover, as well as Bailiff (mayor) of Stratford. Despite their exact equivalence in age and the playwriting

By Philippa Kelly, DRAMATURG profession they would come to choose, the early locations and trajectories of their lives were quite different.

Shakespeare had a short but intense period of formal schooling. His father’s fall in fortunes likely compelled 13 year-old Will to leave the up-market grammar school to which John Shakespeare’s position had entitled him free attendance. Marlowe earned scholarships to study for a Bachelor’s degree at the King’s School in Canterbury, and a Master’s degree – the highest degree at the time, as there was no PhD – at Cambridge University’s Corpus Christi College. At Cambridge, Marlowe gained fluency in many languages, including Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and possibly Italian. We know nothing about Shakespeare’s life in the years between the age of 13 and his marriage at 18 to 26 yearold Anne Hathaway. The absence of any educational records for Will has led scholars to speculate about his possible access to the private libraries of nobleman patrons in which he could read such influential sources as Raphael Holinshed’s Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland. Because of the popularity of traveling theatre and the capacity to influence vast numbers of people via performance, noblemen gained stature by allowing writers to use their libraries. Henry Wriothesley, the Earl of Southampton, who “pass[ed] away the time merely in going to plays every day,” would famously become Shakespeare’s major patron; but as he was aged only 8 at the time of Shakespeare’s emergence on the scene, the mystery of Shakespeare’s education remains unsolved. It is almost certain that Shakespeare received some of his dramatic education “on the job,” performing small roles in the many traveling productions of the day.

Kit Marlowe’s Cambridge scholarship was awarded with the expectation that he would become a clergyman, but instead he became a playwright, and, according to many scholars, embraced atheism or perhaps agnosticism. Shakespeare came from a reputedly Catholic family whose faith had to be publicly closeted in Protestant Elizabethan England. In all of Shakespeare’s plays there are many references to pagan gods, but not a single direct reference to either Catholicism or Protestantism. Marlowe’s plays — especially Doctor Faustus and The Massacre at Paris—have anti-Catholic sentiments, but they also do something quite remarkable for the time: Marlowe encouraged the 4

idea that politics and religion should be kept separate. This was a radical and dangerous idea in a time and place where the queen’s power was largely based on the belief that she was invested with God’s divine authority, and where any whisper of treason could result in a writer getting his hand, ear, or even his life itself cut off.

By the end of his own abbreviated life, Marlowe’s plays openly condemned the violence being perpetuated on grounds of religious rectitude by the Elizabethan government. Who knows how that sat with Queen Elizabeth, for whose Secret Service Marlowe had for almost 10 years been a spy?

Than Tamburlaine be slain or ta’en from here.

But he wanted to take audiences out of the comforting constraints of end-rhyme and into the wider realm of philosophical speculation. Shakespeare would emulate Marlowe in this, using blank verse to express his characters’ dialogue and inner thoughts. Sometimes he would append blank-verse passages with a rhyming couplet to add an emphatic or conclusory note, as in the final lines of Hamlet IV.iv: …while, to my shame, I see The imminent death of twenty thousand men, That, for a fantasy and trick of fame, Go to their graves like beds, fight for a plot Whereon the numbers cannot try the cause, Which is not tomb enough and continent To hide the slain? O, from this time forth, My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!

One huge influence that Marlowe brought to the stage was his use of blank verse, meaning verse that is rhythmically harmonic as iambic pentameter, but which does not use the end-rhyme that was so popular in the countless plays written for actors who were moving from company to company. Besides being popular with audiences as an inherited tradition, endrhymes made “conning” the lines much easier for actors who were performing in several plays concurrently. In the prologue to Tamburlaine, Marlowe announces his departure from the “jigging veins of rhyming mother wits”. He found rhyming verse to be too narrow and “sing-song” in nature for the kind of expansive speeches he wanted to write. An example of blank verse can be found in Tamburlaine’s lines: I hold the Fates bound fast in iron chains, And with my hand turn Fortune’s wheel about; And sooner shall the sun fall from his sphere Than Tamburlaine be slain or overcome

My thoughts on the relationship between Will and Kit are extensive, but playbill space is short. I’ll leave it to Liz Duffy Adams’ ingenious and enthralling play, and the acting skills of Dean Linnard and Brady Morales-Woolery, to bring the two writers together as they pen Henry VI Part One. What will happen as they get acquainted in a little room in Mistress Plumley’s tavern? Will it be rivalry, fear, inspiration, or even love?

Had he used end-rhyme, Marlowe could, for example, have written something like (a Philippa Kelly invention): And sooner shall the sun fall from his sphere

For further reading about the history and world of the play, please visit auroratheatre.org/BornWithTeeth

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C O M M U N I T Y PA R T N E R S

Aurora Theatre Company’s Community Partner’s Program

Connects each of our productions to a partner organization, grounding Aurora into the life, work, and culture of our community. By sharing resources between Aurora Theatre Company and our partner organizations, we build lasting relationships that further our mission and yours while strengthening our community in Berkeley, the East Bay, and the Bay Area.

For Born With Teeth, Aurora is thrilled to partner with CalShakes. In this present moment of crisis for the American theatre, supporting local artistic organizations and the communities they serve is vital. CalShakes and Aurora both believe strongly in working together to continue innovating, adapting, and evolving our practices to ensure not only the survival, but the growth and abundance of theater for years to come, and are excited to invite you along for this first step in such a partnership.

Tre’Vonne Bell, Ed Gonzalez Moreno, Gabriella Fanuele*, Margo Hall*, Michael J. Asberry*, Sam Jackson, and Adam KuveNiemann in Ike Holter’s Exit Strategy. *Member AEA. Photo by David Allen.

Under the leadership of Executive Director, Clive Worsley, California Shakespeare Theater (Cal Shakes) enters its 49th season as a nationally recognized leader in drawing on the power of authentic, inclusive storytelling to create more vibrant communities.

Serving more than 43,000 people annually, Cal Shakes invites people from all walks of life to make deeply felt connections with our shared humanity through its work onstage, in schools, and with people in non-traditional settings throughout the Bay Area who have little or no access to performing arts. For more information, visit calshakes.org.

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COMMUNITY NIGHT

AURORA INSIGHTS

Theatre Community Night

Art Under Authoritarianism

SEP 15

SEP 23

6:30pm - Pre-Show Reception

Aurora INsights are a moderated panel and discussion offered to our donors of any level to continue the conversations inspired by the themes of our 2023/2024 Season.

To learn more about this program and other donor benefits, visit:

STARTS AT 4PM

Join us as we celebrate the resilience and tenacity of our local theatre community!

8:00pm - BORN WITH TEETH

by Liz Duffy Adams

Post-Show Discussion Following the Show

auroratheatre.org/donor-benefits.

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C R E AT I V E T E A M

LIZ DUFFY ADAMS (PLAYWRIGHT) play Born With Teeth, recipient of a 2021 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award and Best Play/Production, 2022 Houston Press Awards, had its world premiere at the Alley Theater in 2022, a production that moved to the Guthrie Theatre in March–April 2023.

experience of live theatre with new audiences and underserved communities. He was the founding Artistic Director of Impact Theatre, which focused on audiences in their teens and twenties. As the Artistic Director of Expanded Programs at Marin Theatre Company, Josh created and administered several programs that built relationships with new audiences. At Aurora, Josh initiated student matinee and Community Partner programs and led a revision of Aurora’s mission to emphasize the theatre’s role as storyteller to the community.

Her Or, premiered Off Broadway at WP Theater and has been produced more than 80 times since, including at the Magic Theater, Seattle Rep, and Roundhouse Theatre. She’s a New Dramatists alumna and has received a Women of Achievement Award, Lillian Hellman Award, New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, Weston Playhouse Music-Theater Award, Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship, and the Will Glickman Award for Best New Play (Dog Act). Her Artistic Stamp virtual play in letters, Wild Thyme, was nominated for a 2021 Drama League Award for Outstanding Interactive or Socially-Distanced Theater.

Josh has directed Cyrano, This Much I Know, The Flats, Exit Strategy, The Importance of Being Earnest, Detroit, Wittenberg, and The Heir Apparent for Aurora, as well as the world premiere of Eureka Day, which won every Bay Area new play award. His world-premiere production of Aaron Loeb’s Ideation with SF Playhouse in both San Francisco and New York City won the Glickman Award for Best New Play in the Bay Area and the Theatre Bay Area Award for Outstanding Direction, and was named a New York Times Critic’s Pick.

Costello’s other directing work includes My Children! My Africa! at Marin Theatre Company, House of Lucky at Magic Theatre, and his adaptations of Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother and Aphra Behn’s The Rover. He was the Education Director at Marin Shakespeare Company, and a faculty member at Cal Shakes, ACT, SF Shakes, UC Riverside, Cal State Long Beach, South Coast Rep, and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Costello holds a BFA in Theatre from Boston University, and an MFA in Directing from the University of Washington, Seattle.

Publications include Or, in Smith & Kraus’ “Best Plays Of 2010;” Dog Act in “Geek Theater,” Underwords Press 2014; Poodle With Guitar And Dark Glasses in Applause’s “Best American Short Plays 2000-2001;” and acting editions by TRW Plays, Playscripts, Inc. and Dramatists Play Service.

Adams has an MFA from Yale School of Drama and a BFA from New York University’s Experimental Theater Wing. She has dual Irish and American citizenship, and lives in New York City on Lanape land, and in Western Massachusetts on unceded Pocumtuc and Nipmuc territory.

DEAN LINNARD* (KIT) is a Berkeley lad, born and raised, honored to make his Aurora debut.

Bay Area credits include Dave Malloy’s Octet (Berkeley Rep), A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Good Person of Szechwan, The Winter’s Tale (Cal Shakes), Twelfth Night, The Three Musketeers, Love’s Labour’s Lost (Marin Shakespeare Company), and Indecent (San Francisco Playhouse). Dean won Theatre Bay Area Awards

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JOSH COSTELLO (DIRECTOR) is the Artistic Director of Aurora Theatre Company.

Throughout his career, he has worked to make theatre more accessible for more people, sharing a passion for the visceral 8

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for both Hand to God and Bad Jews at Left Edge Theatre and a San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award for Groundhog Day: The Musical at San Francisco Playhouse.

New York credits include Museum Hack (Metropolitan Museum of Art), Time Temple (Guggenheim Museum), and the world premiere of Dave Harris’ Tambo & Bones (Playwrights Horizons). Regional credits include shows with Asolo Rep, Portland Playhouse, the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Vermont Shakespeare Festival, and the National Tour of the musical The Lightning Thief. Training: BFA from NYU Tisch, Stella Adler Studio, RADA. DeanLinnard.com

he received The San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award for Costume Design for The Winter’s Tale at California Shakespeare Theatre.

From 2005 to 2015 he designed for the San Francisco Opera Center’s Merola Program, including The Marriage of Figaro, L’Elisir D’Amour, Don Giovanni and Don Pasquale.

Alcala is currently living in Ashland, Oregon, where he is a Production Manager (Costumes/ Wardrobe/ Hair) for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He is a proud member of United Scenic Artists, Local 829. www.ulisesalcaladesign.com SAMANTHA ALEXA (LEAD PROPS) is a San Francisco based multidisciplinary artist specializing in props design, film, and contemporary art. She has worked with a variety of theater companies in the city, including Magic Theatre, Brava Theatre, Golden Thread Productions, Custom Made Theatre, and SF Playhouse. In addition to theater, Samantha is a filmmaker specializing in production design and has worked for various commercials, TV shows, music videos, and short films in the Bay Area film industry. She received her training at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and holds a BA Honors degree in Contemporary Performance.

Her creative praxis explores the intersections of performance, ritual, light, and land.

BRADY MORALESWOOLERY* (WILL) is making his Aurora Theatre debut and was most recently seen as Victor Prynne in Private Lives at Arizona Theatre Company. He trained at the University of California at Berkeley. Select theatre credits include Clue (Center Rep), Romeo y Juliet (Cal Shakes), The Curious Case of the Watson Intelligence (Shotgun Players), Twelfth Night (Cal Shakes), Once (42nd Street Moon), Retablos (Word for Word), Bright Shining Sea (SF Playground), Barefoot in the Park (Willows Theatre Company) The Kentucky Cycle (Willows Theatre Company), and FSM (Stagebridge). Feature films include Quitters, Pushing Dead, The Internship, and the upcoming Avenue of the Giants. He sends love to his family and friends for their continued support.

KATE BOYD (SCENIC DESIGNER) is a local scenery and lighting designer. She recently designed the lights for Justice at Marin Theatre Company and scenery for The Language of Wild Berries for Golden Thread. Recent Aurora shows include Hurricane Diane, Father/ Daughter, and Everything is Illuminated. She has also designed at Center Rep, Magic Theater, New Conservatory Theater, Merola Opera, the SF Conservatory of Music, Company C Ballet and Theaterworks. Kate is a resident artist with Golden Thread Productions and a recipient of the Gerbode Design Fellowship.

Kate teaches stagecraft and design at LickWilmerding High School.

ULISES ALCALA** (COSTUME DESIGNER) is delighted to return to the Aurora Theater Company, one of his artistic homes in the Bay Area. At Aurora he designed costumes for This Much I Know, A Bull in a China Shop, and Actually. Other recent projects include Revenge Song and The Merry Wives of Windsor at The Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Dido and Aeneas at Opera San Jose, The Winter’s Tale at Santa Cruz Shakespeare, The Good Person of Szechuan and Quixote Nuevo at California Shakespeare Theatre, and The Cake at Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. In 2022

CLIFF CARUTHERS** (COMPOSER & SOUND DESIGNER) Is a Bay Area based composer and sound designer with over 300 theatre credits near and far, including Paradise Blue at Aurora Theatre Company, Frankenstein at Guthrie Theatre, 1984 at Alley Theatre, Caucasian Chalk

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ELEANOR MAPLES (ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER) is a local emerging theater artist.

As an East Bay native, she has had a longstanding love affair with the theatres of Addison Street, and has chased a passion for critically-minded contemporary theatre through her recent years in Berlin, Germany and New York City. As an alum of both Oakland School for the Arts and NYU’s Playwrights Horizons Studio (Class of 2019), Eleanor has a combined 7 years of conservatory training, and approaches all of her projects from a place of curiosity and growth. Her creative passions include directing, acting, writing, and costume design, as well as visual arts. She was most recently seen co-directing The Albatross by Alex Moggridge at Berkeley Rep’s 2023 High School Summer Intensive alongside Dylan Russell.

Circle for American Conservatory Theater, TRAGEDY: A Tragedy for Berkeley Repertory Theater, Man in Love for Kansas City Rep, and A Clean House for TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, where he was Resident Sound Designer for seven years. In 2007 his work on Fighter Airplanes for Cutting Ball Theater was featured at the Prague Quadrennial in 2007. His work on Earth: A Primer was featured at the Experimental Gameplay Worship at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in 2015. He has received several Bay Area Critics Circle awards, most recently in 2019 for Detroit ’67 at Aurora Theatre Company. Mr. Caruthers is co-curator of the San Francisco Tape Music Festival, teaches sound design at San Francisco State University, and is a proud member of United Scenic Artists.

JAMIN JOLLO (U/S KIT, WILL) is an actor and performance artist from Southern Oregon specializing in mime, movement, and stage combat. He’s a founding member of Three Gents Theatre Co. and currently playing the roles of Orsino, Andrew Aguecheek, and constructing the set for their production, Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. Recent credits include The Triumph of Love at Shotgun Players, The Two Gentlemen of Verona at The Curtain Theatre, and HAIR at 6th Street Playhouse.

CHELSEA PACE (INTIMACY & FIGHT DIRECTOR) THEATRE: BROADWAY: Strange Loop, Leopoldstadt, K-POP. OFF-BROADWAY: The Shed: HELP, INTAR: Bundle of Sticks.

REGIONAL: Berkeley Rep: POTUS (upcoming); La Jolla: SUMO (upcoming), As You Like It; Signature: Bridges of Madison County, Into the Woods, Passing Strange, Color Purple, Daphne’s Dive, RENT, Detroit ‘67; Woolly Mammoth: Incendiary, Strange Loop; Studio Theatre: Fun Home, John Proctor is the Villain, White Noise; Folger: Midsummer Night’s Dream; Arena Stage: Seven Guitars; Philadelphia Theatre Co: Tattooed Lady.

Resident Intimacy Consultant at Signature Theatre, Studio Theatre, and Woolly Mammoth.

FILM/TV: Select: A League of Their Own, Harlem, Best Man: Final Chapters, Wu-Tang: An American Saga, The Tender Bar, MASHED. Forthcoming TV/Film: Drive Away Dolls, Dr. Death, Mother’s Instinct, American Sports Story. Co-Founder, Theatrical Intimacy Education. AUTHOR: Staging Sex: Best Practices Tools and Techniques for Theatrical Intimacy. AWARDS: Kennedy Center Gold Medallion. www.chelseapace.com @professorpace

PHILIPPA KELLY (DRAMATURG) Dr. Philippa Kelly has served for 14 years as Resident Dramaturg for the California Shakespeare Theater, and as Production Dramaturg for many regional theaters. She is thrilled to be working on Born With Teeth at the Aurora. Philippa has been awarded fellowships from the Fulbright, Rockefeller and Commonwealth Foundations, and grants from the California Arts Council, the NEA, the Walter and Elise Haas Foundation, the Walter and Eliza Hall Foundation, and the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (National Bly Award for Innovation in Dramaturgy). She has published 11 books and over 100 internationally peer-reviewed articles and professional playbill articles. She is Chair and Professor of English at the California Jazz Conservatory and also teaches in the Theatre Department at San Jose State University.

LISA ANNE PORTER (DIALECT COACH) was recently the Resident Director as well as the Co-Head of Voice and Dialects for SF production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. She has coached voice and dialect in more than 70 productions nationwide. At the 10

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and Culture Clash in America in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Other designs include lights for Dan Hoyle’s Talk To Your People at the Marsh in SF; set & lights for Viola Davis’ west coast premiere of Paradise in Los Angeles; set & lights for Fogg Theatre’s The Cable Car Nymphomaniac; lights for Word for Word’s Retablos and Smut; and lights for Marin Theatre Co’s Hotter Than Egypt, Jazz, The Oldest Boy and Magic Forest Farm. Additionally, Jeff is President of the Board for Mendocino Theatre Company.

Aurora, she has coached numerous shows and was last onstage here as Suzanne in Eureka Day. She was the Head of Acting and Dialects at the American Conservatory Theatre and has served on the faculties of Syracuse University, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, Shakespeare & Company, Naropa University, and Berkeley Repertory Theatre. As a professional actor, she has performed with numerous repertory companies and Shakespeare festivals throughout the country. She has an M.F.A. in Acting from A.C.T. and a B.A. in Theater and American Studies from Wesleyan University.

She is a Designated Linklater Voice Teacher and has a Certificate in Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Training from Cornell University.

JESSICA BROITMAN & GIBOR BASRI (ASSOCIATE SPONSORS) have been subscribers to Aurora for 20 years. They love the intimacy of the small black box theater and the choices of challenging plays that are intellectually and emotionally complex. They are thrilled to support this production and hope that you are as moved by the work as they have been.

SCOTT REARDON* (STAGE MANAGER Actor’s Equity Association member. Actor/ Stage Manager/Director/Producer. Bay Area native/local. Theatre: Beach Blanket Babylon (12+ years), TheatreWorks of Silicon Valley, Center Rep, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Musical Theatre West, 5-Star Productions, Fresno Grande Opera, PCPA Theatrefest, Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theatre, Oregon Cabaret Theatre, Presidio Theatre, Hillbarn, Disney Cruise Line, and Nickelodeon. Actor’s Equity Association’s Roger Sturtevant Award Winner.

Commercial: Visa, Samsung, Philips, Dell, Verizon, LinkedIn, Logitech, LG, Dolby, Google, Cisco Systems, Symantec, Garmin, Intuit, Polycom, Service Now, and more. Education: B.A. Drama, University of California, Irvine (Honors in Acting and Musical Theatre); M.A. Special Education, Alliant International University. www.ScottReardon.net

ELLEN & BARRY LEVINE (ASSOCIATE SEASON SPONSORS) freely admit that they are long-time theater addicts and believe that this is a wonderful addiction. They have been sharing their theater passion for over 50 years not only in the Bay Area but also with annual visits to New York and, as often as possible, to London. These theatrical “pilgrimages” tie in perfectly with their great love of traveling throughout the world.

CRAIG & KATHY MOODY (ASSOCIATE SPONSORS) believe live theatre can be life-changing. They are distressed by the paltry government support of the arts in general and of theatre in particular in the United States. Accordingly, they encourage all who read this to donate generously to a theatre or theatres of their liking. Aurora would be an excellent place to start.

JEFF ROWLINGS** (LIGHTING DESIGNER) Jeff is a San Francisco and Mendocino based set & lighting designer, and production manager. Aurora Theatre Co designs include Temple, Detroit ’67, This Much I Know, and Eureka Day. Mendocino Theatre Company designs include Woody Guthrie’s American Song, Dolls House Part 2, Ideation and Rumors.

Jeff was the Production Manager for American Conservatory Theater; Production Manager/ Resident Designer for San Diego Rep; and Production Manager/Resident Designer for the Magic Theatre. He co-founded Foghouse Productions which produced R. Buckminster Fuller: The History (and Mystery) of the Universe in San Francisco, Chicago and Seattle

*Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers, †The Director is a Member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, a national theatrical labor union. **United Scenic Artists Member

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DONORS

ANNUAL FUND DONORS Aurora Theatre Company Theatre Company extends its heartfelt appreciation to all of our generous annual fund donors, whose gifts enable Aurora Theatre Company to provide a nurturing environment for theatre artists and to enrich the lives of our audience. For more information about giving to Aurora Theatre Company’s annual fund, please visit Aurora Theatre Companytheatre.org/donate, or email development@aurorathaetre.org or call 510.398.0913. Thank you! List is current as of August 8th, 2023.

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DONORS

Eugenia Loken Ana Maria Martel Claire & Paul Maxwell Brad & Jennifer McCullough Robert McDowell Arnold Yip & Alison McLean Judith Wilber & Bob Miller Everett & Julia Moore Thomas C. Moore Mark J Powers & Albert E Moreno Miriam Morgan Mike & Sharon Morris Karen Mullarkey Rosenthal-Murphy Family Trust Adrian Borrero & David Nalley Bob Guilbault & Molly G. Noble Margo & Roy Ogus Ken & Kim Olofsen Sylvia Pascal Kirk Patterson Barbara Schonborn & P David Pearson Linda Perkins Evan Painter & Wendy Polivka Zachary Polsky Caroline Purves Ingrid J. Madsen & Victor Rauch Leonard Gabriele & John Richardson Ann Riley Steve & Linda Rosen Joshua Miele Elizabeth Ruhland Deborah Dashow Ruth Diane & Ed Ryken Sue Sheftel Barbara Silverberg Harriet Simpson Betsy Smith Eileen Soden Ruth MacNaughton & Harold Spencer

Richard Sterling Bonnie Stiles Jay Atkinson & Ariel Summerlin Lisa Taylor Shirley & Michael Traynor Laurel I Schaefer Trent Stephen van Meter Marcia & David Vastine Gail & Arne M. Wagner Laurence Walker Emily & Robert Warden Stuart Swiedler & Judy Weiss Sallie Weissinger Victor Willits Ann Willoughby Barbara Lanier & John Wilson Andy Steinberg & Laurie Wolkow Sally Woolsey COMMUNITY $1-$99 Anonymous (3) Ken & Joyce Altshuler Jeni Anderson Stewart Applin Barbara Barer Stephanie Barnhill Ruthanne Barulich David Brossard & Sally Beck Elizabeth Brady China Brotsky Barbara & Gerald Brunetti Shawna Casey Charley Brenda Jean Corelis Adam & Felicity Cowlin Elaine M. Eger Cynthia Fleury Lisa Foust Joan Frenkel Paul S. Gerken Mitchell M. Gitin John S. Gravell 13

Hollis Greenwood Barbara Hadenfeldt Gretchen Hayes Hawley S. Holmes Christine Izaret Margaret Kendall Amara Kali Lawson-Chavanu Pat Manley Elene Z. Manolis Wendy Markel John Golding & Martin Mass Katherine McKenzie Penny Mikesell Bergit Mueller Dirk Neyhart Philip O’Brien Roberta S. O’Grady Robert P. Camm & Susan Pearson Josh Rotenberg Susan Stanley Gabi von Ingersleben Jo L. Warner Margo Webster Frances Ann Widejko Jennifer Winch Paul L. Wyman Pik Yee Pam Young

DONORS

Members of the Barbara Oliver Society for The Next Generation have designated Aurora Theatre Company Theatre Company in their estate plans, enabling us to serve not just you—our first-generation audience—but generations to come. For more information on how to make a charitable bequest or designate Aurora Theatre Company in your estate plan, contact the development office at 510.843.4042 x312 or development@auroratheatre.org. Thank you to the following members:

Anonymous (2) Gertrude E. Allen Nancy Axelrod Steven Beckendorf Norman Abramson & David* Beery Elizabeth Burwell Carol Emory Jacquelin Ewing Marge Glicksman* Candy & George Hisert

Ellen & Barry Levine Ines Lewandowitz* Sumner & Hermine Marshall* Margaret D. & Winton McKibben* Alison McLean Shelly Osborne Thomas W. Edwards & Rebecca Parlette-Edwards Gladys Perez-Mendez* Margaret A. Phillips

Betty Pirford* Tom Ross David Rovno Julianne H. Rumsey* Deborah Dashow Ruth Sylvia Saunders Valerie Sopher Lisa R. Taylor Janis Kate Turner *In Memoriam

CORPORATE DONORS $2500 + $100-$999 Adobe Systems Incorporated+ ChevronTexaco+ + Matching Gift Program

FOUNDATION & GOVERNMENT SUPPORT Aurora Theatre Company gratefully acknowledges these foundations and government agencies for their support:

City of Berkeley Civic Arts Program Harold & Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust National Endowment for the Arts The Shubert Foundation HONOR ROLL List is current as of August 8th, 2023.

In Memory of Sheldon Bornstein In Memory of Marcia Renee Goodman In Memory of Jack Kirsch

In Memory of Robert Meola In Honor of Dawn Monique Williams

IN-KIND DONORS Aurora Theatre Company is thankful for the following donors who gave generous in-kind contributions of $100 and above.

List is current as of May 24, 2023.

Kay & Ed Blonz Tracie Meloy

We strive for accuracy in our program listing, but errors do occur. Please contact Development at 510.843.4042 x312 if you notice a discrepancy, and thank you very much for helping us keep our records as accurate as possible!

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CDO & SUPPORT

Give now. Give generously.

Together, we are Aurora.

As storytellers for our community, Aurora is a treasury: a plurality of voices and world views. Each of your unique perspectives and experiences is incredibly important to us: combined, they reflect the vast diversity of the Bay Area.

Your support today ensures Aurora will continue sharing works both old and new and classic that inspire each of us to laugh louder, think harder, and celebrate the many dimensions of the human condition. auroratheatre.org/donate Anna Ishida* and Rajesh Bose* in This Much I Know. *Member, AEA. Photo by Kevin Berne.

AURORA DINING PARTNERS

CONFRONTING & DISMANTLING OPPRESSION

Eating out before or after the show?

Check out one of our Dining Partners for special offers to Aurora’s patrons!

Find more details at

At Aurora Theatre Company, we use the phrase “Confronting and Dismantling Oppression” rather than “Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion” because we recognize that this work must be active and ongoing. It is not a box to be checked: it is a continual and intentional process.

auroratheatre.org/dining-partners

This work is an essential piece of Aurora Theatre Company’s intention to be the storyteller for our community. Thank you for being a part of this process with us.

Visit auroratheatre.org/CDO for more information.

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SUBSCRIPTION PACKAGES

Get IN, where you fit in. Aurora offers a variety of subscription packages to meet our patrons where they’re at. Find a package that works for you and your lifestyle.

5 & 3-PLAY FLEX PASSES

All the benefits, zero commitment. Purchase an Aurora Flex Pass and choose your plays and dates later.

5-PLAY PACKAGE

Enjoy the complete season of five mainstage plays.

Choose your plays and dates at purchase.

3-PLAY PACKAGE

See any three shows in our season with a 3-Play Package. Choose your plays and dates at purchase.

SUBSCRIPTION & SINGLE TICKET DISCOUNTS

WAYS TO SUBSCRIBE 510.843.4822 AURORATHEATRE.ORG 2081 ADDISON STREET BERKELEY CA , 94704

Aurora is committed to making theatre affordable to all. We offer a variety of subscription and single ticket discounts, including Pay-What-You-Can and Rush tickets. Check out all the discounts we offer at auroratheatre.org/discounts.

NEW CONSERVATORY THEATRE CENTER I N A S S O C I AT I O N W I T H SEASON PRODUCERS Michael Golden & Michael Levy, Robert Holgate, Lowell Kimble, Ted Tucker

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS David Meders, Eve & Niall Lynch

PRODUCERS Laurence Brenner & Angelo Figone, Maurice Kelly & Eric Jansen

WORLD PREMIERE COMMISSION BY ANDREW ALTY DIRECTED BY ED DECKER

The beginning of a legend.

APR15-OCT 1-MAY15, 8, SEPT 2023 2022 17

TICKETS AT NCTCSF.ORG BOX OFFICE: 415.861.8972 25 VAN NESS AT MARKET ST.

A U R O R A T H E AT R E C O M PA N Y

AURORA STAFF Josh Costello

USHER COORDINATOR David Hicks

Jonathan Spector, Mia Tagano, Beth Wilmurt

Felicity Cowlin

AURORA PRODUCTION STAFF Emma Buechner

O+G ARTISTS Christopher Chen Barbara Damashek Britney Frazier Margo Hall Cleavon Smith Jonathan Spector Beth Wilmurt

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR

Kat Demith

TECHNICAL DIRECTOR

Robin Dolan

CO-MANAGING DIRECTOR

ASSISTANT TECHNICAL DIRECTOR

Sophia Craven

LX PROGRAMMER

Wyn Di Stefano

Eli Harris

SCENIC CHARGE ARTIST

Cindy Ngu

MARKETING SPECIALIST

COSTUME SHOP AND WARDROBE SUPPORT

SHOW ARTWORK BY Eddie Colla

Roman JohnDoza

Cody Poehnelt

VIDEOGRAPHY BY Flying Moose Pictures

DEVELOPMENT SPECIALIST

Alandra Hileman

ASSISTANT BOX OFFICE MANAGER

Dayna Kalakau

SENIOR DIRECTOR, MARKETING & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Jenn Ruygt

PRODUCTION MANAGER

Nicole Elise Schulz

CO-MANAGING DIRECTOR

David Shultz

BOX OFFICE MANAGER

BOX OFFICE ASSOCIATES Venee Call-Ferrer Zola Hanson HOUSE MANAGERS David Hicks Lisa Klein Michael Mansfield Linda Wu

ELECTRICIAN

Ashley Renee

SPECIAL THANKS TO Jeremy Kaplan and

Becca Salsburg-Frank

Lick-Wilmerding High School Scot Goodman

COSTUME SHOP SUPERVISOR CARPENTER

FOUNDERS Dorothy Bryant Marge Glicksman Ken Grantham Barbara Oliver Richard Rossi

FORMER ARTISTIC DIRECTORS Barbara Oliver Tom Ross

ADVISORY COUNCIL Ulises Alcala, John Caner, Joy Carlin, Barbara Damashek, Rafael Jesús González, Robert B. Hetler, Malcolm Margolin, Alan Miller, Helen Meyer, Bob Oliver, Hilary Perkins, Hillary & Jonathan Reinis, M. Graham Smith, Steve & Cindy Snow,

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

PRESIDENT: Lance Gardner | VICE-PRESIDENT: Gertrude E. Allen TREASURER: Rebecca Parlette-Edwards | SECRETARY: George Hisert Josh Costello | Robin Dolan | Rosalind Kim | Alan Miller Craig Moody | Nicole Elise Schulz | Kinman Tong | Tom Worth PAST BOARD PRESIDENTS IN ORDER OF SERVICE: Thomas Donovan | Grace Fretter | Ron Vincent | Judith Holland | David Wood Andy Cohn | Alison Teeman | Carolyn Weinberger | Robert B. Hetler | Ellen B. Levine Gary H. Moore | Joan Catherine Braun 18

N ETXHTE A T R E C O M P A N Y C O M I N G U P N E XCT OAMT I N AG U RUOPR A

B Y George Orwell

STARTS NOV 10

A D A P T E D B Y Michael Gene Sullivan D I RECT E D B Y Barbara Damashek† †

Adapted from George Orwell by the Bay Area’s own Michael Gene Sullivan, 1984 is a ferocious and provocative retelling of the prescient and iconic novel. Big Brother’s surveillance state seeks to control not just our bodies but our minds as well, reaching into every corner of our lives. Accused of Thoughtcrime, Winston Smith faces an interrogation that will reveal his struggle for scraps of love and freedom in a world awash with paranoia and violence. Can the yearning for freedom be extinguished? Or is our shared humanity more powerful than any forces of repression? Experience the novel come to life with shocking relevance in this brilliant adaptation on the Aurora stage.

AURORA THEATRE COMPANY CONTACT INFORMATION BOX OFFICE Hours: Tues-Friday, 1pm-5pm Phone: 510.843.4822 Online: auroratheatre.org ADMINISTRATION 2081 Addison Street Berkeley, CA 94704 phone: 510.843.4042 fax: 510.843.4826

EXCHANGE Free exchanges require at least 25 hours’ notice. Exchanges to a more expensive date require payment of the difference in ticket price. Exchanges with less than 25 hours’ notice will incur a fee.

SINGLE TICKET EXCHANGE Single ticket buyers may exchange tickets with at least 25 hours’ notice for a fee of $10 per ticket.

PERFORMANCES For Wednesday evening and Sunday matinee performances,

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masks are required at all times while in the Aurora Theatre building. For all other performances masks are encouraged by no required. Smoking, including e-cigarettes, is prohibited.

Please turn off all cell phones during the performance (and any other devices that could be distracting).

Photographs and recordings of any kind are strictly prohibited. No children under 5 permitted and every person entering the theatre must have their own ticket.

2023 2024

GET IN.

BAY AREA PREMIERE

BY George Orwell | ADAPTED BY Michael Gene Sullivan DIRECTED BY Barbara Damashek

STARTS NOVEMBER 10, 2023

BAY AREA PREMIERE

BY Mary Kathryn Nagle | ADAPTED BY Shannon Davis

STARTS FEBRUARY 9, 2024

BY Tanya Barfield | DIRECTED BY Darryl V. Jones

STARTS APRIL 19, 2024

BAY AREA PREMIERE

BY Jeremy Kareken & David Murrell and Gordon Farrell BASED ON THE BOOK BY John D’Agata and Jim Fingal DIRECTED BY Jessica Holt

STARTS JUNE 21, 2024