Where props are due 9 · Words, words, words 16 · Making Trouble 19 · The program for Troublemaker 23
the berkeley rep m aga zine 2 012 –13 · i s s u e 4
leave a little different
It’s ambitious, but we’re trying to change the world, one play at a time. To help, visit berkeleyrep.org/consider
c a l e n da r
i n t h i s i s su e
Docent presentations take place one hour before each Tuesday and Thursday performance. Postshow discussions take place after matinees.
ja n ua ry
4 First performance, Troublemaker, 8pm 6 School of Theatre Sunday Sampler, 1pm 7 Winter classes start 9 Opening night, Troublemaker, 8pm 11 Teen Night, Troublemaker, 6pm 13 Sneak Peek: Backstage tour of Troublemaker, 1pm 17 Student matinee, Troublemaker, noon 26 Teen Night, The Wild Bride, 6pm 26 First performance, The Wild Bride, 8pm 27 Opening-night dinner, The Wild Bride, West Campus, 6pm 31 Student matinee, Troublemaker, noon
Be r k e l e y R e p p r e s e n t s troub le make r · 2 3 m e e t t h e c a st & c r e w · 24 P rol o g u e A letter from the artistic director · 5 A letter from the managing director · 7 R e p ort Where props are due · 9
F e brua ry
2 Behind-the-Scenes Tour, West Campus, 10am 3 Final performance, Troublemaker, 7pm 10 Sneak Peek: Lights Up!, 1pm 17 Final performance, The Wild Bride, 7pm
Growing up with Berkeley Rep · 10 9
The Freakin Kick-A Adventures of Teen Council · 13 Illustrating Trouble · 15 F e at u r e s Words, words, words: writers and their most malleable tool · 16
School of Theatre event Donor appreciation event
Making Trouble: an interview with Dan LeFranc · 19 Con t r i bu t or s Foundation, corporate, and in-kind sponsors · 32 13
Individual donors to the Annual Fund · 33 Memorial and tribute gifts · 34 40th Anniversary Campaign · 35 Michael Leibert Society · 35 A bou t B e r k e l e y R e p Staff and affiliations · 36
t h e b e r k e l e y r e p m ag a z i n e 201 2–1 3 · i s s u e 4
Board of trustees and sustaining advisors · 37
The Berkeley Rep Magazine is published at least seven times per season.
F YI Everything you need to know about Berkeley Rep’s box office, gift shop, seating policies, and more · 38
For local advertising inquiries, please contact Ellen Felker at 510 548-0725 or efelker@berkeleyrep.org. Editor Karen McKevitt Art Director Cheshire Isaacs Graphic Designer Mary Kay Hickox
Writers Beryl Baker Nora Sørena Casey ashley dawn Julie McCormick Madeleine Oldham Jacob Marx Rice
Contact Berkeley Rep Box Office: 510 647-2949 Groups (10+): 510 647-2918 Admin: 510 647-2900 School of Theatre: 510 647-2972 Click berkeleyrep.org Email info@berkeleyrep.org
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Front cover Illustrations by Marc Scheff/marcscheff.com
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prol og u e from the Artistic Director every gener ation ha s its troubles. Growing up is always a struggle for and against Something, even if that Something is your very self. And since very few adolescents like to fight with themselves, they focus on whatever oppressor is trying to ruin their lives: horrible parents, cruel teachers, or any of the other inherited figures of authority that seem bent on causing their eternal unhappiness. These conflicts cut across class and race and are so timeworn they seem archetypal. But while the opponents in these battles play similar roles throughout history, the situations are never exactly the same. History keeps changing. All troubled kids feel misunderstood, and to a degree they are correct. Parents seems perpetually befuddled. “Sure, there were problems in my day, and yeah, I did some crazy stuff,” they say, “but nothing like this!” The generation gap is a testament to the fact that change is relentless. Because the circumstances of growing up keep morphing, coming-of-age stories will never be out of fashion. As evidence of this dynamic, every generation creates its own language, a language that is an expression of its unique identity. Physical, aural, visual… It says, “We’re different than you. We don’t see the world in the same way and the fact that you don’t understand the words/gestures/movements we’re using proves that you are completely out of it! Don’t even try to figure it out because you never will!” All of which struck me when I read Dan LeFranc’s new play, Troublemaker, or The Freakin Kick-A Adventures of Bradley Boatright. Trying to capture the experience of being inside the head of a young, modern American boy, Dan has found a language that is positively propulsive, an exciting combination of rocking rhythms, invented syntax, and made-up words. Characters speak in a way that feels both unique and authentic, demanding an identity that the world is not yet ready to confer upon them. The words themselves practically leap off the page in a way that feels both subversive and fun. Producing this play, then, is a little like creating a new world: the one we are living in but haven’t quite acknowledged. The one we know is there but can’t quite figure out. We’re simply not able to see that far or that well. The great gift Dan has given us is that he’s let his imagination and intuition lead him and us into that mysterious vortex. We’re all kids in Troublemaker, trying to make sense out of the world as we go along. “Enjoy the wild ride,” he’s telling us, bumps, bruises, and all... Sincerely,
Tony Taccone
REPRESENTING THE FINEST EAST BAY HOMES
Berkeley ◆ Kensington El Cerrito ◆ Albany Piedmont ◆ Oakland
G
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2 0 1 2– 1 3 · issue 4 · t h e b e r k e l e y r e p m ag a z i n e · 5
Januray 2013 Volume 45, No. 4
Paul Heppner Publisher Susan Peterson Design & Production Director Ana Alvira, Deb Choat, Robin Kessler, Kim Love, Jana Rekosh Design and Production Artists Mike Hathaway Advertising Sales Director Gwendolyn Fairbanks, Marty Griswold, Ann Manning, Lenore Waldron Seattle Area Account Executives Staci Hyatt, Marilyn Kallins, Terri Reed San Francisco/Bay Area Account Executives
Take the Theatre home with you! The Hoag Theatre Store is better than ever, featuring our new tablet holder and exclusive items from our staff artisans. Wonderful gifts for you and the theatre-lovers in your life!
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Paul Heppner Publisher Leah Baltus Editor-in-Chief Scott Wagner Vice President Dan Paulus Art Director Jonathan Zwickel Senior Editor Jake Newman City Arts Festival, LLC Executive Director www.cityartsonline.com
Paul Heppner President Mike Hathaway Vice President Deborah Greer Executive Assistant Erin Johnston Communications Manager April Morgan Accounting Jana Rekosh Project Manager/Graphic Design Corporate Office 425 North 85th Street Seattle, WA 98103 p 206.443.0445 f 206.443.1246 adsales@encoremediagroup.com 800.308.2898 x105 www.encoremediagroup.com Encore Arts Programs is published monthly by Encore Media Group to serve musical and theatrical events in Western Washington and the San Francisco Bay Area. All rights reserved. ©2012 Encore Media Group. Reproduction without written permission is prohibited. 6 · t h e b e r k e l e y r e p m ag a z i n e · 2 0 1 2– 1 3 · issue 4
prol og u e from the Managing Director
p h oTo Co u r T e S y o f k e v i n b e r n e . Co m
Warm regards,
FA M I LY L AW G R O U P, P. C .
Geoff Hoyle in Lemony Snicket’s The Composer is Dead
troublemaker, or The Freakin Kick-A Adventures of Bradley Boatright marks the first play to come out of our new research and development lab, The Ground Floor: Berkeley Rep’s Center for the Creation and Development of New Work. Quite simply, The Ground Floor is the expansion of our 44-year commitment to new plays. Under its auspices, we commission new work; we host staged readings and workshops; and our literary and artistic staff engage with writers and directors about the early development and trajectory of these works. For the first time last summer, we established The Ground Floor summer residency lab. This one-month program may be the best illustration of our investment in new work because it is the summation of our various commitments to writers and creative artists. The lab feels like we are doing all those things on steroids! Berkeley Rep offered Dan LeFranc a new-play commission when he first came to our attention as an exciting new writer with whom we wanted to be in dialogue. The summer residency afforded Dan the opportunity to refine his script for Troublemaker at the very theatre that presents its world premiere, and to work with director Lila Neuberger and group of actors to develop a visual vocabulary for his wildly imaginative story. Coincidentally, having Lila here was a delight for many of us who had watched, five years ago, as she emerged as a talented and impressive young professional during her season as a Berkeley Rep intern. The Ground Floor has many benefits for the Theatre and for our larger theatre community. We will be able to help dozens and dozens of artists to create works that will grace our stage and stages across the country for many years to come. For the members of our staff, the program presents a less obvious though extremely important benefit. They are able to see a play in its earliest stages and are therefore able to think, from their departments’ unique perspective, about how they can help the artistic team fulfill the promise of the play. This can only be to the good of each new play that emerges out of our Ground Floor. We look forward to bringing other Ground Floor-initiated projects to you in years to come —and we sincerely hope that you will enjoy and embrace this new venture with us.
SFLG 090612 BRT 1_6v.pdf
Susie Medak
Please don’t remain silent. Advertise in the Berkeley Rep Magazine. Email efelker@berkeleyrep.org or call 510 548-0725. 2 0 1 2– 1 3 · issue 4 · t h e b e r k e l e y r e p m ag a z i n e · 7
Sav e th e Date
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r e p ort r e p ort
Girlfriend 2009— cut The space-shuttle lamp (left) beat out this teddybear lamp in auditions. He sits in storage awaiting another chance at stardom.
Girlfriend 2009 This wooden space-shuttle lamp graced a bedroom dresser in Girlfriend.
Red 2012 These two white wire lamps were used in Red during the canvasstretching and painting scene. We only had one in stock, so props fashioned a second matching lamp by bending steel, painting the base to match, as well as wiring the fixture.
Red 2012 This lamp has been used and painted multiple times throughout its history with us. Most recently it was repainted brown and sat on one of two custom-built worktables in Mark Rothko’s studio.
In the Next Room (or the vibrator play) 2009 Although this wasn’t the leading prop in this play, this decorative lamp was last seen sitting on top of the piano.
Where props are due berkeley rep’s might y prop shop has a challenge of epic proportions with Troublemaker. But they have a super-cool plan. So cool they couldn’t even disclose their spectacular secrets to us in advance of opening night. So, let’s pull a rewind and nab some intel on these prop lamps and their starring roles.
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r e p ort
Growing up with Berkeley Rep By beryl baker at berkeley rep it wouldn’t be unusual if the person you’re sitting next to is someone who has visited the Theatre for more than a decade. Many of our patrons have been attending our shows since they were children. Berkeley Rep has flourished over the years, and its rigorous pursuit of new, innovative works has been the foundation for success: in the last 10 years alone, Berkeley Rep has helped send 16 shows to New York and 3 to London. Chinglish will soon join the ranks of other Berkeley Rep exports when it plays at the 2013 Hong Kong Arts Festival in March. Our unique home base is one of the reasons we’ve been so successful elsewhere. Our audiences crave productions that bring worldwide conversations to the stage right here in Berkeley. Recently I was lucky enough to get in touch with a few local audience members who gave me their perspective on what it was like to grow up with Berkeley Rep. Jack Nicolaus, 25, was born in Berkeley and is an alumnus of Berkeley Rep’s Teen Council. “Coming to Berkeley Rep when I did in the early 2000s completely changed my life,” he recalls. “I mean, Homebody/ Kabul at age 15?” He’s referring to Tony Kushner’s 2002 show that portrayed one woman’s romanticism of Afghanistan and the reality that 1 0 · t h e b e r k e l e y r e p m ag a z i n e · 2 0 1 2– 1 3 · issue 4
I wouldn’t be able to dedicate my mind to math and sciences without creative expression in my life. They’re interconnected. m ia d ivecha , fo r m e r te e n cou n cil chair
faced her and her family upon visiting the country. “Are you kidding me?” Jack continues. “That blew my mind. I had no idea what was going on, or what Afghanistan really was, or who Tony Kushner was. I was too ignorant to know much about Angels in America. All I remember is the power of it, the power of another human being sitting there and having this emotional experience in front of me.” Jamie Sharp, born in Oakland, has parents who subscribed to Berkeley Rep and routinely took her to shows. “Growing up in the Bay Area, you can’t not know that Berkeley Rep is and has been the Bay Area’s strongest theatre company,” she says. “My parents, though not artists themselves, have been patrons of Berkeley Rep for more than 15 years. When we wanted a night of culture, Berkeley Rep is where we went.” Her early theatre experiences helped shape who she is today. “My art experiences taught me compassion. It’s heartbreaking to think that schoolbased arts and enrichment programs
are being cut, considering how much my arts background has rounded out my education.” Jamie is now mentoring disadvantaged youth in Oakland and training UC Berkeley students to coach youth sports in low-income communities. Happily, these audience members did experience the arts for the first time in school. For Jack it was a preschool adaptation of The Very Hungry Caterpillar: “I played Aphid #5.” For Jamie it was her first-grade teacher who introduced her to Bob Fosse’s work. The main message was still clear: art was not something to do as kids, but it was (and is) an integral part of life. Berkeley Rep is just one of many flourishing arts organizations in the Bay Area ready to welcome new audiences each year. For Jack, art has become center stage in his life. “My desire to become an artist was inspired by the shows I saw at Berkeley Rep.” He now writes, directs, and acts in New York City. Lynn Eve Komaromi, our director of development, remembers her first interaction with Berkeley Rep while at Mills College in the 1980s. “Those were
October 27, 2012 – March 24, 2013
Detail, Randy Strong, Blue Orchid, 2011. Glass. Collection of Oakland Museum of California, gift of the artist in memory of Katherine Grubb.
Made possible in part by generous support of the Oakland Museum Women’s Board, OMCA Art Guild, Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass, and Glass Alliance of Northern California. Media Sponsor:
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the first professional theatre productions I had ever seen,” she says, “and I found the experience of live theatre thrilling. I joined Berkeley Rep’s staff in 1997 and still consider the Theatre home.” Mia Divecha, another Berkeley native and former chair of our Teen Council, took some time in between her computer science courses at Stanford to dispel the theory that the arts are expendable in an educational environment. “I am studying chemical engineering right now at Stanford,” she explains, “but I wouldn’t be able to dedicate my mind to math and sciences without creative expression in my life. They’re interconnected.” This mutual solidarity between company and community has allowed Berkeley Rep to flourish, offering up both new plays and classics. Having accessible world-class art for public consumption has had a lasting effect on the Bay Area. Generations now can say they’ve grown up with Berkeley Rep —and they in turn continue to help us grow, sometimes quite literally from the ground up. During the early 2000s Katie Henry was attending Berkeley High School’s advanced drama class. At the time, Itamar Moses’ Yellowjackets was in workshops at Berkeley Rep. Katie recalls, “Tony Taccone brought in scenes to our advanced drama class for us to review. He had us read them out loud and asked us, ‘What do you think? Does this speak to you?’ It was really cool.” Katie then became involved in the School of Theatre’s Teen One-Acts Festival, and went on to graduate from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. She admits, “After having put those plays up I knew there was nothing I would like more than to keep writing. Really, Berkeley Rep gave me my major.” So, Berkeley Rep’s dedication to new exhilarating theatre is merely a reflection of the loyalty and enthusiasm the community has for the Theatre. It’s no wonder Berkeley Rep continues to be a hub for audiences; these kids are alright.
The Freakin Kick-A Adventures of Teen Council
By Jacob M ar x Rice
Teen Council member Jet Harper (center) discusses access to arts education with her team at the claimyourarts conference
across the country, arts programs in schools are in big-time freakin trouble. Schools can dedicate less time and money to the arts, while the skills that such programs foster, such as creativity, innovation, and collaboration, have become even more important in the modern economy. Reports show that the arts increase student engagement at school and boost high-school graduation rates across the board, yet in a recent survey 63 percent of principals reported not having enough arts programming in their schools. The situation is dire, but hope is not lost. To help our Teen Council heroes Arts and education advocates have stepped prevail, make a contribution at up across the country to fight this precipitous berkeleyrep.org/teenconferencefund decline. It’s a battle of epic proportions, and every great battle needs great heroes. Fortunately, Berkeley Rep has a whole council of them. Berkeley Rep’s Teen Council was founded in 2002 as a home for teens with an interest in theatre. It produces the annual Teen One-Acts Festival, which allows teens to develop their artistic and technical skills, and organizes countless Teen Nights at Berkeley Rep and other theatres in the area to provide access to the arts at prices teens can afford. The more these teens came together to celebrate their love of theatre, however, the more they started to think about the people who couldn’t. They realized, as Teen Council member Eleanor Maples did, that “there are so many people who don’t have access to something like Berkeley Rep or even a good arts program in their school.” Rather than congratulating themselves for having that access, the teens decided to speak out for others. They used the skills and community they had developed in Teen Council to form claimyourarts, an initiative to empower 2 0 1 2– 1 3 · issue 4 · t h e b e r k e l e y r e p m ag a z i n e · 1 3
Bowen Bethards, Sierra Baggins, Madeleine Waters, Rosie Byrne, Matthew Bunker, and Gideon Lazarus in Washington DC ph oto by b en h a n n a
“ At first, it was like ‘Aww, there are teens here, how adorable,’ but we were able to show them how much we knew about the importance of the arts and how they affect both our economy and our community. It really shocked them.” bowe n b e thards , te e n cou n cil m e m b e r
teenagers to fight for arts in education. For Bowen Bethards, the initiative’s chairperson, the reasoning was simple: “We’re artists and students, so we understand how important the arts are to education.” In the battle over arts education crisscrossing the country, Berkeley is only one battlefield. Because it is a national issue, much of the fighting is focused far away in the nation’s capital. Washington, DC has become the front line in the clash between art and apathy. With all of the competing interests in this fight, getting heard amidst the cacophony is tough. Getting heard from thousands of miles away is hopeless. It was time for a Kick-A Adventure. The teens sprang into action. They armed themselves with facts at the School of Theatre and trained their fundraising muscles with Berkeley Rep’s development staff. They sent letters. They made personal appeals. They even raised money in Berkeley Rep’s lobby, giving out bracelets to those who joined the cause. In the end, they emerged exhausted but victorious, raising enough 1 4 · t h e b e r k e l e y r e p m ag a z i n e · 2 0 1 2– 1 3 · issue 4
money for not one, but two trips: one to the Theatre Communications Group conference in Boston and one to Arts Advocacy Day in Washington, DC. In Boston they met with artists from around the country to learn more about developments in the national theatre scene. Then, equipped with that information, they headed to DC to meet with the staff of lawmakers like Barbara Boxer, Dianne Feinstein, and Nancy Pelosi. In both places, they made a splash. “At first, it was like ‘Aww, there are teens here, how adorable,’ but we were able to show them how much we knew about the importance of the arts and how they affect both our economy and our community. It really shocked them,” explains Bowen. The success of their first two adventures only hardened the teens’ determination to prevail. “It’s about creating a culture where we have a say in our own arts programming and where youth are not marginalized in the arts,” says Oscar Peña, a member of the arts-advocacy committee who traveled to Boston. Bowen is
dreaming even bigger: “I want to see claimyourarts spread across the nation.” It’s already starting to happen. Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles has started a teen advocacy group based on Berkeley Rep’s model, and other theatres around the country are rushing to catch up. Slowly but surely, change is coming. The teens may have found success in their first battle, but the war rages on and there’s a heck of a lot more work to be done. Fortunately, Teen Council is back in action: raising money to go back to these two conferences to build on their progress. They’re ready to roll, but even superheroes can’t do it alone. That’s why they’re collecting donations right now to help get them a little closer to their goal: nearly $20,000 dollars to cover food, travel expenses, and steam-powered grappling hooks. (Okay, maybe not the grappling hooks.) Raising that much money is a daunting task, but surrender is not an option. As Eleanor explains: “This is something that we’re committed to. This is something we believe in. We’re not stopping.”
r e p ort
illustrating Trouble Illustrator Marc Scheff
a pl ay as awesome as Troublemaker demands equally awesome show art. So Berkeley Rep’s graphics department sleuthed the interwebs for an illustrator to bring Bradley, his friends—and nemeses—to life. Berkeley Rep’s art director, Cheshire Isaacs, spoke with playwright Dan LeFranc about the feeling the poster should convey. Dan said he wanted it to seem like an actionadventure, kind of like Raiders of the Lost Ark. Graphics Fellow Mary Kay Hickox set out to find the right illustrator, searching hundreds until she narrowed the list down to a few candidates. Dan, director Lila Neugebauer, and the team led by Marketing and Want to see more Communications Director of Marc’s work? Visit his website at Robert Sweibel, decided on marcscheff.com. Marc Scheff, a Brooklynbased illustrator whose work was just the right mix: a little dark, not too comic-book-y, not too fantasy-y. Armed with reference material from Costume Designer Paloma Young and the headshots from the actors who were cast by that time, Marc did a series of sketches that led to the final art (see left). We loved the illustrations so much we decided to make a trading-card game with them. Have you collected all six cards yet? You could win a Troublemaker T-shirt! Click berkeleyrep.org/kick-a for details. 2 0 1 2– 1 3 · issue 4 · t h e b e r k e l e y r e p m ag a z i n e · 1 5
Writers and their most malleable tool
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b y N o r a S Ø r e n a C a s e y a n d J u l i e Mc C o r m i c k from “one fish t wo fish” to “antidisestablishmentarianism,” a fascination with words often begins early and lasts a lifetime. We find a childlike glee in words that sustains us— from poetry and books, to the Scrabble warriors who have committed all the two-letter words to memory, to the dedicated tweeter. In Troublemaker, playwright Dan LeFranc uses theatre as a space to push the boundaries of language. Through the creative code of his characters, Dan invites us into a unique world that continues a long tradition of verbal innovation. There’s a line in Beowulf, “wordhord anleac,” which literally means, “he unlocked his wordhoard.” It’s a lovely description that brings to mind a jumble of words sitting in a storehouse, plundered by Anglo-Saxons on their raids across the North Sea. We dig through our wordhoards every time we open our mouths, searching for the perfect word that fits our idea, mood, and audience. Parents waking their children up for school use very different language than the technical jargon they bandy at work or the comfortable shorthand they slip into with old friends. These different modes are called registers, and switching between them requires an extremely complicated, if largely intuitive, act of juggling social cues and speech patterns. The cultural identity of the different languages that English incorporates—Anglo-Saxon, Viking, Celtic, French, and Latin —plays a role in how we speak today. For example, to describe cattle in scientific terms we look to the Latin phrase “bos primigenius;” when talking about livestock we switch to the Anglo-Saxon word “cow,” and when the same animal appears on our plate we describe it with the French-derived “beef.” Many (although not all) of our “bad words” come from Anglo-Saxon words for uncouth subjects, while words more clearly derived from Latin —such as “copulate” or “excrete”— are considered socially acceptable (if still awkward). After the Norman Conquest, a form of Latin-based Old French was the language of the ruling class in Britain; so it’s possible that if the Normans had lost the war in 1066, Anglo-Saxon phrases would have been associated with high society and we could all be cursing with four-syllable words today. On the subject of cursing, Troublemaker’s protagonist Bradley Boatright leads his cohorts in an original symphony of what popular euphemism deems “colorful” language. Dan LeFranc’s personal wordhoard gives us expressions that are already familiar to our ears, but that have been completely refashioned and infused with new meaning. For example, when Loretta Beretta declares “spangles” after someone has pleased her, she is not referring to glittery baubles. She’s communicating appreciation by co-opting language in a way that young people especially delight in doing. Teenagers in particular are masters at inventing words that find their way into popular culture. A company called Global Language Monitor estimates that a new word is created every
98 minutes, and that there are over a million words in the English language (though others put the number even higher). In a world where new words are constantly falling in and out of usage, the dictionary can seem like a life raft in a bewildering lexical sea. Some people believe that if it’s not in the dictionary (or spell-check), then it’s not a word. For many, using proper grammar and diction is paramount to good taste. But the implications of “proper” versus “improper” language go far deeper than mere manners. Language can be a powerful means of individual assertion, especially in situations of political unrest. Jamaican Rastafari culture rebels against the English language, which it sees as a tool of slavery and colonialism; Rastas deliberately change words and grammar to assert their unique cultural beliefs. For example, the pronoun “I” is seen as a means of self-assertion, agency, and spiritual connection, and so the phrase “I and I” is often used when speaking in place of traditional pronouns such as “me” (which places the speaker as an object), or “he and I” (which separates the speaker from his or her companions). In the play, Bradley and his friends use their words in defiance of authority. They refuse to be told not only what to say, but how to say it. Acknowledging the adult world’s directive that cursing is off-limits, the kids avoid using traditional curse words, thus obeying the letter of the law. But they flout the spirit of it by repurposing words like “grapes,” “freak,” and “gap” to substitute for the more traditional descriptors. Though the words ring familiar, their usage creates something entirely new. Though languages shift and new words are created organically, they are also deliberately invented by authors, dreamers, and linguistic enthusiasts. The quirks of our mother tongues can be annoying (in English, “i before e” is bad enough without words like “foreign”), and an inability to understand one another is at the root of endless confusion, frustration, and conflict. Over the centuries, enterprising language lovers have created over 900 invented languages, from the more famous Esperanto to obscure specimens like Ulla, Balaibalan, and Loglan. Whether inventors were motivated by dreams of peace through universal communication or by personal ambition, their languages met the same dismal fate. By and large, people have been unwilling to trade in the languages of their families, religions, and nations. That’s not to say that invented languages can’t gain popularity. More than 250,000 copies of the Klingon dictionary, a language spoken by an alien species in the Star Trek series and invented by linguist Marc Okrand, have already been sold. Sci-fi and fantasy writers will often draw on new language to create a world that is recognizable, but unlike our own. This may range from simple invented slang, like the “muggles” of Harry Potter or “moodge” of A Clockwork Orange, to the inventions of whole languages like Klingon or JRR 2 0 1 2– 1 3 · issue 4 · t h e b e r k e l e y r e p m ag a z i n e · 1 7
Shakespeare’s success in popularizing phrases may also tie into a fundamental aspect of theatre: on stage, language always exists between people.
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Tolkien’s Elvish. In art forms like novels, poetry, and theatre, the creation of language helps bring audiences into a new world — conveying a unique perspective from the minds of space travelers or wizards. Outside of fantasy, authors may explode the rules of language to re-introduce audiences to a familiar world. James Joyce invites us into a child’s mindset when he writes, “there was a moocow coming down along the road” at the beginning of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Creating new words can be seen as an extension of the way authors are already using metaphorical language. When Homer describes dawn with “rosy-fingers,” the pairing of ideas is just as unexpected, but understandable, as the mixing of words to create a “moocow.” Sometimes, when invented language captures a thought particularly well, these phrases can make the jump from a single artist’s head into the popular mindset. We have the inventiveness of many authors to thank for popular words and phrases, and one above all: William Shakespeare. The Oxford English Dictionary credits the Bard with “first use” for over 2,035 words, not to mention phrases like “to wear one’s heart on one’s sleeve” or “clothes make the man.” Publishing companies were starting to take off in the late 16th century, but books and newspapers were still scarce, and most people couldn’t read anyway. Unlike today, when new words gain notoriety on Twitter or the blogosphere, expressions like “to channel,” “eyeball,” and “to champion” went viral on the early modern stage. A playwright would coin a new word that hundreds of people would hear during the performance, and then go out and use it in the noisy London streets. Shakespeare’s success in popularizing phrases may also tie into a fundamental aspect of theatre: on stage, language always exists between people. When a new word like “compassion” was introduced in a Shakespeare play, the audience didn’t need the definition to learn it; they felt its meaning through the emotions of the actors and the drama of the story that those new words helped to create. Perhaps this explains why theatre has so often been a home for creating new meaning: what better place to introduce a shared contextual meaning for a large group of people? When characters speak to each other, their words do more than simply convey information. Words do some heavy lifting — by describing a location, the audience imagines the stage as that space; by calling someone brother, a family is formed. But the theatre also allows language to function subtly. A single word can be a conduit for many channels of communication. Characters speak to each other, and in hearing this, the audience is in dialogue with the playwright. After all, whenever we talk to each other we depend on words to express so much more than information. And the lawless, expansive idiosyncrasies of language are a testament to that; words reflect the heights and depths of human experience, which has shaped the language we speak and which, in turn, continues to be shaped by the way we understand ourselves and connect to one another.
Making Trouble
An interview with Dan LeFranc By Madeleine Oldham in 2010, dan lefr anc received the New York Times Outstanding Playwright Award for his play Sixty Miles to Silver Lake, and his work has been seen and developed all over the country at theatres like Playwrights Horizons and Yale Repertory Theatre. Dan’s deep affinity for comic books and films has led to a number of intriguing experiments in style; one of his early scripts, Origin Story, is actually written in graphic novel form. Although each play does something a little different in terms of style, a common theme that runs through his work is what it’s like to grow up and make peace (or not) with your family. Troublemaker, or The Freakin Kick-A Adventures of Bradley Boatright began as a Berkeley Rep commission in 2008, and ever since then, Dan and I (as the dramaturg) have been in close cahoots as the play has taken form through workshops, readings, and innumerable phone calls. This past summer at The Ground Floor residency lab at Berkeley Rep, Dan joined forces with director Lila Neugebauer and a team of actors to help prepare the piece for its run. A few weeks before rehearsals began, I sat down with Dan to discuss how Troublemaker was born, the Hero’s Journey, and whether or not we’re all just A-Holes. co ntin u e d
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Can you talk a little bit about your protagonist Bradley Boatright, and how Bradley became Bradley in your mind? A few years before I started writing Troublemaker, I had this image in my head of a teenage, middle-class character like Batman, but without real power, money, or training. And I thought that would be an interesting television or film character. But when I went to work on this play I wasn’t really thinking about that. I thought I was interested in writing an epic involving young runaways. While I was doing research for that idea, I started scanning through a database of runaway children online, and one of the kids I found on there, I think he was from Utah, was named Bradley Boatright. He has this great picture, a really goofy toothy kid... Do you know that after all these years of working with you on this play, I had no idea that Bradley Boatwright was real? Yeah, he’s a real kid. Wow. But there was a long stretch where the character I was developing didn’t speak. He spoke in music, and the other characters spoke in English. You asked me the question, “What would happen if he spoke?” And I decided to try it, and from his mouth flew this strange, made-up language. Do you think that language is related to the fact that it started with music? I actually think Bradley’s language came from thinking: okay, these are 12-year old kids. When I was 12 years old and not around adults, I had a really vulgar mouth. But I felt like that that would be really uninteresting and just exhausting to have on stage for too long, and it also just didn’t seem like much fun. So as I started to write what the character would say, I began substituting curse words with these made-up curse words. Some of them are pretty common, others... I don’t think any kid has used them quite in the way that they do in this play. There’s this rhythm that suddenly emerged: it’s not necessarily that it’s staccato, but there is a music to it. It’s very clear to me when it’s not working, or when it’s not right, because there’s just a way that it sounds in my head. For a while, you were thinking a lot about Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey. You and I used to talk about that a bunch, and then those conversations petered out. Do you still think about it? What is the relationship between the play you’ve written and the classic Hero’s Journey structure? Oh I think it’s the most Hero’s Journey-tastic play I’ve ever written. It follows a particular kind of narrative that we see a lot in film, we see a lot in television, and we do see in plays, but I don’t think it’s as overt as it is in film. We know it very well from The Odyssey, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and The Godfather. You take a person, you turn their world upside down, and they have to go through a series of struggles that change their worldview. They get their ass kicked, they get knocked down, and then they’re at the moment where they have to choose, “Am I going to try to return to what my life was like before, or am I going to change?” And more often than not—at least the ones that end 2 0 · t h e b e r k e l e y r e p m ag a z i n e · 2 0 1 2– 1 3 · issue 4
on a more optimistic note —we find out what happens to them after they make that decision. And if your other plays are not as “Hero’s Journey-tastic,” what are your other plays doing? I think some of my other plays do have those elements. It’s just so embedded in our culture, in our storytelling traditions, that I think anyone who sits down to bang out a story is going to be using those tropes whether they’re aware of it or not. But for this project I decided to actually study them and not have these things occur by accident as much. My hunch is that this play took longer to write than usual for me because I became self-conscious of a thing that I was just doing naturally and it suddenly became difficult and a little alien. It’s like training for a sport. You think, “I know how to run.” Then the coach comes in and says, “Dude, you have to be aware that your feet need to fall in a particular way.” You’re gonna run like an idiot for like a month or two months, but four months down the road you’re going to be much faster. Your ability is going to be much stronger. What’s been the most challenging thing about writing this play for you? There’s a certain wildness to it that I think is important. However, it’s also a pretty big story and there’s a lot to tell. So it’s been a struggle to figure out what the balance is between letting it just be its crazy gangly self, and knowing when to rein it in and be super vigilant about pacing and sequence of events. It’s also been hard because Troublemaker is a hybrid between a hyper-stylized action-adventure world and a naturalistic domestic drama. It’s been a really thrilling challenge to see how those two things coalesce in building the rhythm of the piece —making sure it doesn’t get too naturalistic or too slow but also doesn’t go too fast for too long. I think when the play is succeeding, you stop noticing the language and you are able to really empathize with the characters. My hope is that we aren’t seeing them from a distance, but that we are in it with them. It’s really tricky to be playing the style game that we are playing while also wanting audiences to feel like they are on the ground with our boys. When you’re writing do you have an audience in mind or do you just write? I just write. If I have an audience in mind I’m paralyzed. I have a hard time imagining them. When the first draft is coming out of me, I feel like it’s a good sign when I’m giggling, and I’m like, “That’s pretty funny,” or “Ooh, I’m excited.” Maybe my first audience is both myself and my collaborators. There have been moments working on this play where some of the humor or twists and turns come from my desire to surprise and delight the actors, or you or Lila. I think, “This is a fun line, they’re going to appreciate this.” This play was a commission for Berkeley Rep. Is writing a commission different from writing a play just because you have an idea to write a play? Yeah, it is. I find it really hard to write commissions. I don’t think I’m alone. I think I can find it paralyzing because of that question you asked earlier, because once I imagine an audience
My hope is that we aren’t seeing them from a distance,
but that we are in it with them. Gabriel King, who stars as Bradley Boatright in the world premiere of Troublemaker, or The Freakin Kick-A Adventures of Bradley Boatright ph oto cour t e s y o f k e v inb er ne .com
it’s like, “Oh my god I can’t do it.” It’s much easier when I have this story I feel like I need to tell and then after the fact try to figure out who it’s for. The play in its current form came from me saying, “Forget it, Berkeley Rep is never going to produce this play. I just have to forget that I’ve been asked to write this play for this specific theatre that I admire more than just about any theatre in the country.” It was too much pressure and I had to say to myself, “I’ve got to write what I’m gonna write, and they’re never going to do it, so just go crazy.” But I think that was what was great about it. We commissioned you to write a Dan LeFranc play, not what you thought would be a Berkeley Rep play. You managed to trick yourself out of paying attention to the pressure, which worked out really well. It did help. It freed me up. And I think that a lot of the spirit of the play comes from that, that kind of reckless abandon. This is a tricky play to read on paper, and asks different things of people than a more straightforwardly written script does. Can you talk about that a little? I think the play is very much for the theatre, but there is a cinematic quality to it. There are some things that the play is demanding— crazy stunts, action sequences—and when reading the script you wonder, “How the heck is someone going to pull that off?” Then there are things that seem basic, like, our characters need to walk and talk a lot while the language
is moving very quickly and the audience needs to hear it very clearly. And you don’t realize how cinematic that is until you’re in a room with actors. Then you realize, “Oh my god, you can’t just walk around the room because you’re going to lose half the words, and it doesn’t really quite do what it’s saying it needs to do on the page.” So even something as simple as walking has become a really big challenge for the production team. In some ways, some of the larger flourishes are not as challenging as some of the more subtle things that the play is demanding. Lila and Kris Stone, the scenic designer, have been working really hard on the set, and it’s been really fascinating seeing how the design has evolved. These characters are not in some abstract void. They live in working-class Rhode Island, which is a real place. However, the play demands that our imaginations do a lot of work, and I think it would be a mistake to make the entire set hyper-realistic. This play has a really tricky balance visually, and I’m very impressed with the work that everyone has done. What do you hope this play will do after this production? Because it’s such a unique beast. What do you see for it? I don’t know. I think it’s a pretty big universe for Bradley Boatright. Part of the struggle in writing the story was that I felt like I had so many characters and so many ideas that it was difficult for me to focus in on what this episode was going to be about. In some ways, it felt like Bradley Boatright continued on page 30 2 0 1 2– 1 3 · issue 4 · t h e b e r k e l e y r e p m ag a z i n e · 2 1
“ Exhilarating... A feast of timeless story, irresistible music and wildly imaginative theatricality… a gift that keeps on giving!” SF C h ro n i c le
Patrycja Kujawska ph oto by s t e v e ta nner
Adapted and directed by Emma Rice Presented by Kneehigh Theatre Jan 26–Feb 17 · 26 performances only! Call 510 647-2949 · Click berkeleyrep.org
Berkeley Repertory Theatre presents the world premiere of
Written by
Dan LeFranc Directed by
Lila Neugebauer january 4– february 3, 2013 thrus t s tage · limited sea son
B e r k e le y R e pe r to ry T h e at r e To n y Tacco n e , A r t i s t i c D i r e c to r S u s a n M e da k , M a n ag i n g D i r e c to r
cast
(i n o r d e r o f a p p e a r a n c e)
Bradley Boatright Gabriel King Patricia Boatright and others Jennifer Regan Mikey Minkle Chad Goodridge Loretta Beretta Jeanna Phillips Jake Miller Robbie Tann A-Hole #1 and others Matt Bradley A-Hole #2 and others Ben Mehl
Troublemaker, or The Freakin Kick-A Adventures of Bradley Boatright is made possible thanks to the generous support of s e a s o n pro d u ce r s Wayne Jordan & Quinn Delaney Marjorie Randolph Jack & Betty Schafer The Strauch Kulhanjian Family E xecu tiv e Pro d u ce r s Thalia Dorwick Kerry Francis & John Jimerson a s s o ciate pro d u c e r s Wanda Kownacki Steven & Patrece Mills Patricia Tanoury co -s p o n s o r This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Principal Putters and others Thomas Jay Ryan Sturgis Drang and others Danny Scheie
produc tion s taff Scenic Design Kris Stone Costume Design Paloma Young Lighting Design Alexander V. Nichols Sound Design Jake Rodriguez Fight Director Dave Maier Stage Manager Leslie M. Radin Dramaturg Madeleine Oldham Casting Amy Potozkin, CSA & Stephanie Klapper, CSA The actors and stage manager are members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
Season sponsors
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be r k e l e y r e p pr e s e n t s Matt Bradley
A- HOLE # 1 a n d o t h e r s
Matt is making his Berkeley Rep debut. Around the Bay Area, he has performed at American Conservatory Theater in A Christmas Carol, California Shakespeare Theater in All’s Well That Ends Well, the Playwrights’ Theatre at the O’Neill Foundation in Long Election Day’s Journey into Parade Night, and Summer Repertory Theatre in Forever Plaid and The Full Monty. He was also seen in The Last Days of Judas Iscariot and The Wedding Singer at Fabrefaction Theatre Company in Atlanta. Matt recently graduated from act’s mfa program, where he performed in Gruesome Playground Injuries, A Lie of The Mind, and The Rover. Matt has a bfa from the University of Evansville. He lives in New York.
Chad Goodridge MIKEY MINKLE
Chad returns to Berkeley Rep where he was last seen in Passing Strange. He went on to perform that musical at The Public Theater and on Broadway and receive an Obie Award. His select off-Broadway credits include Performance Space 122 and Cherry Lane Theatre. His other regional credits include Hamlet at Geva Theatre Center; Macbeth, Once in a Lifetime, and Proof at Chautauqua Theater Company; and The Skin of Our Teeth at Williamstown Theatre Festival. Chad has performed at Birdland, Joe’s Pub, and the Sundance Institute Theatre Lab and greatly values his collaborations at New Dramatists. His film credits include Dreaming American, Passing Strange directed by Spike Lee, and Generation Um…. Chad’s television credits include Law & Order: svu and One Life to Live. Follow him @chadgoodridge.
Gabriel King
BRA D LEY BOATRIGHT
This is Gabriel’s first show with Berkeley Rep and he’s giddy with excitement. His New York credits include Henry V and Murrow’s Boys at Irondale Ensemble Project, The Maids at the 4th Street Theatre, as well as Restoration Comedy and These Seven 24 · t h e b e r k e l e y r e p m ag a z i n e · 2 0 1 2– 1 3 · issue 4
Sicknesses (directed by Ed Iskandar) with the company he helped found, Exit Pursued By a Bear. His regional credits include The Comedy of Errors, House of Home, Tape (directed by Lila Neugebauer), and Western Country (directed by Davis MacCallum) at Williamstown Theatre Festival and Rock & Roll at Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre. He holds a bfa from Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Drama where he was the recipient of the 2010 John Arthur Kennedy Acting Award as well as the 2010 Adelyne Roth Levine Award for Excellence in Acting.
Ben Mehl
A - HOLE # 2 a n d o t h e r s
Ben is proudly making his Berkeley Rep debut. In New York he played Doug in Habit, an installation by P.S. 122 and Crossing the Line Festival, and Victor Frange in Victor Frange Presents Gas at the Incubator Arts Project. His performances at other regional theatres include Claudio in Much Ado About Nothing, Dromio in Comedy of Errors, and Romeo in Romeo and Juliet with Driftwood Theatre Group; the Dauphin in Henry V at Two River Theater Company; Don Armado in Love’s Labour’s Lost at Chautauqua Theater Company; Jesus in Jerry Springer the Opera and Jimmy Harper in Reefer Madness the Musical at Hart House Theatre; and Trent Conway in Six Degrees of Separation at Williamstown Theatre Festival. Ben received an mfa in acting from the nyu Graduate Acting Program.
Jeanna Phillips
LORETTA BERETTA
This is Jeanna’s Berkeley Rep debut. She has performed in Grizzly Adams at Joe’s Pub, La MaMa Cantata at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, and Revolting Rhymes at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. At St. Anne’s Warehouse, she appeared in Stop the Virgens (also at Sydney Opera House) and This Clement World. She’s also been seen at Williamstown Theatre Festival in Becoming Sylvia, One Slight Hitch, and Tripolitania. Jeanna received a bfa from nyu. For family and fox.
profiles Jennifer Regan
PATRI C IA BOATRIGHT a n d o t h e r s
Having grown up in the Bay Area, Jennifer is happy to be making her debut at Berkeley Rep, which has been a lifelong wish. Her performances in New York include the Broadway productions of Born Yesterday and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? as well as the revival of How I Learned to Drive at Second Stage Theatre, plus work at Atlantic Theater Company, Primary Stages, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, and Roundabout Theatre Company. She’s performed numerous times at the Old Globe, as well as Barrington Stage Company, Cleveland Play House, Denver Center Theatre Company, the Guthrie Theater, Madison Repertory Theatre, and Pittsburgh Public Theater, among others. Across the pond, Jennifer worked with Maggie Smith in the West End revival of The Lady from Dubuque. Her television credits include Elementary; Gravity; The Heart, She Holler; Law & Order: CI and svu; and The Winning Season. She also appeared in the indie film, Ten Stories Tall.
Thomas Jay Ryan
p r i n c i pa l p u t t e r s a n d o t h e r s
Thomas has been seen at Berkeley Rep in Three Sisters and the American premiere of Will Eno’s tragedy: a tragedy. He was recently seen on Broadway in Sarah Ruhl’s In the Next Room (or the vibrator play) and off Broadway in Edward Albee’s The Lady from Dubuque at Signature Theatre Company, and Ivo Van Hove’s production of The Little Foxes. He originated the role of activist Harry Hay in The Temperamentals, for which he received a Drama Desk Award. His other New York credits include Celebration/The Room at Atlantic, Juno and the Paycock at Roundabout, The Misanthrope at New York Theatre Workshop, Sin at the New Group, Venus at The Public, and the title role in In The Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer at the Keen Company. He has performed at many regional and international theatres. Thomas’ film and television credits include The Book of Life, Degas and the Dancer (Gemini Award nomination), Dreamboy, The Dying Gaul, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Fay Grim, Henry Fool (title role), The Legend of Bagger Vance, Strange Culture, and Wonderland.
Danny Scheie
STURGIS D RANG a n d o t h e r s
Danny’s previous Berkeley Rep credits include Amy Freed’s You, Nero (also performed at South Coast Repertory Theatre and Arena Stage); Les Waters’ production of Charles Mee’s Fêtes de la Nuit; and Tony Taccone’s production of Cloud Nine, which transferred to Trinity Repertory Company. Danny has acted at Cal Shakes for nine seasons, including the role of Lord Foppington in Amy Freed’s Restoration Comedy, which he reprised at the Old Globe. His other recent credits include Peter Sinn Nachtrieb’s Bob at Actors Theater of Louisville’s Humana Festival, Valère in La Bête at Asolo Repertory Theatre, and work at the Folger Theater and Two River Theater Company. Danny’s work has also been seen at Chicago’s Free Shakespeare Company, Los Angeles Theatre Center, the Metropolitan Opera, A Noise Within, Pasadena Playhouse, Seattle Shakespeare, Yale Repertory Theatre, and Zephyr Theatre. He has received numerous Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle awards for acting and directing; his local credits include Aurora Theatre Company, Campo Santo, Center Repertory Theatre, Josie’s Cabaret and Juice Joint, Marin Theatre Company, The Marsh, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, San Jose Repertory Theatre, Theatre Rhinoceros, TheatreWorks, and 13 seasons at Shakespeare Santa Cruz, where he was the artistic director from 1992 to 1995. Danny has a PhD in drama from UC Berkeley.
Robbie Tann J AKE MILLER
This is Robbie’s Berkeley Rep debut. In New York he’s been seen at American Globe Theatre, the New Victory Theater, New York Classical Theatre, New York Musical Theatre Festival, and Theatre Askew. He has worked regionally at Actors Theatre of Louisville, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, and the Vermont Stage Company, and has acted in play-development workshops at the Lark, the Snapple Center, and Yale Rep/ American Repertory Theatre. Robbie will be appearing in an episode of Nurse Jackie this spring. He holds a bfa from C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University and is a proud member of aea.
Here comes Trouble Troublemaker tees are now available in the Roger & Silvija Hoag Theatre Store.
Dan LeFranc PLAY W RIGHT
Dan received the 2010 New York Times Outstanding Playwright Award for Sixty Miles to Silver Lake, premiered by Page 73 Productions and Soho Rep. His play The Big 2 0 1 2– 1 3 · issue 4 · t h e b e r k e l e y r e p m ag a z i n e · 2 5
be r k e l e y r e p pr e s e n t s Meal received its world premiere at American Theatre Company in Chicago, where it was declared the “#1 Play of 2011” by Time Out Chicago and garnered five Joseph Jefferson Award nominations. The Big Meal received its off-Broadway premiere at Playwrights Horizons under the direction of Sam Gold, where it picked up a Drama Desk nomination and four Lucille Lortel nominations, including for Outstanding Play. Dan’s other plays include Backyard, Bruise Easy, Catgut, The Fishbone Fables, In the Labyrinth, Kill the Keepers, Night Surf, and Origin Story, and he’s currently working on commissions for Playwrights Horizons, South Coast Rep, and Yale Rep. He has been recognized with the Helen Merrill Award and the Whitfield Cook Award, plus a Djerassi Resident Artists Program Fellowship, a John C. Russell Fellowship, and two MacDowell Colony/ Alpert Foundation Residencies. He is a member of the mcc Playwrights Coalition and New Dramatists, and a former member of the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab. A graduate of the mfa playwriting program at Brown University, Dan served as head playwriting instructor for the Brown/Trinity Rep Consortium and visiting faculty at Brown, suny Purchase, and Yale University. Sixty Miles to Silver Lake and The Big Meal have been published by Samuel French. The Big Meal also appeared in TheatreForum and McSweeney’s quarterly food journal Lucky Peach, and will be included in the upcoming Methuen Drama Book of New American Plays, edited by Sarah Benson.
Lila Neugebauer direc tor
Lila’s recent directing work includes the West Coast premiere of Annie Baker’s The Aliens at SF Playhouse and a subsequent production at the Studio Theatre in Washington, DC, as well as the world premieres of Edgewise at the Cherry Lane Studio Theatre, The Sluts of Sutton Drive at Ensemble Studio Theatre, The Valley of Fear at Williamstown Theatre Festival, and The Wii Plays at Ars Nova. She was associate director on Karen O’s Stop The Virgens at St. Ann’s Warehouse and Sydney Opera House. As co-artistic director of The Mad Ones, Lila conceives and directs immersive, ensemble-devised works, most recently Samuel & Alasdair: A Personal History of the Robot War at the Brick, Ars Nova, and the New Ohio Theatre. She is an est member, a Time Warner fellow with the Women’s Project, a New Georges affiliated artist, and an alumna of the Drama League, Lincoln Center Directors Lab, and Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab. Her next project is the world premiere of Mallery Avidon’s O Guru Guru Guru at the 2013 Humana Festival. 26 · t h e b e r k e l e y r e p m ag a z i n e · 2 0 1 2– 1 3 · issue 4
Kris Stone
S C ENI C D ESIGNER
Kris designed Comedy on the Bridge & Brundibar at Berkeley Rep. Her New York City premieres include A Cool Dip at Playwrights Horizons, God’s Ear at Vineyard Theatre, A Lifetime Burning at Primary Stages, and What Once We Felt at Lincoln Center Theater. Kris’ work has also been seen regionally and internationally at Abbey Theatre, Edinburgh Theatre Festival, Hartford Stage, La Jolla Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, the Old Globe, Riverside Studios in London, Theatre Royal in Tasmania, Yale Rep, Wiesbaden Festival, and the past 10 years of the Dublin Theatre Festival. She received a Drama Desk nomination for Brundibar by Tony Kushner and Maurice Sendak, a 2006 San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award for Best Set Design, and a nomination for the Irish Times Theatre Award for Best Set Designer. Kris is currently creating a new opera with Philip Glass for her beloved friend Maurice Sendak with director Phelim McDermott.
Paloma Young
C OSTUME D ESIGNER
Paloma’s work was previously seen at Berkeley Rep in You, Nero. She won a Tony Award for the Broadway production of Peter and the Starcatcher, and her other New York credits include Brooklyn Babylon at Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave Festival; Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 at Ars Nova; Recall at Colt Coeur; and Wildflower at Second Stage. Her regional credits include 1001 at Mixed Blood/Hand2Mouth Theater, Charlotte’s Web and Pride and Prejudice at South Coast Rep, A Current Nobody and Hoover Comes Alive! at ljp, Dos Pueblos at the Miracle Theatre Group, A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Old Globe, and Titus Andronicus at Cal Shakes (San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award). Paloma received her mfa from UC San Diego.
Alexander V. Nichols LIGHTING D ESIGNER
Alex returns to Berkeley Rep for his 25th production. His theatre credits include the Broadway productions of Hugh Jackman Back on Broadway, Nice Work If You Can Get It, and Wishful Drinking (originally presented by Berkeley Rep), and off-Broadway productions of Bridge and Tunnel, Horizon, In the Wake, Los Big Names, Taking Over, and Through the Night. Alex’s regional theatre credits include designs for act, Arena Stage, the Huntington Theatre Company, ljp, the Mark Taper Forum, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and Seattle Repertory Theatre. His dance credits include resident designer for American Repertory Ballet, Hartford Ballet, and Pennsylvania Ballet. He was the lighting supervisor for American Ballet Theatre and
profiles
has been the resident visual designer for the Margaret Jenkins Dance Company. His designs are in the permanent repertory of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Boston Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and San Francisco Ballet, among others. Alex’s recent projects include the museum installation Circle of Memory, presented in Stockholm, and video and visual design for life: A Journey Through Time, presented at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam.
Jake Rodriguez
SOUN D D ESIGNER
Jake is contributing to his sixth world premiere at Berkeley Rep, following Emotional Creature, Fêtes de la Nuit, Girlfriend, Passing Strange, and The People’s Temple. His other recent credits include Annapurna and Oedipus el Rey at Magic Theatre, Care of Trees at Shotgun Players, Clementine in the Lower 9 at TheatreWorks, The Companion Piece at Z Space, Eurydice at Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Maple and Vine and Scorched at act, Salomé at Aurora, and The Taming of the Shrew at Cal Shakes. Jake is the recipient of a 2003 San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award and a 2004 Princess Grace Award.
Dave Maier
FIGHT D IRE C TOR
Dave has composed violence for several Berkeley Rep productions, including Culture Clash’s Zorro in Hell, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, and The Pillowman, each of which won San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Awards for fight direction. He is the resident fight director at Cal Shakes and a company member of Shotgun Players. Dave’s work has been seen at act, Impact Theatre, Magic Theatre, San Jose Rep, SF Playhouse, and Shakespeare Santa Cruz, among others. His recent performance credits include The Bad Guy/Billie Heartland/Old Glory in The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity at Aurora, Sheriff Fawsett in God’s Plot at Shotgun Players, and Swordsman in Cyrano de Bergerac at San Francisco Opera, where he served as fight double for Placido Domingo. As an educator, Dave is a full instructor of theatrical combat with Dueling Arts International and a founding member of Dueling Arts San Francisco. He is on the adjunct faculty of St. Mary’s College of California and UC Santa Cruz. Dave is currently serving as the Jan & Howard Oringer Outreach Coordinator for Berkeley Rep’s School of Theatre, where he also teaches stage combat certification classes.
Leslie M. Radin
STAGE MANAGER
Leslie is in her 10th season with Berkeley Rep. She started as the stage management intern in 2003 and is very pleased to be
working on Troublemaker after most recently assistant stage managing Chinglish this season and stage managing Black n Blue Boys / Broken Men last season. Her favorite past productions include In the Next Room (or the vibrator play), The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Passing Strange, The Pillowman, and The Secret in the Wings. She has also worked with Center Rep, SF Opera’s Merola Program, SF Playhouse, and the New Victory, where she traveled with Berkeley Rep’s production of Brundibar/But the Giraffe.
Madeleine Oldham
D IRE C TOR , THE GROUN D FLOOR / RESI D ENT D RAMATURG
Madeleine is the director of Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor and the Theatre’s resident dramaturg. As literary manager and associate dramaturg at Baltimore Centerstage, she produced the First Look reading series and headed up its young audience initiative. Before moving to Baltimore, she was the literary manager at Seattle Children’s Theatre, where she oversaw an extensive commissioning program. She also acted as assistant and interim literary manager at Intiman Theatre. Madeleine served for four years on the executive committee of Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas and has also worked with act (Seattle), Austin Scriptworks, Crowded Fire Theatre Company, the O’Neill, the Kennedy Center, New Dramatists, Playwrights Center, and Portland Center Stage.
Amy Potozkin, csa
Casting Society of America and the League of Professional Theatre Women.
C ASTING D IRE C TOR
Amy is in her 23rd season with Berkeley Rep. She has also had the pleasure of casting projects for act (Seattle), Arizona Theatre Company, Aurora, B Street Theatre, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Dallas Theater Center, Marin Theatre Company, the Marsh, San Jose Rep, Social Impact Productions Inc., and Traveling Jewish Theatre. Amy cast roles for the film Conceiving Ada, starring Tilda Swinton; Haiku Tunnel and the upcoming Love and Taxes by Josh Kornbluth; and the upcoming feature film Beyond Redemption by Britta Sjogren. Amy received her mfa from Brandeis University, where she was also an artist-in-residence. She has been a coach to hundreds of actors, teaches acting at Mills College, and leads workshops at Berkeley Rep’s School of Theatre and numerous other venues in the Bay Area.
Tony Taccone
ARTISTI C D IRE C TOR
Stephanie Klapper, csa C ASTING
Stephanie handled New York casting for Berkeley Rep’s productions of Mary Zimmerman’s The Arabian Nights, as well as Emotional Creature and Red. Her work has been seen on Broadway, off Broadway, regionally, internationally, on television, in film, and on the internet. She has ongoing projects for New York Classical Theatre, Pearl Theatre Company, Primary Stages, and many regional theatres, as well as numerous independent feature films. Stephanie is a member of the
Tony is artistic director of Berkeley Rep. During his tenure, the Tony Award–winning nonprofit has earned a reputation as an international leader in innovative theatre. In those 15 years, Berkeley Rep has presented more than 60 world, American, and West Coast premieres and sent 18 shows to New York, two to London, and now one to Hong Kong. Tony has staged more than 35 plays in Berkeley, including new work from Culture Clash, Rinde Eckert, David Edgar, Danny Hoch, Geoff Hoyle, Quincy Long, Itamar Moses, and Lemony Snicket. He directed the shows that transferred to London, Continental Divide and Tiny Kushner, and two that landed on Broadway as well: Bridge & Tunnel and Wishful Drinking. Tony commissioned Tony Kushner’s legendary Angels in America, co-directed its world premiere, and has collaborated with Kushner on seven projects. His regional credits include atl, Arena, ctg, the Eureka Theatre, the Guthrie, the Huntington, osf, The Public, and Seattle Rep. In 2012, Tony was selected to receive the Margo Jones Award for demonstrating a significant impact, understanding, and affirmation of playwriting, with a commitment to the living theatre. As a playwright, Tony recently debuted Ghost Light and Rita Moreno: Life Without Makeup.
PREMIER SERVICE FOR A PREMIER AUDIENCE Lorri Arazi Leslie Avant Norah Brower Carla Buffington Jackie Care Stina Charles-Harris Carla Della Zoppa
Francine Di Palma Leslie Easterday Gini Erck Jennie A. Flanigan Nancy Hinkley Maureen Kennedy Jack McPhail Denise Milburn
Bob & Carolyn Nelson Ann Nichols Nancy Noman Amy Robeson Ira & Carol Serkes Geri Stern Diane Verducci
Serving Berkeley, Albany, Kensington, El Cerrito, Emeryville, Oakland and Piedmont www.pacunion.com
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2 0 1 2– 1 3 · issue 4 · t h e b e r k e l e y r e p m ag a z i n e · 2 7
be r k e l e y r e p pr e s e n t s Susan Medak
Karen Racanelli
Susan has served as Berkeley Rep’s managing director since 1990, leading the administration and operations of the Theatre. She has served as president of the League of Resident Theatres (lort) and treasurer of Theatre Communications Group, organizations that represent the interests of nonprofit theatres across the nation. Susan chaired two panels for the Massachusetts Arts Council and has also served on program panels for Arts Midwest, the Joyce Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Closer to home, Susan chairs the Downtown Berkeley Business Improvement District and serves as president of the Downtown Berkeley Association. She is the founding chair of the Berkeley Arts in Education Steering Committee for Berkeley Unified School District and the Berkeley Cultural Trust. She was awarded the 2012 Benjamin Ide Wheeler Medal by the Berkeley Community Fund. Susan serves on the faculty of Yale School of Drama and is a proud member of the Mont Blanc Ladies’ Literary Guild and Trekking Society. She lives in Berkeley with her husband.
Karen joined Berkeley Rep in November 1993 as education director. Under her supervision, Berkeley Rep’s Programs for Education provided live theatre for more than 20,000 students annually. In November 1995, she became general manager, and since then has overseen the day-to-day operations of the Theatre, supervising the box office, company management, and IT. She has represented the League of Resident Theatres during negotiations with both Actors’ Equity Association and the Union of Stage Directors and Choreographers. Prior to her tenure at Berkeley Rep, Karen worked for Theatre Bay Area as director of theatre services and as an independent producer at several Bay Area theatre companies. She has served on the boards of Climate Theater, Overtone Theatre Company, and Park Day School, and is currently on the board of the Julia Morgan Center. Karen is married to arts attorney MJ Bogatin and they have two children.
MANAGING D IRE C TOR
GENERAL MANAGER
Michael Suenkel
profiles 1984–85 season and is now in his 19th year as production stage manager. Some of his favorite shows include 36 Views, Endgame, Eurydice, Hydriotaphia, and Mad Forest. He has also worked with the Barbican in London, the Huntington, the Juste Pour Rire Festival in Montreal, ljp, Pittsburgh Public Theater, The Public and Second Stage in New York, and Yale Rep. For the Magic, he stage managed Albert Takazauckas’ Breaking the Code and Sam Shepard’s The Late Henry Moss.
Marjorie Randolph SEASON PRO D U C ER
Marjorie is president of Berkeley Rep’s board of trustees and a longtime supporter of the Theatre. She recently moved back to Berkeley after retiring as head of worldwide human resources for Walt Disney Studios. During her tenure at Berkeley Rep, she has produced 29 plays. A member of the California Bar and a former president of California Women Lawyers, she serves on the National Advisory Panel of the Institute for Research on Women and Gender at Stanford University.
PRO D U C TION STAGE MANAGER
Michael began his association with Berkeley Rep as the stage management intern for the
186 // WAR AND PEACE SUBMITTED BY ANONYMOUS 08.12.2010 OAKLANDAIRPORT.COM
WE SAVE YOU TIME You brush up on the classics. FLY THE BAY AREA’S ON-TIME AIRPORT. 2 8 · t h e b e r k e l e y r e p m ag a z i n e · 2 0 1 2– 1 3 · issue 4
Jack & Betty Schafer SEASON PRO D U C ERS
Betty and Jack are proud to support Berkeley Rep. Jack, one of the Theatre’s board members, also sits on the boards of the Jewish Community Endowment, San Francisco Opera, and the Straus Historical Society. He is co-chair of the Oxbow School in Napa and an emeritus trustee of the San Francisco Art Institute, where he served as board chair. Betty, a retired transitions coach, has resumed her earlier career as a nonfiction writer and poet. She serves on the boards of Brandeis Hillel Day School, Coro Foundation, Earthjustice, and jvs and represents the Jewish Community Foundation on a national allocation committee.
The Strauch Kulhanjian Family SEASON PRO D U C ERS
Roger Strauch is a former president of Berkeley Rep’s board of trustees and a current member. He is chairman of The Roda Group (rodagroup.com), a venturedevelopment company based in Berkeley and best known for launching Ask.com, PolyServe, and Sightspeed. Roger serves on the board of Game Ready, and his firm is the largest investor in Solazyme, a renewable oil and bio-products company based in South San Francisco (nasdaq:szym, solazyme.com). Roger is a member of the engineering dean’s college advisory boards of Cornell University and UC Berkeley. He is vice-chairman of the board of trustees for the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (msri) and a co-founder of the William Saroyan Program in Armenian Studies at Cal. He is also an executive member of the Piedmont Council of the Boy Scouts of America. His wife, Julie A. Kulhanjian, is an attending physician at Oakland Children’s Hospital. They have three teenaged children.
Truth be told, the theatre would be dark without you
Thalia Dorwick
EXE C UTIVE PRO D U C ER
Thalia became involved with the theatre when, at age 12, she wrote, produced, and starred in a Girl Scout play. Fortunately, she has been only a spectator since then. She serves on Berkeley Rep’s board and directs the docent program. She is also on the board of trustees of Case Western Reserve University. She has a PhD in Spanish, taught at the university level for many years, and is the co-author of a number of Spanish textbooks. She retired seven years ago as editor-in-chief of McGraw-Hill Higher Education’s humanities, social sciences, and languages group.
Make a dramatic change. berkeleyrep.org/give Éva Magyar in The Wild Bride p h oTo B y s T e v e Ta n n e r
Kerry Francis & John Jimerson EXE C UTIVE PRO D U C ERS
Kerry and John are excited to support Troublemaker, or the Freakin Kick-A Adventures of Bradley Boatright. John is the learning and development manager at Chevron’s Richmond refinery and has enjoyed the thoughtprovoking plays produced by Berkeley Rep. Kerry is a member of Berkeley Rep’s board of trustees, a partner at Deloitte fas llp, and a graduate of UC Berkeley. 2 0 1 2– 1 3 · issue 4 · t h e b e r k e l e y r e p m ag a z i n e · 2 9
BART
SEASON SPONSOR
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Wells Fargo
SEASON SPONSOR
As a top corporate giver to Bay Area nonprofits for many years, Wells Fargo recognizes Berkeley Repertory Theatre for its leadership in supporting the performing arts and its programs. As the oldest and largest financial services company headquartered in California, Wells Fargo has top financial professionals providing business banking, investments, brokerage, trust, mortgage, insurance, commercial and consumer finance, and much more. Talk to a Wells Fargo banker today to see how we can help you become more financially successful.
Making Trouble
Additional thanks Assistant director Lian Walden Assistants to the scenic designer Caite Hevner, Kathryn Lieber, Marissa Parkes Casting assistants Tyler Albright, Lauren O’Connell Clown consultants Tristan Cunningham, Jeff Raz Costume shop Nelly Flores, Marcy Frank Deck crew Ross Copeland, Danny Maher
Alexandra Kranyak, Margot Leonard, Megan Lush, Mary McDonald Scene shop Ross Copeland, Patrick Keene, BJ Lipari, Dave Nowakowski, Stephanie Shipman Wardrobe Sarah Wakida, Alex Zeek Playwright’s thanks Andi Diamond, Adam Greenfield, Ethan Heard, Ethan McSweeny, Gregg Henry and the Kennedy Center, The MacDowell Colony, MCC Playwrights Coalition, The Eugene O’Neill, Playwrights Conference, The Djerassi Resident Artists Program, Williamstown Theater Festival
Dialect consultant Lisa Anne Porter Electrics Kim Bernard, Stephanie Buchner, Zoltan DeWitt, Jeff Dolan, Kelly Kunaniec, Andrea J. Schwartz, Molly Stewart-Cohn, Audrey Wright, Lauren Wright Props artisans Viqui Peralta, Baz Wenger Sound engineer Xochitl Loza Scenic artists Alana Apfel, Ed Cassel, Alexandra Friedman, Lassen Hines, Anya Kazimierski,
continued from page 21
had had a TV show for a number of years and gone on all these crazy adventures, and this was his big motionpicture feature. So if I’m thinking outside the bounds of what is normally possible, I’d like to write a comic-book series about what happens to the characters, or a cartoon. I know that’s a bit pie in the sky, but I could write these kids all day long. There are so many more stories waiting to unfold. Like, I want to see Bradley do the school play, I want to see Bradley join the debate team, I want to see… The boat chase that got cut? Yeah! As the play has gone on we’ve lost all of this golden material because it doesn’t fit in with the story we need to tell, but it’s very clear to me that there are a lot of possibilities with this world. Is Bradley’s world at all similar to Dan LeFranc’s world? When I was a tweenager-teenager, 3 0 · t h e b e r k e l e y r e p m ag a z i n e · 2 0 1 2– 1 3 · issue 4
there was a lot of turmoil at home. I too, like Bradley, was raised by a single mother, although I was not an only child, I had a brother and a sister. I ran away pretty often, and would spend weeks at friends’ homes or at the homes of girls I had crushes on. When I look back at that time, everything felt very black and white. It felt like my mom was the enemy, and I was the hero. I’d been wronged, and I needed to show the world how right I was and how wrong everyone else was, and one day they’d figure it out, these idiot adults. But as I grew up, I started to realize, as I think a lot of people do, that things aren’t that simple. I’d been acting like an asshole. You move from feeling like a victim to suddenly realizing you’re more of a victimizer. As I began working on this play, suddenly the same thing happened again. I was in my late twentiesearly thirties and having these same
revelations. In my mind I was thinking, “I’m a good guy, I’m cool, I’m nice to people, people like me, I’m generally a good citizen. I do good in the world.” But when I started doing a bit of self-evaluation, it occurred to me that actually, I’m kind of a jerk sometimes, and there are certain things I do that alienate people or are really upsetting, but I refuse to see them. I think a lot of people do this. We’re blind to our faults and flaws and we don’t want to see ugly things about ourselves. When I began the play I thought I was writing a story that was just about 12-year-olds, but I’ve realized it’s a struggle that we go through our entire lives—a constant struggle to really see and evaluate ourselves honestly and recognize the consequences of our behavior both small and large. And it’s a journey. I don’t think it’s the kind of thing we ever get to the end of or solve. It’s something we all grapple with until the day we die.
Adapt. Create. Embody.
It’s not too late to sign-up for winter classes at the School of Theatre! Classes are in session from January 7 through March 25; here’s a little taste of what’s on tap: Circus Skills for the Stage is back and full of acrobatic magical action
Acting Violence: Rapier and Dagger fuses acting skills with stage combat techniques
Visit berkeleyrep.org/classes for more information, specific class dates, and to register. Questions? Call 510 647-2972 or email school@berkeleyrep.org
financial aid is avail able for you th and teen cl a s se s
Physical Comedy puts minds and bodies to work together to tell engaging stories
Thinking ahead to summer already? Register your young theatre-makers for our Summer Intensive programs. session 1 (gr ades 6 – 8): Jun 17–Jul 12 session 2 (gr ades 9 –12): Jul 16–Aug 9 More information and registration is available on berkeleyrep.org/classes
We acknowledge the following Annual Fund supporters whose contributions from October 2011 through November 2012 helped to make possible the Theatre’s artistic and community outreach programs.
con t r i bu tor s institutional supporters G if t s o f $ 100,000 an d above
G if t s o f $25,000 –49,999
G if t s o f $5,000 –9,999
The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation The James Irvine Foundation The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation The Shubert Foundation The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust
Anonymous The Ira and Leonore Gershwin Philanthropic Fund Walter & Elise Haas Fund Koret Foundation Wallis Foundation Woodlawn Foundation
Anonymous Berkeley Civic Arts Program JEC Foundation Ramsay Family Foundation Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation
G if t s o f $10,000 –24,999
California Arts Council Joyce & William Brantman Foundation Civic Foundation
G if t s o f $50,000 –99,999 The Bernard Osher Foundation
Crescent Porter Hale Foundation The Green Foundation Thomas J. Long Foundation National Endowment for the Arts The Kenneth Rainin Foundation The Drs. Ben and A. Jess Shenson Trust, administered by The San Francisco Foundation Paul Wattis Foundation
cor p or at e s p on s or s S e a so n s p o n so r s
G if t s o f $12 ,000 –24,999 The Morrison & Foerster Foundation Union Bank Mechanics Bank Wealth Management
G if t s o f $6,000 –11,999
G if t s o f $25,000 –49,999
Armanino McKenna LLP Bank of the West BluesCruise.com Charles Schwab & Co. Deloitte Meyer Sound Oliver & Company, Inc. Panoramic Interests Peet’s Coffee & Tea Schoenberg Family Law Group STG Asset Management, Inc. UBS U.S. Bank
G if t s o f $1,000 –4,999
G if t s o f $3,000 –5,999 4U Sports Gallagher Risk Management Services Heritage Capital Private Asset Management The Safeway Foundation
G if t s o f $1, 500 –2 ,999 Aspiriant Bingham McCutchen LLP Macy’s
Is your company a Corporate Sponsor? Berkeley Rep’s Corporate Partnership program offers excellent opportunities to network, entertain clients, reward employees, increase visibility, and support the arts and arts education in the community. For details visit berkeleyrep.org or call Daria Hepps at 510 647-2904.
I n-K i n d s p on s or s m at c h i ng g i f t s
Act Catering Aurora Catering Autumn Press Back to Earth Organic Catering Blue Angel Vodka Bobby G’s Pizzeria Bogatin, Corman & Gold Café Clem Comal Cyprus Darling Flower Shop Distillery No. 209 ecovino Wines etc Catering Four Seasons San Francisco Gather Restaurant Gecko Gecko Green Waste Recycle Yard
Guittard Chocolate Company Hotel Shattuck Plaza izze Sparkling Juice Company Kevin Berne Images La Note Latham & Watkins, llp Left Coast Catering Madécasse Match Vineyards Meyer Sound Mint Leaf Mt. Brave Wines Patricia Motzkin Architecture Phil’s Sliders Picante PiQ Quady Winery Raymond Vineyards
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Revival Bar + Kitchen Ricola usa Spy Valley Wines St. George Spirits Staglin Family Vineyard Sweet Adeline Tres Agaves Venus Restaurant Zut! on 4th Hotel Shattuck Plaza is the official hotel of Berkeley Rep. Pro-bono legal services are generously provided by Latham & Watkins, llp.
The following companies have matched their employees’ contributions to Berkeley Rep. Please call the Development Department at 510 647-2906 to find out if your company matches gifts. Alexander & Baldwin · American Express · Amgen · Apple · Argonaut Group, Inc. · at&t · Bank of America · Bank of the West · Bristol Myers Squibb · Charles Schwab Corporation · Chevron Corporation · Clorox Company · Franklin Templeton · Gap · Google · Hewlett Packard · ibm Corp. · JD Fine and Company · John Wiley & Sons, Inc. · Johnson & Johnson · Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory · Levi Strauss · Lexis-Nexis · Macy’s Inc. · Microsoft · Morrison & Foerster Foundation · Motorola · MRW & Associates llc · norcal Mutual Insurance Company · Patagonia · Ruppenthal Foundation for the Arts · S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation · Salesforce · Schwab Charitable Fund · Sony Corporation of America · The Doctors Company · VISA u.s.a., Inc. · Willis Lease Finance Corporation
con t r i bu tor s donors to the annual fund Great theatre is made possible by the generosity of our community. We gratefully acknowledge the following contributors to Berkeley Rep, who champion the Theatre’s artistic and outreach programs. To make your gift and join this distinguished group, visit berkeleyrep.org/give or call 510 647-2906.
Leg e n d in-kind gift M matching gift K
P roduc e r C IRC LE s e a s o n pro d u ce r s
pro d u c e r s
$5 0,0 0 0 & u p
$ 12 ,0 0 0 –2 4 ,9 9 9
Wayne Jordan & Quinn Delaney Marjorie Randolph Jack & Betty Schafer The Strauch Kulhanjian Family
e xecu tiv e pro d u ce r s $ 2 5,0 0 0 –49,9 9 9
Rena Bransten Martha Ehmann Conte Thalia Dorwick Bill Falik & Diana Cohen Kerry Francis & John Jimerson Mary & Nicholas Graves Frances Hellman & Warren Breslau John & Helen Meyer Pam & Mitch Nichter Dr. & Mrs. Philip D. Schild Jean & Michael Strunsky Guy Tiphane Gail & Arne Wagner
David & Vicki Cox Robin & Rich Edwards Virginia & Timothy Foo Jill & Steve Fugaro Bruce Golden & Michelle Mercer Jack Klingelhofer Dugan Moore Patricia Sakai & Richard Shapiro Joan Sarnat & David Hoffman Michael & Sue Steinberg
a s s o ciat e pro d u ce r s $ 6,0 0 0 – 11,9 9 9
Anonymous (4) The Alafi Family Foundation Shelley & Jonathan Bagg Barbara & Gerson Bakar Carole B. Berg Stephen K. Cassidy & Rebecca L. Powlan Robert Council & Ann Parks-Council Oz Erickson & Rina Alcalay
William Espey & Margaret Hart Edwards John & Carol Field Kristina Flanagan David & Vicki Fleishhacker Paul T. Friedman M Scott & Sherry Haber Doug & Leni Herst Ms. Wendy E. Jordan Jean & Jack Knox Wanda Kownacki Ted & Carole Krumland Randy Laroche & David Laudon Zandra Faye LeDuff Dixon Long Dale & Don Marshall Sandra & Ross McCandless Martin & Janis McNair Stephanie Mendel Steven & Patrece Mills M Mary Ann & Lou Peoples Peter Pervere & Georgia Cassel Kaye & Randy Rosso Pat Rougeau
Jack & Valerie Rowe Richard A. Rubin & H. Marcia Smolens Deborah Dashow Ruth Jodi Schiller & Ben Douglas Liliane & Ed Schneider Emily Shanks M Pat & Merrill Shanks Sally Smith & Don Burns Karen Stevenson & Bill McClave Patricia Tanoury Tides Foundation, recommended by an anonymous donor advised fund Saul Zaentz
D onor C i rc l e pre s id e n t s $ 3,0 0 0 – 5,9 9 9
Anonymous (3) Edith Barschi Neil & Gene Barth Valerie Barth & Peter Wiley M Stephen Belford & Bobby Minkler Judy Belk Drs. Don & Carol Anne Brown Tracy Brown & Greg Holland C. William Byrne K M Jennifer Chaiken & Sam Hamilton Susan Chamberlin Earl T. Cohen & Heidi M. Shale Karen & David Crommie Ed Cullen & Ann O’Connor Richard & Anita Davis Lois M. De Domenico Delia Fleishhacker Ehrlich M Nancy & Jerry Falk Ann & Shawn Fischer Hecht Earl & Bonnie Hamlin James C. Hormel Kathleen & Chris Jackson Anne Kaiser K Robert Kelling Duke & Daisy Kiehn Lynn Eve Komaromi Leonard Merrill Kurz Suzanne LaFetra Nancy & George Leitmann Peter & Melanie Maier Charlotte & Adolph Martinelli Susan Medak & Greg Murphy Eddie & Amy Orton Sandi & Dick Pantages David Pratt Len & Barbara Rand Ivy & Leigh Robinson David S. H. Rosenthal & Vicky Reich Howard S. Rowen & Ryan C. Reeder/ UBS Financial Services
Riva Rubnitz Gaile B. Russ Beth & David Sawi Sheila Wishek Steven & Linda Wolan Sally Woolsey Felicia Woytak & Steve Rasmussen
d irec to r s $ 1, 5 0 0 –2 ,9 9 9
Anonymous (5) Jim & Ginger Andrasick Pat Angell, in memory of Gene Angell Ross E. Armstrong Martha & Bruce Atwater Nina Auerbach Jane & Bill Bardin Becky & Jeff Bleich Caroline Booth Linda Brandenburger Broitman-Basri Family Thomas & Tecoah Bruce Kerry Tepperman Campbell Lynne Carmichael The Cheitlin Family Andrew Combs The Connemara Fund Julie Harkness Cooke John & Stephanie Dains Ilana DeBare & Sam Schuchat Becky Draper Merle & Michael Fajans Cynthia A. Farner Tracy & Mark Ferron Lisa & Dave Finer Linda Jo Fitz Frannie Fleishhacker Herb & Marianne Friedman James Gala Karl & Kathleen Geier Dennis & Susan Johann Gilardi Marjorie Ginsburg & Howard Slyter
Daniel & Hilary B. Goldstine Deborah & Howard Goodman Dan Granoff Robert & Judith Greber Garrett Gruener & Amy Slater Richard & Lois Halliday Migsy & Jim Hamasaki Bob & Linda Harris David & Vera Hartford Tom & Bonnie Herman Gail & Bob Hetler Richard N. Hill & Nancy Lundeen Rick Hoskins & Lynne Frame George & Leslie Hume Beth & Fred Karren Rosalind & Sung-Hou Kim Michael Kossman John Kouns & Anne Baele Kouns Helen E. Land Robert Lane & Tom Cantrell Louise Laufersweiler & Warren Sharp Ellen & Barry Levine Bonnie Levinson & Dr. Donald Kay Tom Lockard & Alix Marduel Vonnie Madigan Naomi & Bruce Mann Lois & Gary Marcus Sumner & Hermine Marshall Rebecca Martinez Jill Matichak Phyra McCandless & Angelos Kottas Karen & John McGuinn Miles & Mary Ellen McKey Toby Mickelson & Donald Brody Roger & Satomi Miles Gregory Miller John & Katrina Miottel Scott Montgomery & Marc Rand Judith & Richard Oken K Janet Ostler Judy O’Young, MD & Gregg Hauser Gerane Wharton Park
Bob & MaryJane Pauley Tom & Kathy Pendleton Gladys Perez-Mendez Jonathan & Hillary Reinis Bill Reuter & Ruth Major James & Maxine Risley John & Jody Roberts Deborah Romer & William Tucker Boyard & Anne Rowe Enid & Alan Rubin Dace P. Rutland Mitzi Sales & John Argue Lisa Salomon & Scott Forrest Monica Salusky & John K. Sutherland Jeane & Roger Samuelsen Stephen C. Schaefer Jackie & Paul Schaeffer Joyce & Jim Schnobrich Stephen Schoen & Margot Fraser Linda & Nathan Schultz Amrita Singhal & Michael Tubach Kae Skeels Sherry & David Smith Stephen & Cindy Snow Stephen Stublarec & Debra S. Belaga Andrew & Jody Taylor Deborah Taylor Alison Teeman & Michael Yovino-Young Susan & David Terris Ama Torrance & David Davies Buddy & Jodi Warner Jonathan & Kiyo Weiss Beth Weissman Jeffrey A. White Patricia & Jeffrey Williams Steven Winkel & Barbara Sahm Charles & Nancy Wolfram Jane Zuercher
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con t r i bu tor s donors to the annual fund pl ay w ri g h t s $ 1,0 0 0 –1, 49 9
Anonymous (6) · Donald & Margaret Alter · David Beery & Norman Abramson · Juli Betwee · Dr. & Mrs. Gerald & Carol Block · Jennifer & Brad Bowers · Maria Cardamone · Paula Carrell · Naveen Chandra · Ed & Lisa Chilton · Richard & Linnea Christiani · Constance Crawford · Barbara & Tim Daniels M · Ann Doerr · Corinne & Mike Doyle · David & Monika Eisenbud · Cary and Helen FitzGerald · Thomas & Sharon Francis · Christopher R. Frostad M · Phyllis & Eugene Gottfried · Geoffrey & Marin-Shawn Haynes · Gareth & Ruth Hill · Elaine Hitchcock · Bill Hofmann & Robbie Welling · Paula Hughmanick & Steven Berger · Lynda & Dr. J. Pearce Hurley · Harold & Lyn Isbell · Helmut H. Kapczynski & Colleen Neff · William & Adair Langston · Andrew M. Leavitt & Catherine C. Lewis · Eileen & Jay Love · Laurentius Marais & Susan Hendrie-Marais · Larry & Corinne Marcus · John E. Matthews · Erin McCune & Nicholas Virene · John G. McGehee · Kirk McKusick & Eric Allman · Dan Miller · Patricia Motzkin & Richard Feldman K · Margo Murray · Herbert & Sondra Napell K · Claire Noonan & Peter Landsberger · Richard Ostreicher & Robert Sleasman · Ken & Dorothy Paige · Stephen E. Palmer · Susie & Eric Poncelet · Lucas Reiner & Maud Winchester · Susan Rosin & Brian Bock ·
We gratefully recognize the following members of the Annual Fund whose contributions were received in October and November 2012. S u pp o r te r s $ 2 5 0 –49 9
Anonymous (2) · Gay & Alan Auerbach · Celia Bakke · Robert & Margaret Cant · Holly Christman, MD & Max Perr · Jackie Desoer · Janet Eadie · Sue & Peter Elkind · Don & Becky Grether · Bill Hendricks · Tania & David Madfes · Yael & Gavriel Moses · Nancy Sale · Cherida Smith · Ed & Ellen Smith · Shayla Su M
Co n trib u to r s $ 15 0 –2 49
Anonymous (4) · Jean A. Amos · Elizabeth Balderston · Jim & Donna Beasley · Diane
Anonymous (19) · Bob & Evelyn Apte · Steven & Barbara Aumer-Vail · David Balabanian · Barbara Jones Bambara & Massey J. Bambara · Leslie & Jack Batson · Don & Gerry Beers · Jonathan Berk & Rebecca Schwartz · Robert Berman & Jane Ginsburg · Dr. Kevin & Mrs. Riva Bobrowsky · Claudia Bravo & Alan R. Silverman · Marilyn Bray · Ellen S. Buchen · Rike & Klaus Burmeister · Robert & Janet Campbell M · Robert & Margaret Cant · Ronnie Caplane · Charles & Kristine Cardall · Bruce Carlton · Paula Champagne & David Watson · Patty Chin · Dennis Cohen & Deborah Robison · Blair & Robert Cooter · Copley Crosby · James Cuthbertson · Robert & Loni Dantzler · Pat & Steve Davis · Francine & Beppe Di Palma · Dan Dougherty · Drs. Nancy Ebbert & Adam Rochmes · Jeanene E. Ebert M · Anita C. Eblé · Burton Peek Edwards & Lynne Dal Poggetto · Michael Ehrenzweig ·
Cele & Paul Eldering M · Roger & Jane Emanuel · Bill & Susan Epstein · Gini Erck & David Petta · Barbara & Marty Fishman · Stephen Follansbee & Richard Wolitz · Nancy H. Francis · Donald & Dava Freed · Dorothy & Chuck Garber M · Paul Gill & Stephane D’Arnall · Judith & Alex Glass · Bonnie Goldsmith & Allan Griffin · Ian M. Goldstein M · Robert Goldstein & Anna Mantell · Rob & Susie Goodin · Sheldon & Judy Greene · Dan & Linda Guerra · Harriet Hamlin · Kate Hartley & Mike Kass · Woof Kurtzman & Liz Hertz · Joe Hartzog · Richard L. Hay · Irene & Robert Hepps · Dixie Hersh K · John & Elise Holmgren M · In honor of Julie & Patrick Kennedy · Leonard & Flora Isaacson · Mr. & Mrs. Edwin Ives · Ken & Judith Johnson · Barbara E. Jones in memory of William E. Jones · Ken Katen · Dennis Kaump · Steve Kispersky · Carla Koren & Neal Parish · Jennifer Kuenster & George Miers · John Leys · Ray Lifchez · Mary A. Mackey · Bruce & Pamela Maigatter · Joan & Roger Mann · Helen Marcus & David Williamson · Josephine Maxon & Karl Ruppenthal M · Nancy McCormick · Marie S. McEnnis · Christopher McKenzie & Manuela Albuquerque · Leslie Mesones · Caryl & Peter Mezey · Harrison Miller & Clare McCamy · Rita Moreno · Barbara Morgan · Juliet Moser · Jerry Mosher ·
Moule Family Fund · Ron Nakayama · Jeanne E. Newman · Pier & Barbara Oddone · Steve Olsen · Robyn & David Owen M · Nancy Park · Barbara Peterson · James F. Pine M · Wil & Joyce Pinney · Charles Pollack & Joanna Cooper · Paul Popenoe · Chuck & Kati Quibell · David & Mary Ramos · Ian Reinhard · Charles R. Rice · Paul & Phyllis Robbins · Horacio Rodriguez · Gary Roof & Douglas Light · John Sanger · Dorothy R. Saxe · Barbara & Jerry Schauffler · Laurel Scheinman M · Bob & Gloria Schiller · Paul Schneider K · Mark Schoenrock & Claudia Fenelon · Teddy & Bruce Schwab · Brenda Buckhold Shank, M.D., Ph.D. · Mary Shisler K · Steve & Susan Shortell · Mark Shusterman, M.D. · Dave & Lori Simpson · Jerry & Dick Smallwood · Dr. Scott & Mrs. Alice So K · Louis & Bonnie Spiesberger · Dr. Suzy J. Spradlin K · Lynn M. & A. Justin Sterling · Rocky & Gretchen Stone · Monroe W. Strickberger · Tracy Thompson · Karen Tiedemann & Geoff Piller · Marsha Van Broek K · Deborah & Bob Van Nest · Gerald & Ruth Vurek · Louise & Larry Walker · Wendy Ward · Dena & Wayne Watson-Lamprey · Sallie Weissinger · Dr. Ben & Mrs. Carolyn Werner · Fred Winslow & Barbara Baratta · Susan & Harvey Wittenberg · George & Kathy Wolf · Kent Wright K · Margaret Wu & Ciara Cox
Brett · Jacquelyn Brown & Ken Prochnow · Valarie & John Burgess · Prudence Carter & Marianne Balin · Murray & Betty Cohen · Anita & Herbert Danielsen · Marvin Diamond · Karen & David Dolder · Ian M. Goldstein M · Jan Hobbel · Carolyn Holm · Sheila & Geoff Keppel · Beverly Phillips Kivel · Drs. Yvonne LaLanne & Mark M. Rubenstein · Kevin & Claudine Lally · Martie Conner · Toni Mayer & Alan Lazere · Suzanne McCombs · Janet & Michael McCutcheon · Nora McGuinness · Blythe Mickelson · Mike & Sharon Morris · Margaret Norman · Jennifer Palangio · Virginia & Lucien Polak · Lael Rubin · Chris Sonne · Monica Sun · Susan York
& Joel Lurie · Judith Fireman · Peter & Ayelet Frank · Nancy M. Friedman & Terry Hill · David & Michele Glass · Michael Goldbach & Zahra Mahloudji · Chris Hannafan · Barbara Job · Joyce Keil · Alan Klein · Cynthia LeBlanc · J. C. & Carmen Leighton · Helen Licht · Penelope Lockhart · Gail MacGowan · Susan & Nick McCully · Betsy Mellins & Paul Mendelman · Thomas C. Moore · Bill & Jane Neilson · Dr. Patrick O’Halloran · John & Barbara Ohlmann · Thomas Owen · Joseph R. Palsa · Marci Pattinson · Peter Peacock · Sonja Schmid · Linda R. Schwarz · Steve Spellman · Renee Swayne · Ann E. Wharton · Sharon Wong
Gilliland · David & Christine Goldin · Lorri Gray · Laura Grunbaum · Viviane Hess · Linda Higueras · Paul Hirsch · Dexter Hodes · Christine A. Hoey · June Irizarry · Mr. & Mrs. Lovell S. Jarvis · Patrick Joseph · Kathleen Keller · Claire Kelm & Joseph Giammarco · Gloria Kern · Patricia J. Koren · Lisa S. Lacayo · Eric Leve · Jean Rowe Lieber, R.N.,N.P. · Shirley Liu · Xiang Mack · Elizabeth R. Macken · Brandon McDonnell · Michael Morganstern · Marc M. Morozumi · Andrea Moss · Susan Obayashi · Clare E. Ota · Elliott Otto · Keiko Pederson · Phyllis Piepho · Constance S. Present · Teresa Ramirez · Donald Riley & Carolyn Serrao · Diane Schreiber · Beth Smerdon · Christine Sozanski · Cherrill Spencer · Frances Starn · Jaia Sun · Susan Thomakos · Dan Thomas · Eileen Wenger Tutt · Kathleen Vroom · Jennifer Winch · Anne Yanow · David Yuan Ph.D.
Randee & Joseph Seiger · Neal Shorstein, MD & Christopher Doane · Kim Silva · George & Camilla Smith · Annie Stenzel · Tim Stevenson & David Lincoln King · Nancy & Fred Teichert · Pate & Judy Thomson · Lee Yearley & Sally Gressens · Stan Zaks K · The Zeiger Family, in memory of Phyllis Sagle
ac to r s $5 0 0 – 9 9 9
Frie n d s
Pat ro n s
$ 75–149
$ 1 –74
Anonymous (2) · Karlotta Bartholomew · Kathryn Blue · Adriane & Barry Bosworth · Karen Bowen & Beth Gerstein · David & Eva Bradford · Barbara & Ray Breslau · Amy Chung · Louise Coleman · John Crary · Melinda Drayton · Arthur Elkins · Nancy Ellenbogen
Laurie Adams · Marcella Adamski · Shekhar Ambe · Narra Asher · Marilyn Bancel · Keith Baumetz · Roy C. Bergstrom · Sandra Bernard · Berit Block · Sandra Chutorian · Susan Cohen · Elsbeth M. Collins · Carol E. Copeland · Lennon DayReynolds · Joseph Engle · Ken Frucht · Kay
We are pleased to recognize first-time donors to Berkeley Rep, whose names appear in italics.
M e mor i a l a n d T r i bu t e G i f t s The following members of the Berkeley Rep community made gifts in memory and in honor of friends, colleagues, and loved ones from September 2011 to September 2012.
3 4 · t h e b e r k e l e y r e p m ag a z i n e · 2 0 1 2– 1 3 · issue 4
Anonymous, in honor of the Fritz Family Anonymous, in memory of Kathy Scudder Pat Angell, in memory of Gene Angell Jeffrey Bornstein, in honor of Kerry Francis Anita & Herbert Danielsen, in honor of Sara E. Danielsen & Sean M. Tarrant Robert Engel, in memory of Natalie Seglin Cynthia Fleury, In memory of Tyrone Collins Suzanne & Richard Gerson, in memory of Richard Heggie Richard & Sylvia Hammond, in honor of Leo Blitz & Family Ruth Hennigar, in memory of Emerson Hennigar Barbara E. Jones in memory of William E. Jones Judi and Buz Kanter, in honor of Susie Medak and Marge Randolph Debie Krueger, in memory of Alex Maffei Nadine Levin & Family, in honor of Judy Belk’s Bitrthday Lisa Loef, in honor of Scott Haber Joanne Medak, in honor of Susan Medak
Geri Monheimer, in memory of David Robinson Lise Pearlman, in memory of Amalia Pearlman Elizabeth & Ted Peña, in honor of Oscar Peña, with thanks to Ben Hanna Laurel Przybylski, in memory of Maryann Herber Lois & Dan Purkett, in honor of Merton Johnson & Mary Rowe M Karen Racanelli, in memory of Martin Sosin Phyllis & Steve Reinstein, in honor of Laurie Barnes Mr. & Mrs. Leonard Rosenberg, in honor of Sherry & Scott Haber Anne Sanger-Kuvmicky, in memory of Pauline & Willie Sanger Veronica Schwalbach, in memory of Catherine Day Janet Sovin, in memory of Flora Roberts Debbie & Bob Sternbach, in honor of Sally Smith Alisa Sudgen, in memoriam of my father WRITE CLUB San Francisco, in honor of Steven Westdahl
Named funds The Dale Elliot Fund The Bret C. Harte Young Director/Producer Fund The Jan & Howard Oringer Outreach Coordinator Position The Bernard Osher Foundation New Play Development Program The Peter F. Sloss Dramaturgy & Literary Fellowship Fund The Strauch Kulhanjian Artistic Innovation Fund The Harry Weininger Sound Fellowship Fund
We acknowledge the following donors for their generous support of the 40th Anniversary Campaign: I n v e s to r s c i rc le Anonymous Wayne Jordan & Quinn Delaney The Bernard Osher Foundation The Strauch Kulhanjian Family s e a s o n pro d u c e r s C i rc le Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Ira & Leonore Gershwin Philanthropic Fund Marjorie Randolph Jean & Michael Strunsky pro d u c e r s C i r c le Anonymous S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation David & Vicki Cox Walter & Elise Haas Fund Rick Hoskins & Lynne Frame The James Irvine Foundation John & Helen Meyer Jan & Howard Oringer Joan Sarnat & David Hoffman Betty & Jack Schafer Felicia Woytak & Steve Rasmussen Martin & Margaret Zankel a s s o c iat e pro d u c e r s C i r c le Shelley & Jonathan Bagg Becky & Jeff Bleich Thalia Dorwick Robin & Rich Edwards Bill Falik & Diana Cohen Kerry Francis & John Jimerson
Mary & Nicholas Graves The Hearst Foundation, Inc. William & Flora Hewlett Foundation Koret Foundation Sarah McArthur & Michael LeValley Sandra & Ross McCandless Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Dugan Moore Mary Ann & Lou Peoples Peter Pervere & Georgia Cassel Richard A. Rubin & H. Marcia Smolens Cynthia & William Schaff Michael & Sue Steinberg The Harold & Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust Guy Tiphane Wayne & Gladys Valley Foundation
Beth & David Sawi d i r e c to r s C i rc le Rena Bransten John & Carol Field Susan Medak & Greg Murphy Len & Barbara Rand Stephen & Cindy Snow The Tournesol Project Arne & Gail Wagner Woodlawn Foundation
pr e s i d e n t s C i rc le American Express Philanthropic Foundation Ken & Joni Avery Kimo Campbell Jennifer Chaiken & Sam Hamilton William Espey & Margaret Hart Edwards David & Vicki Fleishhacker, in memory of Peter Sloss Scott & Sherry Haber Julie Matlof Kennedy & Patrick Kennedy Wanda Kownacki Carole & Ted Krumland Dixon Long David & Connie Lowe Dale & Don Marshall Eddie & Amy Orton
pl ay w r i g h t s c i r c le Anonymous (2) Stephen K. Cassidy Mel & Hella Cheitlin East Bay Community Foundation Kristina Flanagan Tom Hanks & Rita Wilson Bob & Linda Harris Roger & Silvija Hoag Patrick & Holly O’Dea Patricia Sakai & Richard Shapiro Kae Skeels Douglas Tilden Wells Fargo Foundation We thank these additional donors for their support of the 40th Anniversary Campaign: Anonymous (3) Pat Angell in memory of Gene Angell Susan & Barry Baskin Alvin Baum Harry & Suzie Blount Lynne Carmichael
Kristin Carpenter Susan Chamberlin Harry & Susan Dennis Alex Edwards Entrekin Foundation Cynthia A Farner Steven, Jill, & Kevin Fugaro Mary Hamilton Earl & Bonnie Hamlin Harlan & Joanne Heydon Deborah & David Kirshman Jack Klingelhofer Lynn Eve Komaromi Zandra Faye LeDuff Nancy & George Leitmann Ellen & Barry Levine George I. Lythcott, III Neil & Leah Mac Neil Helen Marcus & David Williamson Miles & Mary Ellen McKey Ron Nakayama Barbara & Pier Oddone Judith & Richard Oken Regina Phelps Aaron Phillips James & Maxine Risley Barbara & Richard Rosenberg Sarlo Foundation of the Jewish Community Endowment Fund, in honor of Rebecca Martinez Dr. & Mrs. Philip D. Schild Sherry & David Smith Mr. Leon Van Steen Dave Wedding Dress Julie M. Weinstein Alexis Wong
To learn more about the 40th Anniversary Campaign, contact Lynn Eve Komaromi, Director of Development, at 510 647-2903 or lynneve@berkeleyrep.org.
Sustaining members as of November 2012:
The Society welcomes the following new members: Anonymous
Anonymous (3) Sam Ambler Carl W. Arnoult & Aurora Pan Ken & Joni Avery Nancy Axelrod Edith Barschi Carol B. Berg Linda Brandenburger Jill Bryans Bruce Carlton & Richard G. McCall Stephen K. Cassidy Andrew Daly & Jody Taylor Rich & Robin Edwards William Espey & Margaret Hart Edwards Carol & John Field Dr. Stephen E. Follansbee & Dr. Richard A. Wolitz
Kerry Francis Dr. Harvey & Deana Freedman Paul T. Friedman Laura K. Fujii Marjorie Ginsburg & Howard Slyter Mary & Nicholas Graves Elizabeth Greene Richard & Lois Halliday Linda & Bob Harris Fred Hartwick Douglas J. Hill Hoskins/Frame Family Trust Robin C. Johnson Lynn Eve Komaromi Bonnie McPherson Killip Scott & Kathy Law Zandra Faye LeDuff Ines R. Lewandowitz Dot Lofstrom
Dale & Don Marshall Sumner & Hermine Marshall Rebecca Martinez Suzanne & Charles McCulloch Miles & Mary Ellen McKey Susan Medak & Greg Murphy Toni Mester Sharon Ott Amy Pearl Parodi Barbara Peterson Margaret Phillips Marjorie Randolph Bonnie Ring Living Trust Patricia Sakai & Richard Shapiro Betty & Jack Schafer Brenda Buckhold Shank, M.D., Ph.D. Michael & Sue Steinberg Karen Stevenson Dr. Douglas & Anne Stewart
Jean Strunsky Phillip & Melody Trapp Janis Kate Turner Dorothy Walker Grace Williams Karen & Henry Work Martin & Margaret Zankel
Gifts received by Berkeley Rep: Estate of Suzanne Adams Estate of Fritzi Benesch Estate of Nelly Berteaux Estate of Nancy Croley Estate of John E. & Helen A. Manning Estate of Richard Markell Estate of Margaret Purvine Estate of Peter Sloss Estate of Harry Weininger
Members of this Society, which is named in honor of Founding Director Michael W. Leibert, have designated Berkeley Rep in their estate plans. Unless the donor specifies otherwise, planned gifts become a part of Berkeley Rep’s endowment, where they will provide the financial stability that enables Berkeley Rep to maintain the highest standards of artistic excellence, support new work, and serve the community with innovative education and outreach programs, year after year, in perpetuity. For more information on becoming a member, visit our website at berkeleyrep.org or contact Daria Hepps at 510 647-2904 or dhepps@berkeleyrep.org.
2 0 1 2– 1 3 · issue 4 · t h e b e r k e l e y r e p m ag a z i n e · 35
a bou t be r k e l e y r e p staff and affiliations Artistic Director Tony Taccone
Managing Director Susan Medak
General Manager Karen Racanelli
a r t i s t ic Artistic Associate & Casting Director Amy Potozkin Artistic Associate Mina Morita Director, The Ground Floor/ Resident Dramaturg Madeleine Oldham Literary Associate Julie McCormick Theatre Communications Group/ Visiting Artistic Associate Maureen Towey Artists under Commission David Adjmi Glen Berger Marcus Gardley Dan LeFranc Tarell McCraney Dominic Orlando KJ Sanchez
costumes Costume Director Maggi Yule Draper Kitty Muntzel Tailor Kathy Kellner Griffith First Hand Janet Conery Wardrobe Supervisor Barbara Blair Assistant Costume Designer Amy Bobeda
pat ron s e r v ic e s Patron Services Manager Katrena Jackson House Manager Debra Selman Assistant House Managers Natalie Bulkley · Octavia Driscoll · Aleta George · Michael Grunwald · Ayanna Makalani · Kyle Sircus Concessionaires Leah Barish · Tim Bruno · Natalie Bulkley · Ashley Cleveland · Elena Cohen · Mariko Conner · Emily Fassler · Alex Friedman · Stephanie Graham · Wendi Gross · Emily Hartman · Mary Kay Hickox · Champagne Hughes · Kimberly “Mik” Jew · Maria Jimenez · Anya Kazimierski · Devon LaBelle · Hannah Lennett · Margot Leonard · Jamie McClave · Vita O’Shea · Camille Prado · Jacob Marx Rice · Benjamin Sandberg · Elena Sanders · Amanda Spector · Andrew Susskind · Read Tuddenham · Nancy Villatoro · Ann Vollrath · Amanda Warner Usher Coordinators Nelson & Marilyn Goodman
p roduc t ion Production Manager Tom Pearl Associate Production Manager Amanda Williams O’Steen Company Manager Jean-Paul Gressieux s tag e m a nag e m e n t Production Stage Manager Michael Suenkel Stage Managers Kimberly Mark Webb Leslie M. Radin Assistant Stage Manager Karen Szpaller Production Assistants Whitney G. Krause Megan McClintock Amanda Warner s tag e op e r at ion s Stage Supervisor Julia Englehorn p rop e r t i e s Properties Manager ashley dawn Assistant Properties Managers Gretta Grazier Jillian A. Green s c e n e s hop Technical Director Jim Smith Assistant Technical Director Colin Babcock Shop Foreman Sam McKnight Carpenters E.T. Hazzard Jamaica Montgomery-Glenn s c e n ic a r t Charge Scenic Artist Lisa Lázár
e l e c t r ic s Master Electrician Frederick C. Geffken Production Electricians Christine Cochrane Kenneth Coté s ou n d Sound Supervisor James Ballen Sound Engineer Angela Don a dm i n i s t r at ion Controller Suzanne Pettigrew Director of Technology Gustav Davila Associate Managing Director/ Manager, The Ground Floor Karena Fiorenza Ingersoll Executive Assistant Andrew Susskind Bookkeeper Kristine Taylor Associate General Manager/ Human Resources Manager David Lorenc Human Resources Consultant Laurel Leichter Database Manager Diana Amezquita de v e l opm e n t Director of Development Lynn Eve Komaromi Associate Director of Development Daria Hepps Director of Individual Giving Laura Fichtenberg Senior Campaign Manager Amber Jo Manuel Institutional Grants Manager Bethany Herron Special Events Manager Lily Yang Individual Giving Associate Sarah Nowicki Development Database Coordinator Jane Voytek Development Associate Beryl Baker
3 6 · t h e b e r k e l e y r e p m ag a z i n e · 2 0 1 2– 1 3 · issue 4
b ox off ic e Ticket Services Director Christine Bond Subscription Manager & Associate Sales Manager Laurie Barnes Box Office Supervisor Terry Goulette Box Office Agents Amy Bobeda · Christina Cone · Alisha Ehrlich · Luisa Frasconi · Eliza Oakley · Tom Toro · Amanda Warner m a r k e t i ng & c om m u n ic at ion s Director of Marketing & Communications Robert Sweibel Director of Public Relations / Associate Director of Marketing & Communications Terence Keane Art Director Cheshire Isaacs Video & Multimedia Producer Pauline Luppert Communications Manager Karen McKevitt Marketing Manager Kyle Sircus Audience Development Manager Cari Turley Webmaster Christina Cone Program Advertising Ellen Felker
op e r at ion s Facilities Director Emiel Koehler Facilities Coordinator Lauren Shorofsky Building Engineer Thomas Tran Maintenance Technician Johnny Van Chang Facilities Assistants Kevin Barry Sonny Hudson Sophie Li Carlos Mendoza berkeley rep s c ho ol of t h e at r e Director of the School of Theatre Rachel L. Fink Associate Director MaryBeth Cavanaugh Jan & Howard Oringer Outreach Coordinator Dave Maier Community Programs Manager Benjamin Hanna School Administrator Cassie Newman Registrar Katie Riemann Faculty Cynthia Bassham · Jeffrey Bihr · Erica Blue · Rebecca Castelli · Sally Clawson · Laura Derry · Deborah Eubanks · Rachel Fink · Christine Germain · Nancy Gold · Gary Graves · Marvin Greene · Ben Hanna · Chrissy Hoffman · Aaron Jessup · Ken Kelleher · Will Klundt · Devon LaBelle · Julian Lopez-Morillas · Laura Lowry · Dave Maier · Patricia Miller · Michael Navarra · Madeleine Oldham · Slater Penney · Diane Rachel · Elyse Shafarman · Rebecca Stockley · Bruce Williams Outreach Teaching Artists Michael Barr · Mariah Castle · Sylvia Hathaway · Gendell HingHernandez · Ben Johnson · Hannah Lennett · Marilet Martinez · Sarita Ocon · Carla Pantoja · Lexie Papedo · Patrick Russell · Tommy Shepherd · Reggie White · Elena Wright Teacher Advisory Council Molly Aaronson-Gelb · Julie Boe · Amy Crawford · Beth Daly · Jan Hunter · Marianne Philipp · Richard Silberg · John Warren · Jordan Winer Docent Committee Thalia Dorwick, Chair Matty Bloom, Co-Chair Charlotte Martinelli, Co-Chair Troublemaker Docents Nancy Fenton, lead docent Ashley Cleveland Sandy Curtis Jennylee Haines Marc Seleznow
201 2–1 3 B e r k e l e y R e p F e l l ow s h i p s Company/Theatre Management Fellow Leah Barish Costume Fellow Timothy Bruno Development Fellow Jamie McClave Education Fellows Ashley Cleveland Amanda Spector Graphic Design Fellow Mary Kay Hickox Harry Weininger Sound Fellow Emily Fassler Lighting / Electrics Fellow Anthony Jannuzzi Marketing & Communications Fellow Jacob Marx Rice Peter F. Sloss Literary/ Dramaturgy Fellow Nora Sørena Casey Production Management Fellow Read Tuddenham Properties Fellow Ann Vollrath Scenic Construction Fellow Ali Dineen Stage Management Fellow Rachel London
Affiliations The director and choreographer are members of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, Inc., an independent national labor union. The Scenic, Costume, Lighting, and Sound Designers in lort Theatres are represented by United Scenic Artists Local usa-829, iatse.
boa r d of t ru st e e s B oa r d M e m b e r s
Thalia Dorwick, PhD
e xecu tiv e vi ce Pre s id e n t
Helen Meyer
Vi c e Pre s id e n t
Richard Shapiro Vi c e Pre s id e n t
Emily Shanks Tre a s u r e r
Scott R. Haber S ecre ta ry
Roger A. Strauch
Ch air , T ru s te e s Co m m it t e e
Pamela Nichter
Ch air , Au d it co m m it t e e
Pa s t Pre s id e n t s
Helen C. Barber A. George Battle Carole B. Berg Robert W. Burt Shih-Tso Chen Narsai M. David Nicholas M. Graves Richard F. Hoskins Jean Knox Robert M. Oliver Harlan M. Richter Richard A. Rubin Edwin C. Shiver Roger A. Strauch Warren Widener Martin Zankel
Carrie Avery Steve Buster Martha Ehmann Conte Robin Edwards William T. Espey William Falik Lisa Finer David Fleishhacker Kerry L. Francis Paul T. Friedman Jill Fugaro David Hoffman, PhD Carole S. Krumland Dale Rogers Marshall Julie M. McCray Susan Medak Jack Schafer Jean Z. Strunsky Tony Taccone Gail Wagner S u s tain in g a dvi s o r s
Carole B. Berg Rena Bransten Stephen K. Cassidy Diana J. Cohen John Field Nicholas M. Graves Richard F. Hoskins Sandra R. McCandless Dugan Moore Pat Rougeau Patricia Sakai Michael Steinberg Michael Strunsky Felicia Woytak Martin Zankel
into d e p om three c t k u ge an st pic ive yo c You ow! Ju e’ll g ail to w a sh s and to em ey all h e on dat vitati age. T r in an entou one. r D you 20%. / e org . v p a e s eyr ll us at l e k ber , or ca k c i Cl urage o 18 ent 47-29 6 510
@berkeleyrep
Founding Director Michael W. Leibert Producing Director, 1968–83
R A T S
CON NEC T
Pre s id e n t
facebook.com/berkeleyrep
Marjorie Randolph
E R ’ UA O Y
2 0 1 2– 1 3 · issue 4 · t h e b e r k e l e y r e p m ag a z i n e · 3 7
F YI Latecomers
Please arrive on time. There is no late seating, except at the discretion of the house manager.
Connect with us online!
Theatre info
Considerations
Visit our website berkeleyrep.org You can buy tickets and plan your visit, read our blog, watch video, sign up for classes, donate to the Theatre, and explore Berkeley Rep.
Emergency exits Please note the nearest exit. In an emergency, walk—do not run —to the nearest exit. Accessibility Both theatres offer wheelchair seating and special services for those with vision- or hearing-impairment. Infrared listening devices are available at no charge in both theatre lobbies. Audio descriptions are available in the box office; please request these materials at least two days in advance of your performance date.
No food or glassware in the house Beverages in cans, bottles, or cups with lids are allowed. Please keep perfume to a minimum Many patrons are sensitive to the use of perfumes and other scents. Recycle and compost your waste Help us be more green by using the recycling and compost containers found throughout the Theatre. Phones / electronics / recordings Please make sure your cell phone, pager, or watch alarm will not beep. Doctors may check pagers with the house manager and give seat location for messages. Use of recording equipment or taking of photographs in the theatre is strictly prohibited. Please do not touch the set or props You are welcome to take a closer look at the set, but please don’t step onto the stage. Some of the props can be fragile, and are placed precisely. No children under 7 Many Berkeley Rep productions are unsuitable for young children. Please inquire before bringing children to the Theatre. No babes in arms.
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We’re mobile! Download our free iPhone or Google Play app — or visit our mobile site —to buy tickets, read the buzz, watch video, and plan your visit. Android
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Tickets/box office Box office hours: noon–7pm, Tue–Sun Call 510 647-2949 Click berkeleyrep.org anytime Fax: 510 647-2975 Under 30? Half-price advance tickets! For anyone under the age of 30, based on availability. Proof of age required. Some restrictions apply. Senior/student rush Full-time students and seniors 65+ save $10 on sections A and B. One ticket per ID, one hour before showtime. Proof of eligibility required. Subject to availability. Group tickets Bring 10-14 people and save $5 per ticket; bring 15 or more and save 20%. And we waive the service charge. Entourage tickets If you can bring at least 10 people, we’ll give you a code for 20% off tickets to up to five performance dates. Learn more at berkeleyrep.org/entourage. Student matinee Tickets are just $10 each. Learn more at berkeleyrep.org/studentmatinees. For group, Entourage, and student matinee tickets, please call us at 510 647-2918. Sorry, we can’t give refunds or offer retroactive discounts.
3 8 · t h e b e r k e l e y r e p m ag a z i n e · 2 0 1 2– 1 3 · issue 4
Educators Bring Berkeley Rep to your school! Call the School of Theatre at 510 647-2972 for information about free and low-cost workshops for elementary, middle, and high schools. Call Cari Turley at 510 647-2918 for $10 student-matinee tickets. Call the box office at 510 647-2949 for information on discounted subscriptions for preschool and K–12 educators.
Theatre store Berkeley Rep merchandise and show-related books are available in the Hoag Theatre Store in the Roda Theatre and our kiosk in the Thrust Stage lobby.
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t h ru s t
Only subscribers may exchange their tickets for another performance of the same show. Exchanges can be made online until midnight (or 7pm by phone) the day preceding the scheduled performance. Exchanges are made on a seat-available basis.
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Request information To request mailings or change your address, write to Berkeley Rep, 2025 Addison Street, Berkeley, CA 94704; call 510 647‑2949; email info@berkeleyrep.org; or click berkeleyrep.org/joinourlist. If you use Gmail, Yahoo, or other online email accounts, please authorize patronreply@ berkeleyrep.org.
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4000 MILES
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Your 21-year-old grandson: it’s lovely when he visits, but what happens when he stays?
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Dorothy Mayers at the Tate Museum, 1965.
My Life Here Is
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Meet Dorothy Mayers, resident, educator, and photographer. Her passion is taking the perfect picture. Her life is wonderfully framed by friends, family, and a vibrant, independent way of living. If every picture tells a story, Dorothy’s writing her next, best chapter at St. Paul’s Towers. To learn more, or for your personal visit, please call 510.891.8542.
Irwin and Dorothy Mayers, joined in 2005
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A fully accredited, non-denominational, not-for-profit community owned and operated by Episcopal Senior Communities. License No. 011400627 COA #92
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