Berkeley historical images courtesy of the Berkeley Historical Society.

Thornton Wilder, Playwright Jonathan Moscone, Director Neil Patel, Scenic Designer Lydia Tanji, Costume Designer Scott Zielinski, Lighting Designer Mark Bennett, Sound Designer and Additional Music Michael Suenkel *, Production Stage Manager Katherine Riemann *, Stage Manager MaryBeth Cavanaugh, Movement Coach Amy Utstein, Dramaturg Lynne Soffer, Dialect Coach Susan Swerdlow, Choir Director Amy Potozkin, Casting Marissa Wolf, Assistant Director Joy Meads, Artistic Assistant Brad Lindert, Stage Management CAST (in alphabetical order) Trevor Cheitlin, Joe Crowell, Jr. / Si Crowell Gideon Lazarus, Joe Crowell, Jr. / Si Crowell Jacob Cohen, Wally Webb Alex Kaplan, Wally Webb Julie Eccles, Mrs. Gibbs Bill Heck, George Gibbs Sharon Lockwood, Mrs. Soames Jarion Monroe, Professor Willard / Constable Warren / Joe Stoddard Paul Vincent O’Connor, Mr. Webb Barbara Oliver, Stage Manager Emma Roberts, Emily Webb Charles Shaw Robinson, Dr. Gibbs Ken Ruta,Simon Stimson Sarah Smithton, Rebecca Gibbs Emily Trumble, Rebecca Gibbs T. Edward Webster, Howie Newsome / Sam Craig Nance Williamson, Mrs. Webb Special thanks: Berkeley Historical Society and Yamaha Pianos THORNTON WILDER (Playwright) (1897–1975) is the only author to win the Pulitzer Prize for both fiction and drama. He was honored with the award three times: first for his breakthrough novel, The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1928); again for Our Town (1938), which was a huge success on Broadway; and a third time for The Skin of Our Teeth (1943), his most experimental play and his critical response to the American entry into World War II. In 1954, Wilder revised his script The Merchant of Yonkers and staged The Matchmaker, which was made into a film and then into the enormously popular musical Hello, Dolly! The Broadway production won ten Tony Awards and ensured Wilder’s financial security for life. His other work includes plays such as Pullman Car Hiawatha and novels such as The Ides of March, as well as the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller Shadow of a Doubt. In addition to Pulitzers and Tonys, Wilder received many awards for his work, including the American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal for Fiction (1952), the first National Medal for Literature (1962), the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1963), the National Book Committee’s Medal for Literature (1965) and the National Book Award (1967). Wilder served in the Coast Artillery Corps in World War I and in the Air Force in World War II, receiving the Legion of Merit and a Bronze Star. The enduring popularity of his work often overshadows its innovative nature and his radical political and social and commentary. JONATHAN MOSCONE (Director) is the artistic director of California Shakespeare Theater where his credits include The Importance of Being Earnest, Julius Caesar, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Nicholas Nickleby, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, The Seagull and Twelfth Night. His work at Cal Shakes has earned him Bay Area Critics Circle and Dean Goodman Choice Awards for best direction and best production. In addition to staging Ghosts at Berkeley Rep in 2004, his regional credits include Goodspeed Musicals, Intiman Theatre, Magic Theatre, Portland Stage Company and Triangle Opera. A native of San Francisco, Moscone earned his M.F.A. in directing from the Yale School of Drama before serving for seven years as associate director of Dallas Theater Center. At D.T.C., his work included An Ideal Husband, Arms and the Man, How I Learned to Drive and the world premiere of Karen Hartman’s Alice: Tales of a Curious Girl. He also directed and co-wrote a world-premiere adaptation of A Christmas Carol. Moscone is the recipient of a Princess Grace Award for Directing, a Drama League Directors Project Fellowship and a Social Innovation Fellowship from the Stanford Graduate School of Business Center. NEIL PATEL (Set Designer) designed the set for the Broadway and West End productions of Sideman and the recent Broadway revival of ’night, Mother. His Off-Broadway work includes Arms and the Man (Roundabout); The Beard of Avon, Bob, Culture of Desire, Quills and Slavs (New York Theater Workshop); Lobster Alice and Mud, River, Stone (Playwrights Horizons); Othello (New York Shakespeare Festival); and The Changeling (Theater for a New Audience). Regionally, his work has appeared at Guthrie Theatre, Baltimore’s Center Stage, Steppenwolf Theater, La Jolla Playhouse, McCarter Theater and Long Wharf Theatre, among many others. Currently, his work is also appearing on the California Shakespeare Theatre stage in Nicholas Nickleby. Mr. Patel is the recipient of numerous Drama Desk nominations, winner of the 2000 EDDY Award and the 1996 and 2001 OBIE for sustained excellence. LYDIA TANJI (Costume Design) Previous productions at Berkeley Rep include Honour, Master Class, Homebody/Kabul, Ballad of Yachiyo, Slavs and Heartbreak House. Recently, she designed Making Tracks at San Jose Rep and 36 Views at Laguna Playhouse, Portland Center Stage and Geva Theatre. Other theaters include Seattle Rep, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Mark Taper Forum, South Coast Rep, Aurora Theater, A.C.T., Indiana Rep, The Childrens Theatre, Public Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, Huntington Theatre, Syracuse Stage and Arena Stage. She has received five Bay Area Theatre Critics awards and two Drama-Logue awards. Film credits include The Joy Luck Club, Hot Summer Winds, Dim Sum, The Wash, A Thousand Pieces of Gold and Life Tastes Good. Dedicated to Sachiko Nakamura. SCOTT ZIELINSKI (Lighting Designer) His New York credits include Topdog/Underdog (Broadway), Lincoln Center, Public Theater, Theater for a New Audience, Manhattan Theater Club, Playwrights Horizons, New York Theater Workshop, Signature Theater and Classic Stage Company, among others. He has designed extensively at regional theaters throughout the U.S. International credits include productions in London, Edinburgh, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Berlin, Zurich, Vienna, Adelaide, Singapore, Luang Prabang and Fukuoka. Dance credits include The Joyce, Kennedy Center, American Dance Festival, American Ballet Theatre, National Ballet of Canada, San Francisco, Boston and Kansas City Ballets. Opera: New York City, Houston, Minnesota, Toronto, Pittsburgh, Arizona and Berkshire Operas, Opera Colorado, Spoleto USA and Brooklyn Academy of Music, among others. MARK BENNETT (Sound Designer and Additional Music) Berkeley Rep: Antony and Cleopatra (Garland Award), Mad Forest. Other recent West Coast: Golda’s Balcony (SF & LA), Dead End, The House of Bernarda Alba (Taper-Ovation nom), Plato’s Symposium (Getty Museum), Twelfth Night (The Globe), Dogeaters (La Jolla Playhouse-Garland Award). Recent Broadway scores and sound: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Henry IV, Golda’s Balcony, The Goat, Lily Tomlin and The Search (Ovation Award). Off-B’way: Over 60 productions including scores for eight Shakespeares for The Joseph Papp Public Theatre. Recent commissions include: Most Wanted for the La Jolla Playhouse with book and co-lyrics by Jessica Hagedorn. Recipient: Eight Drama Desk Nominations, Obie Award Sustained Excellence. Yamaha Artist since 2002. LYNNE SOFFER (Dialect Coach) Lynne Soffer has been the dialect/text coach on over 135 productions for theatres including Berkeley Rep, A.C.T., Seattle Rep, San Jose Rep, The Old Globe (San Diego), Magic Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, Aurora Theatre, Word for Word, PCPA Theaterfest and the world premiere of Moises Kaufman’s The Laramie Project at the Denver Center, New York and Berkeley, as well as for several films. Most recently, she coached the dialects for Jonathan Moscone and Sean Daniels’ Nicholas Nickleby, Parts 1 and 2 at Cal Shakes. As an instructor of acting, text and speech, Ms. Soffer has taught for many schools and theatre companies throughout the country. She has also worked as an actor in theatres from Maine to Alaska, including appearing in Slavs! at Berkeley Rep. SUSAN SWERDLOW (Choir Director) is happy to be working with Berkeley Rep for the first time. She has trained choruses for productions at Berkeley Opera and Oakland Opera Theater, among them Bat Out of Hell (last summer’s adaptation of Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss) in Berkeley; and Akhnaten by Philip Glass, as well as Queen Clara by Mary Watkins and Lance Belleville, in Oakland. Susan, who holds an M.M. in choral conducting from Temple University, was the music director of Sacred and Profane Chamber Chorus for five years. She teaches choral music at the College Preparatory School in Oakland. CAST TREVOR CHEITLIN (Ensemble) is 13 years old and lives in Berkeley. He is in the seventh grade at Prospect Sierra School, where he has performed in several school productions, including The Tempest, Romeo & Juliet and Beowulf. He has also attended drama camp for the past three summers at Contra Costa Civic Theater, and taken classes at the Berkeley Rep School of Theatre and A.C.T. His greatest pleasures include singing and baseball. He’d like to thank his drama teacher, Amy Sass, for helping him realize the joys of acting. JACOB COHEN (Ensemble) is a 12-year-old Oakland native. Jacob played the role of Jacob (what else?) in Tehiyah Day School’s production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in El Cerrito in 2004. Although this was his first acting role, Jacob participated in the Berkeley Rep School of Theatre’s Summer Intensive Camp in June and July 2005. Jacob has numerous other extracurricular interests and particularly enjoys playing piano and soccer. Jacob will be entering the seventh grade at Oakland Hebrew Day School this fall. Jacob lives in the Redwood Heights district of Oakland with his parents, David and Laureen, his sister, Gabrielle, and his brother, Marty. JULIE ECCLES * (Mrs. Gibbs) has appeared at Berkeley Rep in An Ideal Husband and The Beaux’ Stratagem. Her Bay Area theater credits include The Importance of Being Earnest, Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet, Macbeth and Love’s Labors Lost at the California Shakespeare Theater, where she is an artistic associate. She has also worked at A.C.T., San Jose Rep, TheatreWorks, the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Marin Theatre Company, Aurora Theatre Company, Word for Word, Huntington Theatre, Seattle Rep, Geva Theatre and Syracuse Stage. Television and film credits include: Poor Little Rich Girl, Once in a Lifetime, Strange Interlude and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. BILL HECK * (George) is making his Berkeley Rep debut. Bill recently appeared on Broadway in Brooklyn Boy at the Manhattan Theatre Club and Off-Broadway in Much Ado About Nothing with the Public Theatre/New York Shakespeare Festival. His other New York credits include Chopin’s Preludes at HERE, and his experience on regional stages includes The Tempest and Street Scene as a member of the Chautauqua Conservatory Theatre Company. B.F.A.: University of Evansville. M.F.A.: NYU Grad Acting (’04). ALEX KAPLAN (Ensemble) is appearing in his first production with Berkeley Repertory Theatre. He has performed in several Saint Mark’s Theater Company productions including Museum, The Precious Maidens, Our Town and Oliver. He is an eighth grader at Saint Mark’s School in San Rafael. When not acting, Alex enjoys competitive sports, particularly lacrosse, soccer and tennis. In addition, he is a rated chess player and has successfully competed at the Junior Nationals. Alex is thrilled to be a part of Berkeley Rep’s Our Town cast. GIDEON LAZARUS (Ensemble) last appeared at Berkeley Rep as Toto in For Better or Worse. He is happy to be back on stage after having attended the Berkeley Rep School of Theatre’s Summer Intensive for the second time, where he studied stage combat and hip-hop. He is currently a sixth-grader at The Crowden School in Berkeley, where he studies double bass with Michael Taddei. When he is not practicing, he enjoys reading science fiction and history and arguing about politics. SHARON LOCKWOOD * (Mrs. Soames) has long been associated with Berkeley Repertory Theatre, where she has performed in For Better Or Worse, The Oresteia, The Alchemist, The Magic Fire, The Triumph of Love, Pentecost, Volpone, Reckless, The Importance of Being Earnest and others. She recently played the role of Barbara in the world premiere of Nickel and Dimed at Intiman Theatre and subsequently at the Mark Taper Forum. Her regional credits include A.C.T., Long Wharf Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, The Old Globe, Alley Theatre, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, California Shakespeare Theater and Marin Theatre Company. As a member of the San Francisco Mime Troupe she performed in over 30 productions. Her film and television credits include The Psychic Detective and Mrs. Doubtfire. JARION MONROE * (Professor Willard / Constable Warren / Joe Stoddard) has been seen at Berkeley Rep over 17 years in House of Blue Leaves, Rhinoceros, For Better or Worse, Volpone and Hard Times. His Bay Area credits include the world premieres of Sex Habits of the American Woman and The Right Kind of People at the Magic Theatre, Marin Shakes, Cal Rep, California Shakespeare Theater and San Jose Rep, as well as the player in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead and Jacob Marley in A Christmas Carol at A.C.T. and Santos y Santos for Thick Description. Over his 36-year career he has also worked at South Coast Rep, Yale Rep, Oregon Shakespeare Festival and the Ahmanson. His TV and film credits include: The Californians, In Control of All Things, The Game, Seinfeld and Frasier. PAUL VINCENT O’CONNOR * (Mr. Webb) Decades ago, Paul was weaned on summer stock and has been acting on stage, film and screen ever since. Paul is particularly happy to be working again at Berkeley Repertory Theatre where he appeared as Uncle Peck in How I Learned to Drive. Paul was a member of The Oregon Shakespeare Festival for 16 seasons and has appeared in numerous television shows and films. His most recent work includes a production of The Foreigner in Los Angeles and The Drawer Boy at the Papermill Playhouse. His most recent film is the soon-to-be-released Shackles with D.L. Hughley. BARBARA OLIVER * (Stage Manager) has performed at Berkeley Repertory Theatre since 1969. Her most recent roles are Lady Markby in An Ideal Husband and the nurse in The Oresteia. She was the founding Artistic Director of Aurora Theatre Company. She appeared in 2004–05 as Mrs. Voysey in The Voysey Inheritance at A.C.T. She is the recipient of awards and nominations from the Bay Area Critics’ Circle, Drama-Logue and Dean Goodman. EMMA ROBERTS * (Emily Webb) makes her Berkeley Rep debut. Regional: Mabel in J.M. Barrie’s Dear Brutus (Westport Country Playhouse), title role in The Countess (The Old Globe), The Cherry Orchard with Marsha Mason (Santa Fe Stages), The Glass Menagerie (Pittsburgh Public), Last Night of Ballyhoo (Theatre Virginia). As a company member at the American Repertory Theatre: Jungle of Cities (Jane), Peter Pan and Wendy (Wendy), The Wild Duck (Hedvig), originated the role of Susan Strasberg in Robert Brustein’s Nobody Dies on Friday (also Singapore Fest of Arts). Film: The Prom Queen. The Handmaid’s Tale for BBC Radio 4. Education: Graduate of the ART Institute at Harvard University. CHARLES SHAW ROBINSON * (Dr. Gibbs) Charles Shaw Robinson was last seen at Berkeley Rep as the father in Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice directed by Les Waters. Other work for Berkeley Rep includes Milton in Tony Kushner’s Homebody/Kabul directed by Tony Taccone. Most recently he was seen in Edward Albee’s The Goat or, Who is Sylvia? directed by Richard E.T. White. KEN RUTA * (Simon Stimson) has appeared in Berkeley Rep’s productions of Menocchio, The Alchemist, The Life of Galileo, Heartbreak House and The Heiress. He has been associated with over 50 productions at A.C.T., most recently the premiere of David Mamet’s The Voysey Inheritance. He is an associate artist of San Diego’s Old Globe Theatre and has enjoyed a 20-year association with the Arizona Theatre Company. He was a member of the original company at Minneapolis’ Guthrie Theater, appearing in over 30 productions there. He has appeared in Broadway productions of Inherit the Wind, Separate Tables, Ross, Duel of Angels, Three Sisters and The Elephant Man. Mr. Ruta is a recipient of The Stolichnaya/San Francisco Magazine Achievement in the Arts Award, the Bay Area Critics’ Barbara Baden Porter Life Achievement award and last year’s Dean Goodman Award. SARAH SMITHTON (Rebecca Gibbs) is thrilled to be making her Berkeley Rep debut as Rebecca in Our Town. A freshman at Tamalpais High, she has appeared as Annie in Annie (Mountain Play) for which she received the Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle award for Principal Female Performance in a Musical, Percival in Lord of the Flies (Woman’s Will), Little Red Ridinghood in Into the Woods (HoochiDoo/RVP), and Young Gwen in a reading of Dorian in L.A. She has also appeared in Oliver (Mountain Play), Quilters and numerous productions with Academy DeTurk. Thanks to my coaches, especially Kristine and Jeffrey, and Mom and Dad. EMILY TRUMBLE (Rebecca Gibbs) Emily is happy to be making her Berkeley Rep debut. Her favorite roles include the title role in Annie, Louisa in The Sound of Music and Young Louise in Gypsy, all at The Willows Theatre; Lucy in The Goodbye Girl at The Busbarn Theatre; Mustardseed in A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the California Shakespeare Theater; and ensemble in Best of Broadway’s Evita. Emily has also performed with Alameda Civic Light Opera, Contra Costa Musical Theatre, Masquer’s Playhouse, Pleasanton Playhouse and Contra Costa Civic Theatre. Look for her as a spelling bee contestant in the upcoming movie Bee Season. Emily is a seventh grader at King Middle School in Berkeley. T. EDWARD WEBSTER * (Howie Newsome / Sam Craig) Our Town is Edward’s third appearance at Berkeley Rep after appearances in Eurydice and Suddenly Last Summer. Other Bay Area credits include Blue/Orange, Lobby Hero and The Man of Destiny at Aurora Theatre; Night and Day, A Christmas Carol, Edward II, No for an Answer and The Time of Your Life at A.C.T.; Two Gentlemen of Verona at San Jose Rep; and Cymbeline, The Skin of Our Teeth, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Julius Caesar, Measure for Measure, Much Ado about Nothing and Othello at California Shakespeare Theater. Edward is a graduate of A.C.T.’s M.F.A. program. NANCE WILLIAMSON * (Mrs. Webb) Nance Williamson is thrilled to be making her Berkeley Rep debut. Broadway credits include Henry IV and Broken Glass. Off-Broadway Nance was seen in Two Gentlemen of Verona, Marvin’s Room, Empty Plate at the Café du Grand Boeuf and The Seagull. Regionally Nance played Celemene in The Misanthrope (Arena Stage), Heartbreak House and Private Eyes (Seattle Rep), Josie in Moon for the Misbegotten (Alliance Theatre and the Delaware Theatre Company) and Hotel on Marvin Gardens (Denver Center). Nance was a company member at the Dallas Theater Center performing in over 30 productions and has performed numerous seasons with Trinity Rep, Dallas Shakespeare Festival and the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival. TV credits include Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU, Dawson’s Creek and Prince St. Nance is married to the actor/director Kurt Rhoads. * The Actors and Stage Managers employed in this production are members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States. BACK TO TOP