DESIGN TEAM Sarah Jones, Writer Tony Taccone, Director Alexander V. Nichols, Scenic and Lighting Designer Donna Marie, Costume Designer Bill Williams, Sound Designer Michael Suenkel, Stage Manager Gloria Feliciano, Original Director Jimmie Lee Patterson, Music Director Neonski and Ricardo Richey “Apex”, Mural Painters CAST Sarah Jones CHARACTERS (in order of appearance) Ms. Lady Pasha Lorraine Levine Sugar Jones Joey Ol’ Boy Rashid Keisha Rae DESIGN TEAM SARAH JONES (writer/performer) is a playwright, poet, actor and activist. Jones recently made history by being the first artist to successfully sue the Federal Communications Commission, challenging the FCC’s censorship of her celebrated, anti-misogynist poem/song, Your Revolution, from radio airplay. With the help of Gloria Steinem, Russell Simmons, and other supporters, Jones’ fight resulted in a rare victory against the FCC. Jones attended Bryn Mawr College where she was the recipient of the Mellon Minority Fellowship, then returned to New York and began performing, eventually winning the Nuyorican Poets Café’s 1997 Grand Slam Championship and working with such artists as Paul Simon, Derek Walcott and Gil Scott-Heron. Jones’ Drama Desk award-nominated solo show Surface Transit has enjoyed sold-out runs at The Kennedy Center and the American Place Theatre among others, and was presented at HBO’s Aspen Comedy Arts Festival where it won the Best One Person Show award, 2000 after touring internationally. Jones’ work has also been featured on albums including the Lyricist Lounge, Vol. 1, and published in numerous magazines and anthologies. She has performed in such diverse settings as Lincoln Center, The Apollo Theater, Riker’s Island, The Public Theater and the 92nd Street Y. Jones is the recipient of grants and funding from the Ford Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and Poets and Writers/NYFA. Her critically acclaimed second solo show, Women Can’t Wait, was commissioned by the human rights organization Equality Now and performed at the United Nations for the International Conference on Women’s Rights, June 2000. Jones has been chosen as a person to watch by Time Magazine, featured as a performer of the year on Entertainment Weekly’s “It List” and been on the cover of Ms. and Utne Reader. She has also been featured on Nightline, ABC World News and in PBS’ award-winning City Life series; appeared on HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, the Spike Lee film Bamboozled and starred in the celebrated Vagina Monologues Off-Broadway and in L.A. Waking the American Dream, a commissioned piece on immigrant rights for the National Immigration Forum, is her third show. Jones has also performed solo and with partner Steve Colman throughout South Africa, Europe, India, Nepal and Mexico in the last year. For more, visit http://www.sarahjonesonline.com. TONY TACCONE (director) joined the staff of Berkeley Rep in 1988, serving for one year as Resident Director then as Associate Artistic Director. He worked with Sharon Ott for nine years in that capacity, developing the company’s eclectic and progressive aesthetic. He was appointed to his current position after a national search in 1997. He has directed over twenty plays for Berkeley Rep including The Oresteia, The Alchemist, The First 100 Years, Ravenshead, Skylight, Pentecost, Macbeth, Slavs!, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, End Game/Act Without Words, Volpone, The Convict’s Return, Major Barbara, The Virgin Molly, Serious Money, Waiting for Godot, The Birthday Party and Execution of Justice (with Oskar Eustis). Before coming to Berkeley Rep, Mr. Taccone served as the Artistic Director of Eureka Theatre in San Francisco, collaborating for seven years with Oskar Eustis, Lorri Holt, Susan Marsden, Richard Seyd, Abigail van Alyn and Sigrid Wurschmidt. His directorial highlights there included Road, Boomer!, Fen, Still Life and Accidental Death of an Anarchist. Mr. Taccone has been pleased to direct at other theatres around the country. His work has been frequently seen at Oregon Shakespeare Festival where he recently directed Othello, Pentecost, Coriolanus and The Cure at Troy. He has also worked at Actors Theatre of Louisville, Arizona Theatre Company, San Jose Rep and Yale Rep. He had the great honor of co-directing the world premiere of Angels in America at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. Mr. Taccone has served on the faculty of UC Berkeley, the Board of Theatre Communications Group and has been a regional representative for the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers. He is most proud of his sons, Jorma and Asa, whom he raised with Suellen Ehnebuske. ALEXANDER V. NICHOLS (scenic/lighting designer) Mr. Nichols’ design work spans from lighting and projections to scenery and costumes for dance, theater, and opera. For Berkeley Repertory Theater credits include: projections for Galileo and Rhinoceros, lighting for Civil Sex, scenery and lighting for Ravenshead, Culture Clash In AmeriCCa and Mennochio. Nichols has designed for companies and artists including Margaret Jenkins Dance Co., ODC/SF, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, San Francisco Ballet, Hong Kong Ballet, National Theater of Taiwan, Paul Dresher Ensemble, Rinde Eckert, Arena Stage Co. and California Shakespeare Festival. He has served as Resident Lighting Designer for the Pennsylvania Ballet, the Hartford Ballet and as Lighting Director for American Ballet Theatre. Other dance credits include designs for choreographers Val Caniparoli, Sonya Delwaide, Bill T. Jones, Mark Morris, Kevin O’Day, Kirk Peterson, Stephen Petronio, Dwight Rhoden and Michael Smuin. Recent projects include lighting for Continental Divide by David Edgar at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, scenery and projections for Visual Music by Kronos Quartet and the exterior lighting of the Sentinel Building, Francis Ford Coppola’s historic headquarters in San Francisco. DONNA MARIE (costume designer) is Costume Director for Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Over her long career she has held many positions including Costume Designer, Assistant Designer and Costume Crafts for film, television and theatre. Her design credits include Culture Clash in AmeriCCa at Berkeley Rep, San Diego Rep and San Jose Rep, Nocturne at Berkeley Rep, Of Mice and Men for the Taper Two and Silvia directed by Joey Tillenger, among many others. Her Broadway credits include: costume craft person for Cats and Starlight Express, as well as Mary Louise Parker Star Dresser for Prelude to a Kiss at the Helen Hayes Theatre. She spent well over eight years as Assistant Costume Designer for the Mark Taper Forum and Oregon Shakespeare Festival assisting the likes of Jane Greenwood, Susan Hilferty, Deb Dryden, David Zinn and Carol Ramsey. She has designed several films including Dr. Hugo, Mars and The Android Walks. Donna Marie is pleased to be here in the Bay Area and hopes to make it her final home. BILL WILLIAMS (sound designer) is currently Berkeley Rep’s resident sound engineer/designer. Other sound design credits for Berkeley Rep include Haroun and the Sea of Stories and Fräulein Else. Bill also has numerous sound design credits in the south and east bay theatre communities. Prior incarnations have seen Bill as park sound technician for Paramount’s Great America theme park in Santa Clara, CA, Technical Services Supervisor/Systems Designer for Lucasfilm, THX, and a brief stay with Meyer Sound Labs, which brought him to Berkeley Rep. When away from the theatre, Bill spends much of his time recording, editing and mixing high definition, multi-channel digital audio for music, stage and picture. He can be reached at bwilliams@berkeleyrep.org. CAST SARAH JONES (writer/performer) is a playwright, poet, actor and activist. Jones recently made history by being the first artist to successfully sue the Federal Communications Commission, challenging the FCC’s censorship of her celebrated, anti-misogynist poem/song, Your Revolution, from radio airplay. With the help of Gloria Steinem, Russell Simmons, and other supporters, Jones’ fight resulted in a rare victory against the FCC. Jones attended Bryn Mawr College where she was the recipient of the Mellon Minority Fellowship, then returned to New York and began performing, eventually winning the Nuyorican Poets Café’s 1997 Grand Slam Championship and working with such artists as Paul Simon, Derek Walcott and Gil Scott-Heron. Jones’ Drama Desk award-nominated solo show Surface Transit has enjoyed sold-out runs at The Kennedy Center and the American Place Theatre among others, and was presented at HBO’s Aspen Comedy Arts Festival where it won the Best One Person Show award, 2000 after touring internationally. Jones’ work has also been featured on albums including the Lyricist Lounge, Vol. 1, and published in numerous magazines and anthologies. She has performed in such diverse settings as Lincoln Center, The Apollo Theater, Riker’s Island, The Public Theater and the 92nd Street Y. Jones is the recipient of grants and funding from the Ford Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and Poets and Writers/NYFA. Her critically acclaimed second solo show, Women Can’t Wait, was commissioned by the human rights organization Equality Now and performed at the United Nations for the International Conference on Women’s Rights, June 2000. Jones has been chosen as a person to watch by Time Magazine, featured as a performer of the year on Entertainment Weekly’s “It List” and been on the cover of Ms. and Utne Reader. She has also been featured on Nightline, ABC World News and in PBS’ award-winning City Life series; appeared on HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, the Spike Lee film Bamboozled and starred in the celebrated Vagina Monologues Off-Broadway and in L.A. Waking the American Dream, a commissioned piece on immigrant rights for the National Immigration Forum, is her third show. Jones has also performed solo and with partner Steve Colman throughout South Africa, Europe, India, Nepal and Mexico in the last year. For more, visit http://www.sarahjonesonline.com. 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