WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING ABOUT BERKELEY REPERTORY THEATRE In its 38 year history, Berkeley Repertory Theatre has committed itself to producing theatre that is stimulating, transforming and unique. Audiences and critics alike rate Berkeley Rep as one of the best theatres in the country, known for artistic excellence and diversity, ranging from the classic to the contemporary. Here’s what some of the critics have had to say about our productions… FROM BERKELEY REP TO NEW YORK CITY ABOUT SARAH JONES’ BRIDGE & TUNNEL “REMARKABLE…a sweet-spirited valentine to New York City…smoothly directed by Tony Taccone…Admire, please. Gasp and applaud to your heart’s content.”—New York Times “FRESH and forward-thinking…The world could use more of the wit, warmth and profound empathy that Jones’ Bridge is built on.”—USA Today “DAZZLING…poignant and powerful…a generous, funny valentine to the kaleidoscopic, cacophonous melting pot of New York…after further workshopping at Berkeley Rep (where Taccone is artistic director), the show has been seamlessly fine-tuned.”—Variety “The nicest show on Broadway…a welcome-to-New York destination event.”—New York Newsday “AMAZING…hilarious…accomplished with rapid-fire speed thanks to Tony Taccone’s efficient direction.”—Associated Press “The best new play on Broadway…rich, boisterous, and enormously touching…Director Tony Taccone uses Jones’ lanky body, supple alto, and hard-to-pin-down ethnicity to masterful effect.”—New York Sun “In focusing on the immigrant experience, Ms. Jones is honoring anew, and embodying in theatrical form, the durable dream that keeps drawing immigrants to America…it happens to be the subject of that popular performance piece that has been playing in New York Harbor for more than a century now. That one is also a solo show, starring a big green dame with a torch. Ms. Jones’s Bridge & Tunnel is naturally somewhat smaller in scale, but it’s a worthy sequel. A lot funnier, too.”—New York Times ABOUT BRUNDIBAR / BUT THE GIRAFFE “A little musical charmer…lively comic performances…evocative sets…Mr. Kushner and his collaborators, the celebrated children’s book author Maurice Sendak and Kris Stone, who designed the production, and the director, Tony Taccone, allow this essentially frolicsome opera to sing for itself…Euan Morton, of Taboo fame, tears into the tasty role of Brundibar with infectious relish…as the unlikely survival of this opera suggests, the joy and beauty that music and art express can outlast evil even when they cannot defeat it.”—New York Times “Like all good fairy tales, Brundibar is composed of lightness and shadows, both elements scrupulously observed in Tony Taccone’s gorgeously designed and remarkably well choreographed production.”—Variety “Tony Kushner has now adapted the piece with tender intelligence…the peerless illustrator Maurice Sendak has contributed designs that bulge with lumpy loveliness…Brundibar does not skimp on entertainment—but neither does it shy from the shadows of its history.”—Time Out New York “light, flavorful fun…Tyranny has proven remarkably resilient, of course, but so, thank God, has Brundibar.”—Newsday “delightful…irresistible…an experience as ineffably moving as it is enjoyable…The production has been done at Yale Repertory Theatre and Berkeley Repertory Theatre, whose artistic director, Tony Taccone, re-creates his lovely staging”—Backstage “brilliantly played by Euan Morton…we never lose sight of Hoffmeister and Krása’s intention: to show the power of the community, and the grit to be found in hope. Maurice Sendak’s beautiful sets add to the reality and the fairy-tale nature of it all.”—The New Yorker “Off-Broadway’s most fascinating new show…Brundibar is a unique, smart and very enjoyable musical play that will speak to children, intrigue adults and entertain nearly all of us.”—AM New York SEASON 05/06 ABOUT THE MISER “just a glorious show, a wonder, the kind of theater that makes you keep going to theater on the off chance that you might see something this good.”—Jon Carroll, San Francisco Chronicle “Outrageously funny…Hilarity bares its teeth in Theatre de la Jeune Lune’s magnificent version of Molière’s The Miser. It also bares its buttocks, stands on its head, climbs the walls, falls through the unreliable floor and lolls its tongue with obscenely funny, more than lascivious, greed. As adapted by David Ball, the Miser that opened at Berkeley Rep’s Roda Theatre is classic comedy with penetrating contemporary bite…Ball, director Dominique Serrand and the excellent cast succeed not only in revealing the satiric edge that made the 17th century French establishment consider Molière so dangerous but also in applying that edge to our own dark times.”—Rob Hurwitt, San Francisco Chronicle “theatrical exuberance…This lush, ornately realized production is an unconventional blend of slapstick, physical comedy, commedia dell’arte, wordplay and avant-garde staging…From Ball’s smart, contemporary adaptation to the cast’s stellar performances, it is a vivid, gut-busting goosing of avarice…The Tony-winning Theatre de la Jeune Lune spreads the theatrical wealth [and] makes classic satire timeless…In so many ways, they’ve translated this play into a contemporary piece. Nearly 340 years after its debut, The Miser resonates”—San Jose Mercury News “hugely funny…explodes like a crazed circus train on the Roda Theatre stage…this is not your father’s Miser. David Ball, who adapted the play for the company, created a theatrical piece for contemporary audiences, guided by the idea that Moliere’s work was charged with a sense of immediacy when he wrote it, and that today’s audiences should somehow be given the same experience…the laughs teeter dangerously at the edge of tragedy”—Contra Costa Times “seriously funny…a joy to watch. Adept physical comedians with an equally impressive facility for verbal tricks and pathos, this ensemble can put you in a headlock, give you a righteous noogie and make you think you’re having the time of your life…Full of laughs, Berkeley Rep’s Miser gives until it hurts”—Oakland Tribune “a fabulous production with a magnificent cast…absolutely brilliantly performed and not to be missed.”—KGO Radio ABOUT THE GLASS MENAGERIE “Rita Moreno charms, smothers, and guilt-trips her thin-blooded children in this splendid revival of Tennessee Williams’ classic…Erik Lochtefeld’s witty, overtly gay, sympathetic Tom bridges the gap between modern audiences and this 1944 gem. EW Pick! Grade: A.”—Entertainment Weekly “Stunningly designed and expertly performed, Williams’ 2 3/4-hour memory play bristles with life...it’s a Menagerie clearly conceived as if it were a new play…Rita Moreno stars as Amanda Wingfield, in a beautifully nuanced portrait that becomes the throbbing, awful but inescapably empathetic heart of Les Waters’ engrossing revival.”—San Francisco Chronicle “lustrous…extraordinary…Director Les Waters creates a Glass that is jagged and refracts pain and love and hostility and desperation with the kind of clarity and confusion that would likely thrill Williams himself…Waters has a great actress on the job: Rita Moreno…giving one hell of a heartbreaking performance.”—Oakland Tribune “stunning…strikingly innovative…Rita Moreno, Berkeley Rep deliver devastating new Glass Menagerie…a wonderful new look at an old friend”—Contra Costa Times “One of the most powerful performances you’ll ever witness…This is theatre at its absolute best!”—KGO Radio ABOUT CULTURE CLASH’S ZORRO IN HELL To hear a story about Culture Clash’s Zorro in Hell that aired on 35 NPR stations across California, click here. “comic perfection…The performers are fast, inventive and versatile…Beneath all its high and low humor, though, there’s a serious edge to this Zorro’s blade”—San Francisco Chronicle “Culture Clash has a slash hit with Zorro…the funniest show the Bay Area comedy troupe has ever written…a devastatingly hilarious satire of just about everything Californians hold dear”—Contra Costa Times “Richard Montoya, Ric Salinas and Herbert Siguenza are brandishing satire like a sword…It’s a rabble-rousing call to arms…a multiculti pastiche, pumped up on pop steroids…Sharon Lockwood is a hoot and a half”—San Jose Mercury News “crunchy and delicious…Culture Clash mines Zorro for all he’s worth…there are laughs to be had at the expense of everyone from NPR listeners to the Bush administration.”—Oakland Tribune “a comedic whirlwind…The jokes and gags tumble over one another, and there are no sacred cows.”—Sacramento Bee “madcap mayhem…outstanding performances…an evening of wild, slapstick, clever comedy…pure fun, fun, fun”—KGO Radio ABOUT 9 PARTS OF DESIRE “Poignant…provocative…played with striking assurance and flexibility by Mozhan Marnò”—San Francisco Chronicle “A towering performance…nothing short of stunning”—Contra Costa Times “9 Parts of Desire is a bridge to the Iraq we don’t see on TV, and there’s a hunger for these stories…Marnò skillfully inhabits the lives of Raffo’s diverse women.”—Oakland Tribune “Speaks the quiet truth of those whose voices have been silenced too long”—San Jose Mercury News “A heartrending performance…Don’t miss it!”—KGO radio ABOUT BRUNDIBAR / COMEDY ON THE BRIDGE To hear a story about Brundibar that aired on 35 NPR stations across California, click here (5.4MB mp3). “The sets and costumes are fantastical, the music delightful. Innocence triumphs.”—National Public Radio ”captivating…touches the heart…The glorious stage design by famed illustrator Maurice Sendak (with Kris Stone) evokes the world of childhood, an anthropomorphic terrain of immense charm and limitless possibilities.”—London’s Financial Times “A dream-like comic world…A first-rate production with a superb adult cast to supplement the sheer charm of the large children’s chorus…Maurice Sendak’s designs are almost reason enough to rush to Berkeley Rep.”—San Francisco Chronicle “Berkeley Repertory Theatre has a great big holiday present for its audiences: a children’s opera…There’s a 29-member children’s chorus full of sweet-voiced local singers, and Krasa’s melodies are enchanting. Conductor and music director Valerie Gebert, working with 13 members of the Berkeley Symphony, provides a full, gorgeous sound. Kushner’s adapted lyrics are full of wonderfully whimsical rhymes, while Sendak’s sets and costumes (realized with the aid of Kris Stone and Robin I. Shane) have all the color, personality and intrigue of his best illustrations.”—Oakland Tribune “its fantastical sets by Maurice Sendak and witty libretto by Tony Kushner…turn the stage into a picture book…buoyed by a bright score (not to mention the scene-stealing sweetness of little kids in the casts) and directed with a lively hand by Tony Taccone.”—San Jose Mercury News “charmingly absurd…a show parents and children can enjoy together…moments after the show begins, you feel a sense of joy, a happiness over the indomitable power of the human spirit…The singers in the piece are incredible.”—Contra Costa Times “superbly performed with magnificent sets and special effects…designed for the whole family and perfect for the holiday season…Brundibar is vunderbar!”—KGO Radio ABOUT FINN IN THE UNDERWORLD “riveting…hypnotic…brilliantly staged…the entire audience is holding its collective breath…Waters, who bowled over audiences with the inventive riches of his staging of Sarah Ruhl’s haunting Eurydice a year ago, surpasses even that effort in making every design element an active part of the ghostly tale.”—San Francisco Chronicle “deliciously creepy…diabolically designed…a time-bending little thriller [that] moves like quicksilver.”—Contra Costa Times “truly creepy…Clifton Guterman is quirky and fascinating, especially when he’s grappling with the compelling and enigmatic Reed Birney…Finn features an extraordinary set by David Korins that becomes a virtual character in the play.”—Oakland Tribune “A hip little ghost story from a hot new playwright…laces chills with an undercurrent of erotic thrills…Guterman shines as the cocky Finn…Birney has a genius for the mysterious, showing us only enough of Carver’s true self to fill the stage with ominous portents.”—San Jose Mercury News “remarkably written…its outstanding cast of four provides an evening of theatrical chills and thrills…expect a new dimension in ghost stories”—KGO Radio ABOUT OUR TOWN “Director Jonathan Moscone sensitively orchestrates the action to bring out its gentle humor, sentiment and more somber undercurrents…The cast is remarkable, an exceptional 14-person ensemble delivering a gallery of beautifully nuanced performances.”—San Francisco Chronicle “Life, death, brilliance…Berkeley Rep breathes new life into American classic.”—Oakland Tribune “a breathtaking revelation…a stunning journey…a clever, touching production that would make the Berkeley boy who wrote it quite proud.”—Contra Costa Times “aching emotional honesty…the show burns brightly moment by moment…we walk out of the theater facing ourselves, our fleeting hold on this world and the tragicomic cycle of life.“—San Jose Mercury News “An excellent cast…Extremely well directed by Jonathan Moscone, it’s a wonderful and wholesome experience.”—KGO Radio SEASON 04/05 ABOUT THE UGLY AMERICAN “a magnetic monologuist…His voice, face and body are remarkably animated for someone just sitting behind a table. His comic timing is impeccable, building in tempo to astonishingly rapid, roared or whispered climaxes. His facial contortions and vocal mimicry are almost worth the price of admission alone.”—San Francisco Chronicle “Daisey’s a doozy…a funny guy and a commanding storyteller”—Oakland Tribune “a darkly hilarious journey”—Contra Costa Times ABOUT HONOUR “Startled laughter and gasps of recognition were plentiful at the opening of the last show of the Rep’s current season, and tears flowed freely in turn…[Honour] is fresh, funny and often penetrating. It’s also bracingly honest and deeply moving as performed by Kathleen Chalfant and the rest of the excellent cast in Tony Taccone’s insightful staging.”—San Francisco Chronicle “Superb…Berkeley Repertory Theatre concludes its 2004/05 Season on an amazing high. The company has two theaters and two of the best shows going in the Bay Area…The fact that Murray-Smith’s writing is so powerful and director Tony Taccone’s production is so captivating only makes it that much more difficult to look away…watching it feels so good and hurts so much”—Oakland Tribune “brilliant…Making this all come together is director Tony Taccone, who keeps the show on a relentless pace…Chalfant, particularly, brings an astounding range to her performance”—Contra Costa Times “dramatic, emotional, gripping…truly a theatrical masterpiece”—KGO Radio ABOUT THE PEOPLE’S TEMPLE To hear about The People’s Temple on NPR’s “All Things Considered,” click here. To see coverage of the show on KQED’s Spark, click here. To read a feature story in The London Guardian, click here. To read a feature story in the Christian Science Monitor about the play, click here. To read a feature story in the New York Times about the play, click here. (PDF) To read a feature story in the Los Angeles Times about the play, click here. (PDF) (You must have Adobe Acrobat to view these documents. Download a free Adobe Acrobat reader.) “a powerful work that deserves to be seen”—The London Guardian “The unique power of theater to explore compelling stories as a communal experience is profoundly and movingly at work in The People’s Temple…turns the theater into a temple of community healing…one of the most penetrating and significant works of the season.”—San Francisco Chronicle “What you don’t expect in a story like this one is the joy. But that’s what comes through…it enlivens and illuminates history in ways that feel vital and incredibly personal.”—Oakland Tribune “true genius…The ensemble cast is simply incredible”—Contra Costa Times “a revelation, a play so thought-provoking and disturbing that it leaves you wrestling with its ambiguities long after it’s over…the acting cuts to the bone.”—San Jose Mercury News ABOUT FOR BETTER OR WORSE “expertly timed verbal and physical comedy…performed to perfection by Lockwood and Hoyle.”—San Francisco Chronicle “Geoff Hoyle is a comic genius…a slapstick, perfectly timed production that kept me laughing the whole time.”—KGO ABOUT FÊTES DE LA NUIT “engagingly sensual…[an] impishly iconoclastic comedy, Fêtes is funny, provocative, wildly inventive and exceptionally well performed…remarkably entertaining.“—San Francisco Chronicle “ooh-la-la…a decadent little valentine…The City of Lights becomes a canvas on which Mee madly layers brushstrokes of music, poetry and dance in a wildly inventive impressionistic collage.…he toys with language, flirts with music from classical to hip-hop, and revels in his ability to titillate an audience with the unexpected.”—San Jose Mercury News “Party on! …a lovely and lively bouquet of fragrant Parisian scenes…surprises and delights, right up through its pink feather-filled finale…a scene called, appropriately, ‘Ecstasy.’”—Oakland Tribune ABOUT BRIDGE & TUNNEL “a one-woman tour de force on race and culture in post-Sept. 11 America…Jones is a lithe multiethnic actress/playwright who can shed her skin on a dime. [She] has the anthropological eye of Anna Deveare Smith, the comic punch of Whoopi Goldberg and the live hip-hop vibe of Danny Hoch, a killer combination of talents.”—San Jose Mercury News “The opening-night audience had been unceasingly supportive and appreciative.…Those who weren’t already fans were won over as soon as Jones began making her trademark instantaneous transitions from one indelibly drawn character to another.”—San Francisco Chronicle “Because Sarah Jones’ Bridge & Tunnel at Berkeley Repertory Theatre is a workshop production, there will be no reviews (although if there were, you can bet they’d be raves).…Bridge & Tunnel is heading for Broadway where, with any luck, the world at large will finally see what we’ve known for years: Sarah Jones is a genius.”—Oakland Tribune “It is impossible to imagine Bridge & Tunnel getting any more polished before its Broadway debut. Already the one-woman show being workshopped at Berkeley Rep by writer/performer Sarah Jones is one of the funniest and most pointed theatrical pieces in the Bay Area.”—Contra Costa Times ABOUT POLK COUNTY To listen to Cathy Madison and Kevin Jackson on KPFA’s “Against the Grain,” click here and scroll down to November 29, 2004. “searing, uplifting, heartbreaking, sexy, joyful…Polk County is all that and more.…the audience is literally on its feet.”—San Francisco Chronicle “a blues score that rattles the soul so hard you can feel it in the bones.”—San Jose Mercury News “remarkable…If this is any indication of the material it can find, Berkeley Rep ought to consider doing more musicals.”—Contra Costa Times “You don’t want to mess with Big Sweet. But you do want to spend 2 1/2 hours in her company.”—Oakland Tribune “a holiday show, one which makes you proud to be African.”—San Francisco Bay View ABOUT EURYDICE To isten to Paula Vogel speak about Eurydice on NPR’s “Morning Edition,” click here. “visually astonishing…Waters’ sumptuously staged and musically paced production mirrors the script’s playfulness at every turn…brought to life by a terrific cast.”—San Francisco Chronicle “a fresh pearl of a play…a madly quirky score and a ravishing cast.”—San Jose Mercury News “incredibly beautiful…The actors are fantastic.”—Oakland Tribune ABOUT THE SECRET IN THE WINGS “pure theatrical gold…Captivatingly simple, disturbingly evocative and richly transgressive, Secret is a journey into fantasy and nightmares.”—San Francisco Chronicle “a haunting tapestry of images and words that seduces the eye and ear…Zimmerman has taken choreography to the realm of poetry.”—San Jose Mercury News “a breathless delight from beginning to end…”—Contra Costa Times SEASON 03/04 ABOUT 21 DOG YEARS: DOING TIME @ AMAZON.COM “Irresistibly well performed… 90 minutes of almost nonstop hilarity”—San Francisco Chronicle “Comic delivery so sharp it draws blood… a must-see confessional for the recovering dot-commers among us.”—San Jose Mercury News ABOUT MASTER CLASS “Moreno masters her role”—San Francisco Chronicle “…it takes a legend to play a legend. Moreno hits all the right notes.”—San Jose Mercury News ABOUT THE MYSTERY OF IRMA VEP “a highly entertaining romp…”—San Francisco Chronicle “There’s no mystery here: ‘Irma Vep’ is a lot of fun”—Contra Costa Times “Vampires and werewolves and drag queens, oh my. This camp masterpiece gets a very amusing, if not outright hysterical production.”—San Jose Mercury News ABOUT GHOSTS “A stunning, immediate and unforgettable masterpiece… Quite simply a triumph.”—San Francisco Chronicle “The play crackles with theatrical excitement.”—Contra Costa Times ABOUT YELLOWMAN To read a feature story in the San Francisco Chronicle about the play, click here. To read a feature story about playwright Dael Orlandersmith, click here. “Yellowman gets under the skin…” —San Francisco Chronicle “the audience is left nearly breathless…” —Contra Costa Times ABOUT CONTINENTAL DIVIDE To see coverage of the show on KQED’s Spark, click here. To read a feature story in the San Francisco Chronicle about the plays, click here. “The project is impressive in its ambition, scope and veritable avalanche of provocative insights. It’s strikingly staged and exceptionally well performed. It’s never less than an intriguing exploration of democracy American-style by one of England’s foremost political playwrights.”—San Francisco Chronicle “One of the most ambitious dramatic works of the new decade.”—San Jose Mercury News ABOUT THE NOTEBOOKS OF LEONARDO DA VINCI “Mary Zimmerman’s The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci…is richly imagined, luminously staged and intellectually exhilarating. For sheer beauty and inventiveness, it’s as exciting a piece of theater as her Metamorphoses was here and on broadway.”—San Francisco Chronicle ORGANIZATIONAL NEWS ABOUT THE DOWNTOWN BERKELEY ARTS DISTRICT “What is happening is the transformation of some forlorn streets of empty buildings and auto body shops into a potentially flourishing neighborhood anchored by a sleek new 600-seat theater that is the second stage for the 400-seat Berkeley Repertory Theatre.”—The New York Times “Art envelops you in this town. On Addison Street, you can read poetry etched in the sidewalk, view paintings in a parking garage, catch a show at three stages run by two outstanding theater companies and hear some hot music at one of the nation’s only schools devoted entirely to jazz. And that’s just in one block.”—Sunset Magazine ABOUT THE NEW RODA THEATRE “When the curtain rose, The Roda got down to business and did what it will clearly do best for years to come. The new theater became a strikingly responsive instrument, tuned to the actors and spectacle on stage…The relationship of audience to art is everything the Rep had hoped it would be.”—San Francisco Chronicle “The vast stage space is remarkably intimate.”—David Little John, Wall Street Journal