07/08 main season
written and directed by mary zimmerman
adapted from the voyage of jason and the argonauts
co-produced with mccarter theatre center and the shakespeare theatre company
the roda theatre
november 2–december 23, 2007
west coast premiere
running time: 2 hours and 30 minutes,
including one 15 minute intermission
the art
Tony Award-winning director Mary Zimmerman returns to Berkeley Rep for the West Coast premiere of Argonautika. This time, Zimmerman joins Jason on his ancient quest for the Golden Fleece—an epic journey of love and loss, hubris and honor, danger and adventure. Jason confronts giants, kings, sirens, nymphs, centaurs, sea monsters and one heartsick sorceress. In her latest perilous voyage, Zimmerman shows us that love is the bane of all mankind—and yet it’s all that we know of heaven on this earth. See Argonautika in Berkeley before it sails for the East Coast.
Parental advisory: Argonautika explores mythical themes. If they’ve read the great myths, there’s nothing in the show they haven’t heard before—except for a few instances of adult language which they’ve likely heard on the street and in school.
the artist
Mary Zimmerman received the 2002 Tony Award for directing Metamorphoses. Like her other hits—Journey to the West, The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci and The Secret in the Wings—that show made its West Coast premiere at Berkeley Rep. Recipient of a MacArthur Genius Grant, Zimmerman will direct Lucia di Lammermoor to open the 2007/08 Season at New York’s Metropolitan Opera.
