written and directed by mary zimmerman
adapted from the book of the thousand nights and one night
a co-production with kansas city repertory theatre
main season | thrust stage
november 13, 2008–january 4, 2009
Running time: 2 hours and 35 minutes,
including one 15 minute intermission
Open captioning performance announced for January 4 / 2pm. Please call the box office for specially located tickets.
the play
Mary Zimmerman’s Argonautika was a sold-out, seven-week sensation. Now she returns to Berkeley Rep with her remarkable take on The Arabian Nights. The Tony Award-winning creator of Metamorphoses made her career by reanimating ancient myths, and here she breathes new life into the legend of the 1,001 nights. To save her life, a beautiful bride must spin hypnotic tales of genies, jesters, thieves and kings—winning her freedom by eventually winning her husband’s heart. As he falls under Scheherazade’s spell, Zimmerman enchants the audience as well with her signature style that transforms simplicity into the sublime. Amidst a thousand tales of honor, revenge and humor, only love emerges victorious.
the players
Mary Zimmerman received the 2002 Tony Award for directing Metamorphoses. Like her other hits—Argonautika, 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. This is her sixth production at Berkeley Rep, and this time she works her magic on the intimate Thrust Stage.
the buzz
“If you want theatre at its most unpretentiously poetic, most fetchingly stylish, as humane as it is elegant, I commend to you The Arabian Nights. [It] sails as smoothly and magically as the caliph’s boat on the moonlit waves of the Tigris.”—New York magazine
“The fables delight and instruct while steaming toward an unsettling finish.”—Washington Post
“Zimmerman has the kind of transforming theatrical touch that reconnects audiences to what live theater is all about.”—San Francisco Chronicle
“[A] feast for the eyes and ears.”—Chicago Magazine
“Zimmerman could stage the Chicago phone book and have it be fascinating.”—USA Today
multimedia
Listen to highlights from Mary Zimmerman’s Director Presentation.
Press Photos
production sponsors
Wealth Management at
The Mechanics Bank
season sponsors
