The 2013–14 season

Written by Christopher Durang
Directed by Richard E.T. White
Limited Season · Roda Theatre
September 20–October 20, 2013

Just nominated for six Tony Awards including Best Play!

Christopher Durang—Obie Award winner of such rollicking comedies as Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You and The Marriage of Bette & Boo—turns Chekhov on his head in this witty and incisive new farce for our modern hyperconnected world. In bucolic Bucks County, PA, Vanya and Sonia have frittered their lives away in their family’s farmhouse full of regret, angst and the alarmingly ambiguous prophecies of their addled housecleaner Cassandra. Enter self-absorbed movie star Masha with her prized 20-something boy toy Spike, and the stage is set for an absurd weekend of general hilarity and global warming. This year’s Broadway sensation, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike delights audiences with its abundant comic twists while paying loving homage to Chekhov’s classic themes of loss and longing.

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The buzz

“Deliriously funny…”—New York Times

“[Durang] demonstrates the enduring currency of Chekhov’s themes, showing that for all our supposed progress in the era of mass connectivity, despair and disappointment are as present as ever. Just like our Russian brethren more than a century ago, we are inescapably creatures of our time.”—Hollywood Reporter

Based on the book The Children of Willesden Lane by Mona Golabek and Lee Cohen
Adapted and directed by Hershey Felder
Main Season · Thrust Stage
October 25–December 8, 2013

Set in Vienna in 1938 and in London during the Blitzkrieg, The Pianist of Willesden Lane tells the true story of Lisa Jura, a young Jewish musician whose dreams are interrupted by the Nazi regime. In this poignant show, Mona Golabek performs some of the world’s most beautiful music live—as she relates the real-life legacy of her mother’s quest to survive. Adapted and directed by Hershey Felder, Pianist is infused with hope and invokes the life-affirming power of music.

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The buzz

“Unforgettable…an arresting, deeply affecting triumph.”—Los Angeles Times

“A stirring case of art preserving life…Enough to make your mouth fall open with a certain wonder at the way of the world.”—Chicago Tribune

“Golabek’s performances [of Chopin, Debussy, Beethoven, and Grieg] do the work words can’t do.”—Boston Globe

Adapted and directed by Emma Rice
Written by Carl Grose and Anna Maria Murphy
Main Season · Roda Theatre
November 22, 2013–January 6, 2014
West Coast premiere

Kneehigh is back! Britain’s beloved theatre company returns to the Bay Area with a glorious story of love. King Mark rules with his head, until he falls head over heels for his enemy’s sister. Based on an ancient tale from Cornwall, Tristan & Yseult revels in forbidden desires, broken hearts, grand passions and tender truths. It’s another marriage of gorgeous music and ingenious staging from the acclaimed creators of Brief Encounter and The Wild Bride. Embrace comedy and spontaneity in this West Coast premiere for an irresistible night of love!

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The buzz

“Wonderful…halfway through Kneehigh’s show, the band were playing, balloons were flying, hearts and minds were connecting and I suddenly realised how rare it is to have this much fun in the theatre…I loved it with a passion.”—London Guardian

“It’s funny, moving, sexy, and a total delight. I left the theatre feeling absolutely elated…it embraces you so warmly that you feel as if you have been physically hugged.”—BBC

Written by Marcus Gardley
Directed by Patricia McGregor
Main Season · Thrust Stage
January 31–March 16, 2014
World premiere

Berkeley Rep proudly presents the world premiere of a new play from an Oakland native: The House that will not Stand by Marcus Gardley captures a single, steamy day for seven women in New Orleans. In 1836, white men in that city often live openly with their black Creole lovers. Yet wealth and freedom may not protect Beartrice when her man mysteriously dies…or conceal old secrets when another handsome bachelor calls on her daughters. Inspired by Lorca and directed by Patricia McGregor, The House that will not Stand is gripping family drama—sensuous, humorous, uplifting, heartbreaking—told in a rich and lyrical river of words.

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The buzz

“The 32-year-old playwright’s talent is immense…He traffics in lush images and plots that are as mysterious and surprising as forced flowers blossoming in winter…Gardley is an interesting heir to García Lorca, Pirandello, and Tennessee Williams.”—The New Yorker

Written by Dario Fo
Directed by Christopher Bayes
Main Season · Roda Theatre
March 7–April 20, 2014

A bank gets bombed, a suspect dies in custody and the police inquiry turns into…a masterpiece of comedy? Steven Epp returns to Berkeley Rep for a criminally funny production of Accidental Death of an Anarchist. He delighted audiences as Figaro and The Miser—now he’s back in another madcap show directed by Christopher Bayes. Nobel Prize-winner Dario Fo penned more than 70 incisive scripts, and this is by far his most famous. With Epp’s outrageous Anarchist, Berkeley Rep hauls you down to the station for a hilarious interrogation of our culture.

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The buzz

“Steven Epp is a hoot and a half.”—San Jose Mercury News

“Epp’s witty elan and winning bewilderment come across as comic grace. He’s altogether lovable…a stylistic cousin-in-clowning to the humility-projecting Bill Irwin.”—Washington Post

Written by Nina Raine
Directed by Jonathan Moscone
Limited Season · Thrust Stage
April 11–May 11, 2014

When three smart siblings move back home with their opinionated parents, the cacophony of their family hits a new high—even for Billy who’s deaf. Nina Raine’s profound and powerful new play became a hit in London and New York, now renowned director Jonathan Moscone brings it to Berkeley Rep. To fall in love or find a job, to forge an identity apart from your family, to fulfill that longing for somewhere to belong…is it as simple as following the signs? In Tribes, a deaf man learns to find his way in a world where everyone needs to be heard.

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The buzz

“It’s the best-written, best-plotted, deepest, most daring—and funniest—new play in recent years.”—Wall Street Journal

“There are moments in this play that I don’t think I will ever forget—scenes that tap the beauty that can live and resound in silence.”—Time Out New York

Written by Tony Kushner
Directed by Tony Taccone
Main Season · Roda Theatre
May 16–June 29, 2014
West Coast premiere

Winner of two Tony Awards, three Obies, an Emmy and a Pulitzer Prize, Tony Kushner returns to Berkeley Rep for the West Coast premiere of his latest play: The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures. With his trademark mix of soaring intellect and searing emotion, the legendary playwright unfurls an epic tale of love, family, sex, money and politics—all set under the hard-earned roof of an Italian family in Brooklyn. When Gus decides to die, his kids come home with a raucous parade of lovers and spouses to find that even the house keeps secrets. Kushner reunites with one of his favorite collaborators, Artistic Director Tony Taccone, to bring this sweeping drama to the Roda Theatre.

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The buzz

“That rarest of theater delights—a big, noisy, sexy play in which argument is hot and throbbing…Bear witness to Tony Kushner’s roaring new play [and] banquet on rich and delectable passions and ideas, washed down with lashings of wit.”—The Nation

“You may find yourself sitting back and grinning at this noisy spectacle of so many people having so much to say with so much passion and eloquence.”—New York Times

“You lean into [Tony Kushner’s plays] as if into a good conversation, knowing that there will be meaty anecdote, irresistible humor, unexpected poetry.”—The New Yorker