Remember This: The Lesson of Jan Karski digital program

Welcome to Berkeley Rep. We are thrilled to welcome David Strathairn and his tour-de-force portrayal of Polish World War II hero and Holocaust witness Jan Karski to the Peet’s Theatre stage.

 

Tikkun olam is the concept in Judaism of healing or repairing the world. We often ask ourselves how art (and, in our case, theatre specifically) can help to change the world. The Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics is engaged in answering that exact question, and this production of Remember This: The Lesson of Jan Karski is one of their direct responses.

 

Today, you will witness Strathairn capture the remarkable life of this self-described “insignificant, little man” and his story of moral courage and individual responsibility, which we hope can serve as an inspiration to us all. Each performance is followed by a moderated discussion with the creative team and special guests, so we hope you will stick around after the show to engage further.

 

Drawing on talented theatre artists from around the country and the world, Berkeley Rep creates ambitious theatre that entertains and challenges, provokes civic engagement, and inspires people to experience the world in new and surprising ways – all through the lens of our core values of storytelling, rigor, innovation, equity, discovery, and sustainability.

 

Berkeley Rep’s 2022/23 season promises bold theatricality, inventive storytelling, and a range of voices that we hope speak to you in a deep and personal way. Currently running in the Roda Theatre across our Narsai M. David Courtyard is Emma Rice’s wildly inventive, reimagined, and epic Wuthering Heights. In January, Lynn Nottage, the most produced playwright in America today, brings us her latest Broadway hit, Clyde’s. You’ll then enjoy Lauren Yee’s much-anticipated Cambodian Rock Band, as it finally rocks the Roda stage. The spring and summer see language and identity collide in Sanaz Toossi’s critically acclaimed English; a beautifully suspenseful thriller, Let the Right One In, by the team that created Harry Potter and the Cursed Child; and the directorial return of Tony Taccone for the world premiere of Tony Award winner Ari’el Stachel’s solo show, Out of Character.

 

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Lastly, theatre makes a great gift. With five fabulous productions still ahead this season, Berkeley Rep offers some great gift options from gift certificates to specially priced ticket packages.  

 

This is an exciting time to be a part of Berkeley Rep, and we’re so glad you are with us on this journey. May you and yours have a very happy and healthy holiday season and New Year. Thank you for coming and enjoy the show!

 

Warmly,

Johanna Pfaelzer
Artistic Director

 

Tom Parrish
Managing Director

Sometimes it’s enough to say — I’m glad I know about this person now. With Jan Karski, I found myself asking — Why didn’t I know about this person then?

 

As a student at Georgetown University, I walked by his statue for four years and never bothered to stop and notice it. I imagine this is true for many others who pass by similar commemorative benches where Professor Karski quietly sits — along New York City’s Madison Avenue; the University of Tel Aviv; Krakow’s Remuh synagogue in the Jewish Quarter; his birthplace of Lodz; and, finally, the site of the former Warsaw Ghetto where Karski first bore witness to the Holocaust. Years later, when Derek Goldman, my former professor, asked me to help him write a play about Karski, I walked over to the bench, sat down next to the man, and watched the people go by.

 

Really, I was wondering what took me so long.

 

The professor sits beside a chessboard — he leaves a space for anyone to join him in the game. His posture is ramrod straight. His suit is impeccable. His eyes are cast down and unfocused; they seem to bear witness to both now and then, a state he maintained once he began to speak about his wartime experiences again after thirty-five years of selfimposed silence.

 

The text on the plaque beside him appears in our play. As the actor becomes Jan Karski, he says:

 

Messenger of the Polish People to Their Government-In-Exile. Messenger of the Jewish People to the World. The Man Who Told of the Annihilation of the Jewish People While There Was Still Time To Stop It.

 

The plaque then reads — Hero of the Polish People.

 

But hero is a word Karski rejected; he referred to himself as an insignificant man. Is this why I didn’t know him? If Karski was ambivalent about his role during World War II, how could a high school history textbook neatly present him in a paragraph? Oskar Schindler, who successfully saved an intellectually fathomable number of lives, his intentions moving along a palatable arc from self-interest to nobility, seems far easier to digest than a man whose job was to bear witness to, comprehend and then communicate the mass extermination of an entire people… a man who experienced such trauma that he refused to speak publicly about his experiences for over three decades.

 

Or perhaps I didn’t know him because he compromises a safeguarded narrative about American victory and heroism — that World War II is defined by America saving Europe by entering the war and defeating the Nazis. The disinterest and denial Karski experienced in his meetings with President Roosevelt, Justice Frankfurter, Foreign Secretary Eden, and hundreds of others suggest a second war was left unfought, a war that Hitler was permitted to win. And if we acknowledge something like that even once, what else must we face in our history? What else are we afraid to acknowledge? Where does it end, and what will we lose? The recent blacklisting of the Jan Karski Educational Foundation from schools by a Polish superintendent indicates this phenomenon of cultural denial is not exclusive to one country or government — even as it applies to its “heroes.”

 

And then there is the simplest question — why couldn’t I have just stopped and discovered Karski for myself? What was keeping me from noticing, and how would the act of noticing change me? What was I afraid to lose?

 

The plaque also reads — Professor. Georgetown University. 1952-1992.

 

At the beginning of our course Bearing Witness: The Legacy of Jan Karski Today, which I co-created with Derek and Ijeoma Njaka, Georgetown students engage in an exercise where they visit Karski’s statue for an extended period and share observations. By the end of the course, these same students apply Karski’s story and legacy to ongoing crimes against humanity; climate change denial; racial injustice and our country’s legacy of slavery; disinformation that spreads across social media; the rise of nationalism, hate and antisemitism across the globe today; and the attempt to achieve empathic discourse across differences of opinion. Each becomes Karski’s messenger, and each becomes his student — bearing witness to then and now with remarkable fearlessness and humility. They inspire me because they seem to have hurdled over that first step, with which I struggled for so long — the one Karski faced in nearly every meeting with an elected official who could do something, anything. They are willing to acknowledge what they see in the world, without fear of personal loss, and with an understanding of what can be collectively gained. They know that the way it was is not the way it has to be now.

 

The statue is an invitation to learn from failure — a failure Karski internalized that was not his to hold. It is the failure of nation states and policymakers, public opinion and those — all of us — who submit to untruths because they are personally convenient. But the statue also embodies a professor’s beautifully simple ethos. He sits on a bench and waits for a partner to engage with him — signifying one of his central teaching points: Governments have no souls. Individuals do.

In 2014, I was invited to develop a theatrical project as part of the Centennial celebration of Jan Karski at Georgetown University. I had passed by the Karski commemorative bench on campus hundreds of times, and I was only familiar with the outlines of Karski’s story. When I reached out to David Strathairn, with whom I had collaborated previously, he enthusiastically agreed to participate. David’s deep, egoless commitment to finding the soul of this self-described “insignificant little man” quickly became the heart of our project, through its development in residencies and workshops in Warsaw, New York, and Washington DC alongside several ensembles of student and professional actors.

 

Only in 2019 did we fully reimagine our production as a solo performance, allowing David to embody Karski and all other characters from his story. Through intensive collaborative work with David and Clark, the piece found its true form. I am not sure what took us so long to realize David should embody this history by himself. Karski’s story has so much to say about the difference an individual can make. His life is defined by an unimaginable singularity of experience. He bore witness to the worst of humanity and revealed firsthand what happens when nationalism and populism turn to extremism. Despite feeling a failure, he devoted his life to teaching young people, and sought to enlighten the world about what he had witnessed and attempted to expose. His story speaks to the importance of moral courage; of bearing witness to history; of respect for others, especially those who are different; of the responsibility to question; and of the role of the individual in speaking out, even when the message is not “convenient.”

 

At each turn these past eight years, new aspects of Karski’s legacy emerge as urgently relevant. As Karski did, we are living through a time characterized by unprecedented challenges. The example of Jan Karski speaks directly to our current moment, and his is an inspiring and timely account of the importance of individual responsibility and moral action in the face of hatred and injustice. It is our hope that the production and forthcoming film offer audiences intimate and enduring access to Karski’s singular life and that, through them, Karski will inspire others to stand for justice and do what is right.

 

Derek Goldman

“All I can say is that I saw it, and it is the truth.” – Jan Karski

 

Jan Karski was a courier for the Polish Underground resistance during World War II. In 1942, Karski volunteered to walk through the Warsaw Ghetto and a Nazi extermination camp before traveling to London to report to the Allied Nations on the conditions of occupied Poland and, specifically, the Holocaust. He personally delivered his eyewitness account — and urgent appeal for intervention on behalf of the Jewish people — to British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden, and later, President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the Oval Office. His report was ignored. After the war, Karski earned his PhD at Georgetown University, where he was a beloved Professor in the School of Foreign Service for 40 years. Considering himself largely a failure and “an insignificant little man,” Karski didn’t share his story for decades until filmmaker Claude Lanzmann persuaded him to speak of his experiences for the first time in the celebrated documentary Shoah. Karski was made an honorary citizen of Israel and was awarded the distinction “Righteous Among the Nations” by Yad Vashem. Karski died in Washington, D.C., in July 2000.

 

The Jan Karski Educational Foundation grew out of the successful Jan Karski U.S. Centennial Campaign, which placed Dr. Karski’s name in nomination for the Presidential Medal of Freedom in December 2011. President Obama awarded the posthumous Medal on May 29, 2012 at a White House ceremony.

The Play’s Development

 

Originally conceived as an ensemble production starring David Strathairn, the play was first performed in its current form as a solo performance in November 2019 as a featured part of the Centennial Celebration Weekend of Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service, and then in London in January 2020 as part of the 75th Anniversary Commemoration of the Liberation of Auschwitz, in partnership with Human Rights Watch. After some delays due to COVID-19, the play had a critically acclaimed premiere at the Shakespeare Theater Company in the fall of 2021, and then traveled to the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre shortly after for another limited engagement run. Next it returned to Georgetown University’s Gonda Theater in the Spring of 2022 before moving to Bilbao, Spain as a part of The Wellbeing Summit for Social Change.

 

The production just completed an extended Off-Broadway premiere in New York at Theatre for a New Audience, and then moved to Berkeley Rep in December. The production plans to travel to Poland for a two-week tour of four cities in early 2023.

 

The Curriculum

 

The co-authors created an educational platform and course alongside The Lab’s Inclusive Pedagogy Specialist Ijeoma Njaka. The course, entitled Bearing Witness: The Legacy of Jan Karski Today, is ongoing after two years at Georgetown University, engaging both undergraduate and graduate students across disciplines. This dynamic, experiential approach to learning uses the filmed theatrical production and archival clips and interviews with extraordinary thinkers and leaders who have engaged with the play. It is the goal of the course to allow students to articulate their own applications of bearing witness in local, national and global contexts, as they follow in Karski’s example to continue to “shake the conscience of the world.”

 

After each performance, the creative team hosts a talkback series with curated guests in which audience members can respond to the themes of the play. Discover the guest speakers scheduled during Berkeley Rep’s run.

 

The Film

 

The London one-night only performance in January 2020, which was a part of the 75th Anniversary Commemoration of the Liberation of Auschwitz, in partnership with Human Rights Watch, was attended by Eva Anisko, a Georgetown aluma, Polish-American, and Emmy-Award-winning documentary filmmaker who fell in love with the project and its resonance for the current moment when, alarmingly, young Americans lack knowledge of the Holocaust and anti-Semitism seems on the rise globally. She adapted the play into a black and white film, which premiered at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival in July of 2022. For more information, visit the film’s website.

 

The Book

 

Remember This: The Lesson of Jan Karski Special Print Volume

 

Available for purchase in the lobby of the Peet’s Theatre.

 

Richly illustrated with stills from the black-and-white film adaptation of the acclaimed stage play, Remember This: The Lesson of Jan Karski tells the story of World War II hero, Holocaust witness, and Georgetown University professor Jan Karski.

 

Accompanying the text of the stage play in this volume are essays and conversations from leading diplomats, thinkers, artists, and writers who reckon with Karski’s legacy, including Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat, award-winning author Aminatta Forna, best-selling author Azar Nafisi, President Emeritus of Georgetown Leo J. O’Donovan, SJ, Ambassador Samantha Power, Ambassador Cynthia P. Schneider, historian Timothy Snyder, Academy Award nominated actor David Strathairn, and best-selling author Deborah Tannen.

Derek Goldman is artistic and executive director and co-founder of the Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics at Georgetown University, where over 18 years as a faculty member he has served as chair of Performing Arts, director of the Theater & Performance Studies Program, and as artistic director of the Davis Performing Arts Center. He is an award-winning stage director, playwright/adapter, producer, educator, scholar, and developer of new work, whose work has been seen around the country, off Broadway, and internationally. His work has been seen at theatres such as Steppenwolf, Lincoln Center, Arena Stage, Shakespeare Theater Company, Folger, Chicago Shakespeare, The Kennedy Center, Ford’s, McCarter, Baltimore Center Stage and others. He is the author of more than 30 professionally produced plays and adaptations, including work published by Samuel French, and he has directed over 100 productions. His engagement with global performance has taken his work to Sudan, Cambodia, Bangladesh, China, Poland, South Africa, Australia, Peru, Russia, Chile, Italy, Spain, France, and throughout the UK, among other places. He holds a Ph.D. in Performance Studies from Northwestern University. He received the President’s Award for Distinguished Scholar-Teachers at Georgetown and the Provost’s Award for Innovation in Teaching for his work creating In Your Shoes, a groundbreaking model for using performance to counter polarization in diverse communities around the nation and globally. He co-wrote and co-directed the feature film version of Remember This, starring David Strathairn, which has been receiving awards at leading film festivals, and will be seen theatrically and broadcast nationally on PBS Great Performances in 2023.

New York, off Broadway: The Originalist. The Kennedy Center: Dr. Wonderful*, Unleashed!*, Bud*, Not Buddy*, Jason Invisible*, Barrio Grrrl!*. Regional: Arena Stage: Intelligence, Kleptocracy*, Smart People, Junk; Baltimore Center Stage: Stones in His Pockets; Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park: Venus in Fur, Sex with Strangers, Cincinnati King*, Mr. Joy, Americus*; Cleveland Playhouse: Ken Ludwig’s Sherwood: The Adventures of Robin Hood; Court Theatre/Pasadena Playhouse: The Originalist; Everyman Theatre: Aubergine; Milwaukee Shakespeare: Cymbeline; Olney Theatre Center: The Amateurs, Colossal*, Our Town, The Diary of Anne Frank; Portland Center Stage: Oregon Trail; Round House Theatre: The Lyons, The Legend of Georgia McBride, Young Robinhood, Oslo; Seattle Rep: Two Trains Running; Signature Theatre: Threepenny Opera, Cabaret, Really Really*, Xanadu, Midwestern Gothic*, Girlfriend, The Fix; Skylight Music Theatre: In the Heights; Studio Theatre: TempOdyssey; Syracuse Stage: Stupid F*cking Bird, Amadeus; Theater J: Race, The Odd Couple, Lost in Yonkers, Our Class, The New Jerusalem, Love Sic; The Wilma Theater: The Body of An American, The Convert, Mr. Burns; Woolly Mammoth: Fever/Dream*, A Bright New Boise, Stupid F*cking Bird*, Zombie: The American*, Marie Antoinette, Kiss, Hir, An Octoroon, Fairview, Describe the Night, The Convert. Opera: Filarmónica de Jalisco: Turandot; Opera Lafayette/Opera Royal Versailles: Les femmes vengées, Cosi fan tutte; (*world premiere). Other: Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center, The Red Torch Theatre, The Kommissarzhevskaya Theatre (Russia). Awards: Helen Hayes Award (2013), Gypsy Rose Lee Award (2018). Professional affiliations: Professor, head of MFA in Design, University of Maryland; company member, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company; associate artist, Olney Theatre Center. Training: St. Petersburg Theatre Arts Academy, Russia. mishakachman.com

Regional: Arena Stage: Intelligence, The Heiress, The Price, Right to Be Forgotten; Seattle Repertory Theatre: Two Trains Running; Ford’s Theatre: Jefferson’s Garden, Silent Sky; The Kennedy Center: Oliverio, A Wind in the Door; McCarter Theatre: Sleuth; Baltimore Center Stage: Stones in His Pockets, How to Catch Creation; Olney Theatre Center: Mary Stuart, South Pacific, Miss You Like Hell, Invisible Hand; Round House Theatre: A Boy and His Soul, Oslo, School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play; Everyman Theatre: Pipeline, Queens Girl, Aubergine; Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company: The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Diety, Bright New Boise, Botticelli in the Fire, Describe the Night, The Arsonists, Fairview. Personal: she/her/hers. Upcoming: Minor Character at The Wilma Theatre, Mountaintop at Ford’s Theatre. Training: University of Maryland: MFA in Design. Ivaniastack.com

Television: Wicked in Concert (PBS, dir. Baayork Lee). International: Shrek (Sofia National Opera House, Bulgaria); Remember This (Poland, Spain). New York (selected): Titus Burgess Take Me to the World (Carnegie Hall); Into the Woods, In Concert (Town Hall); Too Much, Too Much, Too Many; Suicide Incorporated (Roundabout Theatre Company); The Siblings Play (Rattlestick Theater); Would You Still Love Me If (New World Stages, dir. Kathleen Turner); Charles Busch’s Cleopatra (TFANC); Wringer (City Center). Regional (selected): May We All (TPAC), Djembe (Apollo Theatre), Shakespeare Theatre Company, Chicago Shakespeare, Pasadena Playhouse, Two River Theater, Maltz Jupiter Theatre, Olney Theatre Center, Barrington Stage Company, Bucks County Playhouse, Dorset Theatre Festival, Cape Playhouse. zachblane.com @zachblane

Roc Lee is a Helen Hayes Award-winning DC-based composer/sound designer. He holds a Master of Music in Stage Music Composition from CUA. Roc creates music and sound design for video games, theatre, film, and podcasts. Credits include: Voices of Now: Inside Voices, Snowchild, The Price, The Year of Magical Thinking, Mother Courage at Arena Stage; Crossing Mnissose at Portland Center Stage; Small Mouth Sounds, A Doll’s House, Part 2 at Roundhouse; Kid Prince and Pablo, The Watsons Go to Birmingham 1963 at Kennedy Center TYA; Fairview, Describe the Night at Woolly Mammoth Theatre; Admissions, Curve of Departure at Studio Theatre; Distance Frequencies; [410]Gone at Rorschach Theatre; The Lathe of Heaven at Spooky Action Theater; Charm, Hooded: Or Being Black for Dummies, Ulysses on Bottles, Oh God! at Mosaic Theater; Aubergine, The Importance of Being Earnest at Everyman Theatre; Singin’ in the Rain, Matilda The Musical!, Tiger Style!, The Invisible Hand, On the Town, Aubergine, Annie, Thurgood, Fickle Fancy Farce, Dial M for Murder at Olney Theater Center; Aida at Constellation Theatre; In This Hope: A Pericles Project; Hello My Name Is... at Welders; Fame!; In the Heights at GALA Hispanic Theater. Roclee.net

New York: Heartbeat Opera (Associate Artist): Fidelio, La Susanna, Butterfly, Dido & Aeneas. Juilliard: Agrippina. Constellation Chor/Marisa Michaelson: Desire/Divinity Project, Sappho Fragments. Regional: Theater J: Our Class. Round House Theater: I’ll Get You Back Again (Associate), Young Robin Hood. Center Stage: Stones in His Pockets. Opera Lafayette: Radamisto. Film: Breathing Free. Other: International exchange: Theater Zar Poland, DaLiangShan International Theater Festival China, UTheater Taiwan. Artist residencies: NYC: HERE Arts, BAX, Fresh Ground Pepper; San Francisco: ODC, Studio210. Artist Fellowships: DCCAH, Asian Cultural Council, Amherst College. Teaching: IDEO, MoMA, Cornell Tech, University of Louisville, Georgetown University. Training: Kuttiyattam Sanskrit Theater – India, LaMama Director’s Symposium – Italy, Lecoq School for Physical Theatre – France. Performance from age 6 with mime father, Mark Jaster (Happenstance Theater). Emma is a core member of the Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics at Georgetown University and has been part of the Karski artistic team since 2015. Emmajaster.com

Elisa Guthertz has been a stage manager in the San Francisco Bay Area for 30 years. She has worked on many shows for Berkeley Rep including Sanctuary City, the ripple, the wave that carried me home, Big Love, The Mystery of Irma Vep, Collected Stories, Rhinoceros, Cloud Tectonics, and Suddenly Last Summer. Some of her American Conservatory Theater credits include Fefu and Her Friends, Toni Stone, Testmatch, Rhinoceros, Seascape, Sweat, and Hamlet. Other credits: Georgiana and Kitty Christmas at Pemberley and Failure: A Love Story at Marin Theatre Company; Big Love at Long Wharf Theatre, Goodman Theater and Brooklyn Academy of Music; A Thousand Splendid Suns at ACT, The Old Globe, and Theatre Calgary; The Vagina Monologues with Eve Ensler at Alcazar Theatre; The Good Body with Eve Ensler at the Booth Theater on Broadway.

Associate Lighting Designer
Minjoo Kim

 

Lighting Associate and Video Technician
Zack Lobel

 

Assistant to Lighting Designer
Peter Liebold

 

Assistant to Sound Designer
Delaney Bray

 

Master Electrician
Ben Harvey

 

Projections Consultant
Zavier Taylor

 

Production Assistant
Calvin Freidman (Stage Management Fellow)

 

Light Board Operator 
Desiree Alcocer

 

Sound Board Operator 
Akari Izumi

 

Project Videographer
Katerina Vitaly

 

COVID Safety Manager
Kathleen Parsons

 

Scene Shop
Adam Clay · Isaac Jacobs · Jessica Loney · Carl Martin · Sean Miller · Maggie Wentworth · Zach Wziontka

 

Electrics
Amy Abad · Tristan Fabiunke · Richard Fong · A. Chris Hartzell · Jacob Hill · Jason Joo · Caleb Knopp · Charlie Mejia · Mel Ramirez · Noah Rojas-Domke · Cal Swan-Streepy

 

Sound
Courtney Jean

 

Assistant Production Manager
Florence Gill (Production Management Fellow)

 

Assistant Company Manager
Emily Zhou (Company Management Fellow)

 

THE LABORATORY FOR GLOBAL POLITICS AND PERFORMANCE STAFF

 

Artistic & Executive Director/Co-Founder
Derek Goldman

 

Co-Founding Director
Cynthia P. Schneider

 

General Manager/Associate Producer
Ersian Francois

 

Project Associate
Colum Goebelbecker

 

Student Fellows Coordinator
William Hammond

 

Lab Fellows Manager/Resident Movement Artist
Emma Jaster

 

Remember This Project Manager/Associate Producer
Madeleine Kelley

 

Inclusive Pedagogy Specialist
Ijeoma Njaka

 

Student Fellows Coordinator/Social Media Manager
Jameson Nowlan

 

Community Engagement Associate
Melisande Short-Colomb

 

Senior Advisor on Strategic Initiatives
Daniel Phoenix Singh

 

Artistic Services and Business Associate
Julia Tvardovskaya

 

Medical consultation for Berkeley Rep provided by Agi E. Ban DC, John Carrigg MD, Cindy J. Chang MD, Christina Corey MD, Neil Claveria PT, Patricia I. Commer DPT, Brenton Dowdy DPT, Kathy Fang MD PhD, Steven Fugaro MD, Whitney R. Johnson DDS, Olivia Lang MD, Allen Ling PT, and Christina S. Wilmer OD.

 

Theatre credits include American Conservatory Theater: Scorched by Wajdi Mouawad and Underneath the Lintel by Glenn Berger; Theater of War productions. Film: Guillermo Del Toro’s Nightmare Alley, Chloe Zhao’s Nomadland (Golden Lion at Venice Film Festival; Oscar and Golden Globe Awards for Best Picture); George Clooney’s Good Night, and Good Luck (Academy Award nomination for Best Actor); Stephen Spielberg’s Lincoln; John Sayles’ Matewan, Eight Men Out, and City of Hope; Doug Magee’s Beyond the Call.

Artistic & Executive Director, Co-Founder - Derek Goldman; Co-Founding Director - Amb. Cynthia Schneider; General Manager, Associate Producer - Ersian Francois

 

The Lab humanizes global politics through performance. We cultivate a distinctive global community of collaborators that includes students, emerging and established artists, educators, policy leaders, and activists. Our work harnesses narrative, memory, and acts of witnessing with the aim of sparking transformation and change.

 

The Lab is a joint initiative of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and the Department of Performing Arts. Keep in touch about our ongoing & upcoming projects at globallab.georgetown.edu

Steve is a retired real estate developer, and Susan a retired architect. Their main focus now is the Chamberlin Education Foundation, which focuses on K-12 education issues in the West Contra Costa Unified School District. Susan has been a season ticket holder for over 25 years.

Warren and Frances are avid watchers of live theatre, which includes Berkeley Rep and an annual pilgrimage (when COVID allows) to London's West End. Having loved Berkeley Rep for years, they are thrilled to sign on as 2021/22 season sponsors. They are very proud of the cutting edge, exceptional theatre that Berkeley Rep continuously produces. Frances' day job is as Professor of Physics at UC Berkeley and Warren is a Machinist and Welder at 5th Street Machine Arts.

Betty and Jack are proud to support Berkeley Rep. Jack is a sustaining advisor of the Theatre, having served on the board for many years, and is now on the board of San Francisco Opera. He is an emeritus board chair of the San Francisco Art Institute and the Oxbow School. In San Francisco, Betty is involved with Wise Aging, a program for adults addressing the challenges of growing older. She serves on several non-profit boards. They have three daughters and eight grandchildren.

Roger Strauch is chair of The Roda Group. He has served on Berkeley Rep’s Board of Trustees for over twenty years, often as an executive member. Roger is an engineer, entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and philanthropist. He has helped build technology companies that have had public stock offerings or have been sold to global industry leaders. Currently, Roger focuses on the development of several enterprises whose products and services will mitigate the negative impact of industry on global climate change and human health. Roger serves on the boards of the Chart Industries (NYSE:GTLS); Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI); Northside Center in Harlem, NYC, a mental health service agency; and UC Berkeley's College of Engineering. He is the leader of the Mosse Art Restitution Project, a major international effort to restitute stolen art from his great step family during the Third Reich. Roger and his wife, Dr. Julie Kulhanjian, a retired pediatric infectious disease physician, have three adult children. Roger and Julie divide their time between Piedmont, CA and Martha’s Vineyard.

Gail has been a Berkeley Rep trustee for 11 years and previously served as board president. She retired from Kaiser in San Leandro where she was a hematologist and oncologist. She is the founder of Tiba Foundation (tibafoundation.org), an organization investing in community healthcare in an underprivileged district of western Kenya, in partnership with Matibabu. Arne is a retired lawyer. In his retirement, he teaches and tutors high school math part-time, and serves as treasurer for Tiba Foundation. Gail and Arne have been attending the Theatre since they were students in 1972.

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Bill and Diana have been subscribers and supporters of Berkeley Rep since its days on College Avenue. Diana served on the board of trustees from 1991 to 2001. She also served on Cal Performances’ board of trustees for nine years until June 2017. She worked as a family therapist in private practice for 25 years before retiring to focus on her art. Bill has been a real-estate and land-use lawyer for the past 40 years, and served as a trustee for Berkeley Rep from 2006 to 2016. He currently is the managing partner of Westpark Community Builders. Bill has been an adjunct professor at UC Berkeley Law School and a member of the professional faculty at Haas Business School, and teaches interdisciplinary real estate courses at Berkeley Law School, Haas Business School, Berkeley’s College of Environmental Design, and the Goldman School of Public Policy. They have three grown children and five grandchildren, all of whom live in the Bay Area.

Moses Libitzky is principal at Libitzky Property Companies. He holds a degree from Brandeis University in Physics with a sub-specialty in Computer Science. He founded Abacus Data Systems, a successful computer company, in 1975. He began working with commercial real estate in 1978. Moses once specialized in commercial rehabilitation and adaptive re-use. He has developed more than 80 projects, many of which are still owned and held for lease. His company now owns and operates newer Class A industrial properties around the country. Moses has been involved in numerous nonprofits. Among others he has served on the boards of The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, The Jewish Federation, The Jewish Community Foundation, The Friends of Israel Political Action Committee, The Chabot Space & Science Center, Birthright Israel, Stand with Us, and The Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

 

Susan Libitzky is an independent media production professional. Susan has been PR Director at KPIX television station (San Francisco). She now serves on numerous charitable boards. She and her husband Moses are trustees of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. She received her Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Texas at Austin.

 

Dedicated to the principles of a democratic society, Taube Philanthropies works to ensure that all citizens will have full opportunity for advancement of their goals and dreams. Areas of concentration include education and scholarship, institution and community building, Jewish cultural renewal and heritage preservation, and the arts and civic life. The foundation's geographic focus is primarily on the San Francisco Bay Area, Poland, and Israel.

Artistic Director
Johanna Pfaelzer

 

Managing Director
Tom Parrish

 

ARTISTIC

 

Director, The Ground Floor / Resident Dramaturg
Madeleine Oldham

 

Associate Casting Director & Artistic Associate
Karina Fox

 

Artists Under Commission
Todd Almond
Christina Anderson
Rafael Casal
Daveed Diggs
Dipika Guha
Richard Montoya
Nico Muhly
Lisa Peterson
Sarah Ruhl
Tori Sampson
Jack Thorne
Joe Waechter

 

PRODUCTION AND COMPANY MANAGEMENT

 

Director of Production
Audrey Hoo

 

Associate Production Manager
Kali Grau

 

Company Manager
Peter Orkiszewski

 

STAGE OPERATIONS

 

Stage Supervisor
Julia Englehorn

 

Associate Stage Supervisor
Gabriel Holman

 

Head Stage Technician
James McGregor

 

PROPERTIES

 

Properties Supervisor
Jillian A. Green

 

Associate Properties Supervisor
Amelia Burke-Holt

 

Properties Artisan
Lisa Mei Ling Fong

 

SCENE SHOP

 

Co-Technical Directors
Jim Smith
Matt Rohner

 

Head Carpenter
Read Tuddenham

 

Scene Shop Supervisor
Patrick Keene

 

Draftsperson
Grant Vocks

 

Scenic Carpenters
J Joseph
August Lewallen

 

SCENIC ART

 

Charge Scenic Artist
Lisa Lázár

 

COSTUMES

 

Costume Director
Maggi Yule

 

Draper
Star Rabinowitz

 

Wardrobe Supervisor
Barbara Blair

 

Resident Design Associate
Kiara Montgomery

 

ELECTRICS

 

Lighting Supervisor
Frederick C. Geffken

 

Associate Lighting Supervisor
Sarina Renteria

 

Senior Production Electrician
Kenneth Coté

 

Production Electrician
Desiree Alcocer

 

SOUND AND VIDEO

 

Sound and Video Supervisor
Lane Elms

 

Associate Sound and Video Supervisor
Chase Nichter

 

Senior Sound Engineer
Angela Don

 

Sound Engineer
Akari Izumi

 

ADMINISTRATION

 

Interim General Manager
Sara Danielsen

 

Finance Director
Jared Hammond

 

Associate Managing Director
Sunshine Deffner

 

Director of Operations
Amanda Williams O’Steen

 

Executive Assistant
Kate Horton

 

Associate Finance Director
Katie Riemann

 

Bookkeeper
Alanna McFall

 

Payroll Administrator
Jennifer Light

 

CRM Project Manager
Destiny Askin

 

Web and Database Specialist
Christina Cone

 

Director of Human Resources and Diversity
Modesta Tamayo

 

DEVELOPMENT

 

Interim Director of Development
Lisa Salomon

 

Associate Director of Development
Daria Hepps

 

Associate Director of Development
Laura Fichtenberg

 

Philanthropy Officer
Andrew Maguire

 

Individual Giving Manager
Marcela Chacón

 

Special Events Manager
Elaina Guyett

 

Institutional Grants Manager
Kelsey Scott

 

Development Coordinator
Nicky Martinez

 

MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS

 

Interim Director of Marketing and Communications
Colleen Flanigan

 

Associate Director of Marketing
Seth Macari

 

Interim Director of Public Relations
Kevin Kopjak

 

Communications and Digital Content Director
Karen McKevitt

 

Senior Graphic Designer
DC Scarpelli

 

Video and Multimedia Content Creator
Calvin Ngu

 

OPERATIONS

 

Facilities Director
Mark Morrisette

 

Facilities Manager
Adam Johnson

 

Building Engineers
Kevin Pan | Thomas Tran

 

Building Technician
Jesus Rodriguez

 

Facilities Assistants
Darrel De La Rosa | Theresa Drumgoole | Wendi Lau | Sophie Li

 

PATRON SERVICES

 

Director of Patron Experience
Brian Davis

 

Front of House Director
Kelly Kelley

 

Front of House Manager
Phoenyx Butts

 

Patron Experience Representatives
Lindsay Abbott | Jessica Bates | Alicia Battle | Megan Bedig | Matthew Canter | Jerry Chirip | Maggie Collette | Fillomena Franchina | Nina Gorham | Kimberly Haynie | Monica Herbert | Saguaro Hurtado | Claire Michael | Rafael Moreno | Leigh Nelson | Tuesday Ray | Anna Riggin | Stephen Salmons | James Sant’Andrea | Alana Scott | Debra Selman | Lena Sibony

 

Subscription Manager
Laurie Barnes

 

Box Office Manager
Julie Gotsch

 

Box Office Agents
Gregory Chambers | Oliver Kampman | Mikee Loria | Alanna McFall | Cassidy Milano | Dom Refuerzo | Chris Selland | Christy Spence | Gianna Francesca Vescio

 

BERKELEY REP SCHOOL OF THEATRE

 

Director of the School of Theatre
Anthony Jackson

 

Associate Director
Dylan Russell

 

Director of Classes and Summer Programs
MaryBeth Cavanaugh

 

Curriculum and Educational Programs Manager
Si Mon’ Emmett

 

Classes and Communications Administrator
Ashley Lim

 

Programs Administrator
Tate Lancaster

 

2022/23 BERKELEY REP FELLOWSHIPS

 

Bret C. Harte Artistic Fellow
Katie Stevenson

 

Company Management Fellow
Emily Zhou

 

Costumes Fellow
Violet Clemons

 

Development Fellow
Megan Coatney

 

Education Fellow
Elizabeth Woolford

 

Harry Weininger Sound Fellow
Ariana Cardoza

 

Lighting Fellow
Tiffany Hernandez Alberto

 

Marketing Fellow
Caroline Mae Woodson

 

Multimedia Content Fellow
Muriel Steinke

 

Peter F. Sloss Artistic Fellow
Maria Arreola

 

Production Management Fellow
Flo Gill

 

Properties Fellow
Kristina Fosmire

 

Scenic Art Fellow
Kenzie Bradley

 

Scenic Construction Fellow
Seraphim Blount

 

Stage Management Fellow
Calvin Friedman

President
Emily Shanks

 

Vice Presidents
Chuck Fanning
Bruce Golden
Sudha Pennathur

 

Treasurer
William T. Espey

 

Secretary
Scott Haber

 

Chair, Governance Committee
Anne Nemer Dhanda

 

Chair, Audit Committee
Steven C. Wolan

 

Board Members
Edward D. Baker
Susan Chamberlin
David Cox
Christopher Doane
Sandra Eggers
Kerry L. Francis
Steven Goldin
Jonathan C. Logan
Henning Mathew
Juan Oldham
Tom Parrish
Johanna Pfaelzer
Sherry Smith
Gail Wagner
Brian Watt

 

Past Presidents
Helen C. Barber
A. George Battle
Carole B. Berg
Robert W. Burt
Shih-Tso Chen
Narsai M. David
Thalia Dorwick, PhD
Nicholas M. Graves
Richard F. Hoskins
Jean Knox
Robert M. Oliver
Stewart Owen
Marjorie Randolph
Harlan M. Richter
Richard A. Rubin
Edwin C. Shiver
Roger A. Strauch
Gail Wagner
Martin Zankel

 

Sustaining Advisors
Rena Bransten
Diana Cohen
Robin Edwards
William Falik
David Fleishhacker
Paul T. Friedman
Jill Fugaro
Karen Galatz
David Hoffman
Richard F. Hoskins
Dugan Lamoise
Sandra R. McCandless
Helen Meyer
Peter Pervere
Marjorie Randolph
Leonard X Rosenberg
Patricia Sakai
Jack Schafer
William Schaff
Richard M. Shapiro
Michael Steinberg
Roger A. Strauch
Jean Z. Strunsky
Michael S. Strunsky
Felicia Woytak
Martin Zankel

 

Founding Director
Michael W. Leibert
Producing Director, 1968–83