Berkeley Repertory Theatre is a regional theater company located in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

. It runs seven productions each season from its two stages in Downtown Berkeley.

History

The company was founded in 1968, as the East Bay's first resident professional theatre. Michael Leibert was the founding artistic director, who was then succeeded by Sharon Ott in 1984. The company won the

Regional Theatre Tony Award The Regional Theatre Tony Award is a special recognition Tony Award given annually to a regional theater company in the United States. The winner is recommended by a committee of drama critics. Background Initially presented in 1948 to Robert P ...

in 1997. The theater added the 600-seat

proscenium A proscenium ( grc-gre, προσκήνιον, ) is the metaphorical vertical plane of space in a theatre, usually surrounded on the top and sides by a physical proscenium arch (whether or not truly "arched") and on the bottom by the stage floor ...

Roda Theatre next door to its existing 400-seat asymmetrical

thrust stage In theatre, a thrust stage (also known as a platform stage or open stage) is one that extends into the audience on three sides and is connected to the backstage area by its upstage end. A thrust has the benefit of greater intimacy between perform ...

in 2001, as well as opening its Berkeley Rep School of Theatre the same year. Its current Artistic Director is Johanna Pfaelzer, who took on the position in September 2019. Managing Director Susan Medak is a board member and former President of the

League of Resident Theatres The League of Resident Theatres (LORT) is the largest professional theater association of its kind in the United States, with 75 member theaters located in every major market in the U.S., including 29 states and the District of Columbia. LORT me ...

. Productions are a mix of classic modern plays such as

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential pla ...

's '' Ghosts'' and

Terrence McNally Terrence McNally (November 3, 1938 – March 24, 2020) was an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. Described as "the bard of American theater" and "one of the greatest contemporary playwrights the theater world has yet produced," ...

's ''Master Class'', the latter featuring Rita Moreno as opera diva

Maria Callas Maria Callas . (born Sophie Cecilia Kalos; December 2, 1923 – September 16, 1977) was an American-born Greek soprano who was one of the most renowned and influential opera singers of the 20th century. Many critics praised her ''bel cant ...

, and significant recent plays with many West Coast premieres such as

Moisés Kaufman Moisés Kaufman (born November 21, 1963) is a Venezuelan theater director, filmmaker, playwright, founder of Tectonic Theater Project, based in New York City, and co-founder of Miami New Drama at the Colony Theatre. He was awarded the 2016 Nati ...

's ''

The Laramie Project ''The Laramie Project'' is a 2000 play by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project (specifically, Leigh Fondakowski, writer-director; Stephen Belber, Greg Pierotti, Barbara Pitts, Stephen Wangh, Amanda Gronich, Sara Lambert ...

'' and

Tony Kushner Anthony Robert Kushner (born July 16, 1956) is an American author, playwright, and screenwriter. Lauded for his work on stage he's most known for his seminal work '' Angels in America'' which earned a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award. At the tu ...

's ''Homebody/Kabul'' and even world premieres such as Kushner's ''Hydriotaphia'' and Charles Mee's ''Fetes De La Nuit''. In the past decade alone, Berkeley Rep has premiered new works by Culture Clash, David Edgar, Francesca Faridany, Leigh Fondakowski, Lillian Groag, Jordan Harrison, Geoff Hoyle, Naomi Iizuka, Charles Mee, and Stew. The Theatre has recently created a string of successes that transferred from Berkeley to Manhattan: Artistic Director Tony Taccone staged Sarah Jones' Tony Award-winning '' Bridge & Tunnel'' on Broadway in 2006, and helmed Tony Kushner and Maurice Sendak's '' Brundibar'' in 2007. That summer, Sarah Ruhl's ''

Eurydice Eurydice (; Ancient Greek: Εὐρυδίκη 'wide justice') was a character in Greek mythology and the Auloniad wife of Orpheus, who tried to bring her back from the dead with his enchanting music. Etymology Several meanings for the name ...

'' and Stew's '' Passing Strange'' both enjoyed extended off-Broadway runs. ''Passing Strange'' opened on Broadway in March 2008. Berkeley Rep bolsters its commitment to new works through The Ground Floor (Berkeley Rep's Center for the Creation and Development of New Work) and year-long Fellowship Program aimed at training the next generation of theatre professionals. In 2001, the theatre opened Berkeley Rep School of Theatre, which offers training in various theatrical disciplines for all ages and abilities. Located next door to Berkeley Rep's two stages, the School of Theatre also provides a home base for the company's outreach education programs with local teachers and classes. The Berkeley Rep School of Theatre also has a Teen Council made for bay area high school students interested in theatre. The Berkeley Rep Teen Council is most noted for its annual Teen One Acts Festival, completely written, directed, produced, and acted by students. The theatre opened their 2009–10 season with the original stage production of the

Green Day Green Day is an American rock band formed in the East Bay of California in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, together with bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt. For most of the band's career, they have been a ...

-inspired musical '' American Idiot'', based on the band's concept album of the same name. The hugely popular show was originally scheduled to run from September 4 through October 11, but was extended twice, finally ending on November 15. The show subsequently opened on Broadway at the

St. James Theatre The St. James Theatre, originally Erlanger's Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 246 West 44th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1927, it was designed by Warren and Wetmore in a neo-Georgian style a ...

on April 20, 2010. The musical '' Ain't Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations'', a jukebox musical based on the story of the

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''mot ...

group

The Temptations The Temptations are an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan, who released a series of successful singles and albums with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top ...

, started performance at Berkeley Rep August 31, 2018. It was originally scheduled to run through October 8, but was later extended through October 22 and again through November 5. The musical was the highest-grossing production in the theatre's history. The show had runs at other regional theaters before transferring to Broadway, opening at the Imperial Theatre on March 21, 2019.

Premieres

1994 *''

The Woman Warrior ''The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts'' is a book written by Chinese American author Maxine Hong Kingston and published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1976. The book blends autobiography with old Chinese folktales. ''The Woman Warrior ...

'' 1995 *'' Ballad of Yachiyo'' 1998 *''

Hydriotaphia ''Hydriotaphia, Urn Burial, or, a Discourse of the Sepulchral Urns lately found in Norfolk'' is a work by Sir Thomas Browne, published in 1658 as the first part of a two-part work that concludes with ''The Garden of Cyrus''. The title is Greek f ...

'' 2002 *'' Mennochio'' 2003 *''

Continental Divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, no ...

'' 2005 *'' Fetes de la Nuit'' *''The People's Temple'' 2006 *'' Passing Strange'' 2009 *'' American Idiot'' *'' In the Next Room (or the vibrator play)'' 2010 *'' Girlfriend'' *'' Lemony Snicket's The Composer is Dead'' *'' Compulsion'' (co-production with Public Theatre) 2011 *'' How to Write a New Book for the Bible'' (co-production with Seattle Repertory Theatre) *'' Rita Moreno:Life Without Makeup'' 2012 *'' Ghost Light'' (co-production with

Oregon Shakespeare Festival The Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) is a regional repertory theatre in Ashland, Oregon, United States, founded in 1935 by Angus L. Bowmer. The Festival now offers matinee and evening performances of a wide range of classic and contemporary pla ...

) *'' Emotional Creature'' *'' The White Snake'' (co-production with

) *'' Black n Blue Boys'' (co-production with Goodman Theatre) 2013 *'' Fallaci'' *''Troublemaker, or the Freakin Kick A Adventures of Bradley Boatright'' 2014 *'' The House that will not Stand'' (co-production with Yale Repertory Theatre) *'' An Audience with Meow Meow'' 2015 * ''X's and O's (A Football Love Story)'' * Amélie, A New Musical 2016 *'' It Can't Happen Here'' *''

The Last Tiger in Haiti ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in En ...

'' (co-production with La Jolla Playhouse) *''

Aubergine Eggplant ( US, Canada), aubergine ( UK, Ireland) or brinjal ( Indian subcontinent, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa) is a plant species in the nightshade family Solanaceae. ''Solanum melongena'' is grown worldwide for its edible fru ...

'' *'' John Leguizamo: Latin History for Morons'' 2017 *'' Monsoon Wedding'' *'' Imaginary Comforts, or The Story of the Ghost of the Dead Rabbit'' *'' Ain't Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations'' 2018 *'' Fairview'' (in association with Soho Rep.) *'' Paradise Square: A New Musical'' 2019 * ''

Kiss My Aztec! A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

'' * '' Becky Nurse of Salem'' 2020 * '' Swept Away'' * '' It Can't Happen Here'' (Radio Play format)

References

External links

* *
Theatre Bay Area website
{{authority control 1968 establishments in California Buildings and structures in Berkeley, California League of Resident Theatres Theatre companies in Berkeley, California Tony Award winners Regional theatre in the United States Tourist attractions in Berkeley, California Culture of Berkeley, California Theatres in the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre company production histories

History

Premieres

See also

References

External links