Aurora Adds Additional Extension Performances of THE REAL THING

Critics and audiences agree: THE REAL THING is the real thing. Aurora Theatre Companyannounces that it will add an additional 2 matinee performances of THE REAL THING, Tom Stoppard's (The Coast of Utopia,Arcadia, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead) timeless comedy about an all-too-witty playwright who succumbs to the emotional ravages he puts his characters through, to the previously announced 7 performance extension.

Timothy Near ("Master Harold"...and the boys) helms this Tony Award-winner for Best Play (1984) and Best Revival of a Play (2000), featuring Elijah Alexander, Liz Sklar, Carrie Paff (This Is How It Goes, A Delicate Balance, Collapse), Tommy Gorrebeeck (The Monster-Builder, The Eccentricities of a Nightingale), Seann Gallagher, and Emily Radosevich. THE REAL THING plays through March 5th (added performances:Saturday, February 25, 2pm; Saturday, March 4, 2pm) at the Aurora Theatre in Berkeley. For tickets and information the public can call(510) 843-4822 or visit auroratheatre.org.

Playwright Henry is not so happily married to Charlotte, the lead actress in his play about a marriage on the verge of collapse. When his affair with their friend, Annie, threatens to destroy his own marriage, he realizes that life has started imitating art. After Annie leaves her husband for Henry, he can't help but wonder whether their relationship is fiction or the real thing. Delectable and deeply affecting, THE REAL THING, which The New York Times called "Stoppard's most moving play, but also the most bracing play that anyone has written about love and marriage in years," and The Independent (UK) declared "Stoppard at his most relatable," takes a look at the absolute chaos of love and trust, or lack thereof, and the passions that often blur our perceptions.

Timothy Near helms THE REAL THING. She previously directed Aurora's hit production of Athol Fugard's "MASTER HAROLD"... and the boys, and has directed plays at California Shakespeare Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theater, Center REPertory Company, Mark Taper Forum, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Arizona Theatre Company, Portland Center Stage, Guthrie Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Atlanta's ALLIANCE THEATRE, La Jolla Playhouse, Ford's Theatre in Washington D.C., Intiman Theatre, New York Shakespeare Festival, and Opera San Jose. For 22 years, Near was the Artistic Director of San Jose Repertory Theatre where she produced over 120 plays, including 21 World Premieres. She is the recipient of the Woman of Achievement Award in the Arts given by the San Jose Mercury News/Women's Fund and The Janet Gray Hays Award for Women in Leadership.

About THE REAL THING, Lily Janiak of the San Francisco Chronicle said, "gorgeous, devastating...It's the kind of writing we don't see too often in contemporary plays...[The Real Thing is] at once wry and deeply felt, lofty and off-color, musical and slapstick." Karen D'Souza of the Bay Area News Group concurred, stating, "Only in the finest of [Tom Stoppard's] plays, such as 'Arcadia' and 'The Real Thing,' do both parts of the human experience throb with equal vitality." Adam Brinklow at Edge SF declared, "[The Real Thing] wheedles its way into your graces, and in the end, you surrender because, despite everything, it's sincere after all, and that turns out to still count for a lot," while Miyako Singer at The Daily Californian called the production, "a pleasure to watch."

Following THE REAL THING, Jon Tracy helms the Bay Area Premiere of Sarah Greenman's LENI on Aurora's Second Stage in March. Steve Waters' TEMPLE makes its' U.S. Premiere at Aurora in April, directed by Artistic Director Tom Ross. Abi Morgan'sSPLENDOUR, directed by Barbara Damashek, closes the season in June.

Voted Best Theater Company in 2012 by SF Weekly, Aurora Theatre Company continues to offer challenging, literate, intelligent stage works to the Bay Area, each year increasing its reputation for top-notch theater. Located in the heart of the Downtown Berkeley Arts District, Aurora Theatre Company, declared "one of the best regional theaters around" by 7x7 magazine, has been called "one of the most important regional theaters in the area" and "a must-see midsize company" by the San Francisco Chronicle, while The Wall Street Journal has "nothing but praise for the Aurora." The Contra Costa Times stated "perfection is probably an unattainable ideal in a medium as fluid as live performance, but the Aurora Theatre comes luminously close," while the San Jose Mercury News affirmed Aurora Theatre Company is "arguably the finest small theater in the Bay Area," and the Oakland Tribune stated "it's all about choices, and if you value good theater, choose the Aurora."

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