Aurora Theatre Company to Present THE MONSTER-BUILDER, 11/6-12/6

Aurora Theatre Company presents the Bay Area Premiere of Pulitzer Prize finalist (Freedomland) Amy Freed's THE MONSTER-BUILDER. Art Manke, who directed the World Premiere of THE MONSTER-BUILDER at Portland's Artists Repertory Theatre in 2014, makes his Aurora directing debut with this viciously funny comedy featuring Danny Scheie (The Mystery of Irma Vep), Rod Knapp (The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity), Nancy Carlin (Hysteria), Thomas Gorrebeeck (The Eccentricities of a Nightingale), Tracy Hazas, and Sierra Jolene. THE MONSTER-BUILDER plays November 6 through December 6 at the Aurora Theatre in Berkeley. For tickets ($32-60) and information the public can call (510) 843-4822 or visit auroratheatre.org.

In THE MONSTER-BUILDER, a maniacal scheme of fantastical proportions lurks deep inside world-renowned mega-architect Gregor Zubrowski's post-modern steel and glass structures. His commanding celebrity and curious creative process both titillates and manipulates design professionals and patrons alike into submission. It is only after he casually, and cruelly, steals a career-making project that two fledgling architects dare to challenge this monster-builder at his own game. According to The Oregonian, "[Playwright] Amy Freed certainly knows how to write a wonderfully wild and witty play... [The Monster-Builder is] a penetrating thesis drama, a gothic melodrama, and a salient satire of artistic and intellectual elites all rolled into one." An examination of the cult of personality, the vacuousness of ambition, and the uncomfortable marriage of form and function in high art, THE MONSTER-BUILDER received its World Premiere under the direction of Art Manke at Portland's Artists Repertory Theatre in 2014.

In addition to THE MONSTER-BUILDER, Amy Freed's plays include Freedomland, for which she was nominated for the 1998 Pulitzer Prize; The Beard of Avon; The Psychic Life of Savages; Claustrophilia; The Ghoul of Amherst; Still Warm; Safe in Hell; Restoration Comedy; You, Nero; and Hell to Pay. Her work has been produced at American Conservatory Theater, California Shakespeare Theater, South Coast Repertory, New York Theatre Workshop, Seattle Repertory, Goodman Theatre, Playwrights Horizons, Woolly Mammoth, and Yale Repertory Theatre, among others. She has been the recipient of the Joseph Kesselring Prize, the Charles MacArthur Award, and has won the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award numerous times. Aurora Theatre Company commissioned a new play from Freed for the company's first Global Age Project new works festival. She currently teaches acting and playwriting at Stanford University.

Award-winning director Art Manke helms THE MONSTER-BUILDER. Directing credits include a wide variety of plays, including productions at South Coast Repertory (Peter and the Starcatcher, the West Coast Premiere of Itamar Moses' Bach at Leipzig, Noises Off, Taking Steps, Lucky Duck, The Wind in the Willows); Pasadena Playhouse (A Song at Twilight); Denver Center Theatre Company (The Three Musketeers, Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps); Laguna Playhouse (Fallen Angels); Magic Theatre (The Ice-Breaker); Shakespeare Santa Cruz (The Liar, A Year With Frog and Toad); Mark Taper Forum; Oregon Shakespeare Festival; Milwaukee Repertory Theater; Seattle Repertory Theatre; Chicago Shakespeare Theater; and American Players Theatre, among others. Manke is a co-founder and former Artistic Director (1991-2001) of the classical theater company A Noise Within. A frequent guest lecturer at theater schools across the country, Manke also directs for television. He is currently writing a new musical about Pearl Bailey, entitled Pearl's in the House.

Aurora Theatre Company has assembled a talented ensemble of stage veterans and newcomers for THE MONSTER-BUILDER. Theatre veteran Danny Scheie returns to Aurora Theatre Company as Gregor in THE MONSTER-BUILDER; he previously appeared in the company's production of The Mystery of Irma Vep. Additional credits include productions at California Shakespeare Theater, where he appeared in Amy Freed' Restoration Comedy, TheatreWorks, Magic Theatre, Marsh, Marin Theatre Company, San Jose Repertory Theatre, and Theatre Rhinoceros. He also appeared in the World Premiere of Amy Freed's You, Nero at South Coast Repertory, which went on to play at Berkeley Repertory Theatre and at Arena Stage. He has been featured in productions at Berkeley Repertory Theatre Company, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, ?The Old Globe, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Folger Theatre, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Pasadena Playhouse, A Noise Within, Two River Theater Company, Yale Repertory Theatre, Los Angeles Theatre Center, and Zephyr, among others. He recently starred in a revival of The Mystery of Irma Vep at California Shakespeare Theater.

Bay Area favorite Rod Gnapp returns to the Aurora as Andy in THE MONSTER-BUILDER; he previously appeared in the Aurora's hit productions of The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity and Awake and Sing! Additional credits include productions at American Conservatory Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, California Shakespeare Theatre, Magic Theatre, TheatreWorks, Seattle Repertory Theater, Marin Theatre Company, SF Playhouse, and Huntington Theatre, among others. He recently appeared in Storefront Church at SF Playhouse, This Golden State at Magic Theatre, and in Cymbeline and The Beauty Queen of Leenane at Marin Theatre Company. Additional theater credits productions at American Conservatory Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, California Shakespeare Theater, San Jose Repertory Theatre, TheatreWorks, Huntington Theatre Company, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Seattle Repertory, Virginia Playhouse, and the Pittsburgh Public Theater, among others.

Also returning to the Aurora stage is Nancy Carlin as Pamela; she previously appeared in the company's productions of Hysteria, Benefactors, Nora, Rocket to the Moon, and Seascape. Additional credits include roles at A.C.T., Berkeley Repertory Theatre, San Francisco Playhouse, TheatreWorks, Shotgun Players, California Shakespeare Theater, Marin Theatre Company, San Jose Repertory Theatre, A Traveling Jewish Theater, and Oregon Shakespeare Festival, among others.

Thomas Gorrebeeck returns to the Aurora stage as Dieter in THE MONSTER-BUILDER; he was last seen at Aurora in The Eccentricities of a Nightingale. Other credits include productions at City Lights Theater Company (Compleat Female Stage Beauty), Center REPertory Company (Dracula, Sleuth), TheatreWorks (The Chosen, Sense and Sensibility), California Shakespeare Theater (Much Ado About Nothing), Palo Alto Players, Foothill Music Theatre, and Broadway By the Bay, among others. Upcoming productions include Colossal at San Francisco Playhouse.

Rounding out the cast and making their Aurora debuts are Tracy Hazas as Rita (Mirandolina at Center Repertory Company, New York City Center, Theater for the New City, Punchdrunk), and

Sierra Jolene as Tasmin (Macbeth and The Liar at Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Aida at Capital Playhouse).

Following THE MONSTER-BUILDER, award-winning Bay Area auteur Mark Jackson returns to Aurora with the World Premiere of his play LITTLE ERIK in January, followed by the West Coast Premiere of Sarah Treem's THE HOW AND THE WHY, directed by Joy Carlin and staged in the company's second stage performance space, Harry's UpStage, located in the Nell and Jules Dashow Wing. The season continues in April with the West Coast Premiere of David Ives' THE HEIR APPARENT directed by Josh Costello. Timothy Near makes her Aurora directing debut with the company's season closer in June, Athol Fugard's modern classic "MASTER HAROLD"... and the boys.

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."
FOR CALENDAR EDITORS:

Aurora Theatre Company presents the Bay Area Premiere of Pulitzer Prize finalist (Freedomland) Amy Freed's THE MONSTER-BUILDER. A maniacal scheme of fantastical proportions lurks deep inside world-renowned mega-architect Gregor Zubrowski's post-modern steel and glass structures. His commanding celebrity and curious creative process both titillates and manipulates design professionals and patrons alike into submission. It is only after he casually, and cruelly, steals a career-making project that two fledgling architects dare to challenge this monster-builder at his own game.

Art Manke, who directed the World Premiere of THE MONSTER-BUILDER at Portland's Artists Repertory Theatre in 2014, makes his Aurora directing debut with this viciously funny comedy about which The Oregonian said, "Amy Freed certainly knows how to write a wonderfully wild and witty play... a penetrating thesis drama, a gothic melodrama, and a salient satire of artistic and intellectual elites all rolled into one." Bay Area favorite Danny Scheie (The Mystery of Irma Vep) returns to the Aurora stage as Gregor Zubrowski in this examination of the cult of personality, the vacuousness of ambition, and the uncomfortable marriage of form and function in high art.

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