Berkeley Rep Announces Final Casting For A DOLL'S HOUSE, PART 2

Berkeley Repertory Theatre today announced final casting for A Doll's House, Part 2, written by Lucas Hnath and directed by Les Waters, which begins previews on Thursday, September 6 and runs through Sunday, October 21. Individual tickets begin at $30 ($15 if you're under 35) and can be purchased online at berkeleyrep.org or by phone at 510 647-2949 beginning August 12, 2018. Subscription tickets are available now. Press night of this first show of Berkeley Rep's 50th anniversary season will be on Thursday, September 13.

Who's that knocking on the door? Nora is back in this audacious Tony Award-nominated comedy. It's been 15 years since she slammed that same door on her marriage and children in the revolutionary final scene of Ibsen's signature play. Now a successful yet scandalous writer, she's being blackmailed by a judge and needs her former husband's help. But her family has a few grievances they need to air first.

"It gives me great pleasure to bring Les Waters back to Berkeley Rep, a place he called home for seven years," says Artistic Director Tony Taccone. "His productions are always inspired, marked by a deep understanding of text and a fervent theatrical imagination. It will be exciting to see what he does with A Doll's House, Part 2, yet another astonishing play from the shockingly gifted playwright Lucas Hnath. Lucas' discourse about liberation and its costs will undoubtedly resonate with our audience, and I expect that sparks will fly in the theatre. You can't ask for more."

Lucas Hnath (Playwright) - Lucas' plays include A Doll's House, Part 2 (eight Tony Award nominations, including Best Play); Hillary and Clinton; Red Speedo; The Christians; A Public Reading of an Unproduced Screenplay About the Death of Walt Disney; Isaac's Eye; and Death Tax. He has been produced on Broadway at the John Golden Theatre and off Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop, Playwrights Horizons, Soho Rep., and Ensemble Studio Theatre. His plays have been produced nationally and internationally with premieres at the Humana Festival of New American Plays, Victory Gardens, and South Coast Rep. He has been a resident playwright at New Dramatists since 2011. Lucas has received the Kesselring Prize, Guggenheim Fellowship, Whiting Award, two Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award Citations, Outer Critics Circle Award for Best New Play, an Obie, and the Windham-Campbell Literary Prize.

Les Waters (Director) - From 2003 to 2011, Obie Award winner Les Waters served as associate artistic director at Berkeley Rep. In the last 10 years, his shows have ranked among the year's best in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Time Out New York, Time Magazine, The Guardian, and USA Today. Les has directed Anne Washburn and Dave Malloy's Little Bunny Foo Foo, Jorge Ignacio Cortiñas' Recent Alien Abductions, William Shakespeare's Macbeth, Sarah Ruhl's For Peter Pan on her 70th birthday, Anne Washburn's 10 Out of 12, Charles Mee's The Glory of the World, Rebecca Gilman's Luna Gale, Naomi Iizuka's At the Vanishing Point, Lucas Hnath's The Christians, Thornton Wilder's Our Town, Will Eno's Gnit, Todd Almond's Girlfriend, and Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night. Les also previously directed Big Love by Charles Mee at the Humana Festival in 2000, and the site-specific production of Naomi Iizuka's At the Vanishing Point at the 2004 Humana Festival. His productions have been seen in New York at Playwrights Horizons, Signature Theatre Company, The Public Theater, Second Stage Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, Connelly Theater, Clubbed Thumb, and Soho Rep., and regionally at theatres such as the Mark Taper Forum, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Goodman Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre, American Conservatory Theater, La Jolla Playhouse, and American Repertory Theater. In 2009, he made his Broadway debut with In the Next Room (or the vibrator play). He led the MFA directing program at University of California, San Diego from 1995 to 2003.

Nancy E. Carroll (Anne Marie) - Nancy is making her Berkeley Rep debut. Her Broadway credits include Present Laughter (Roundabout Theatre Company) and her international credits include The Cripple of Inishmaan and Big Maggie (Druid Theatre, Ireland) and Return of the Winemaker (Cork Arts Theatre, Ireland). Regionally, she has appeared in Ripcord, I Was Most Alive With You, The Seagull, Good People, Luck of the Irish, Prelude to a Kiss, Brendan, She Loves Me, The Rose Tattoo, and Dead End (Huntington Theatre); Rapture Blister Burn (Geffen Playhouse); Our Town and She Loves Me (Williamstown Theatre Festival); Shakespeare in Love, Mothers and Sons, Other Desert Cities, The Savannah Disputation, The Women, Company, and A Man of No Importance (Speakeasy Stage); The New Electric Ballroom, Breath of Life, Trad, Doubt, Happy Days, My Old Lady, and Collected Stories (Gloucester Stage); Bailegangaire (Súgán Theatre); and Humble Boy, Hamlet, and The Winter's Tale (Publick Theatre). Her TV and film credits include Spotlight, Olive Kitteridge, and Irrational Man. Nancy received Elliot Norton Awards for Present Laughter, Brendan, and Bailegangaire.

Mary Beth Fisher (Nora) - Mary Beth has appeared at Berkeley Rep in Dear Elizabeth. Her many Chicago credits include Blind Date, Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike, The Little Foxes, Luna Gale, and The Seagull (Goodman Theatre); Domesticated, Dead Man's Cell Phone, and The Dresser (Steppenwolf Theatre Company); and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Long Day's Journey into Night, Three Tall Women, The Year of Magical Thinking, The Wild Duck, and Arcadia (Court Theatre). Her New York credits include Frank's Home (Playwrights Horizons), Boy Gets Girl, and The Radical Mystique (Manhattan Theatre Club); The Night of the Iguana (Roundabout Theatre Company); and Extremities (Westside Arts). Her TV and film credits include Sense8, Chicago Fire, Chicago Justice, Without a Trace, Numb3rs, Prison Break, NYPD Blue, Profiler, and Dragonfly. Mary Beth has received two Joseph Jefferson Awards, Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel nominations, the L.A. Drama Critics' Circle Award, Chicago's Leading Lady Award from the Sarah Siddons Society, and is an Inaugural Lunt-Fontanne Fellow at the Ten Chimneys Foundation.

John Judd (Torvald) - John is appearing for the first time at Berkeley Rep. A Chicago actor for over 30 years, he has appeared on many stages there including The Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, Court Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Writers Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre, Victory Gardens Theater, and A Red Orchid Theatre. Other regional stages include the Huntington Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Westport Country Playhouse, McCarter Theatre, Philadelphia Theatre Company, City Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Beaver Creek Theatre Festival, The Old Globe, and Town Hall Theatre in Galway, Ireland. He has appeared off Broadway at Barrow Street Theatre, 59E59 Theatres, and BAM. Recent screen appearances include Chicago Fire (NBC), Empire (Fox), and SENSE8 (Netflix).

Nikki Massoud (Emmy) - A Doll's House, Part 2 is Nikki's Berkeley Rep debut. Her New York stage credits including Bianca in Othello at New York Theatre Workshop, directed by Sam Gold and starring Daniel Craig. Her regional credits include the world premiere of Theresa Rebeck's Zealot at South Coast Rep, Pericles (Marina/Thaisa) at Two River Theater, Our Town (Emily) at Portland Center Stage, and The Glass Menagerie Project (Laura/Rose) at Arena Stage. She has also appeared on Madam Secretary, Homeland, Odd Mom Out, Mozart in the Jungle, and HBO's Succession. She trained at Brown University/Trinity Rep (MFA), the British American Drama Academy, and Georgetown University.

The creative team includes Andrew Boyce (scenic designer), Annie Smart (costume designer), Yi Zhao (lighting designer), and James Ballen (sound designer).

For the 2018-19 season, Berkeley Rep recognizes BART, Peet's Coffee, and Wells Fargo, who have generously renewed their commitment as Berkeley Rep's official season sponsors. Berkeley Rep is also delighted to have Michael and Sue Steinberg, Jack and Betty Schafer, and The Strauch Kulhanjian Family on board as season sponsors. A Doll's House, Part 2 is made possible by lead sponsors The Bernard Osher Foundation and Bruce Golden and Michelle Mercer and executive sponsors Bill Falik and Diana Cohen.

Berkeley Repertory Theatre has grown from a storefront stage to an international leader in innovative theatre. Known for its ambition, relevance, and excellence, as well as its adventurous audience, the nonprofit has provided a welcoming home for emerging and established artists since 1968. Over 5.5 million people have enjoyed nearly 500 shows at Berkeley Rep, which have gone on to win five Tony Awards, seven Obie Awards, nine Drama Desk Awards, one Grammy Award, and many other honors. Berkeley Rep received the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre in 1997. Its School of Theatre engages and educates some 20,000 people a year and helps build the audiences of tomorrow with its nationally recognized teen programs. Berkeley Rep's bustling facilities - which also include the 400-seat Peet's Theatre, the 600-seat Roda Theatre, and a spacious campus in West Berkeley - are helping revitalize a renowned city. Be a Rep. Learn more at berkeleyrep.org.

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