Berkeley Rep Announces Final Three Shows To Complete Its 2019-20 Season

Berkeley Repertory Theatre today announced the three shows that complete the seven plays of its 2019-20 subscription season: the West Coast premiere of the critically acclaimed new drama White Noise by Suzan-Lori Parks; the world premiere of Sarah Ruhl's Becky Nurse of Salem that was developed through The Ground Floor: Berkeley Rep's Center for the Creation and Development of New Work; and Samuel Beckett's masterpiece Happy Days directed by James Bundy and starring two-time Academy Award winner Dianne Wiest.

The newly announced productions join the American premiere of Francis Turnly's The Great Wave directed by Mark Wing-Davey (Mad Forest, Pericles), who returns to Berkeley Rep for the sixth time; the return of the Bay Area's original subversive badass satirists in Culture Clash (Still) in America directed by Berkeley Rep's Associate Director Lisa Peterson; Jocelyn Bioh's award-winning School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play directed by Awoye Timpo; and the world premiere musical Swept Away with music by The Avett Brothers, book by John Logan, and directed by Michael Mayer.

"I'm so excited to share the projects that will complete my inaugural season at Berkeley Rep," says incoming Artistic Director Johanna Pfaelzer. "The range of work, the different styles of storytelling, and the extraordinary artists involved comprise a slate that feels like a great beginning of a dialogue with the Bay Area theatre community. As someone who has spent much of my career in the arena of new plays, I love that with this season the work of renowned contemporary artists like Suzan-Lori Parks, Sarah Ruhl, and John Logan will stand alongside one of Samuel Beckett's most groundbreaking plays. I hope Bay Area audiences will embrace the opportunity to look at the ways in which these varied artists afford us the opportunity to come together, and find joy in the conversations the work provokes."

In addition to the subscription season shows, the Theatre announced that 2019-20 season subscribers will have first access to the Berkeley Rep debut of the stunning theatrical ensemble Elevator Repair Service with its astonishing tour de force, Gatz, a word-for-word performance of F. Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece, The Great Gatsby. The winner of two Lucille Lortel Awards, three Elliott Norton Awards, and an Obie Award, Gatz has enthralled audiences around the globe, from New York to Lisbon and Los Angeles to Abu Dhabi. Performance details and schedule will be announced at a later date.

THE 2019-20 SEASON

In a Japanese coastal town in 1979, teenage sisters Hanako and Reiko run onto the beach during a tremendous storm on a dare. Hanako is tragically swept out to sea, while Reiko survives - but recalls seeing three mysterious men on the shoreline. The authorities determine that Hanako has drowned, but her mother insists that her missing daughter is still alive. Spanning over 20 years and the two vastly different countries of Japan and North Korea, The Great Wave by Francis Turnly is at once a riveting geopolitical thriller and a powerful story of the unshakable bonds between a mother, a daughter, and a sister who refuse to give up hope. Directed by Mark Wing-Davey, this American premiere starts September 2019.

Leo, Dawn, Ralph, and Misha are old friends. The two 30-something couples are educated, progressive, and cosmopolitan. But when a racially motivated incident with the police leaves Leo shaken, he makes a radical proposition to Ralph that forever alters the relationship between these four friends - and their view of the world. Brave, intelligent, and eviscerating, White Noise by Pulitzer Prize winner Suzan-Lori Parks is one of the most talked about new plays tackling our rapidly unraveling social contract. We're proud to be the only regional theatre outside New York to present White Noise this year. West Coast premiere starts September 2019.

Out of work and out of love, Becky Nurse is an ordinary but strong-willed grandmother just trying to get by in post-Obama America. She's also the great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter of Rebecca Nurse, who was infamously executed for witchcraft in 1692 - but things have changed for women since then, haven't they? Desperate to raise her troubled teenaged granddaughter right, and also hook up with an old flame, Becky visits a local witch for help. But those spells and potions don't work out exactly as planned. The latest play from the Tony-nominated Sarah Ruhl, Becky Nurse of Salem speaks to the trials and triumphs of women today - and is also a comedic, warmhearted story about trying to do the right thing in a chaotic world. World premiere starts December 2019.

The missionaries of mayhem are back with their unique, badass brand of Chicano satire in Culture Clash (Still) in America! Born here in the Bay and Los Angeles-based, Culture Clash first brought their dangerous and subversive version of documentary theatre to Berkeley audiences with Culture Clash in AmeriCCA, gleefully skewering American culture through the lens of the Latino experience. In this powerful, pointed, and downright hilarious update directed by Lisa Peterson, they turn their razor-sharp wit to everything from pussy hats to MAGA caps, laying down outrageous, biting, and thought-provoking monologues and sketch comedy about the immigrant experience in America right now. Starts February 2020.

Paulina, the reigning queen bee at Ghana's most exclusive boarding school, has her sights set on the Miss Universe pageant and the glamorous life that's sure to follow. But her plans and even her very reputation are shaken up when Ericka, a new student who's strikingly beautiful and talented, captures the attention of the pageant recruiter - and Paulina's hive-minded friends. Winner of the 2018 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play and the Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Award, School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play by Jocelyn Bioh is a biting comedy that tackles the universal issues of beauty and self-worth that face teenage girls across the globe. Directed by Awoye Timpo. Starts March 2020.

Academy Award winner Dianne Wiest plays Winnie in Samuel Beckett's masterpiece Happy Days, directed by James Bundy. With her husband Willie (Michael Rudko) increasingly out of reach and the earth itself threatening to swallow her whole, Winnie's buoyant optimism shields her from the harsh glare of the inevitable in this absurdly funny and boundlessly compassionate portrait of the human spirit. The New York Times declares Wiest is "extraordinary," capturing both the humor and the heartbreak of one of Beckett's most popular plays in this stunning Yale Repertory Theatre production. Starts May 2020.

Multiple Grammy Award nominee The Avett Brothers, hailed as "America's biggest roots band" by Rolling Stone, bring their signature blend of folk and rock 'n' roll attitude to the theatrical stage with Swept Away, a world premiere musical inspired by their 2004 album Mignonette and their vast body of music. The band joins forces with Tony Award-winning stage and screen writer John Logan (Red, Broadway's Moulin Rouge!, Skyfall, Gladiator) and Tony Award-winning director Michael Mayer (American Idiot, Spring Awakening, Hedwig and the Angry Inch). It's 1888, off the coast of New Bedford, MA. When a violent storm sinks their whaling ship, the four surviving souls - a young man in search of adventure, his older brother who has sworn to protect him, a captain at the end of a long career at sea, and a worldly first mate who has fallen from grace - each face a reckoning: How far will I go to stay alive? And can I live with the consequences? Starts June 2020.

Casting for all shows will be announced at a later date.

Subscribers to Berkeley Rep get the best seats for these shows at the consistently lowest prices. The 5-play Main Season package guarantees tickets to The Great Wave, White Noise, Becky Nurse of Salem, Culture Clash (Still) in America, and School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play. Step up to the 7-play Full Season to include Swept Away and Dianne Wiest in Happy Days as part of your package. In addition to significant savings, subscribers receive valuable advantages such as the ability to reschedule performances for free, discounts when purchasing tickets for friends, and the opportunity to secure seats before the general public for special events.

Full (7-play) and Main (5-play) season ticket packages start as low as $170 (7-play Full Season packages range from $189 to $623; 5-play Main Season packages range from $170 to $445). Additional subscription discounts for senior citizens, pre-K-12 educators, and patrons under age 35 make the cost of discounted packages begin at $85. Ticket packages are now available. "Choose your own" packages of three or more shows will be available in the coming weeks once performance schedules are finalized.

To post a comment, you must register and login.