Berkeley Rep Presents the World Premiere of THE LAST TIGER IN HAITI

Berkeley Repertory Theatre today announced the world premiere production of The Last Tiger in Haiti by playwright Jeff Augustin and directed by Joshua Kahan Brody. A co-production with La Jolla Playhouse, where the play had its world premiere in June, The Last Tiger in Haiti begins previews Friday, October 14 and the show runs through Sunday, November 27. Individual tickets start at $29 and can be purchased online at berkeleyrep.org or by phone, 510 647-2949. Press night will be on Friday, October 21.

The Last Tiger in Haiti features five kids in modern-day Haiti, all entangled in a dark history of servitude. Huddled in a tent on Mister's land, they'd spin spellbinding folktales, vying for the title of best storyteller - and dreaming of their freedom. When two of them reunite 15 years later, the boundary between reality and fiction vanishes, revealing secrets of their past more haunting than any of the tales they told. In The Last Tiger in Haiti, Jeff Augustin weaves a remarkable and gripping narrative of survival, betrayal, and the power of a story.

"The Last Tiger in Haiti is about the innate power of storytelling," says Michael Leibert Artistic Director Tony Taccone. "The characters in this play are literally surviving by telling each other stories, stories that are part of their cultural tradition and which inform their personal lives. In this astonishing work, Jeff Augustin has tapped into the nature of truth, memory and character."

Jeff Augustin (Playwright)

Jeff's play Little Children Dream of God received its world premiere at the Roundabout Underground, where he was the inaugural Tow Foundation Playwright-in- Residence. His plays have also been produced at Actors Theatre of Louisville (Cry Old Kingdom, Humana 2013; That High Lonesome Sound, Humana Apprentice Anthology 2015), and Western Washington University (Corktown). His work has been developed at The Ground Floor at Berkeley Rep, La Jolla Playhouse's DNA New Work Series, Eugene O'Neill Playwrights Conference, American Conservatory Theater, and Seattle Rep. He is the Shank Playwright-in-Residence at Playwrights Horizons and a member of the Working Farm at SPACE on Ryder Farm and the Rita Goldberg Playwrights Workshop at Lark. He is the recipient of the Barrie and Bernice Stavis Playwriting Award, Lorraine Hansberry Award, and was a New York Theatre Workshop 2050 Fellow. He is currently under commission from Manhattan Theatre Club and the Roundabout Theatre. He received his BA from Boston College and his MFA from UC San Diego.

Joshua Kahan Brody (Director)

Joshua is currently in residence at La Jolla Playhouse with a 2015 Princess Grace Award Apprenticeship (Faberge Theater Award). His recent directing work includes King of the Yees at New Stages (Goodman Theatre); True Believer (TheaterLab, New York); Fourteen Flights (Award for Excellence in Directing, New York International Fringe Festival); Pericles and Medea (University Of Missouri, Kansas City); Titus Andronicus,Little Children Dream of God, The Dybbuk, The Santa Barbarians, and A Man, His Wife, and His Hat (UC San Diego). At La Jolla Playhouse, Brody has worked as an assistant director on The Nightingale and The Who & The What, and as an actor in the 2013 WoW Festival production of Our Town. He is co-founder of the Trip, a San Diego-based performance group, for which he recently directed Three Plays in a Tattoo Shop. In 2017 he will be directing King of the Yees at the Goodman Theatre and Center Theatre Group. He received his MFA from the UC San Diego Department of Theatre & Dance and his BA from Yale University.

The Last Tiger in Haiti cast members include several actors who are making their Berkeley Rep debuts:

Brittany Bellizeare (Rose)

Brittany is making her Berkeley Rep debut. She has appeared in Camae in The Mountaintop (Northern Stage), Ruby in Seven Guitars (Two River Theatre), the educational touring show Sunjata Kamalenya (McCarter Theater), and the one-act musical Archy & Mehitabel (the Yard).

Andy Lucien (Max)

Andy is making his Berkeley Rep debut. He appeared off Broadway in The Qualms (Playwrights Horizons), City of Conversation (Lincoln Center), and The Last Seder (Theater Three at the Mint). He also appeared in Cry Old Kingdom and 27 Ways I Didn't Say Hi to LaurenceFishburne (Humana Festival, Actors Theater of Louisville), Clybourne Park (Dorset Theater Festival/Barrington Stage), DNA New Work Series (La Jolla Playhouse), and Revenge of a King (Grahamstown, South Africa).

Clinton Roane (Emmanuel)

Clinton is making his Berkeley Rep debut. He has appeared on Broadway and in London in The Scottsboro Boys. His regional credits includeFive Guys Named Moe (Arena Stage, Cleveland Play House), The Scottsboro Boys (Philadelphia Theatre Company - Barrymore Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical, The Old Globe, American Conservatory Theater, Ahmanson Theater), Hello! My Baby(Goodspeed Musicals), My One and Only (the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire), Dreamgirls (North Shore Music Theatre) and Radio City Christmas Spectacular (Radio City Music Hall).

Jasmine St. Clair (Laurie)

Jasmine is making her Berkeley Rep debut. She has appeared at La Jolla Playhouse in Sideways; Skylight Theater in Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea; and UC San Diego in Little Children Dream of God (Sula), Cry Old Kingdom (Judith), and In the Red and Brown Water (Shun). She has appeared on television in Shameless and in the film Daddy and Me (Tasha). Jasmine received her MFA from UC San Diego.

Reggie D. White (Joseph)

Reggie appeared in Party People at Berkeley Rep and is the Theatre's TCG Artist-in-Residence, heading up the Young Writers of Color Collective. He appeared off Broadway in Troll, I & You, For the Last Time, The Snow Queen, and Dogsbody. His regional credits include I & You (Merrimack Repertory Theatre), Hundred Days (Z Space), Crime & Punishment (San Jose Repertory Theatre), and The Last Election (San Francisco Mime Troupe). Reggie is the recipient of the Theatre Bay Area TITAN Award, as well as the RHE Foundation's Artistic Fellowship. He received his education at Cal State Hayward and Atlantic Theater School.

The creative team includes: Takeshi Kata (scenic designer), Dede Ayite (costume designer), Alexander V. Nichols (lighting designer),Nicholas Drashner (Sound Designer), and Cookie Jordan, (hair and wig designer).

For the 2016-17 season, Berkeley Rep recognizes the generosity of season sponsors BART, Peet's Coffee, and Wells Fargo. Individual season sponsors include Jack and Betty Schafer, Michael and Sue Steinberg, and the Strauch Kulhanjian Family. The Last Tiger in Haiti is the recipient of the San Francisco Foundation's Rella Lossy Playwright Award.

ABOUT BERKELEY REP

Berkeley Repertory Theatre has grown from a storefront stage to an international leader in innovative theatre. Known for its core values of imagination and excellence, as well as its educated and adventurous audience, the nonprofit has provided a welcoming home for emerging and established artists since 1968. In four decades, four million people have enjoyed nearly 400 shows at Berkeley Rep. These shows have gone on to win five Tony Awards, seven Obie Awards, nine Drama Desk Awards, one Grammy Award, and many other honors. In recognition of its place on the national stage, Berkeley Rep received the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre in 1997. Its bustling facilities - which include the 400-seat Peet's Theatre, the 600-seat Roda Theatre, the Berkeley Rep School of Theatre, the Osher Studio, and a spacious new campus in West Berkeley - are helping revitalize a renowned city. Learn more at berkeleyrep.org

ABOUT THE GROUND FLOOR: BERKELEY REP'S CENTER FOR THE CREATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF NEW WORK

As the umbrella for all new play activity at Berkeley Rep, The Ground Floor is a bold initiative designed to raise the bar on the Tony Award-winning nonprofit's already successful record of artistic innovation. Think of it as an incubator for theatrical start-ups or a top-notch R&D facility for artists. The Ground Floor was launched with seed funding from the James Irvine Foundation's Artistic Innovation Fund, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and ArtPlace. The Ground Floor is supported by the Michael and Sue Steinberg, the National Endowment for the Arts, The Tournesol Project, Bank of America, The Kenneth Rainin Foundation, and individual supporters of Berkeley Rep's Create Campaign. For more information on each project, and for future announcements or opportunities to interact, visit berkeleyrep.org/groundfloor

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