Berkeley Rep to Present The Hypocrites' PIRATES OF PENZANCE

Berkeley Repertory Theatre proudly welcomes Chicago theatre rebels The Hypocrites for the West Coast premiere of Pirates of Penzance. Join the party in the Theatre's Osher Studio on Center Street for a delightfully and fantastically eccentric take on Gilbert and Sullivan's preposterous topsy-turvy world. Presented promenade-style, this unique production allows the audience to move around the space with the actors for a more immersive experience. Directed and adapted by Sean Graney, artistic director of The Hypocrites, Pirates of Penzance follows the adventures of Frederick, who was mistakenly apprenticed as a young boy to a band of sentimental pirates. Now 21, he falls head-over-heels for the Major-General's daughter and forswears the buccaneer's life forever, or so he thinks. This buoyant, award-winning production is a "spirited, affectionate, and nearly irresistible," says the Boston Globe.

Co-adapted by Kevin O'Donnell and co-directed by Thrisa Hodits, The Hypocrties' Pirates of Penzance starts previews Friday, October 16, 2015 and runs through Sunday, December 20, 2015. Press night will be held on Friday, October 23, 2015. Individual tickets start at $29 and can be purchased by phone at (510) 647-2949 or online at berkeleyrep.org.

The cast includes Mario Aivazain (Pirate/Pirate King US), Delia Baseman (Daughter, Mabel/Ruth US), Matt Kahler (Major General/Samuel), Royen Kent (Pirate/Freddy US), Kristen Magee (Daughter), Shawn Pfaustch (Pirate King), Becky Poole (Daughter), Christine Stulik (Ruth/Mabel), Zeke Sulkes (Frederick).

"We're excited to have the Hypocrites present their Pirates of Penzance, a high energy production that will be staged in a very dynamic way," says Tony Taccone, Berkeley Rep's Michael Leibert Artistic Director. "With our Thrust Stage under renovation, we have the opportunity to present Pirates in the Osher Studio. A black box theatre, the Osher is able to provide 'promenade seating,' in which a portion of the audience is seated while others move around with the performers in the space. This environmental approach is fantastically intimate and gives renewed meaning to the phrase 'up close and personal'. It's all part of the Hypocrites desire to restore the subversive fun to Gilbert and Sullivan and should make for a great evening."

"Our Pirates of Penzance attempts to capture the revolutionary spirit of the original, beloved comic opera by W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan," remarks Sean Graney artistic director of The Hypocrites. "Everything that G&S fans expect will be there-and a lot more. We also offer an exciting, casual and live relationship between actor and attendee that is specific to the audience that arrives each evening. We can't wait for Berkeley Rep's adventurous patrons to embrace this fun, playful, and wacky production."

Critics have fallen in love with the the Hypocrites' uniquely stylized, fast-paced rendition of Pirates of Penzance. The Chicago Times calls the show, "a zany delight from start to finish." The Chicago Tribune writes, "that cheeky Sean Graney, the very model of the modern conceptual director, has pulled out quite a delicious little off-Loop version of 'The Pirates of Penzance.' This is not your father's Gilbert and Sullivan...."

Adds the Boston Globe, "spirited, affectionate, and nearly irresistible.... Apart from some amusing interpolations of brief snatches of contemporary songs, Pirates of Penzance displays a surprising fidelity to the original 19th-century score and storyline."

Sean Graney (Adaptor and director) is the artistic director of The Hypocrites, which he started in 1997. The Hypocrites are recognized as a groundbreaking company and mainstay of theatre in the city of Chicago. Up next is Yeomen of the Guard at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, which is his fourth Gilbert and Sullivan project, having done Pirates of Penzance, The Mikado, and HMS Pinafore all with The Hypocrites and are now going to be touring around to various and exciting cities. Graney is the recipient of the Helen Coburn Meier and Tim Meier Charitable Foundation for the Arts Achievement Award, and has won four Joseph Jefferson Awards.

Kevin O'Donnell (Co-adapter/Sound Design) is honored to be part of The Hypocrites and this production. Currently splitting time between Chicago and New Orleans, he has been teaching at Tulane University and designing for the New Orleans Shakespeare Festival. In Chicago his theatre work has been nominated every year he has worked, resulting in 20 Jeff nominations and 10 awards.

Thrisa Hodits (Co-Director) most recently co-directed the G&S Rep this past winter and looks forward to taking Pirates to Berkeley Rep and HMS Pinafore to Actors Theatre of Louisville this fall. Following Tragic, Hodits is directing West Side Story with the Center Theatre Company and With Love and a Major Organ with Strawdog Theatre Company.

The design team includes: Tom Burch (scenic designer), Maria DeFabo (properties designer), Heather Gilbert (lighting designer), Kevin O'Donnell (sound designer), and Alison Siple (costume designer).The music director is Andra Velis Simon, and the choreographer is Katie Spelman.

Berkeley Rep recognizes the generosity of returning season sponsors BART, Wells Fargo, and KPIX-TV (Channel 5), and welcomes Peet's Coffee as its fourth official season sponsor. Pirates of Penzance is made possible thanks to the generous support of season sponsors the Strauch Kulhanjian Family and Jack and Betty Schafer.

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