Cast Announced for West Coast Premiere of SANCTUARY CITY at Berkeley Rep

Berkeley Repertory Theatre announced today the cast for the upcoming West Coast premiere of Sanctuary City written by Pulitzer Prize winner Martyna Majok (Cost of Living) and directed by David Mendizábal (Notes on Killing Seven Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Board Members).

Martyna Majok brings us the powerful story of two young DREAMers who fight to establish a place for themselves in America, the only country they know as home. Poignant, timely, and highly theatrical, Sanctuary City illuminates the triumphs and challenges these lifelong friends face, and how much they are willing to risk for each other when they have everything to lose.

"If Martyna Majok's talent weren't so impressive and her subject so imperative, it would be easy to leave her in peace with her Pulitzer. But the American theatre needs her sensibility right now." - The Los Angeles Times

"We understand these two characters because, at Majok's urging, we've taken their timbres into our minds and put them in their rightful places: the unique person over and above the faceless crowd; the immediate and the real always more salient than a generalizing idea." - The New Yorker

Sanctuary City cast members include 2022 American Conservatory Theater MFA graduate Hernán Angulo, María Victoria Martínez (James and the Giant Peach),and Oakland raised Kim Fischer.

The creative team includes David Reynoso (scenic and costume design), Cha See (lighting design), Fan Zhang (sound design), and Cara Hinh (associate director).

Sanctuary City begins previews on Friday, July 8 and runs through Sunday, August 14. Tickets can be purchased at berkeleyrep.org or by phone 510 647-2949. Press night will be on Wednesday, July 13.

Sanctuary City is presented in association with Arena Stage.

Martyna Majok

Martyna Majok (playwright) was born in Bytom, Poland and raised in Jersey and Chicago. She was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play, Cost of Living. Other plays include Sanctuary City, Queens, and Ironbound, which have been produced across American and international stages. Awards include the Academy of Arts and Letters' Benjamin Hadley Danks Award for Exceptional Playwriting; the Hull-Warriner Award; the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding New Play; the Greenfield Prize, as the first female recipient in drama; the Champions of Change Award from the NYC Mayor's Office; the Francesca Primus Prize; two Jane Chambers Playwriting Awards; the Lanford Wilson Prize; the Lilly Award's Stacey Mindich Prize; Helen Merrill Emerging Playwright Award; Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding Original New Play from the Helen Hayes Awards; Jean Kennedy Smith Playwriting Award; ANPF Women's Invitational Prize; David Calicchio Prize; Global Age Project Prize; NYTW 2050 Fellowship; NNPN Smith Prize for Political Playwriting; and Merage Foundation Fellowship for The American Dream. Martyna studied at Yale School of Drama, Juilliard, University of Chicago, and Jersey public schools. She was a 2012-2013 NNPN playwright-in-residence, the 2015-2016 PoNY Fellow at the Lark Play Development Center, and a 2018-2019 Hodder Fellow at Princeton University. Martyna is currently writing a musical adaptation of The Great Gatsby, with music by Florence Welch and Thomas Bartlett, and developing TV and film for HBO, Plan B, and Pastel. (she/her)

David Mendizábal

David Mendizábal (director) is a NYC-based director, designer, one of the producing artistic leaders of the Obie Award-winning The Movement Theatre Company, and associate artistic director of The Sol Project. Select directing credits include Notes on Killing Seven Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Board Members (Soho Rep/Sol Project, director and costume designer), This Bitter Earth (TheatreWorks Hartford), Don't Eat the Mangos (Magic Theatre/Sundance), On The Grounds of Belonging (Long Wharf), the bandaged place (NYSAF), Then They Forgot About the Rest (INTAR), And She Would Stand Like This (with choreographer Kia LaBeija), and Look Upon Our Lowliness (The Movement), and Tell Hector I Miss Him (Atlantic). David is a 2021 Princess Grace Award Honoraria Recipient in Theater. They were part of the inaugural Soho Rep Project Number One Residency, where they created and directed the short film, eat me! Alumnus of Ars Nova Vision Residency and Maker's Lab, Drama League Directors Project, Labyrinth Intensive Ensemble, artEquity, NALAC, and Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab. David was a participant in the TCG Leadership U: One-on-One program, where they were the artistic associate at Atlantic Theater Company. BFA from NYU/Tisch @ Playwrights Horizons Theatre School. IG: @its_daveed davidmendizabal.com (they/he)

Hernán Angulo

Hernán Angulo (B) is thrilled to be making his Berkeley Rep debut! His most recent credits include Alexander in The Pliant Girls (American Conservatory Theater), Posthumous in Cymbeline (American Conservatory Theater's Out Loud Series), and Raul in In Love and Warcraft (Americans Conservatory Theater and Perseverance Theatre). Hernán has a BA in Theater and Performance Studies from UC Berkeley and he is a recent grad from American Conservatory Theater's MFA program. he/him/él @hernanc.a hernanangulo.com

Kim Fischer

Kim Fischer (Henry) is an actor from Oakland, California based in Brooklyn, NY. Berkeley Rep debut! NY theatre: Make Believe (Second Stage, dir. Michael Greif), Then She Fell (Third Rail Projects), and Fuerza Bruta (Daryl Roth Theatre). Regional theatre: Frankenstein (Dallas Theater Center), Chill (Merrimack Rep), Macbeth (Denver Center), How We Got On (Cleveland Playhouse). TV: WeCrashed (Apple), The Good Fight (Paramount), Mrs. Fletcher (HBO), Jessica Jones (Netflix), The Get Down (Netflix), Royal Pains (USA). Film includes Misprint, The Club, and I Can I Will I Did. He is an alumnus of The Actors Theatre of Louisville Acting Apprentice program and the ABC Diversity Showcase. BFA: NYU @mrkimfischer (he/him)

María Victoria Martínez

María Victoria Martínez (G) is an actor, theatremaker, and audiobook narrator based in San Juan, Puerto Rico and New York City. Her work includes Middletown (American Repertory Theater), James and the Giant Peach (American Repertory Theater), Christmas at the Ivanov's (Moscow Art Theatre, Russia), After Burn (FRINGE Festival), In the Time of the Butterflies (Spanish Repertory Theater/Repertorio Español), and Agua, Vida y Tierra (What Will The Neighbors Say?). Her film credits include the TV romcom Harmony in Paradise, and the indie film Here Comes the Blackout, alongside Alice Kremelberg. María loves wearing many hats in the theatre and has also worked as assistant director in the SoHo Rep's production Notes on Killing Seven Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Board Members. She obtained her BA at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras campus, and her master's degree from the American Repertory Theater Institute for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard University, where she spent a semester training at the Moscow Art Theatre in Russia. Born and raised in Santurce, Puerto Rico, María infuses her work with her love and passion for the Island. (She/her/ella)

For the 2021/22 season, Berkeley Rep recognizes the generous support of BART and Peet's Coffee, Berkeley Rep's official season sponsors. Residence Inn by Marriot is the official In-kind season sponsor. Berkeley Rep is also delighted to recognize the support at the season sponsor level of Stephen and Susan Chamberlin, Bruce Golden and Michelle Mercer, Frances Hellman and Warren Breslau, Wayne Jordan and Quinn Delaney, Gisele and Kenneth F. Miller, and The Strauch Kulhanjian Family.

ABOUT BERKELEY REP

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 six Tony Awards, seven Obie Awards, nine Drama Desk Awards, one Grammy Award, one Pulitzer Prize, and many other honors. Berkeley Rep received the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre in 1997. To formalize, enhance, and expand the processes by which Berkeley Rep makes theatre, The Ground Floor: Berkeley Rep's Center for the Creation and Development of New Work was launched in 2012. The Berkeley Rep 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. Learn more at berkeleyrep.org

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