Nilaja Sun Returns to Berkeley Rep With PIKE ST.

Berkeley Rep announced today that Obie Award-winning performer Nilaja Sun (No Child...) will return with her tour-de-force solo show Pike St., directed by Ron Russell. Hailed as "Full of vivid life" by the New York Times, this limited engagement will run Saturday, November 17, 2018 through Sunday, December 16, 2018. Press night will be on Monday, November 19. Tickets start at $30 and go on sale to the general public on Thursday, September 27 online at berkeleyrep.org or by phone at 510 647-2949, Tues-Sun, noon-7pm.

Virtuoso performer Nilaja Sun's award-winning hit No Child... captivated Berkeley Rep audiences in 2008. Now she brings us a new critically acclaimed solo show about Evelyn, a single mother who fights for the survival of her family in the face of a threatening hurricane. In an astonishing 90 minutes, Sun portrays three generations of a Puerto Rican family and the vibrant characters of New York's Lower East Side in a story of tribulation, perseverance, and redemption that also "glows with humor" (New York Times). Don't miss this incredible, transformative trip to Pike St.

Nilaja Sun (Writer/Performer) Nilaja Sun lovingly returns to Berkeley Rep after she performed No Child... in 2008 to sold-out audiences. Pike St. was originally commissioned and produced by Epic Theatre Ensemble and had its world premiere at the Abrons Arts Center in the Lower East Side, which was followed by an international tour of the show at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Pillsbury House, Detroit Public Theatre, as well as Edinburgh, Scotland and Melbourne, Australia. Nilaja's Obie Award-winning solo piece No Child... was directed by Hal Brooks and was also originally commissioned and produced by Epic. For her creation and performance of No Child... and its subsequent international tour, Nilaja garnered 21 awards, including an Obie Award, a Lucille Lortel Award, two Outer Critics Circle Awards including the John Gassner Playwriting Award for Outstanding New American Play, a Theatre World Award, the Helen Hayes Award, two NAACP Theatre Awards, and the soloNOVA Award for Artist of the Year by terraNOVA Collective. TV and film credits include Madam Secretary, The Good Wife, BrainDead, 30 Rock, Law & Order: SVU, Unforgettable, Louie, The International, Youth in Oregon, and Rubicon. A native of the Lower East Side, she is a Princess Grace Award recipient, and has worked proudly as a teaching artist in New York City for 20 years.

Ron Russell (Director) has co-founded four theatres that still produce today: the nationally acclaimed Summer Theatre Enrichment Project at El Centro in Lorain, OH (1992); Swine Palace Productions in Louisiana, while receiving his MFA-Directing from the RSC's Barry Kyle (1992-1994); UBI Rep Theatre in San Diego (1995); and Epic Theatre Ensemble in 2001. With Epic, where he is executive director, he has directed 16 off-Broadway productions, including world premieres of Kate Fodor's Hannah and Martin and Vern Thiessen's Einstein's Gift, Shakespeare's Macbeth and Richard III: Born with Teeth. In other public performances for Epic, he co-adapted and directed a touring in-school Antigone (Obie Award) and Ibsen's Pillars of Society (International Ibsen Award, 2011), as well as touring productions of Keith Josef Adkins' Sugar and Needles and Dominique Morisseau's Mend. He has also designed sound for award-winning productions of Nilaja Sun's No Child... (Obie Award) and Judith Thompson's Palace of the End. His teaching experience includes over 50 public schools, reaching over 18,000 youth, and his work as an educator in NYC has been recognized by citations from the Municipal Arts Society and Mayors Giuliani and Bloomberg.

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 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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