The Unexpected Man Extends! The Unexpected Man, a play by Yasmina Reza in the Christopher Hampton translation, directed by Stephen Drewes, has been extended through August 15.
Starring Ken Ruta and Abigail Van Alyn, August 1st - 15th (on an a-typical schedule). At the EXIT Theatre, 156 Eddy Street near Mason, in San Francisco
From the author of Art and the recent Tony-award winning God of Carnage, now playing on Broadway. Yasmina Reza, French playwright, novelist and screenwriter, began her career as an actress, appearing in new plays as well as works by Moliere and Marivaux. In 1995 her play Art premiered in Paris to become a world-wide sensation, performed in 30 languages. The playwright's current Broadway hit, God of Carnage, has received numerous awards and multiple Tony nominations, including best play. The British première of The Unexpected Man was on April 8, 1998 performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company with Eileen Atkins and Michael Gambon. It enjoyed successful productions in England, Germany and New York.
Don't miss two of San Francisco's most distinguished veteran actors on the same stage together for the first time.
A Frankfurt-bound train, a man and a woman, strangers linked by a relationship only one of them knows. Delectable irony ensues. Their interior monologues, delivered to the audience, reveal contrasts in comedic obsession; she, urgent, focused entirely on the famous author; he, laconic, worried about his digestion and his daughter's loathsome fiancé. The play is an oddly compelling study of the relationship between writers and their readers, between a man and a woman, and between (almost) strangers on a train.
Starting Saturday, August 1st, Show times Saturday and Sunday at 2 pm, Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 8 pm. The final show will be Saturday, August 15th at 2pm
Tickets are $20 to $30. Call 1-800-838-3006 or go to https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/69110. Advance purchase highly recommended.
Reza's The Unexpected Man is the company's second production this season. Drewes and Murphy, both native San Franciscans, met as teacher and student in 1993, when Murphy enrolled in one of Drewes' acting classes. Drewes launched his career at Berkeley Rep in 1970, and went on to a 35-year career as a professor of theatre arts, actor, and stage director. Murphy has also acted at Berkeley Rep (more than 30 years later) and on other local stages. This production of The Unexpected Man is supported by a generous grant from The Columbia Foundation.
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