Sarah Ruhl Returns To Berkeley Rep For The Sixth Time With World Premiere BECKY NURSE OF SALEM

Berkeley Repertory Theatre today announced final casting for the world premiere of Becky Nurse of Salem. The play, written by Tony-nominated playwright Sarah Ruhl and directed by Anne Kauffman, marks Sarah's sixth production at Berkeley Rep. Previews begin on Thursday, December 12, 2019 and the show runs through Sunday, January 26, 2020. Individual tickets begin at $30 ($15 if you're under 35) and can be purchased online at berkeleyrep.org or by phone at 510 647-2949. Press night for this production will be on Thursday, December 19, 2019.

A dark comedy about the legacy of the Salem witch trials

A world premiere by MacArthur "Genius" Grant winner Sarah Ruhl (In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play); Eurydice), Becky Nurse of Salem is an offbeat dark comedy that follows a woman coming to terms with her family's legacy and finding her voice in our "lock her up" era.

Becky Nurse is an outspoken, sharp-witted tour guide at the Salem Museum of Witchcraft who's just trying to get by in post-Obama America. She's also the descendant of Rebecca Nurse, who was infamously executed for witchcraft in 1692 - but things have changed for women since then...haven't they? After losing her job for calling out The Crucible in front of schoolkids, Becky visits a local witch for help. One spell leads to another, and then everything really goes off the rails.

"I have known Sarah for many years and I am constantly thrilled by the sheer scale of her theatrical imagination," says Artistic Director Johanna Pfaelzer. "She has the ability to radically shift our relationship to a story we think we know and turn it upside down. I'm so proud that her newest play, Becky Nurse of Salem, full of lust and witches and her signature heartbreaking humor, will have its world premiere at Berkeley Rep."

Becky Nurse of Salem was commissioned by Berkeley Rep and developed in The Ground Floor: Berkeley Rep's Center for the Creation and Development of New Work.

Developed with the support of New York Stage and Film & Vassar's Powerhouse Season, Summer 2019.

Cast members include Owen Campbell (Stan),Rod Gnapp (Shapeshifter), Naian González Norvind (Gail), Ruibo Qian (Witch), Pamela Reed (Becky Nurse), Adrian Roberts (Bob), and Elissa Beth Stebbins (Shelby).

Creative team includes Louisa Thompson (Scenic Designer), Meg Neville (Costume Designer), Russell H. Champa (Lighting Designer), and Mikaal Sulaiman (Sound Designer).

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