Theatre Lunatico Presents MELANCHOLY PLAY

Artistic Director Tina Taylor and the Theatre Lunatico ensemble present Melancholy Play by Sarah Ruhl: a contemporary farce that takes on new meaning in a post-pandemic world. Melancholy Play opens on Friday, May 27 (press opening Saturday, May 28), and runs through Sunday, June 19 at La Val's Subterranean Theater in Berkeley. Advance tickets (Pay What You Will) are available at https://bpt.me/5419048 or can be purchased at the door subject to availability.

Rather than viewing "melancholy" as sad or subdued, Melancholy Play embraces a vibrant, sexy, and exuberant view of melancholy: emotions are full and fully felt, without being throttled or repressed. The protagonist, Tilly, engages in one love affair after another with characters who fall helplessly in love with her melancholic yearning, which she herself relishes. A swift pace and live music by cellist Ben Davis help immerse the audience in a world of quirky and delightful magical realism created by the ensemble cast. Theatre Lunatico was originally slated to perform Melancholy Play in the spring of 2020, and like many theaters had to postpone the opening (more than once).

"Post-pandemic, pieces of the script now take on a whole new meaning," notes director Tina Taylor. "When Frances loses her sense of smell, something that felt comically absurd in 2019 now becomes something ominous. When she then disappears (and turns into an almond), the entire subplot becomes a metaphor for the enormous sense of loss that we have all grappled with in one form or another over the past two years. So the play becomes both an antidote through its joy, and a catharsis through its sorrow."

While melancholy is often equated with depression in America, and viewed as undesirable, something to be alleviated as quickly as possible; other cultures' view of melancholy is more forgiving, suggesting that this sense of sadness with a touch of lightness is not only an acceptable part of life, but in fact something to be savored. Characters in Melancholy Play weep over the beauty and impermanence of flowers; a humorous reaction and yet true in its recognition of how the world actually works.

In Europe in the 1600s, melancholy was fairly fashionable. Suggested causes of the condition included "social change, political uncertainty, challenges to religious and intellectual certainties, frustrated ambition, or just fin-de-siécle malaise" (Dowland: Lachramae) - which makes melancholy a reasonable response to the modern era. The contagious nature of melancholy within the play suggests a highly communicable disease - in fact, in one scene, authorities warn of a general epidemic of melancholy and advise anyone experiencing it to quarantine in their home. Ultimately, the play suggests that sadness may isolate us from the world, and happiness may ignore the realities of the world; but melancholy opens us to the world, the complex people and the fleeting beauty within it.

The ensemble for Melancholy Play includes Jason Berner, Ben Davis, Eileen Fisher, Sakura Nakahara, Shawn Oda, and Omar Osario. Design and production team includes Malcolm Rodgers (scenic design), Eugene DeChristopher (set construction), Rob Bradshaw (lighting), Laura Alderdice (vocal compositions), Kristin Matia (fight choreography), Michelle Zhao (stage manager), and Tina Taylor (director).

Theatre Lunatico is a fully vaccinated and boosted company. All audience members are required to show proof of COVID vaccination and must remain masked while inside the theater. Performers will be unmasked during the performance.

Theatre Lunatico is a Berkeley-based, ensemble physical theatre company devoted to narratives that place women center stage through the unique interpretive lens of our storytelling and commitment to gender parity casting. More information is available at www.TheatreLunatico.org. Following Melancholy Play, the company plans to produce the contemporary, post-modern play Attempts on Her Life by Martin Crimp in October, 2022.

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