BERKELEY, CALIF: It looks like the Hypocrites will have a busy next season. After the announcement earlier today of their H.M.S. Pinafore coming to Actor’s Theatre of Louisville in late 2015, Berkeley Repertory Theatre has announced that for its 2015–16 season, it will host the Chicago-based company’s version of Pirates of Penzance. Also on tap for next season at Berkeley Rep is the world-premiere musical Amélie musical by Craig Lucas, and new works from Mary Zimmerman and Julia Cho.
Said artistic director Tony Taccone in a statement: “For the 2015–16 season we’ve assembled a collection of captivating plays that range from classic stories being inventively and fantastically retold to new works by some of the most prolific and exciting artists working in American theatre today.”
The season begins in August 2015 with Amélie, a new musical adaptation of the Jean-Pierre Jeunet film, about a French girl determined to do good deeds for her fellow Parisians. Tony-winning director Pam MacKinnon will direct. Craig Lucas wrote the book, Daniel Messé of indie folk band Hem wrote the music, and both Messé and Nathan Tysen wrote the lyrics.
The Hypocrites will travel to Berkeley in October 2015 to stage their version of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance set at a pool party. Hypocrites artistic director Sean Graney will direct.
Berkeley Rep will next present Ayad Akhtar’s Pulitzer-winning Disgraced, about a Pakistani-American lawyer, his Caucasian wife and the two friends they have over for a dinner party that turns volatile. Kimberly Senior, who helmed Disgraced on Broadway and in its run at Lincoln Center, will direct the Berkeley production.
February 2016 will see a world premiere from playwright Julia Cho. Aubergine, which was commissioned by Berkeley Rep and developed at the Rep’s Ground Floor program, is as a meditation on family and forgiveness featuring a colorful cast of characters. Obie-winning director Liesl Tommy will direct; Tommy previously directed Party People at the theatre last year. Also in February, Tony-winning director Daniel Sullivan will helm a new version of Macbeth.
Finally in April, Berkeley Rep will feature Tony winner Mary Zimmerman’s adaption of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. The production will first appear at Lookingglass Theatre Company (Oct. 10, 2015–Jan. 17, 2016) in Chicago before heading to Berkeley.
The 2015–16 season will include one more production, to be announced at a later date.
