BERKELEY, CALIF.: Aurora Theatre Company has announced its lineup for the 2016–17 season, the theatre’s 25th.
“With the 25th season, Aurora Theatre Company is telling the story of Barbara Oliver’s little theater at the Berkeley City Club and how it has grown and evolved into the mature institution it is today,” artistic director Tom Ross said in a statement. “Way back then, we all thought our humble beginnings at the Berkeley City Club were a risky experiment. Starting a professional Actors’ Equity company in a room that sat only 67 seemed like a financial disaster waiting to happen, but here we are today, spotlighting the talents of local artists and celebrating 25 years of intimate, quality theater.”
The season will open with Dear Master (Sept. 2–Oct. 2) written by Dorothy Bryant and directed by Joy Carlin. The play was one of the first productions at the theatre. It was originally produced in 1991 and documents an exchange of letters between 19th century French novelists George Sand and Gustave Flaubert.
Next, L. Peter Callender will direct Safe House (Nov. 4–Dec. 4) by Keith Josef Adkins. The play is set in northern Kentucky in 1843 and chronicles a free family of color just two decades before the start of the Civil War.
After will be Tom Stoppard’s The Real Thing (Jan. 27–Feb 26, 2017), about a playwright succumbs to the emotions he forces his characters to feel. Timothy Near will direct.
Leni, by Sarah Greenman (March 10–April 23 2017) will be directed by Jon Tracy. It is a biographical play that depicts the life of Leni Riefenstahl, a film director whose most famous work, Triumph of the Will and Olympia, are now recognized to be Nazi propaganda.
Tom Ross will direct the U.S. premiere of Temple (April 14–May 14, 2017) by Steve Waters. Temple chronicles the action taken against Occupy London protestors outside St Paul’s Cathedral in October 2011.
Abi Morgan’s Splendour will close out the season (June 23–July 23, 2017). Directed by Barbara Damashek, the play follows what happens to a Western photojournalist as she waits for the return of a dictator along with his wife, her best friend, and an interpreter.
Aurora Theatre Company produces new and contemporary work. It serves audience members from the East Bay area, San Francisco, and the Greater Bay area.
