Sharepresenting our 2004|2005 Season!
Aeschylus' THE PERSIANS
West Coast Premiere
in a new version by Ellen McLaughlin
directed by Barbara Oliver
Sept. 3 - Oct. 10, 2004
Aurora is proud to begin its 13th season with an adaptation of the earliest surviving play in Western literature. Written almost 2500 years ago, The Persians is Aeschylus’ firsthand account of the heroism and tragedy of the Persian Wars. It is the story of King Xerxes, who commands his mighty Persian armies into a war that defeated his father a decade before. But this time, his eager advisors insist, will be different.
American playwright and actress Ellen McLaughlin’s new version both “serves and uses The Persians with true power and grace,” states the New York Times . “It is more than relevant or timely. It is heart-wrenching and terrifying. We see the present and future right there, inside the past.”
EMMA
West Coast Premiere
by Michael Fry
based on the novel by Jane Austen
directed by Jeffrey Bihr
Nov. 12 - Dec. 19, 2004
Of all Jane Austen’s fictional heroines, Emma Woodhouse is the most infuriating, the most flawed, and all the while the most endearing. Fancying herself a young matchmaker, Emma comically meddles in the lives of her friends and neighbors, generally botching their chances at romance rather than improving them. But love does find a way, and this clever play is an absolute delight.
In this fresh, sparkling theatrical adaptation, the classic novel’s web of characters is ingeniously spun by a cast of five. Though Austen herself described Emma as “a heroine whom no one but myself will much like,” the world and time have proven her wrong. Of this adaptation, Time Out wrote, “Jane Austen herself would surely applaud.”
DUBLIN CAROL
West Coast Premiere
by Conor McPherson
directed by Joy Carlin
Jan. 28 - March 6, 2005
Dublin Carol is a beautifully written and haunting follow-up to the awarding-winning drama The Weir, which was a big hit here at Aurora a few years ago. Set in the office of Irish undertaker John Plunkett on Christmas Eve, the play is sincere and sad, and yet also charming and funny. Through three memorable encounters, Plunkett is forced to face up to his disastrous past in order to move on in the present.
Playwright Conor McPherson is “…a theatrical spellbinder with a natural gift for storytelling,” lauded London’s Daily Telegraph, and this play is a true testament of that talent. Don’t miss Dublin Carol, the show the London Times proclaimed “a riveting new play.”
BLUE/ORANGE
by Joe Penhall
directed by Tom Ross
April 8 - May 15, 2005
Recent winner of England’s coveted Olivier, Critics’ Circle, and Evening Standard Awards for Best Play, this incendiary tale is a personal and ideological struggle about race, class, mental illness, and human isolation. This exhilarating comic drama is set in a London psychiatric hospital, where a young man brazenly claims to be the son of exiled African dictator Idi Amin.
Over the course of 24 hours, his two rival psychiatrists fight over his diagnosis and treatment in what the New York Times calls a “ferocious comedy, with dialogue fueled by testosterone and paced like a volley of bullets.” This hot property from London is a must- see.
THE THOUSANDTH NIGHT
by Carol Wolf
directed by Jessica Kubzansky
June 17 - July 24, 2005
1943. A train station between Paris and the German border. French entertainer Guy de Bonheur has one chance at freedom before his derailed train to a concentration camp gets moving again. Like Scheherazade before him, this storyteller spins the tales of 1001 Arabian Nights as though his life depends on it—and it does.
Solo performer virtuoso Ron Campbell (known for his R. Buckminster Fuller: The History (and Mystery) of the Universe) plays 38 roles in this remarkable play written especially for him. We’re thrilled to announce the Bay Area premiere of this newly-designed production of the piece the New York Times, London Times, and LA Times all hailed as “A tour de force!”
THE PLAY OF DANIEL
Back in Berkeley by Popular Demand!
December 6 - 11, 2004
Last season, The Play of Daniel played to sold-out crowds. Whether you couldn’t get a ticket or can’t wait to see it again, now is your chance. In collaboration with Pacific Mozart Ensemble, Aurora will remount this musical masterpiece for 6 nights only this holiday season. A story about hope in turbulent times, this 12th century music-drama, sung in the original Latin with supertitles, stages the biblical story of Daniel and the Lions’ Den.
Of last year’s production, the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, “Daniel is a welcome addition to the annual onslaught of holiday shows. The voices are ravishing… Daniel offers sweet solace on a dark December evening.” The production will be staged at St. Mark’s Church in Berkeley, will feature a cast of 50, and will be directed by renowned medieval theatre scholar Dunbar Ogden and PME Director Richard Grant. To guarantee your tickets, pre-order when you renew today!
