ShareThe Master Builder BIOGRAPHIES
Henrik Ibsen (Playwright) (1828–1906) was an extremely influential Norwegian playwright who was largely responsible for the rise of the modern realistic drama (dubbed “the father of modern drama”).
Ibsen largely founded the modern stage by introducing a critical eye and free inquiry into the conditions of life and issues of morality. Victorian-era plays were expected to be moral dramas with noble protagonists pitted against darker forces. Every drama was expected to result in a morally appropriate conclusion, meaning that goodness was to bring happiness, and immorality only pain. Ibsen challenged this notion and the beliefs of his times and shattered the illusions of his audiences.
His first attempt at playwriting came in 1850 with the ill-received The Burial Mound. Although he did not write again for several years, he was resolved to become a playwright and took a job at the Norwegian Theatre, where he was involved in writing, directing and producing over 145 plays. He didn’t publish any plays of his own during this time, but the experience proved invaluable.
Disenchanted with Victorian Norway, Ibsen exiled himself to Italy (and later Germany), where he began to write the plays that would make his name: Brand earned him some renown in 1865, but it was Peer Gynt in 1867 that pushed him over the top. Now that he had a certain degree of notoriety, his confidence grew and he began to introduce more and more of his own beliefs and judgments into the drama, calling his new form of theatre a “drama of ideas.”
Thus began his personal Golden Age of writing, during which he penned A Doll’s House (1879), Ghosts (1881), An Enemy of the People (1882), The Wild Duck (1884) and Hedda Gabler (1890), his most-performed play. These plays tend to be more political or social in nature, and fairly realistic in style.
When Ibsen returned to Norway in 1891 (when he wrote The Master Builder), his style changed to a more symbolic, expressionistic sensibility that he developed further in Little Eyolf, John Gabriel Borkman and When We Dead Awaken, his last play.
Ibsen passed away after a series of strokes in Kristiania in 1906 at the age of 78.
Paul Walsh (Translator) Before moving to western Massachusetts last fall to teach dramaturgy and dramatic literature at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Walsh had served for nine years as dramaturg and director of humanities at San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theater. At ACT he worked as production dramaturg on dozens of shows including his translation of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, directed by Carey Perloff in 2004 and starring René Augesen. His translation of Ibsen’s Peer Gynt was produced in 2002 by ACT’s third-year MFA students at Zeum. Walsh’s translation of Strindberg’s Creditors was commissioned by New York’s Classic Stage Company in 1992 and produced later that year at ACT. Other translations have also been produced at theatres from Louisville to Toronto, and from Winnipeg to Bangor, Maine. Walsh received his Ph.D. from the Graduate Centre for the Study of Drama at the University of Toronto.
the cast
Zehra Berkman (Kaja Fosli) was last seen with the Shotgun Players as Lisa in the production of Caryl Churchill’s Owners. Other theatre credits include San Francisco Playhouse, ACT, Marin Theatre Company, and CenterREP. Favorite roles include Mary Lou in Visions of Kerouac, Molly in Smell of the Kill. In Ann Arbor, Michigan for the Performance Network: Mary in Why We Have A Body, Anna in Baltimore Waltz, and May in Fool for Love. She starred in the feature film One Half Gone.
James Carpenter* (Halvard Solness) Mr. Carpenter last appeared for Aurora Theatre in Harold Pinter’s The Homecoming. His Bay Area credits include San Jose Repertory Theatre, TheatreWorks, Marin Theatre Company, Shakespeare Santa Cruz and Thick Description/Campo Santo. James has performed at Berkeley Repertory Theatre in over 30 productions, his most recent being The People’s Temple. Mr. Carpenter is an Associate Artist with the California Shakespeare Theater, recently appearing as Ralph Nickleby in Nicholas Nickleby. Out of town credits include work at the Old Globe Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, The Intiman, Arizona Theatre Company, Dallas Theatre Center, and the Huntington. Television: Nash Bridges; Film: The Rainmaker, Metro. Independents: Singing, The Sunflower Boy.
Anne Darragh* (Aline Solness) is thrilled to be making her Aurora debut. Recent performances include Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at ACT, and Charlie Cox Runs with Scissors at Marin Theatre Company. She has performed in numerous world premieres including The Sex Habits of American Women and Ted Kaczynski Killed People With Bombs (Magic Theatre); Angels in America (Eureka Theatre), Hellhound on My Trail (Campo Santo); Okra (Brava) and Political Life (SF and New Hampshire). Locally she has also performed with Berkeley Rep, Encore Theatre, Theatre Rhinoceros, and San Jose Rep. She is a native of Oakland and graduated from Bishop O’Dowd High School. Thanks to David, Elise and Matty.
Lauren Grace* (Hilda Wangel) is delighted to be returning to the Aurora after appearing in Emma in 2004. Her most recent credits include Holes at the Orpheum Theatre, David Mamet’s adaptation of The Voysey Inheritance with ACT and Kansas City Repertory Theatre. She also appeared in Hilda, A Mother, and Les Liaisons Dangereuses with ACT. Other Bay Area credits include The Inkwell Communiques and The Lysistrata Project with Upon These Boards, The Colour of Justice and The Great Celestial Cow with Theatre First; The Incorruptible with San Jose Stage Company; Cooking with Elvis, Unhampered by Sanity, Othello and A Tale of a Handkerchief with The Phoenix Theatre.
Brian Herndon* (Ragnar Brovik) proudly makes his Aurora debut with The Master Builder. Favorite roles include Richard II, Manus in Translations, and Charlie in The Foreigner. He is the recipient of two Dean Goodman Choice awards, for She Loves Me and 1776, both with Napa Valley Repertory Theatre. He teaches stage combat and theatre at Solano College in Fairfield and Odyssey Middle School in San Mateo, and holds an MFA from the Alabama Shakespeare Festival.
Julian López-Morillas* (Knut Brovik) has previously appeared at the Aurora in The Aspern Papers, Nora, The Dance of Death, The Homecoming, The Weir, Hedda Gabler, Partition and Marius. He has been acting and directing in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1973. He has acted at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre in productions including Fräulein Else, Homebody/Kabul, Pentecost and Volpone. His other acting and directing work includes productions at the Berkeley/California Shakespeare Festival, Berkeley Jewish Theatre, ACT, San Jose Repertory Theatre, the Eureka and Magic Theatres of San Francisco, Denver Center Theatre Company, La Jolla Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, McCarter Theatre and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
Richard Rossi* (Doctor Herdal) joined Berkeley Repertory Theatre in 1980 to appear with the Mark Taper Mainstage inaugural production of Galileo. In the following decade with BRT, he appeared in twenty-three plays and directed four school tour productions. He has acted and/or directed for Marin Theatre Company, Aurora Theatre Company, CenterREP, the Old Globe (San Diego), the Oregon, Utah, San Francisco, Stinson Beach and Grove Shakespeare festivals, the Carmel Bach Festival, Eureka Theatre, and the Empty Space and Skid Row Theatres in Seattle.
the artistic team and the crew
Rebecca Helgeson (Properties) Rebecca Helgeson is pleased to return to the Aurora with The Master Builder. Recent credits include The Price, Marius, and Blue/Orange also with the Aurora; The Hopper Collection, A Reckoning, and HotHouse ‘05 with the Magic Theatre; and Once in a Lifetime with the ACT Conservatory. Rebecca has also spent the last two summers as the Properties Artisan for the California Shakespeare Theater, working on such productions as The Tempest and Nicholas Nickelby, parts I and II.
Chris Houston (Sound Designer) is a pianist and composer. He writes and designs for film, video, theatre, and dance. A regular collaborator at Aurora Theatre, his score for last season’s The Persians was nominated for a Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award.
John Iacovelli (Set Designer) won the EMMY award for his Production Design of the A&E presentation the TONY nominated Broadway production of Peter Pan starring Cathy Rigby. He also designed The Twilight of The Golds on Broadway and Oedipus in Colonus directed by Wole Solyenki for the Cultural Olympiad in Delphi, Greece. Currently he is designing Warner Theatricals’ Casablanca, a ballet based on the classic film. He has designed over 200 productions at the top regional theatres in the US and received the LA Drama Critics Circle for Lifetime Achievement in Scenic Design. He was the Art Director on Honey, I Shrunk the Kids! He was the Production Designer on Ruby in Paradise starring Ashley Judd and for television he designed The Old Settler starring Phylicia Rashad & Debbie Allen, The Gin Game staring Mary Tyler Moore & Dick Van Dyke, Ed on NBC, Babylon 5, Resurrection Blvd. and the new series The Book of Daniel. www.iacovelli.com.
Kevin Johnson (Stage Manager) returns for his eighth production at the Aurora, having stage-managed Hedda Gabler, The Play of Daniel (original and revival productions), Partition, The Persians, Saint Joan, and Split in previous seasons.Elsewhere in the Bay Area he has stage-managed for Berkeley Repertory Theatre, California Shakespeare Theater, Eureka Theatre, Willows Theatre, Word for Word Performing Arts Company, and Z Space Studio.
York Kennedy (Light Designer) Mr. Kennedy’s designs have been seen in theatres across America and Europe. His awards for theatrical lighting design include the Dramalogue, San Diego Drama Critics Circle, Back Stage West Garland, Arizoni Theatre Award and the Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award. In the dance world he has designed and toured throughout Eastern Europe and the United States. A graduate of the California Institute for the Arts and the Yale School of Drama, Mr. Kennedy lives in Berkeley, CA.
Jocelyn Leiser (Costume Designer) has designed for Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Encore Theatre, Campo Santo, The Joe Goode Dance Group, Shotgun Players, Napa Valley Repertory Theatre, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Shakespeare at Stinson, Word For Word, and Crowded Fire Theater. Previous shows with Aurora include Transcendental Wild Oats, Tough!, The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek, and last season’s Blue/Orange. She is currently an instructor at the Art Institute of California—San Francisco. Unlike Kaja, Jocelyn looks forward to marrying Ragnar (Brian Herndon) at the close of this show.
Barbara Oliver (Director) has been working in Bay Area theatres since 1967. She created the role of George Sand in Dear Master in 1991. For Aurora Theatre Company she has acted in The Chairs, The Gin Game, Holiday Memories, Bailegangaire, La Castrata, The Aspern Papers and Dear Master. Her Aurora directing credits include The Persians, Partition, Transcendental Wild Oats, Shaw’s The Man of Destiny, Saint Joan, The Philanderer, Candida, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, and Widowers’ Houses, as well as Ibsen’s Ghosts, Dorothy Bryant’s The Panel, Ayckbourn’s Intimate Exchanges, Albee’s Seascape and Luce’s The Belle of Amherst. She is the recipient of several Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Awards, including the first Barbara Bladen Porter Award. She is the Founding Artistic Director of Aurora.
Joanna Perry-Folino (Dramaturg) is a playwright, dramaturg and producer. She was the dramaturg for Aurora’s production of Partition and The Man of Destiny, both directed by Barbara Oliver. She is currently the producer for the one-man show, Tesla, which will begin its world tour in four major cities in Australia in July 2006 to commemorate the 150th Anniversary of Nikola Tesla’s birth. She is, as always, thrilled and privileged to be a part of Aurora’s presentation of this great play.
Jamie Riley (Production Assistant) is delighted to be returning to the Aurora after a two-season educational hiatus at Bard College. Her past Aurora credits include Production Assistant on Partition and The Shape of Things, Production Intern on The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek, and assistant to the master electrician during the 2002-03 season. Other Bay Area credits include seven years backstage at the California Revels, as well as various other assistant stage management, electrics and carpentry work. Jamie feels very fortunate for this opportunity to work with great minds, old friends, and the loving Steve.
Monica Stufft (Assistant Director) , a Performance Studies Ph.D. candidate at Berkeley, is delighted to be working at Aurora again this year after working as AD for Man of Destiny, The Persians, and Emma. Her Berkeley directing credits include Inheritors, co-direction of Lab Run’s Clytaemnestra’s Dream, and AD for Barbara’s production of George Bernard Shaw’s Getting Married.
Kimberly Mark Webb (Stage Manager) is pleased to return to the Aurora, where he last worked with Barbara Oliver on Shaw’s The Philanderer. Other projects include extensive work at Berkeley Repertory Theatre and American Conservatory Theater, as well as productions for Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles, Boston’s Huntington Theatre Company, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, and Theatre Three in Dallas.
*Member, Actors' Equity Association
