TheatreFIRST

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Watch the Future Me Trailer

Read our dramaturg’s thoughtful essay about working on Future Me, and how it has affected her

TheatreFIRST’s sell-out run of Future Me must close Sunday, May 4th.

Although most shows have sold out, there are still some tickets remaining for the final weekend of Stephen Brown’s provoking and brilliantly-acted new play. Rob Hurwitt in the SF Chronicle calls it “riveting…an evening of intensely well-realized, gripping performances”.( Click here to read Rob Hurwitt’s full review.) Our audience says it’s the most thought-provoking play they have seen in ages, and they are still talking about it days, even weeks later. As one audience member remarked: “Thank God someone has had the guts to take the lid off this subject. We really need to talk about this”.

Just nine months after it received its highly acclaimed opening at London’s Theatre503, this extraordinary drama of transgression and forgiveness is thrilling and engaging Bay Area audiences. Booking is open now, so click on the link above to make your reservation.

TheatreFIRST is in negotiations for a new, dedicated performance space in the Oakland uptown arts district. We are deeply grateful to our donors for making this possible. We will keep you informed as negotiations progress. Meanwhile, see you at the City Club!

Production details:
Future Me by Stephen Brown
Directed by Dylan Russell
April 3 – May 4
Berkeley City Club
2315 Durant Avenue, Berkeley
Location is wheelchair accessible.

Featuring: Dana Jepsen*, Dana Kelly*, Maggie Mason, Ryan Purcell, Peter Ruocco, Allison Studdiford*
(*Members, Actors’ Equity Association)

Preview: Thursday, April 3
Opening: Friday, April 4
Run: Thursday-Saturday 8pm, Sunday 3pm
Closing: Sunday, May 4

Click on images for larger view.

L-R David Fierro, Rowan Brooks, Noah James Butler, Chris Ayles

L-R Mitchell Field, Lindsey Murray

Emily Jordan

L-R Mitchell Field, Rowan Brooks, Noah James Butler, Garth Petal

In November 2002, the Pulitzer prize-winner Suzan-Lori Parks sat down and committed to writing a play a day for the next 365 days. The world premiere of this play cycle will be performed as a yearlong national festival simultaneously in major cities and communities around the country. From November 13, 2006 to November 12, 2007, over 600 theaters in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Denver, Seattle, San Francisco, Austin, Washington D.C., Chicago, Minneapolis, the Carolinas, Mississippi River towns, and university campuses will create the largest theater collaboration in U.S. History. And TheatreFIRST is proud to be a participant in this extraordinary event.

We are meeting the challenge, as you would expect, in a unique way. Responding to the author’s creativity under a deadline, we have posed a similar challenge to 16 of the Bay Area’s best – not to say most intrepid – actors. With less than 2 hours’ rehearsal, they will create and perform versions of seven short plays – and then the audience will get to contribute to the process of creation.

The seven plays are witty, moving, funny, surreal, intense, and bizarre. And each one of them is a little gem of theatre. Come and see these talented actors, led by Artistic Director Clive Chafer, present these exquisite miniatures – and then we’ll all work together to create new and different versions of the pieces. This will be a unique experience of spontaneous theatrical creation. DON’T MISS IT!

This event is FREE. We will be asking for donations at the end of the evening. Seating is limited. PLEASE LET US KNOW YOU ARE COMING BY CALLING 510 436 5085 TO RESERVE A SEAT.

365 Days/365 Plays by Suzan Lori-Parks
at Temescal Arts – 48th and Telegraph, north Oakland
(next door to Lanesplitter Pizza Pub)
8pm – Friday June 15th
Featuring: Casey Bastiaans, Megan Briggs, Noah Butler*, Lauren Grace*, Tim Hendrixson*, Mary Knoll*, Amy Kossow*, Sylvia Kratins, Adrienne Krug, Austin Ku*, Terry Lamb*, Karen Marek*, Eryka Raines*, Sandra Schlechter, Tom Reilly, Patricia Silver*
Two Staged Readings
As part of our ongoing process of evaluating scripts for possible performance, we will be presenting staged readings of two plays on Sunday June 17th and Monday June 18th at 469 9th Street (just 2 doors down from where we performed this season) on the second floor. Both readings will be followed by an audience discussion. These events are free, donations will be gratefully accepted!

Sunday, June 17th – 7pm
The Women of Lockerbie
by Deborah Brevoort
directed by Marilyn Langbehn

In 1988, when PanAm flight 103 was blown up over Lockerbie, Scotland, the media put the focus on the victims and their families. But what went largely uncovered was the incredible story of the residents of the small town on which the tragedy rained down. This extraordinary play is inspired by real events that followed the disaster. But instead of being a painful trudge through history, this is a brilliant and beautiful work of creativity springing from the events of December 21, 1988. Using the style and structure of Greek drama, Brevoort has found a way to capture the immense emotional dimensions of the story. The result is compelling and cathartic.

This event is FREE. We will be asking for donations at the end of the evening. There will be a brief post-show discussion to evaluate the play for a full production in TheatreFIRST’s next season.

The Women of Lockerbie by Deborah Brevoort
at 469 9th St., in Old Oakland (2 doors down from our old space)
7pm – Sunday, June 17th
Featuring: Brendan Godfrey*, Lauren Grace*, Kelly Ground, Scarlett Hepworth, Lindsey Murray, Lynne Soffer*, Michael Barr*
Monday, June 18th – 7:30pm
The Clearing
by Helen Edmundson
directed by Clive Chafer

“Oliver Cromwell is justly regarded in Ireland as a symbol of historical racial persecution as potent as Adolf Hitler…” This powerful, award-winning drama is a passionate and poetic account of the devastating effects of Cromwell’s Irish policy on one small farming community, bringing its conflicts within touching distance of the present. A terrific tale of love, betrayal, and heroism.

This event is FREE. We will be asking for donations at the end of the evening. There will be a brief post-show discussion to evaluate the play for a full production in TheatreFIRST’s next season.

The Clearing by Helen Edmundson
at 469 9th St., in Old Oakland (2 doors down from our old space)
7:30pm – Monday, June 18th
Featuring: Larkin Boero, Chloë Bronzan, David Collins, Danielle Levin*, John Mercer. Robert Parsons*, Edwin Richards

Come be a part of the excitement. Theatre is alive at TheatreFIRST!
See you there!

(*Members, Actors’ Equity Association)

It’s open, and it’s already making people talk! Audiences love its impassioned playing and deeply provoking subject matter. Tickets are selling fast, so don’t wait till it’s too late to see this extraordinary piece of stimulating and rewarding theatre.

Serjeant Musgrave’s Dance is John Arden’s masterpiece, and possibly the most deeply moral and humane anti-war play ever written.

Regarded as a classic since it was written in 1959, Serjeant Musgrave’s Dance is a striking theatrical response to the dubious morality of a war being fought on a distant land for debatable reasons (sound familiar?). Four soldiers arrive in a mining town in the grip of a strike, and in the dead of winter. Their apparent mission – to recruit more soldiers for an unpopular foreign war – masks their actual intent: to confront its people with the realities of warfare.

The play is witty and impassioned, and written in a kind of rough-hewn poetry that grabs the ear and engages the heart. With a brilliant cast of 13, it’s the kind of epic-but-intimate drama TheatreFIRST excels at.

Don’t miss the regional premiere of this extraordinary play whose topical urgency is truly compelling.

“This is a spell-binding, mind-challenging drama that touches greatness, and what is more, it is written in that wonderful Arden language that seems to be hewn out of granite” Michael Billington – The Guardian

Featuring: Chris Ayles*, Rowan Brooks*, Noah Butler*, Ekow Daniels, Mitchell Field, David Fierro, Norman Hall, Emily Jordan, Larry LePaule, Garth Petal, Tom Reilly, Sue Trigg, Mike Vaughn*
(*Members, Actors’ Equity Association)

Dates and location:
Old Oakland Theatre
481 Ninth Street (at Broadway), downtown Oakland
Preview: Thursday, May 3rd – 8pm
Opening: Friday, May 4th – 8pm
Run: Thursday – Saturday 8pm, Sunday 3pm, through May 27th.

Ticket prices: Thursday, Sunday $21; Friday, Saturday $25; Preview $10
Under 25’s: Always half price.
Seniors, students, TBA members: $3 discount
Pay what you can: Thursday, May 10th.

Box Office and Information: 510 436 5085

February 8 – March 11*, 2007
Nathan the Wise by Gotthold Lessing, translated by Edward Kemp and directed by Søren Oliver
Jerusalem, 1192. An uneasy stalemate exists between the Muslim forces of Saladin and the western Crusaders. Caught in the middle are the Jews. All sides respect Nathan for his wisdom and wealth. But he bears a secret that may be his undoing. Especially when Saladin decides to put him to the test.

“A late-Shakespearean romance kind of plot blends passionate argument, both intellectual and emotional, that what matters is not the label of one’s faith but the quality of one’s humanity… Edward Kemp’s terrific translation balances gravitas with comic deftness” – Financial Times

*March 9-11 at Traveling Jewish Theatre, 470 Florida St., San Francisco

May 3 – May 27, 2007
Serjeant Musgrave’s Dance by John Arden, directed by Clive Chafer
Four deserters bring the body of a dead comrade-in-arms back to his home town, a community in the grip of a paralyzing strike and cut off by snow. Musgrave, their leader, is determined to bring home to the townspeople the realities of warfare – by any means necessary. A vivid, muscular, suspenseful drama blending earthy poetry with raw theatrical power.

“Spell-binding, mind-challenging drama that touches greatness; and what is more, it is written in that wonderful Arden language that seems to be hewn out of granite.” – Guardian

To subscribe, just give us a call at 510 436 5085. You can do it over the phone in just a couple of minutes. Or we can send you the form and you can take your time. Either way, don’t miss out on the Bay Area’s most inspiring and thought-provoking season!

Shows run Thursday-Saturday at 8pm, Sundays at 3pm.

See you at the theatre!

Click here to subscribe now!

Great Plays! Lots of great actors!

All for (almost) free!

Come and join us for TheatreFIRST’s second annual TheatreFEST.

Free staged readings of plays under consideration for next season.

Come help us choose the best!

(Each reading will be followed by a brief post-show discussion.)

Plays TBA

June 8, 9, 15 & 16, 2007 at 7.30pm

481 9th Street, Oakland

“Exceptionally well-performed… fresh, intense and strikingly immediate…finely tuned and affecting… the kind of thing Clive Chafer’s company does best.”
- Hurwitt, SF Chronicle

The Arab-Israeli Cookbook is a drama created from the everyday realities of life in Israel and the occupied territories, where nothing is truly “everyday”. The project began when the Caird Company sent writer Robin Soans and two directors to Israel, Gaza and the West Bank in 2003. There they met with an extraordinary cross-section of people from the cultural patchworks that make up both the Israeli and Palestinian communities. They heard about the daily heroism that residents take for granted, and the incredible spirit of survival that exists on both sides of this seemingly unbridgeable divide.

They also discovered the importance of food to every cultural and ethnic identity that calls this tiny plot of land home. The result is a verbatim play, featuring only the words of 42 of the courageous, committed, creative and possibly crazy people who live there. Eight actors will bring their voices to vibrant life (while preparing real Mediterranean dishes onstage!), and bring insight and understanding to the melting pot of Middle Eastern affairs. A truly unique and moving play from the frontline of what many consider to be the world’s most momentous and perilous conflict. First performed at London’s Gate Theatre in 2004, it recently received its highly acclaimed US premiere in Los Angeles, and a much lauded revival at London’s Tricycle Theatre.

Read Rob Hurwitt’s full review: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/11/14/DDG4NFMU8H1.DTL&hw=Arab+Israeli+Cookbook&sn=001&sc=1000

See the play! Buy the Cookbook (on sale in the lobby)!

“Heartbreaking” - Time Out; “Stunning” - Daily Mail; “Magnificent” – Guardian

Locations:

December 1-4, 2005: Traveling Jewish Theatre, 470 Florida (between, 17th and Mariposa), San Francisco

Schedule of performances:
Thursdays – Saturdays 8pm, Sundays 3pm
Single ticket prices:
Thursday, Sunday $18; Friday, Saturday $22; Preview $10

Under 25’s: Always half price.
Seniors, students, TBA members: $3 discount

Box Office and Information: 510 436 5085

See Calendar for details.

Click here to subscribe!

This event is supported by the Oakland City Council and funded by the City of Oakland’s Cultural Funding Program

Ashleyrose Gilham, L. Peter Callender and Alex Klein. Photo: Erich Favel

This searing and topical drama about the aftermath of the genocide in Rwanda, and the west’s ambivalent response to it, was premiered last year at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre. The story centers around a British member of the European parliament who, having spent time in Rwanda as a youth, feels both a special connection to the country and its people, and a responsibility to bring their plight to the attention of the aid-givers (and former colonial occupiers) in Europe. However, his attempts come drastically undone as the complexity of the post-genocide situation overwhelms his idealism and his political career, while his personal life spirals into chaos.

A U.S. premiere, to be directed by TheatreFIRST newcomer Dylan Russell, who recently assisted Richard E.T. White in directing A.C.T.’s stunningly brilliant production of Edward Albee’s The Goat. Among the cast is prominent local actor L. Peter Callender, an Associate Artist at California Shakespeare Theatre and a leading actor in their company, where he has recently appeared in Nicholas Nickleby, The Tempest, The Importance of Being Ernest and All’s Well That Ends Well. He will next be seen there in As You Like It, directed by Jonathan Moscone. Also appearing is TheatreFIRST Artistic Director Clive Chafer.

Featuring: L. Peter Callender*, Clive Chafer*, Shakira Patrice De Abreu, Ashleyrose Gilham, Alex Klein, Leontyne Mbele-Mbong, Garth Petal
(*Members of Actors’ Equity Association)

Clive Chafer and L.Peter Callender Photo: ARG Photography

“Lucid, gripping… There is no mistaking the urgency of its theme or the power of its marriage of intelligence and heart” – Daily Telegraph

Schedule:
April 27 to May 21, 2006 at Old Oakland Theatre, 461 Ninth Street (at Broadway), downtown Oakland
Thursdays – Saturdays 8pm, Sundays 3pm

Single ticket prices:
Thursday, Sunday $18; Friday, Saturday $22; Previews $10
Under 25’s: Always half price.
Seniors, students, TBA members: $3 discount
Pay what you can: May 4, 2006

Box Office and Information: 510 436 5085

This event is supported by the Oakland City Council and funded by the City of Oakland’s Cultural Funding Program

This message is brought to you in cooperation with the World Affairs Council of Northern California, the largest international affairs organization on the west coast and the largest affiliate of the national World Affairs Councils of America. Go to www.wacsf.org to find out more about their programs and membership benefits.

1994: Under a Mantle of Stars by Manuel Puig

1995: The Golden Age by Louis Norwa

1996: Anything to Declare? by Maurice Hennequin and Pierre Ve`ber

1997: Racing Demon by David Hare; The Ladies of the Camellias by Lillian Garrett-Groag

1998: Death and the Maiden

1999: Blue Remembered Hills by Dennis Potter; The Quick - Change Room by Nagle Jackson

2001-2 Season: Love & Understanding by Joe Penhall; The Memory of Water by Shelagh Stephenson; The Colour of Justice, edited by Richard Norton-Taylor

2002-3 Season: Via Dolorosa by David Hare; The Great Celestial Cow by Sue Townsend; A Map of the World by David Hare

2004: Mooi Street Moves by Paul Slabolepszy

2004-5 Season: Joe Egg by Peter Nichols; Fronteras Americanas by Guillermo Verdecchia; Making Noise Quietly by Robert Holman

2005-6 Season: The Arab-Israeli Cookbook by Robin Soans; Loveplay by Moira Buffini; World Music by Steve Waters

2006-7 Season: Criminal Genius by George F. Walker; Nathan the Wise by Gotthold Lessing, translated by Edward Kemp; Serjeant Musgrave’s Dance by John Arden, directed by Clive Chafer

Four men. Four women. Doors, windows, drainpipes, underwear (all in your imagination, of course). Labiche takes the dull out of adultery.

A French farce by Eugene Labiche
directed by Evren Odcikin

Featuring Rica Anderson, Laura Bailey, Lizzie Calogero, Joseph Foss, Erin Gilley, Dana Kelly*, Garth Petal, and Jack Powell*

Free! (or make a $5 donation if you can afford it). Come join the fun! Discussion of the play follows the reading.

TheatreFIRST presents
FIRST TIME OUT
a series of staged readings
at Barnes & Noble Bookstore
in Oakland’s Jack London Square

Tuesday, February 17 at 7PM