Place/Settings: Berkeley

Directed by Les Waters Read by Charles Shaw Robinson From a perch beyond this life, an actor observes as a group of masked people finally return to the courtyard of Berkeley Rep — to the theatre, the place we made to gather, breathe together, and share the stories that remind us of our humanity.

It's 1959, and tobacco smoke snakes across the bustling café from its prized corner table, where artists and students debate political treatises, muse on philosophy, and share thrilling new poetry.

Read by Steven Anthony Jones and BD Wong On a chilly autumn night, an old fisherman makes his way to the lake in the dark. He casts a line...and reels in the ghost he's been seeking.

Straddling the worlds of her divorced parents, Yasmine doesn't feel fully at home in either. Desperate to see her best friend in San Francisco, she embarks on the voyage across the Bay alone, exhilarated at her newfound independence.

How do you find your people in middle school — especially when you don't quite fit the mold? A girl experiments, assimilates, adapts, and journeys towards genuine self-love and community.

Bored, lost, and lonely, a teenager stumbles into a café. While eating a cup of soup, he hears a wondrously inscrutable sonata, and begins to sense that being lost might not be such a lonesome condition after all.

Sometimes music becomes indelibly linked to specific memories, invoking the people with whom we shared them. Songs by Isaac Hayes, Peter Tosh, Stevie Wonder, the Doors, the Knight Brothers, and Patti LaBelle conjure a deep friendship, one that began on a hot night in 1986 outside Leopold's Records.

Hope, fear, excitement, and a dizzying array of possibilities unspool across an expectant dad’s imagination, as he and his partner navigate medical uncertainties and rediscover each other as almost-parents.

A young oboist kisses a pianist on a street corner. At long last! But the kiss unlocks pressures, expectations, dreams, and fears. Can we learn to live with uncertainty? To ask for what we need?

A neighborhood park — its playground, sloping hillside, and basketball court; its tunnel to a rose garden and many paths — bears witness to a boy, growing up and growing old.

This is the last Repisode in the 19/20 season! This is Part Two of our special two-part Core series on SCHOOL GIRLS. In this series, Berkeley Rep directing fellow Nailah Harper-Malveaux, who also worked as the assistant director on the show, speaks with two local artists about recent exhibits that connect to the work onstage. In this conversation, Nailah speaks with Toshia Christal, co-curator of the SOMArts exhibit, Unbound Roots: a Paradigm for Healing. They explore the parallels between the wellness industry and the beauty industry, what visual art can teach us about capturing a moment in time and how to take care of yourself during this period of increased physical isolation. Learn more about Toshia Christal's work: https://www.mutualart.com/Artist/Toshia-Christal/26E8C28D0BD0641A Learn more about SOMArts and check out the exhibit: https://www.somarts.org/ Follow Berkeley Rep on SoundCloud to keep up with the whole series. You can also listen on Apple Podcasts and Stitcher. Music credit to Peter Yonka. THANK YOU FOR LISTENING! WE MISS YOU ALL!

In a grand finale to our prematurely closed play, we are launching a special two-part CORE series around SCHOOL GIRSLS: OR, THE AFRICAN MEAN GIRLS PLAY. In this series, Berkeley Rep directing fellow Nailah Harper-Malveaux, who also worked as the assistant director on the show, will speak with two local artists about recent exhibits that connect to the work onstage. If you’re not able to see the play online, know that this conversation is still for you! We’ll reference the play as a jumping off point, but the majority of the conversation will delve into how the play’s themes connect with the Black is Beautiful exhibit, which was recently shown at the Museum of the African Diaspora. Joining us is Mark Sabb, the Senior Director of Innovation and Engagement at the museum, as well as an artist, writer and creator of the art collective, FeltZine. Learn more about Mark: http://mark.feltzine.us/portfolio Learn more about MoAD and check out the exhibit: https://www.moadsf.org/ Follow Berkeley Rep on SoundCloud to keep up with the whole series. You can also listen on Apple Podcasts and Stitcher. Music credit to Peter Yonka.

For the Audio Program portion of Repisodes, we read out loud from the dramaturgy material from the show’s program in an effort to make the information around our shows accessible to all audiences, in multiple formats. It's like we are reading you a short series of stories. For the SCHOOL GIRLS; OR, THE AFRICAN MEAN GIRLS PLAY Program, we hear Charlie Dubach-Reinhold’s essay on colonialism, Ghanaian education, and international beauty standards and pageants. SCHOOL GIRLS; OR, THE AFRICAN MEAN GIRLS PLAY was unfortunately closed down due to coronavirus concerns before it was even able to open. However, if you’re a subscriber or managed to snag a ticket within a tiny window last week, you will receive a link to a filmed version on BroadwayHD and get to experience the one and only full run of it that a few Berkeley Rep staff members were lucky enough to see live. We are so sad that not all of you will be able to experience the show, but we hope that this Repisode can illuminate some of the serious and historical undertones of Jocelyn Bioh’s wonderful comedy! Follow Berkeley Rep on SoundCloud to keep up with the whole series. You can also listen on Apple Podcasts and Stitcher. Music credit to Peter Yonka.

As many of you know, we very sadly had to close our show CULTURE CLASH (STILL) IN AMERICA early. But we still had two conversations with our cultural partners outstanding and ready to roll...so the art continues! This Core episode, where we connect the play to the real world, is entirely in English (the last one was in Spanish). We talk with Anna Flurry, a paralegal with East Bay Sanctuary Covenant House, about the work she does with asylum seekers here in the Bay Area. and how all of that work is changing with COVID-19. Learn more about the work East Bay Sanctuary Covenant House does on their website: https://eastbaysanctuary.org/ Follow Berkeley Rep on SoundCloud to keep up with the whole series. You can also listen on Apple Podcasts and Stitcher. Music credit to Peter Yonka.

Yes, performances for Jocelyn Bioh's SCHOOL GIRLS; OR, THE AFRICAN MEAN GIRLS PLAY were cancelled. Which makes us incredibly sad. but if you are a Berkeley Rep subscriber or already bought an e-ticket, you received a link to a video of the one and only performance the play had on our stages. Here, we feature an interview writer Jocelyn Bioh did with Katie Craddock, our artistic associate. Jocelyn is a first-generation Ghanaian-American writer/performer from New York City. Jocelyn is a commissioned playwright with Manhattan Theatre Club, Second Stage, Williamstown Theatre Festival, and the Atlantic Theater Company, and was a Tow Playwriting Fellow in 2018/19. Her plays include the multi-award-winning School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play, which had two celebrated runs at MCC Theater and is also playing at the Goodman Theatre this spring; Nollywood Dreams (Powerhouse Theater at Vassar College, 2016; upcoming at MCC Theater this spring; Kilroy’s List 2015); and the new musical Goddess (Powerhouse Theater at Vassar College, 2019) of which she is the book writer. She has her BA in English and Theatre from The Ohio State University and MFA in Theatre-Playwriting from Columbia University School of the Arts. Follow Berkeley Rep on SoundCloud to keep up with the whole series. You can also listen on Apple Podcasts and Stitcher. Music credit to Peter Yonka.

As many of you know, the theaters are all closed. We very sadly had to close our show CULTURE CLASH (STILL) IN AMERICA early. But we still had two conversations with our cultural partners outstanding and ready to roll...so the art continues! This Core episode, where we connect the play to the real world, is entirely in Spanish. Sí, el Repisode está completamente en Español! Here, we talk with Stephanie Hooper, an artist with the collective Los Pobres Artistas, who, along with La Peña Cultural Center, partnered with BRT to display two murals in the lobby that connect to themes from the show. You don't have to have seen the show or have looked at the murals to enjoy this Repisode - we mostly talk about what it's like to be an artist in the Bay Area. Follow Berkeley Rep on SoundCloud to keep up with the whole series. You can also listen on Apple Podcasts and Stitcher. Music credit to Peter Yonka.

For the Audio Program portion of Repisodes, we read out loud from the dramaturgy material from the show’s program in an effort to make the information around our shows accessible to all audiences, in multiple formats. It's like we are reading you a short series of stories. For the CULTURE CLASH (STILL) IN AMERICA Program, we will read The Origin Story - about the play's development process - and Sarah Rose Leonard's essay about the history of the company. And a special bonus: Charlie Dubach-Reinhold will read Richard Montoya's wacky ode to the birth of Culture Clash in what can best be described as...performance. CULTURE CLASH (STILL) IN AMERICA runs February 20–April 5, 2020 and tickets are available at berkeleyrep.org. Culture Clash was founded on May 5, 1984 at the Galería de la Raza in San Francisco's Mission District, by the writers José Antonio Burciaga, Marga Gómez, Monica Palacios, Richard Montoya, Ric Salinas, and Herbert Siguenza. The founding date is significant due to the importance of Cinco de Mayo to Mexican-Americans, the shared ethnicity of the majority of collaborators. Montoya and Sigüenza had both been involved in the Chicano art scene in the San Francisco Bay Area, Montoya being the son of Chicano poet, artist, and activist José Montoya, and Sigüenza having been involved in the art collective La Raza Graphics, which created works of graphic art to support campaigns of the Chicano Movement. Culture Clash's works range from comedic sketches to full-length plays and screenplays, all of which feature political satire and social satire. The troupe's members have appeared separately and together in several films and received numerous awards, commissions and grants. In 1993 they filmed 30 episodes of a sketch comedy television series, also called Culture Clash. Several episodes were aired on Fox affiliates. Follow Berkeley Rep on SoundCloud to keep up with the whole series. You can also listen on Apple Podcasts and Stitcher. Music credit to Peter Yonka.

In this Repisode we talk with Culture Clash - the legendary Latino performance troupe made up of Richard Montoya, Ricardo Salinas, and Herbert Siguenza - about what it was like to update material from their 20+ year catalog of interviews and create a new political satire for 2020. CULTURE CLASH (STILL) IN AMERICA runs February 20–April 5, 2020 and tickets are available at berkeleyrep.org. Culture Clash was founded on May 5, 1984 at the Galería de la Raza in San Francisco's Mission District, by the writers José Antonio Burciaga, Marga Gómez, Monica Palacios, Richard Montoya, Ric Salinas, and Herbert Siguenza. The founding date is significant due to the importance of Cinco de Mayo to Mexican-Americans, the shared ethnicity of the majority of collaborators. Montoya and Sigüenza had both been involved in the Chicano art scene in the San Francisco Bay Area, Montoya being the son of Chicano poet, artist, and activist José Montoya, and Sigüenza having been involved in the art collective La Raza Graphics, which created works of graphic art to support campaigns of the Chicano Movement. Culture Clash's works range from comedic sketches to full-length plays and screenplays, all of which feature political satire and social satire. The troupe's members have appeared separately and together in several films and received numerous awards, commissions and grants. In 1993 they filmed 30 episodes of a sketch comedy television series, also called Culture Clash. Several episodes were aired on Fox affiliates. Follow Berkeley Rep on SoundCloud to keep up with the whole series. You can also listen on Apple Podcasts and Stitcher. Music credit to Peter Yonka.

For this edition of The Core for BECKY NURSE OF SALEM, we speak with local Wiccan priestess Carolyn Hunt about witchcraft today, her part in the creation of Becky Nurse, and her reactions to the play. Our playwright, dramaturg, director, and actors consulted with Carolyn throughout the rehearsal process, on the modern world of witches and the Wiccan religion. The Becky Nurse company and Berkeley Rep staff members participated in a ritual led by Carolyn during previews, and everyone felt the magic in the performance that night. You can find out more about Carolyn's practice here: https://www.carolynhunt.co/ BECKY NURSE OF SALEM runs through January 26 and tickets are available at berkeleyrep.org. Follow Berkeley Rep on SoundCloud to keep up with the whole series. You can also listen on Apple Podcasts and Stitcher. Music credit to Peter Yonka.

In this Repisode we talk with Sarah Ruhl, the playwright of BECKY NURSE OF SALEM, about what has changed in her thinking about the play as it has moved from development to the stage, and how current world events have permeated the play. Becky Nurse of Salem marks Sarah’s sixth production at Berkeley Rep; previous productions at Berkeley Rep include For Peter Pan on her 70th birthday, the West Coast premiere of Eurydice, the world premiere of In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play), an adaptation of Chekhov’s Three Sisters, and the West Coast premiere of Dear Elizabeth. In the Next Room went on to Broadway, playing at Lyceum Theatre. Sarah’s other plays include The Oldest Boy, The Clean House, Passion Play, Dead Man’s Cell Phone, Melancholy Play, Orlando, Late: a cowboy song, and Stage Kiss. Her plays have been seen off Broadway at Women’s Project Theater, Playwrights Horizons, Second Stage Theatre, and Lincoln Center’s Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater. Her select regional credits include Yale Repertory Theatre and the Goodman Theatre. Sarah received the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, the Whiting Award, the Lilly Award, a PEN Award, and the MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Award. She has been a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and a Tony Award nominee. Her book of essays, 100 Essays I Don’t Have Time to Write, was a New York Times notable book of the year. She teaches at Yale school of drama and lives in Brooklyn with her family. BECKY NURSE OF SALEM runs December 12 – January 26 and tickets are available at berkeleyrep.org. Follow Berkeley Rep on SoundCloud to keep up with the whole series. You can also listen on Apple Podcasts and Stitcher. Music credit to Peter Yonka.