Photo Flash: Berkeley Rep Opens COMPULSION with Patinkin
By: BWW Photo Special Sep. 14, 2010
Even as its shows reach New York and London, Berkeley Repertory Theatre begins another season of fearless theatre here at home: Emmy- and Tony Award-winning actor Mandy Patinkin stars in the world-premiere production of Compulsion on Berkeley Rep's intimate Thrust Stage. Acclaimed director Oskar Eustis returns to the Bay Area with Rinne Groff's latest play, a kaleidoscopic collision of history and culture that combines stellar acting with marvelous marionettes. Compulsion, a world-premiere co-production from Berkeley Rep, The Public Theater, and Yale Repertory Theatre, begins previews on September 13, opens September 16, and closes October 31.
"It brings me nothing but joy to welcome Oskar back to the Bay Area, where we grew up as friends and colleagues," says Tony Taccone, artistic director of Berkeley Rep. "He has done a fantastic job at the helm of The Public in New York, and our mutual trust in each other and our organizations has allowed us to collaborate on many projects. The latest of these is Compulsion, written by the gifted Rinne Groff, whose intellect and imagination are everywhere apparent in this multilayered new play. Brought to life by a terrific ensemble of actors and puppeteers led by the incomparable Mandy Patinkin, Compulsion promises to be a special event."
Compulsion was commissioned by Berkeley Rep and The Public Theater and is a co-production of Berkeley Rep, The Public Theater, and Yale Repertory Theatre, where the show debuted in January. This production will transfer to The Public in February 2011, becoming the 14th show in the last 14 years to move from Berkeley Rep to New York City. The executive producers for the local run are Shirley D. and Philip D. Schild, the Strauch Kulhanjian Family, Jean and Michael Strunsky, and Julie M. Weinstein. The Ira and Leonore Gershwin Philanthropic Fund and The Koret Foundation serve as production sponsors. BART and Wells Fargo have renewed their commitment as season sponsors at Berkeley Rep, and the 2010-11 season producer is Marjorie Randolph. The commissioning and development of Compulsion was supported in part by the Mosse Artistic Development Fund.
Sid Silver is obsessed. When he learns about a young girl named Anne Frank and her extraordinary diary, he makes it his mission to ensure her tale is heard. But is the manuscript a work of art? A cultural treasure? Once publishers and producers get involved, it becomes "a very valuable product" - and Silver's good intentions prove to be his undoing. Inspired by the life of Meyer Levin, this important new play takes us on a journey from passion to Compulsion.
Rinne Groff's work has been seen off Broadway, at theatres across America, and on TV. Her plays include The Five Hysterical Girls Theorem, produced at Target Margin Theater; Inky, produced at Women's Project; Jimmy Carter Was a Democrat, produced at Performance Space 122; The Moliere Impromptu, produced at Trinity Repertory Company; Orange Lemon Egg Canary, produced as part of Actors Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival of New Plays; The Ruby Sunrise, produced at The Public; and What Then, produced at Clubbed Thumb. She also wrote the book and co-wrote the lyrics for In the Bubble at American Musical Theatre Project and wrote the lyrics and co-wrote the book for Saved at Playwrights Horizons. Groff also wrote for a season of Weeds on Showtime. She has received a Whiting Writers Award, Obie Award and NYSCA Individual Artist grants, and fellowships from the Australian National Playwrights Conference, Chautauqua Theater Company, the Guggenheim Foundation, the MacDowell Colony, the Perry Mansfield New Noises Festival, and the Sundance Theatre Lab. Groff is a founding member of Elevator Repair Service and a member of New Dramatists and the Dramatists Guild. She earned her BA from Yale University and her MFA from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where she teaches in the Goldberg Department of Dramatic Writing.
Photo Credit: kevinberne.com
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