Aurora Theatre Company's A NUMBER Extends

Due to popular pre-sale demand, Aurora Theatre Company announces that it will add an additional two weeks of performances for the company's upcoming production of prolific playwright (Cloud Nine, Top Girls, Far Away, Drunk Enough to Say I Love You?, Bliss, Love and Information, Mad Forest) Caryl Churchill's A NUMBER. Barbara Damashek (Splendour, American Buffalo, The Lyons, Fat Pig and Private Jokes, Public Places) directs this pithy drama.

A NUMBER now plays through May 6th (added performances: Tuesday, April 24, 7pm; Wednesday, April 25, 7pm; Thursday, April 26, 8pm; Friday, April 27, 8pm; Saturday, April 28, 8pm; Sunday, April 29, 2pm, 7pm; Tuesday, May 1, 7pm; Wednesday, May 2, 7pm; Thursday, May 3, 8pm; Friday, May 4, 8pm; Saturday, May 5, 8pm; Sunday, May 6, 2pm, 7pm) at Harry's UpStage at the Aurora Theatre Company in Berkeley. For tickets and information the public can call (510) 843-4822 or visit auroratheatre.org.

How might a man feel to realize that he is only one in a number of identical copies? Bernard has just discovered that he's not the only Bernard, and so begins a series of questions that will take him and his father on a compelling psychological journey. Set in the near future and written during a time of public debate over the ethics of cloning, A NUMBER is in part an attack on patriarchy and an exploration of the way that people develop regardless of their genes.

Raising big moral issues and exploring identity and second chances, A NUMBER had its World Premiere in 2002 at The Royal Court Theatre, where the Evening Standard declared, "Rarely in my theatre going experience has a new play conveyed such a disturbing or enthralling impression of domestic weirdness.... An astonishing event," and the Daily Telegraph said, "What a tremendous play this is, moving, thought-provoking and dramatically thrilling."

Tony-nominated director Barbara Damashek, who helmed Aurora Theatre Company's productions of Splendour, American Buffalo, The Lyons, Fat Pig and Private Jokes, Public Places, returns to direct A NUMBER. Best known as the director, composer-lyricist, and co-author of the musical Quilters, which received six Tony nominations, Damashek has directed productions for South Coast Repertory Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Trinity Repertory Company, Mark Taper Forum, Yale Repertory Theatre, and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, among others. Additionally, Damashek has helmed productions at Berkeley Repertory Theatre (House of Blue Leaves, Rhinoceros), Center REPertory Company (Laughter on the 23rd Floor and Noel and Gertie), Marin Theatre Company (Arms and the Man), American Conservatory Theater (The Cherry Orchard), and Magic Theatre (The Cryptogram, Lonesome West). An Assistant Professor at San Francisco State University, Damashek has created a large body of original plays with music, including Whereabouts Unknown, a musical documentary about the homeless, which was commissioned by The Actors Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival and a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.

Voted Best Theater Company in 2012 by SF Weekly, Aurora Theatre Company continues to offer challenging, literate, intelligent stage works to the Bay Area, each year increasing its reputation for top-notch theater. Located in the heart of the Downtown Berkeley Arts District, Aurora Theatre Company, declared "one of the best regional theaters around" by 7x7 magazine, has been called "one of the most important regional theaters in the area" and "a must-see midsize company" by the San Francisco Chronicle, while The Wall Street Journal has "nothing but praise for the Aurora." The Contra Costa Times stated "perfection is probably an unattainable ideal in a medium as fluid as live performance, but the Aurora Theatre comes luminously close," while the San Jose Mercury News affirmed Aurora Theatre Company is "arguably the finest small theater in the Bay Area," and the Oakland Tribune stated "it's all about choices, and if you value good theater, choose the Aurora."

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