Aurora Extends FAT PIG Through 12/13

Critics and audiences alike can't get enough of FAT PIG. Aurora Theatre Company announces that it will add six additional performances of its current production of FAT PIG, bad-boy playwright Neil LaBute's exploration of body consciousness in contemporary America. Tony-nominated director Barbara Damashek helms this story about the difficulty people face when trying to stand up for, and live up to, something they believe in. Featuring Liliane Klein, Jud Williford, Alexandra Creighton, and Peter Ruocco, FAT PIG plays at the Aurora Theatre in Berkeley now through December 13 (added performances: December 8, 7pm, December 9, 8pm, December 10, 8pm, December 11, 8pm, December 12, 8pm, December 13, 2pm). For tickets ($15-55) and information the public can call (510) 843-4822 or visit auroratheatre.org.

Cow. Slob. Pig. Size does matter. In FAT PIG, conventionally good-looking Tom falls for Helen, a bright, funny, sexy woman, who happens to be plus-sized. Forced to explain his new relationship to his perplexed friends, Tom must come to terms with his own preconceived notions of love and attraction. Premiering at the Lucille Lortel Theater in 2004, this alternately funny and poignant play not only critiques our adherence to Hollywood's standards of beauty, but questions our ability to change what we dislike about ourselves.

The San Francisco Chronicle called FAT PIG "LaBute at the best of his bad-boy sensitive mode," noting that director Barbara Damashek "coaxes revelatory performances from a first-rate cast." Likewise, the San Jose Mercury News/Bay Area News Group found FAT PIG to be "a delicious exploration of sex, love and body image that makes us swoon. Barbara Damashek's acute staging of the play...keeps us perpetually off-balance, squirming amid the giggles." According to KGO Radio critic Jerry Friedman, "The laughs are abundant...the play is performed in one 100-minute act by a remarkably talented cast...I recommend it highly."

Following FAT PIG, the jingle bells will rock in December with a new edition of Aurora Theatre Company's original holiday production THE COVERLETTES COVER CHRISTMAS. Aurora Theatre Company Artistic Director Tom Ross helms the World Premiere of Joel Drake Johnson's THE FIRST GRADE in conjunction with this year's GAP new works festival in January, and Aurora Theatre Company founding Artistic Director Barbara Oliver returns to direct Henrik Ibsen's masterwork John Gabriel BORKMAN in April. Closing the season in June is the Bay Area Premiere of Stephen Karem's innovative comedy SPEECH & DEBATE directed by Robin Stanton.

Aurora Theatre Company continues to offer challenging, literate, intelligent stage works to the Bay Area, each year increasing its reputation for top-notch theatre. Located in the heart of the Downtown Berkeley Arts District, Aurora Theatre Company has been called "one of the most important regional theaters in the area" 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] lives up to its reputation as a theater that feeds the mind," and the Oakland Tribune declared "it's all about choices, and if you value good theater, choose the Aurora."

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