Aurora Extends Bay Area Debut of Amy Freed's THE MONSTER-BUILDER Through Dec 13

Critics and audiences agree -- THE MONSTER-BUILDER is smashing! Aurora Theatre Company announces that it will add an additional 7 performances of the Bay Area Premiere of Pulitzer Prize finalist (Freedomland) Amy Freed's THE MONSTER-BUILDER.

Art Manke makes his Aurora directing debut with this viciously funny comedy featuring Danny Scheie (The Mystery of Irma Vep), Rod Gnapp (The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity), Nancy Carlin (Hysteria), Thomas Gorrebeeck (The Eccentricities of a Nightingale), Tracy Hazas, and Sierra Jolene.

THE MONSTER-BUILDER plays now through December 13th (added performances: Tuesday, December 8, 7pm; Wednesday, December 9, 8pm; Thursday, December 10, 8pm; Friday, December 11, 8pm; Saturday, December 12, 8pm; Sunday, December 13, 2pm and 7pm) at the Aurora Theatre in Berkeley. For tickets ($32-52) and information the public can call (510) 843-4822 or visit auroratheatre.org.

In THE MONSTER-BUILDER, a maniacal scheme of fantastical proportions lurks deep inside world-renowned mega-architect Gregor Zubrowski's post-modern steel and glass structures. His commanding celebrity and curious creative process both titillates and manipulates design professionals and patrons alike into submission. It is only after he casually, and cruelly, steals a career-making project that two fledgling architects dare to challenge this monster-builder at his own game. An examination of the cult of personality, the vacuousness of ambition, and the uncomfortable marriage of form and function in high art, THE MONSTER-BUILDER received its World Premiere under the direction of Art Manke at Portland's Artists Repertory Theatre in 2014.

Following THE MONSTER-BUILDER, Award-winning Bay Area auteur Mark Jackson returns to Aurora with the World Premiere of his play LITTLE ERIK in January, followed by the West Coast Premiere of Sarah Treem's THE HOW AND THE WHY, directed by Joy Carlin and staged in the company's second stage performance space, Harry's UpStage, located in the Nell and Jules Dashow Wing. The season continues in April with the West Coast Premiere of David Ives' THE HEIR APPARENT directed by Josh Costello. Timothy Near makes her Aurora directing debut with the company's season closer in June, Athol Fugard's modern classic "MASTER HAROLD"... and the boys.

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."