Berkeley Rep: Eric Ting Directs AN OCTOROON

Berkeley Rep today announced that Eric Ting (current artistic director of California Shakespeare Theater) will direct An Octoroon, the final show in Berkeley Rep's 2016-17 season.

An Octoroon, a spectacular collision of the antebellum South and 21st-century cultural politics, is playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' version of Dion Boucicoult's 1859 mustache-twirling melodrama. The New York Times described An Octoroon as "[a] comedy of unresolved history...this decade's most eloquent theatrical statement on race in America today." Previews begin on Friday, June 23, 2017 and the show runs through Sunday, July 23, 2017 in the Peet's Theatre.

"I'm so happy to have Eric Ting on board," says Michael Leibert Artistic Director Tony Taccone. "I think he is a great choice to direct this unconventional story. He is an accomplished artist and I know he will handle this challenging material with great success."

"The essential gift of a writer like Branden is the unflinching courage with which he confronts the legacy of our nation's dark origins," says director Eric Ting. "That he does so with audacity and wit and vivid theatricality is what makes him a genius. I'm thrilled that Berkeley Rep is bringing An Octoroon to the Bay Area and honored to be directing it."

ABOUT Eric Ting

Eric is an Obie Award-winning director and was appointed artistic director of California Shakespeare Theater in November of 2015. Deeply committed throughout his career to the development of new and diverse voices for the theatre, Eric has directed plays (many of them world premieres) by Sam Hunter, Aditi Kapil, Kimber Lee, Jackie Sibblies Drury, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig, Laura Jacqmin, Kenneth Lin, Kristoffer Diaz, Anna Deavere Smith, and others. He has also been recognized for his co-adaptation of Hemingway's Old Man & the Sea and his controversial interpretation of Shakespeare's Macbeth set during the Vietnam War. His work has been seen at Manhattan Theatre Club, Soho Rep, The Public Theater, Goodman Theatre, Victory Gardens, Williamstown Theatre Festival, A.R.T., Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Hartford Stage, BAM Next Wave, Cincinnati Playhouse, and the ALLIANCE THEATRE; as well as internationally, including Singapore, France, Canada, Romania, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Bali. He recently relocated to the Bay Area with his wife, director and producer Meiyin Wang, and their baby daughter Frankie.

Berkeley Repertory Theatre has grown from a storefront stage to an international leader in innovative theatre. Known for its core values of imagination and excellence, as well as its educated and adventurous audience, the nonprofit has provided a welcoming home for emerging and established artists since 1968. In four decades, four million people have enjoyed nearly 400 shows at Berkeley Rep. These shows have gone on to win five Tony Awards, seven Obie Awards, nine Drama Desk Awards, one Grammy Award, and many other honors. In recognition of its place on the national stage, Berkeley Rep received the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre in 1997. Its bustling facilities - which include the 400-seat Peet's Theatre, the 600-seat Roda Theatre, the Berkeley Rep School of Theatre, the Osher Studio, and a spacious new campus in West Berkeley - are helping revitalize a renowned city. Learn more at berkeleyrep.org

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