Berkeley Rep Welcomes Mary Zimmerman, 11/12

Theatres are usually dark on Monday nights, but several times each year Berkeley Repertory Theatre makes them glow with Page to Stage, a series of talks that engage brilliant guests in sparkling conversation. Today, the Tony Award-winning theatre announced that noted theatre journalist Chad Jones will moderate a chat with Tony Award-winning director Mary Zimmerman at a free event on November 12. From Metamorphoses to The Arabian Nights, audiences have embracEd Zimmerman's enchanting adaptations of epic tales. Now they can peek behind the scenes of The White Snake as it begins performances at Berkeley Rep.

Every year, hundreds of people enjoy Page to Stage. Past programs have featured luminaries such as Sarah Jones, Tony Kushner, Michael Mayer, Terrence McNally, Rita Moreno, Salman Rushdie, and Lemony Snicket. No tickets are necessary for these free events, but seating is limited. Each talk begins at 7:00 PM; the lobby and café counter open at 6:00 PM, and the theatre opens at 6:30 PM for general-admission seating.

Mary Zimmerman received the 2002 Tony Award for Best Director and a 1998 MacArthur Fellowship. The White Snake is her seventh show for Berkeley Rep, following acclaimed productions of The Arabian Nights, Argonautika, Journey to the West, Metamorphoses, The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, and The Secret in the Wings. These plays – and others that she's adapted and directed such as Eleven Rooms of Proust, The Odyssey, Silk, and S/M – have enjoyed celebrated runs at Brooklyn Academy Of Music, Goodman Theatre, the Huntington Theatre Company, Lookingglass Theatre Company, the Mark Taper Forum, McCarter Theatre Center, Seattle Repertory Theatre, and Second Stage Theatre. She has also directed high-profile productions for the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

For the holidays, Zimmerman unwraps another exquisite gift for Bay Area theatregoers. This time she casts a spell with The White Snake, a classic romance from Chinese legend. When she falls for a charming young man, a snake spirit discovers what it means to be human. But a monk objects, and the bride must unveil her magical powers to save their love. With The White Snake Berkeley Rep welcomes back a beloved artist for an alluring and hypnotic world-premiere production.

The White Snake runs from November 9 through December 23. For more information about Page to Stage or tickets to the show, call (510) 647-2949 or click berkeleyrep.org.