CLYBOURNE PARK Makes West Coast Premiere at A.C.T.

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) continues its 2010-11 season with the West Coast premiere of adamant provocateur Bruce Norris's Clybourne Park, winner of the prestigious London Evening Standard Award for Best New Play in 2010. Marking the A.C.T. mainstage debut of director Jonathan Moscone-longtime artistic director of California Shakespeare Theater-this "buzz-saw sharp new comedy" (The Washington Post) cleverly spins the events of A Raisin in the Sun to tell an unforgettable new story about race and real estate in America. Act I opens in 1959, as a white couple sells their home to a black family, causing uproar in their middle-class Chicago neighborhood. Act II transports us to the same house in 2009, when the stakes are different, but the debate is strikingly familiar. Amid lightning-quick repartee, the characters scramble for control of The Situation, revealing how we can-and can't-distance ourselves from the stories that linger in our houses.

The Evening Standard Award was merely the tip of the iceberg of accolades for Clybourne Park: Following a critically acclaimed premiere at Playwrights Horizons in New York City, the show received a production at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. (which, in response to popular demand, will revive the production as part of its new season next year), and the acclaimed Royal Court Theatre production in London will move to the West End in 2011. During its various incarnations, the play has received raves from critics: Entertainment Weekly called it "completely audacious, architecturally ingenious entertainment," while the New York Times hailed it as "a spiky and damningly insightful new comedy." London's Independent found it "outrageously funny and squirm-inducing," and New York Magazine noted that its provocative subject matter "goes for the jugular of P.C. liberals." Clybourne Park plays January 20-February 13, 2011, at the American Conservatory Theater (415 Geary Street, San Francisco). Press night is Wednesday, January 26, 2011, at 8 p.m. Tickets (starting at $10) are available by calling the A.C.T. Box Office at 415.749.2228 or at www.act-sf.org.

"Bruce is an extraordinary writer," said Moscone. "In this play he is able to depict the very delicate subject of race relations with a combination of piercing intelligence, genuine emotion, and sharp-edged humor. His voice is undeniable. I'm thrilled to be working with members of A.C.T.'s core Acting Company on this play, which is one of the most exciting and provocative pieces of theater I have ever read." The cast-each of whom plays dual roles in the two different eras-includes members of the A.C.T. core Acting Company and recent graduates of the A.C.T. Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) Program. Core Acting Company members include René Augesen, Manoel Felciano, Anthony Fusco, and Gregory Wallace. Omozé Idehenre and Emily Kitchens were members of the A.C.T. M.F.A. Program class of 2010. Richard Thieriot rounds out the cast.
"We know Clybourne Park will trigger fascinating debates throughout the whole Bay Area community. We like to say that the third act of this play will be the postplay discussion," says A.C.T. Artistic Director Carey Perloff. In anticipation of lively audience response to the play-which delves into many timely topics-A.C.T. is adding Experts Talk Back, a new postshow discussion series, to the regularly scheduled InterACT events that will take place throughout the run of Clybourne Park. These talkbacks-scheduled for several Thursdays following the 8 p.m. performance-will feature local experts who will lead discussions about many of the provocative topics (including gentrification and other issues of race and class) that percolate throughout the production, specifically focusing on their relevance to the Bay Area.
In addition, A.C.T. will offer numerous other InterACT events-many of which are offered free of charge-in association with Clybourne Park that will give patrons opportunities to get closer to the action while making a whole night out of their evening at the theater:

• 10UP: World-Class Theater at Happy-Hour Prices: Jan. 20-30

Live it up with 10UP! Enjoy the Bay Area's best theater for only $10 a ticket for Balcony seats during select performances. The third-floor Sky Bar opens one hour before curtain time-show up early and mingle with other theatergoers while you enjoy happy-hour drinks and soak up the historic charm of one of the most beautiful theaters in the country.

• Audience Prologue Featuring Director Jonathan Moscone: Tue., Jan. 25, at 5:30 p.m.

Get inside the artistic process with a free half-hour preshow discussion with Jonathan Moscone. FREE and open to the public (no tickets required).

• Bring What You Can/Pay What You Wish: Thu., Jan. 27, at 8 p.m.

Pay any amount for your tickets when you bring nonperishable food donations for the San Francisco Food Bank (sffoodbank.org). Patrons are limited to two tickets per donated item, two tickets per person. Tickets go on sale at 6 p.m. the day of the performance. Sponsored by Bank of the West.

• Theater on the Couch: Fri., Jan. 28, at 8 p.m.

Join members of the San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis for an exciting postperformance discussion that explores the psychological aspects of the show and addresses audience questions.

• Audience Exchanges: Tue., Feb. 1, at 7 p.m. / Sun., Feb. 6, at 2 p.m. / Tue., Feb. 8, at 8 p.m.
/ Wed., Feb. 9, at 2 p.m.

After the show, stick around for a lively Q&A session with the actors and artists who create the work onstage.

• OUT with A.C.T.: Wed., Feb. 2, following the 8 p.m. performance

Ten-year anniversary! Meet the cast and enjoy free cocktails and treats at these popular LGBT parties catered by Bar Adagio. Visit www.act-sf.org/out for more information about subscribing to OUT nights.

· Experts Talk Back: Thu., Jan. 27, at 8 p.m. / Thu., Feb. 3, at 8 p.m. / Thu., Feb. 10, at 8 p.m.

New for Clybourne Park! Join us after the show as special guests-local experts in the issues raised by the play-lead invigorating discussions about how topics explored in the play relate to the Bay Area.

A.C.T.'s production of Clybourne Park is made possible by executive producers Dianne and Ron Hoge and Patti and Rusty Rueff; producers Lloyd and Janet Cluff, Celeste and Kevin Ford, Mary S. and F. Eugene Metz, Byron R. Meyer, and Dr. Gideon and Cheryl Sorokin; and associate producers Gayle and Steve Brugler, Betty Hoener, Don and Judy McCubbin, and Beverly and Loring Wyllie. A.C.T. would also like to acknowledge its 2010-11 season company sponsors: Priscilla and Keith Geeslin; Ambassador James C. Hormel and Mr. Michael P. Nguyen; Nancy Livingston and Fred Levin, The Shenson Foundation; Burt and Deedee McMurtry; Patti and Rusty Rueff; Mary and Steven Swig; and Jeff and Laurie Ubben.

Stay tuned for the rest of the season! Next up in A.C.T.'s 2010-11 season is Harold Pinter's most provocative play, The Homecoming (March 3-27, 2011), directed by longtime Pinter collaborator A.C.T. Artistic Director Carey Perloff. And you haven't experienced Jean-Paul Sartre's existential masterpiece No Exit until you've seen the groundbreaking multimedia version by Canada's The Virtual Stage and Electric Theatre Company, which makes its U.S. premiere at A.C.T. April 7-May 1, 2011. The 2010-11 season culminates in the much-anticipated world premiere of Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City, a new musical based on Maupin's beloved books and created by writer Jeff Whitty and director Jason Moore (the team behind Avenue Q) and Jake Shears and John Garden (the musical minds behind the glam-rock band Scissor Sisters). A.C.T. brings the iconic saga to San Francisco live May 19-June 19, 2011. To subscribe (three- and four-play packages are still available) or to receive a season brochure, please call 415.749.2250 or log on to www.act-sf.org.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES
Bruce Norris (Playwright) is a writer and an actor whose play Clybourne Park premiered at Playwrights Horizons and received subsequent productions at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, D.C., and The Royal Court Theatre in London. Other plays include The Infidel (2000), Purple Heart (2002), We All Went Down to Amsterdam (2003), The Pain and the Itch (2004), and The Unmentionables (2006), all of which premiered at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre. His work has also been produced at Lookingglass Theatre, Philadelphia Theatre Company, and the Staatstheater Mainz (Germany). Norris is the recipient of the 2009 Steinberg Playwright Award, the Whiting Foundation Prize for Drama, and the Kesselring Prize, Honorable Mention. He also received Chicago's Joseph Jefferson Awards for Best New Work for his plays We All Went Down to Amsterdam and The Pain and the Itch. He currently resides in New York.

Jonathan Moscone (Director) is entering his 11th season as artistic director of California Shakespeare Theater, where his credits include the world premiere of John Steinbeck's The Pastures of Heaven, Much Ado About Nothing, Happy Days, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, and Twelfth Night. Recently, he was awarded the inaugural Zelda Fichandler Award by the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation for "transforming the American theater through his unique and creative work." Regional credits include Berkeley Repertory Theatre, The Huntington Theatre Company, Intiman Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Goodspeed Musicals, Dallas Theater Center, San Jose Repertory Theatre, Portland Stage Company, and Magic Theatre. He is an adjunct faculty member of the A.C.T. Master of Fine Arts Program and teaches at Berkley Rep's School of Theater. Upcoming projects include the world premiere of Ghost Light with collaborator Tony Taccone for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Berkeley Rep and Amadeus for the Alley Theatre in Houston. He currently serves as a board member of Theatre Communications Group.

 

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