Central Works 2018 Season to Include 3 Comedies & A Classic; Beginning This February

CENTRAL WORKS 2018 SEASON features 4 plays, all world premieres, beginning February 17 and running through November 2018. This is a season where boundaries, national and otherwise, are no barrier to laughter and genuine engagement with three comedies, two literary adaptations, and one classic. The 2017 Season celebrated Central Works constant commitment to brand new works inspired by urgent social issues, classic texts, and history - every production received a TBA Awards Recommendation, and each played to full houses every weekend!

Central Works 2018 season confirms the company's dedication to new works developed in-house with local playwrights: Resident Playwright Patricia Milton offers up another of her delightful, politically inspired comedies; award-winning novelist Cristina García is turning her talents to playwriting by adapting her comic portrait of "The King of Cuba;" while company Co-director Gary Graves once again brings his comic sensibility to an old Greek tale, and then he adapts a classic story by Anton Chekhov. 2018 = comedy, comedy, comedy...and Chekhov. This 2018 season, launches in February with a new comedy about family valuables. The show Bamboozled by Patricia Milton (Feb 17-Mar 18), inspired by a true story, looks at what we value and what our values cost us, when a Daughter of the Confederacy is defrauded out of $1M for her family's Civil War heirlooms. Milton has developed three previous hits and award-winning plays with Central Works. Spring brings COMEDY with a vengeance with the a new Central Works Method play by Gary Graves, Palace Wreckers, Inc (May 12-Jun 10). Then in July, award-winning writer Cristina García will premiere an adaption of her hilarious and often touching comic novel King of Cuba (Jul 21-Aug 19). The season closes in the fall with a tale of madness, alienation and moral responsibility, Chekhov's WARD 6 by Gary Graves (Oct 13-Nov 11).

Bamboozled Written by Patricia Milton

Bamboozled is a new comedy about family valuables. A young African American appraiser is accused of defrauding a Daughter of the Confederacy out of a fortune in Civil War heirlooms and, even worse, stealing her family bible. A stunning and hilarious examination of racial privilege-and retribution (inspired by a true story). World Premiere # 59, from the Central Works Writers Workshop

Palace Wreckers, Inc Written by Gary Graves

Palace Wreckers, Inc is a revenge comedy in which an estranged son returns home, hoping to resurrect his parental relationships and transform the family business. But he is greeted with the news that Dad is dead, Mom is remarried, and Sis says something is amiss and she wants justice, with a vengeance! Sound familiar? A new comedy based on an age-old tale. World Premiere #60, a Central Works Method Play

King of Cuba Written by Cristina García

King of Cuba, a brand new play by National book award finalist, Cristina García. A ruthless Cuban dictator "El Comandante" struggles to maintain his grip on power convinced that

neither his crumbling nation nor his rapidly deteriorating health are headed for disaster. Meanwhile in Miami, aging and irascible exile Goyo Herrera, searches the Internet for conspiracies and insurrectionary plots against his nemesis; he's hell-bent on staying alive long enough to see the dictator to his grave. What will get El Comandante first-old age, or old Goyo? A formidable literary figure examines a new genre of writing. World Premiere #61, from the Central Works Writers Workshop

Chekhov's WARD 6 Written by Gary Graves

Chekhov's Ward 6 is a new adaptation of a story by the master of page and stage Anton Chekhov's classic account of madness, alienation, and moral responsibility, set in a

provincial hospital in the backwoods of the Russian countryside. Through the "rantings" of a

patient of the mental ward, "Ward 6," Dr. Andrei Ragin, the hospital's director, is awakened to the suffering and corruption that surrounds him. Dr. Ragin's colleagues in the hospital become

alarmed by this unconventional relationship and undertake a radical course of treatment. A new play inspired by the master storyteller himself. World Premiere #62, a Central Works Method Play

Central Works the Company

Company co-directors Jan Zvaifler and Gary Graves remain steadfast in their mission to develop and produce new works. "New plays are the lifeblood of the theater," says Ms. Zvaifler. "We look at current events, politics, classic literature and traditional storytelling to bring our audience face to face with the challenges of our lives everyday, juxtaposed against the reflections of history, both recent and far-reaching. Given our current harrowing times, we all need an opportunity to pause, feel, think and act." The special intimacy of the Central Works theater offers this in a truly unique package.

For over 25 years Central Works has filled a special niche for theater artists in the San Francisco Bay Area. Producing more new plays by local playwrights than any other company in the region. "The New Play Theater" utilizes three basic strategies: some are products of the Central Works Method, some are developed in the Central Works Writers Workshop, and some come to the company fully developed.

Central Works Method plays bring together writer, actors and director at the very outset of the playwriting process. In a supportive workshop environment, group research and collective brainstorming contribute to the entire development of the script.

The Central Works Writers Workshop is an ongoing commissioning program established in 2012. Twice a year, in 12-week sessions, 8 local playwrights are selected to develop projects through informal readings and carefully directed discussions. Patricia Milton's Bamboozled was the fourth production at Central Works emerging from this program, followed by two more this season. For more information, visit our website: www.centralworks.org

Central Works 2018 Season

4 Plays - All New - All Premieres

3 Comedies, 2 Adaptations, 1 Classic

Bamboozled

Written by Patricia Milton

A New Comedy about Family Valuables

Previews Feb 15 & 16

Feb 17-Mar 18

World Premiere #58: from the Central Works Writers Workshop

Palace Wreckers, Inc

Written by Gary Graves

COMEDY with a vengeance!

Previews May 10 & 11

May 12-Jun 10

World Premiere #59: a Central Works Method comedy

King of Cuba

Written by Cristina García

Adapted From Her Comic Novel

Previews July 19 & 20

July 21-Aug 19

World Premiere #60: from the Central Works Writers Workshop

Chekhov's WARD 6

Written by Gary Graves

A Tale Of Madness, Alienation

& Moral Responsibility

Previews Oct 11 & 12

Oct 13-Nov 11

World Premiere #6:1 from the Central Works Writers Workshop

Subscriptions Start At ONLY $56

Use any ticket anytime!

Performing at the Berkeley City Club 2315 Durant Avenue, Berkeley

Tickets: $30 - $35 online at centralworks.org or $35 - $15 sliding scale at the door.

Previews and Thursdays are always pay-what-you-can at the door.

For more information call 510.558.1381 or visit centralworks.org