Photo Flash: Sneak Peek at Aurora Theatre Company's DEAR MASTER

Aurora Theatre Company opens its 25th season with a revival of the play that started it all, DEAR MASTER, running September 2 - October 2, 2016. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the star onstage below!

Originally produced at the Berkeley City Club in 1991, starring Aurora founding Artistic Director Barbara Oliver and penned by Berkeley writer Dorothy Bryant, DEAR MASTER is the flagship play upon which Aurora Theatre Company was built. An intimate dialogue in letters between powerhouse 19th century French novelists George Sand and Gustave Flaubert, DEAR MASTER provides flesh and blood portraits of these two famed intellectuals, revealing their fears, desires, abundant wit, and friendship. During a time as violent and politically polarized as our own, Sand and Flaubert, who agreed on virtually nothing and shared an age difference of 20 years, argued vehemently over matters artistic, political, religious, and personal, yet were able to sustain a deep, affectionate, supportive, and respectful relationship, brought to an end only by the death of Sand. DEAR MASTER's deep sharing of the heart and mind makes even the most fiery love affair seem tame.

Joy Carlin (The How and The Why, Talley's Folly, Jack Goes Boating) helms this elegant portrait, hailed as "a splendid achievement" by the San Francisco Chronicle and about which the San Francisco Bay Guardiandeclared, "What might have been merely a bookish exercise shimmers with relevant and touching insights into politics, art and life," featuring Bay Area favorite Michael Ray Wisely (The Letters, The Arsonists), and Kimberly King (Edward Albee's A Delicate Balance), Aurora's first leading lady in Shaw's Candida, and wife of Aurora co-founder Ken Grantham, who played Flaubert in the original production.

Previews: September 2, 3, 7 at 8pm; September 4 at 2pm; September 6 at 7pm. Opens: September 8, 2016. Closes: October 2. Schedule: Tuesday at 7pm; Wednesday through Saturday at 8pm; Sunday at 2pm and 7pm. At Aurora Theatre, 2081 Addison Street, Berkeley, CA. For subscriptions and single tickets, the public can call (510) 843-4822 or visit auroratheatre.org. Half-off tickets for Under 35, student, and group discounts available.

Photo Credit: David Allen