Subject: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Cal Shakes presents August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize winner, FENCES, July 6-31
Press Contact: Marilyn Langbehn
Office: 510.809.3290
Cell: 510.910.3129
CALIFORNIA SHAKESPEARE THEATER PRESENTS
ITS FIRST-EVER PRODUCTION BY AUGUST WILSON
WITH THE PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING
FENCES
DIRECTED BY RAELLE MYRICK-HODGES, JULY 6-31
Berkeley, CA – California Shakespeare Theater’s 25th anniversary
season at the Bruns Amphitheater continues with August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning story of the American Dream deferred,
Fences, directed by Raelle Myrick-Hodges in her Cal Shakes debut.
Fences, which plays from
July 6 through July 31, marks
the first time Cal Shakes has presented August Wilson’s work on its
stage. For tickets and information, contact the Cal Shakes Box Office at
510.548.9666 or visit www.calshakes.org
Part of August Wilson’s monumental ten-play
Pittsburgh Cycle, and winner of the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for Best Play,
Fences is the playwright’s “finest and most credible portrait of a relationship between a man and a woman” (New York Times).
Set in 1950s Pittburgh, former Negro League
ballplayer-turned-sanitation worker Troy Maxson and his wife, Rose,
struggle to keep their marriage afloat as Troy battles to retain his
dignity and his family in the face of a rapidly changing America.
“I love Wilson; his work is ironic, painful, and sincere, but until recently, I ‘avoided’ working on it,” says director
Raelle Myrick-Hodges. “It felt to me as if the comment on his
work, coming mostly from white critics and white audiences, forced a
singular perception of the black experience. My mentor (Guthrie Theater
Artistic Director) Joseph Haj enlightened me to
the greatness of Wilson’s writing, so now I feel safe as an artist to
discuss a specific story without having to conjure an entire community’s
idea of black community.
I
have learned so much about myself as a black woman from working on
Wilson—as if the two of us are having our OWN conversation—and ANY
audience is merely over hearing our conversation.
I read what is on the page and feel joyous in serving Wilson, rather than the ‘idea’ of Wilson.”
The cast for
Fences features Bay Area powerhouses Aldo Billingslea as former Negro League ballplayer turned sanitation worker Troy Maxson (Cal Shakes’
Spunk, King Lear, A Winter’s Tale, and Lady Windermere’s Fan), and
Margo Hall as his wife, Rose (Cal Shakes’ A Raisin in the Sun, A Winter’s Tale, and
Spunk), whose enduring strength holds the family together. Also in the cast are
J. Alphonse Nicholson (Seven Guitars, Actor’s Theatre of Louisiana;
The Piano Lesson, Cape Fear Regional Theatre; Autumn Harvest, Lincoln Center Theater) as Cory;
Donald E. Lacy, Jr. (Cal Shakes’ Hamlet: Blood in the Brain and
Alleluia: The Road; Berkeley Rep’s The People’s Temple; The Miles Davis Experience, produced by Columbia Records) as Gabriel;
Guiesseppe Jones (title role in Othello, North Carolina Shakespeare Festival;
Race, CATF; Master Harold…and the Boys, The Weston Playhouse) as Bono;
Lance Gardner (most recently seen as Don Pedro/Ursula in Cal Shakes’ season opener,
Much Ado About Nothing), and Anaiya Asomugha and Kailynn Guidry,
sharing the role of Raynell. Nicholson, Lacy, Jones, Asomugha, and
Guidry are all making their Cal Shakes Main Stage debuts with this
production.
The creative team for
Fences includes set designer Michael Locher, whose previous designs for Cal Shakes
include Spunk and The Winter’s Tale; costume designer Alina Bokovikova,
resident costumer for North Coast Rep, whose work has been seen at The
Old Globe, La Jolla Playhouse, Theatreworks, and San Diego Rep, among
others; lighting designer
Xavier Pierce, whose work has been enjoyed at regional theaters
across the country, including the Guthrie, Long Wharf, Playmakers Rep,
and Arena Stage; and sound designer
Mikaal Sulaiman , an LA-based music producer who has
sound-designed numerous theatrical trailers for the Weinstein Company,
and created the soundscape for Raelle Myrick-Hodges production of
Two Trains Running at the Arden Theatre in Philadelphia.
At the request of director Myrick-Hodges, Cal Shakes worked with Community Partners
Allen Temple Arms and Berkeley Food and Housing Project to
gather a group of local African American women together to share their
stories in response to the character Rose’s journey in the play.
Excerpts of these stories (in addition to portraits
taken by photographer Sonjhai Meggette) will be featured in an
installation at the Bruns.
Born in North Carolina, raised in Washington, D.C. and educated internationally, Raelle
Myrick-Hodges (Director)
is
a graduate of Ealing College of Humanities (London) and the University
of Southern California. Artistically mentored by Mr. George C. Wolfe and
Joseph Haj respectfully, she is
the founder of Azuka Theater in Philadelphia (now in its 20th year) and the former Artistic Director of Brava Theater in San Francisco.
Raelle has
worked with artists such as Geoffrey Arend, Meryl Streep, Jeffrey
Wright, Mos Def, Tony Kushner,
April Mathis, and Keith David among others. Her work as a performance
art creator/curator has been seen at the DeYoung Museum, Red Poppy Art
House, Feroz Gallery (Germany), Theater Minnot (Beirut, Lebanon) and Ami
Gallerie (Paris). As a producer/curator, her
programming ranges from regional artists to high profile
internationally-known ensembles and performers in music, dance and
theater, including artists such as Denis O’Hare, The Rude Mechanicals,
Sam Green, Double Edge Theater, Arturo Sandoval, and Joey Arias
among others. She will present a new collaborative work with Urban Bush
Women this fall and is slated to present works for PACE University and
National Black Theater in the upcoming 2016-2017 season. She is
currently creating a new work with Elephant Room
entitled, “#BLKGRLSINGALONG” to premiere January 2018.
Playwright
August Wilson was born Frederick August Kittel in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, on April 27, 1945. His mother, Daisy Wilson, was of
African-American heritage; his father was a German immigrant named
Frederick Kittel. When his parents divorced, he, his mother
and his siblings moved from the poor Bedford Avenue area of Pittsburgh
to a mostly white suburb in the Oakland section. After facing the
relentless bigotry of his classmates at Central Catholic High School, he
left and at age 15 began to pursue an independent
education at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, where he would earn his
high school diploma. Following his father's death in 1965, a 20-year-old
Frederick Kittel adopted the pen name "August Wilson"—reportedly as
homage to his mother—and declared himself a poet.
He wrote his first notable play, Jitney, in 1979, for which he earned a fellowship at the Minneapolis Playwright Center.
Jitney marked the beginning of his work on a ten-play series, known as
The Pittsburgh Cycle; each play is set in a different decade and depicts aspects of the African-American experience in the 20th century. In 1982
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom was accepted at the Eugene O'Neill
Playwright's Conference; in that same year he was introduced to Yale
School of Drama Dean Lloyd Richards, who went on to direct Wilson's
first six Broadway plays.
Fences premiered on Broadway in 1987, earning the playwright his
first Pulitzer Prize as well as a Tony Award for Best Play. The
remainder of the cycle followed in quick succession:
Joe Turner's Come and Gone (1988), The Piano Lesson (1990), for which he earned his second Pulitzer;
Two Trains Running (1991), Seven Guitars (1994), King Hedley II (2001), and
Gem of the Ocean (2004). August Wilson died of liver cancer on October 2, 2005, in Seattle, Washington. His tenth and final play of the cycle,
Radio Golf, had opened its pre-Broadway run in Los Angeles just a few months earlier.
As part of its commitment to exploring the intersection between theater and civic practice, Cal Shakes is hosting a
Civic Dialogue series, with topics designed to deepen the
connection between the theater’s Main Stage work and its ability to
highlight the voices of marginalized communities through partnerships
with community organizations and presentations by community-based
artists. On July 11 from 5-9pm, Cal Shakes will host “The Construction of Gender: Actualizing Women’s Empowerment” at the
Impact Hub in Oakland; this facilitated dialogue will explore
representation and societal expectations of women, (particularly within
the family structure), and the importance of self-determination in
creating depictions of women that better explore
the intersections of gender and race. This event is free and open to
the public; RSVP online at
http://bit.ly/1U4MqEX.
Single tickets for Fences
range from $20 to $84, with discounts available for seniors,
youth, students, military families, persons age 30 and under, and
groups. Prices, dates, titles, and artists are subject to change. For
information or to charge tickets by phone with VISA,
MasterCard, or American Express, call the Cal Shakes Box Office at
510.548.9666. Additional information and online ticketing are available
at www.calshakes.org.
California
Shakespeare Theater’s 2016 season is supported in part by the
generosity of The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, The James Irvine
Foundation, the
Dean & Margaret Lesher Foundation, The Bernard Osher Foundation,
and The Shubert Foundation. Corporate partners include BART, City
National Bank, John Muir Health, Meyer Sound, Peet’s Coffee & Tea,
and
San Francisco magazine; production partner for August Wilson’s Fences is The Bay’s R&B 102.9 FM KBLX Radio.
Fences is presented by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.
ABOUT CAL SHAKES
California
Shakespeare Theater (Cal Shakes), under the leadership of Artistic
Director Eric Ting and Managing Director Susie Falk, is now in its 42nd
season as
a nationally-recognized leader in drawing on the power of authentic,
inclusive storytelling to create more vibrant communities. Serving more
than 43,000 people annually, Cal Shakes invites people from all walks of
life to make deeply-felt connections with
our shared humanity through its work onstage, in schools, and with
people in non-traditional settings throughout the Bay Area who have
little or no access to theater. Cal Shakes is also proud of its role as
an steward of the protected watershed that houses
its artistic home, the magnificent Bruns Amphitheater; in 2012 the
Bruns became one of the largest solar-powered outdoor professional
theaters in the country. In 2016, Cal Shakes celebrates its 25th anniversary at the Bruns, named “one of the most
beautiful outdoor performing spaces in America” by the Wall Street Journal. For more information, visit
www.calshakes.org.
FAST FACTS ABOUT
AUGUST WILSON’S FENCES
WHAT California Shakespeare Theater’s production of August Wilson’s Fences
WHO Directed by Raelle Myrick-Hodges
Designed
by Michael Locher (set designer), Alina Bokovikova (costume designer),
Xavier Pierce (lighting designer), and Mikaal Sulaiman (sound designer).
Featuring:
Aldo Billingslea, Margo Hall, J. Alphonse Nicholson, Donald E. Lacy,
Jr., Guiesseppe Jones, Lance Gardner, Anaiya Asomugha, and Kailynn
Guidry.
WHEN July 6-July 31, 2016
Previews Jul 6, 7, and 8 at 8pm
Press Opening Jul 9 at 8pm
Tuesdays through Thursdays at 7:30pm
Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm
Saturday Matinee July 30 at 2pm
Sunday Matinees at 4pm
Grounds open two hours prior to show time for picnicking. Café and full bar are available on site.
Press Opening Jul 9 at 8pm
Tuesdays through Thursdays at 7:30pm
Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm
Saturday Matinee July 30 at 2pm
Sunday Matinees at 4pm
Grounds open two hours prior to show time for picnicking. Café and full bar are available on site.
WHERE Bruns Amphitheater, 100 California Shakespeare Theater Way, Orinda, CA 94563
(just off Highway 24 at the California Shakespeare Theater Way/Wilder Rd. exit, one mile east of the Caldecott Tunnel.)
Complimentary shuttle from Orinda BART beginning 2 hours before curtain.
Complimentary parking onsite.
Complimentary parking onsite.
TICKETS
Single tickets range from $20 to $84, with discounts available for
seniors, students, persons age 30 and under, and groups. Cal Shakes
makes
twenty tickets available for $20 on a first-come, first-served basis
for every performance throughout the season. Call Cal Shakes’ Box Office
at 510.548.9666 between noon and 2pm to purchase. Prices subject to
change.
All
tickets are available through the California Shakespeare Theater Box
Office, 701 Heinz Avenue, Berkeley CA, 510.548.9666, online at www.calshakes.org,
or at the Bruns box office on the day of the performance (pending availability).
GROUPS
Groups of 10 or more save $10 off the adult single ticket price;
complimentary ticket available for groups of 15+. For more information,
call
510.809.3290.
INFO
www.calshakes.org
Fences Special Events
First Look, Saturday, July 2, 7-9pm, Bruns Amphitheater
Get
a First Look into the process of creating the production the week
before performances begin. Artistic Director Eric Ting will moderate a
Q&A with the director
and select designers, followed by an opportunity to observe a technical
rehearsal. Free and open to the public; to RSVP call 510.899.4840, or
email
FirstLook@calshakes.org.
Pay-What-You-Can Preview, Wednesday, Jul 6, 8pm
The
first preview of each show is a special Pay-What-You-Can performance.
Tickets are first-come, first-served, and available beginning at 6pm day
of show only;
to purchase, call the Cal Shakes Box Office at 510.548.9666 or visit
the Bruns Amphitheater Box Office. Supply is limited.
Opening Night Post-Show Party, Jul 9, following the performance
Experience the excitement of the opening night performance and then mingle with the cast and creative team at a complimentary post-show party.
Experience the excitement of the opening night performance and then mingle with the cast and creative team at a complimentary post-show party.
Civic Dialogue:
“The Construction of Gender: Actualizing Women’s Empowerment”, Impact Hub in Oakland;
Wednesday, July 11, 5-9pm
Wednesday, July 11, 5-9pm
A
facilitated discussion to explore representation and societal
expectations of women, particularly within the family structure), and
the importance
of self-determination in creating depictions of women that better
explore the intersections of gender and race. This event is free and
open to the public; RSVP online at
http://bit.ly/1U4MqEX.
Open-captioned performance, Wednesday, Jul 13, 7:30pm
Special
seating and opening-captioning for hearing-impaired patrons, who can
read the text and dialogue on a digital screen. Purchase tickets for
section A online
www.calshakes.org or call the Box Office at 510.548.9666. For groups of 10 or more, email
groups@calshakes.org or call 510.809.3290.
Meet the Artists, Sundays, Jul 10 and Jul 24, following the 4pm performance
Audience members enjoy an opportunity to engage in a lively discussion about the production with cast members following select 4pm matinee performances. Free and open to all.
Audience members enjoy an opportunity to engage in a lively discussion about the production with cast members following select 4pm matinee performances. Free and open to all.
InSight Matinee, Sunday, Jul 17, following the 4pm matinee
Explore the world of the play through an informal dialogue with the production’s dramaturg. Free and open to all.
Explore the world of the play through an informal dialogue with the production’s dramaturg. Free and open to all.
Grove Talks, 45 minutes before each performance
Led by resident Grove Talks speakers, these free, informal 20-minute talks are held on site 45 minutes before each and every performance in the ADA-accessible Grove Talk grove, offering invaluable insight into the play and the production.
Led by resident Grove Talks speakers, these free, informal 20-minute talks are held on site 45 minutes before each and every performance in the ADA-accessible Grove Talk grove, offering invaluable insight into the play and the production.
###
Marilyn Langbehn
Marketing and PR Manager
California Shakespeare Theater
510.809.3290
510.809.3290
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MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING
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AUGUST WILSON’S FENCES
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YOU NEVER CAN TELL
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OTHELLO
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May 25–June
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July 6–31
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Aug 10–Sept 4
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Sept 14–Oct 9
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