Posted April 21, 2009
Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright agrees to direct New England Premiere
Stockbridge, MA – Berkshire Theatre Festival Artistic Director Kate Maguire is pleased to announce that David Auburn has agreed to direct this season’s production of Sick by Zayd Dohrn. Mr. Auburn has been working steadily as a director for both film and the stage since winning the Pulitzer Prize in 2001 for his play Proof. For Sick, he will be working with his fellow Julliard alum Zayd Dohrn in bringing this intriguing black comedy to the stage. This marks Mr. Auburn’s first return to Berkshire Theatre Festival since he worked with the company 13 years ago on a workshop production of his first play, Skyscraper.
On working this season with Mr. Auburn, Ms. Maguire says, “Obviously, getting someone of David’s stature to join us on this relatively new work is a dream come true. David combines both a writer’s sensibilities with a keen directorial eye and is the perfect person to help bring Zayd’s vision to the stage. I’m very excited to see the results.”
Sick is the story of the Krebs family who live in a home on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. This home has been turned into a veritable “clean room” to provide safe haven to the children of the Krebs family, both of whom suffer appear to suffer from severe allergies. But despite Mrs. Krebs’ attempts to protect her family with scrubbers, masks, and isolation, the delicate balance is brought to the breaking point when her husband’s academic career brings a stranger into their safe house. In its New England Premiere, Sick seeps onto the stage as a terrifying family drama filled with dark comedy, mistrust, and shocking realism.
Sick runs on Mondays through Saturdays August 18 through September 6. Show times are Monday, Tuesday and Thursday through Saturday at 8pm, Wednesday at 7pm, with matinee performances on Thursdays and Saturdays at 2pm. There will be no matinee performance on Thursday, September 3 and the show will close with a special matinee on Sunday, September 6 at 2pm. Opening/Press night is August 22 at 8pm.
About Berkshire Theatre Festival
Founded in 1928, Berkshire Theatre Festival is one of the oldest professional regional theatres in the United States and the longest-running theatre in the Berkshires. Now under the helm of Artistic Director and CEO Kate Maguire, BTF presents theatre that matters—world premieres, contemporary works, and classics that speak to who we are in our world today. The Main Stage (408 seats), cataloged by the National Register of Historic Places, was originally designed and built by Stanford White as the Stockbridge Casino in 1888. The mission of BTF’s second stage, the intimate Unicorn Theatre (122 seats), is to provide a home for emerging artists and new theatrical ideas. BTF’s education program, BTF PLAYS!, reaches over 10,000 children annually through school residencies, touring performances, and summer performance training and writing programs. During the summer months BTF opens its doors to over 50 administrative, acting, and technical interns and apprentices. For more information about Berkshire Theatre Festival, please visit www.berkshiretheatre.org.
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