Berkeley Repertory Theatre

In addition to two carryover productions from the 2021/22 season, the world premiere musical "goddess" conceived by saheem ali, music and lyrics by michael thurber, book by jocelyn bioh, and additional material by mkhululi z. mabija and the world premiere play "the ripple, the wave that carried me home" by christina anderson Berkeley rep's 2022/23 season featured six plays, including work from tony - and pulitzer prize-winning artists and two productions developed in the ground floor: Berkeley rep's center for the creation and development of new work. The season opened with u.k. Theatre company wise children's "wuthering heights" adapted and directed by emma rice and was followed by productions of lynn nottage's comedy "clyde's; lauren yee's "cambodian rock band; (continued on schedule o)sanaz toossi's pulitzer prize-winning play "english; jack thorne's adaptation of "let the right one in; and finally "out of character", a world premiere solo show from berkeley-born, tony award-winning actor ari'el stachel. Alongside the mainstage season, Berkeley rep presented comedian jerrod carmichael's new show "ari told me i lack focus and clark young and derek goldman's "remember this: the lesson of jan karski", featuring a tour-de-force solo performance by emmy award winner and academy award nominee david strathairn. In the 2022/23 season, Berkeley rep issued over 104,000 tickets with a steady subscriber base of approximately 8,000. Audience numbers continued to rebound following the pandemic shutdown with a 16% increase over the 2021/22 season in the average number of tickets sold per season subscription production, and attendance for many shows was largely at pre-pandemic levels. The work was further affirmed by enthusiastic community response to the stories featured on stage throughout the season.

Now in its 11th year, the ground floor has grown into a nationally recognized program, served over 800 artists, and been part of the developmental journey of more than 50 projects that have appeared on stages from Berkeley rep to broadway and around the globe. The 2023 ground floor summer residency lab welcomed 95 local and national artists representing 20 projects for an intensive three-week residency to exchange ideas, incubate new theatrical work, and build artistic community around projects vastly diverse in scope and size, including a mix of plays, musicals, devised pieces, and solo performance. The ground floor hosted two workshops for the world premiere of ari'el stachel's solo show "out of character", as well as a four-week workshop in new york for the upcoming musical (continued on schedule o)"galileo", which will have its world premiere in Berkeley rep's 2023/24 season, and continued to support the development work of commissioned artists.through Berkeley rep's new community initiative in dialogue, the organization partnered with 14 community organizations on long-term and production-specific projects. Partners included the sogorea te' land trust, east bay sanctuary covenant, youth radio media, the formerly incarcerated people's performance project, among others. Throughout the season, Berkeley rep teamed up with artists and community partners to host five community dialogues, pre- or post-show dialogues that put audiences in conversation with specialists and leaders on topics related to the production. In dialogue piloted a series of community salons, free pre-show events open to the public and featuring artistic sharings from local arts and community partners that expand on the themes of the production and give voice to community members with lived experiences related to the show.

In 2022/23, the school of Theatre provided comprehensive arts learning opportunities for over 9,500 bay area children, teens, and adults. The school of Theatre introduced ambitious new programs in 2022/23, including the inaugural bay area high school Theatre festival in which 75 students devised and performed original plays; the official launch of dig in, a new digital Theatre access initiative for California schools that engaged more than 5,000 students in over 50 classrooms with free access to performance recordings, curated resource guides, and digital lessons focused on humanities, arts, or steam curriculum; and a pilot of a new transformational arts program in san francisco jails serving individuals in the carceral system with workshops in storytelling and public presentation (continued on schedule o)anchored by a thematically relevant Berkeley rep mainstage production, offered in partnership with performers from the formerly incarcerated peoples performance project.the school of Theatre successfully brought school groups back into Berkeley rep's venues for student matinees, with 1,834 bay area middle and high school students attending 10 performances. In-school residencies served over 1,200 local students with curricula such as story builders, change makers, acting, performance lab, improvisation, and playwriting. Berkeley rep offered 120 onsite classes, followed by popular summer intensives for middle and high school students, with class attendance near pre-pandemic levels with close to 1,100 participants.participation in Berkeley rep's teen council offered varied opportunities for arts learning and engagement curated by teens for teens, led by 14 members of the teen leadership council. Alongside opportunities for teens to engage in digital media, teens participated in free Theatre workshops throughout the season and close to 200 teens participated in five teen nights featuring conversations with actors and directors from the mainstage season.berkeley rep welcomed 13 young professionals (selected from 419 applicants) to the 2022/23 fellowship class. In addition to learning within their assigned department, Berkeley rep fellows met bi-weekly with a different member of the organization's leadership team to gain insight into all aspects of life in a professional Theatre company, and they participated as a group in additional career development opportunities.