Restoration Comedy, Delightful Farce from California Shakespeare Theater
Bruns Amphitheater (100 Gateway Blvd. Orinda, CA 94563)
- Full Price:
- $32.00 - $42.00
- Our Price:
- $16.00 - $21.00*
* Additional fees apply.
All offers for Restoration Comedy have expired.
The last date listed for Restoration Comedy was Thursday July 13, 2006 / 7:30pm.
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More Information About Restoration Comedy
Description
Bay Area favorites Ron Campbell, Sharon Lockwood, and Danny Scheie head the gifted cast of Restoration Comedy.
“I am thrilled to return to the Bay Area with Restoration Comedy,” said director Sharon Ott. “Amy Freed and I became colleagues and friends when I directed her play The Beard of Avon at Seattle Repertory Theater. At that time, we vowed to do something new together, and Restoration Comedy is the result. I am proud that this collaboration will be the first “new play” that Cal Shakes will produce - kudos to Jonathan Moscone for taking his company in yet another bold new direction!”
Outrageously bawdy and verbally sublime, Restoration Comedy is playwright Amy Freed’s giddy romp through the drawing rooms and bedrooms of 17th century England. Mining the colorful wit and sexual intrigue of playwright John Vanbrugh’s The Relapse and Colley Cibber’s Love’s Last Shift, this new romantic comedy shines a humorous light on society and sexuality as lovers, liars, philanderers, and fortune-hunters all play their own versions of the game of love.
Playwright Amy Freed is the author of the play Freedomland, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. An instructor at Stanford University, Freed’s other works, which have garnered Bay Area Critics Circle awards and nominations for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, include Safe in Hell and The Beard of Avon, both of which premiered at South Coast Repertory Theater, The Psychic Life of Savages, Claustrophilia, The Ghoul of Amherst, and Still Warm. Her works have been produced by the Goodman Theater, American Conservatory Theater, Seattle Repertory Theater, Woolly Mammoth, Playwrights Horizons, and Yale Repertory Theater among others.
For the past 21 years Director Sharon Ott has been a leading figure in American theater. She became Artistic Director of Berkeley Repertory Theater in 1984, and during her 13-year tenure developed the company’s reputation for innovative programming, resulting in a Tony Award. In 1997, Ott became Artistic Director of Seattle Repertory Theater, where she developed works for playwrights including Nilo Cruz and Lisa Loomer. Ott’s directing credits include productions at Mark Taper Forum, South Coast Repertory Theater, La Jolla Playhouse, Arena Stage, Playwright’s Horizons, The Public Theater, and Manhattan Theater Club. She is the recipient of several Bay Area Theater Critics Circle and Dramalogue awards, an Elliot Norton Award, and an Obie.
California Shakespeare Theater has assembled an extraordinary ensemble for the Bay Area Premiere of Restoration Comedy. Elijah Alexander makes his debut at California Shakespeare Theater as Loveless in Restoration Comedy. Alexander most recently starred in Garry Marshall’s production of Sleuth at Falcon Theater. In addition, he appeared on Broadway in Metamorphoses, in Tantalus at the Royal Shakespeare Company, and in productions at Yale Repertory Theater, The Old Globe, Berkeley Repertory Theater, and Syracuse Stage. He was seen locally in Much Ado About Nothing at Berkeley Rep.
Caralyn Kozlowski makes her California Shakespeare Theater debut as Amanda, reprising her role from the World Premiere production of Restoration Comedy at Seattle Repertory Theater. Additional stage credits include As You Like It for Connecticut Repertory Theater and the New York Premiere of Murdering Marlowe. Additionally, she has appeared Off-Broadway, and has garnered recurring roles on the daytime dramas “All My Children” and “Guiding Light.”
Bhama Roget reprises her role as Narcissa from the Seattle Repertory Theater production of Restoration Comedy. One of the top comedic talents in Seattle, Roget’s additional Seattle Repertory Theater credits include The Constant Wife and Noises Off; she has also appeared in productions for The 5th Avenue Theater and Seattle Children’s Theater.
Kaleo Griffith makes his debut at California Shakespeare Theater as Worthy. Griffith starred in Man and Superman at Kansas City Rep, directed by Sharon Ott, and was featured opposite Richard Chamberlain in The Stillborn Lover at Berkshire Theater Festival. Film and television roles include Oliver Stone’s “Talk Radio,” the hit NBC dramas “Law and Order” and “Law and Order SVU,” and the daytime dramas “As the World Turns” and “One Life to Live;” Griffith is currently the host of H.G.T.V’s “Look What I Did!,” premiering this August.
Sharon Lockwood returns to California Shakespeare Theater as Hilaria in Restoration Comedy. Lockwood has appeared in All’s Well that Ends Well, Romeo and Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew, and The Skin of our Teeth for the company, and just completed a turn in the World Premiere of Culture Clash’s Zorro in Hell at Berkeley Repertory Theater, where she appeared in Our Town, The Oresteia, The Magic Fire, The Triumph of Love, and many others. Additional regional credits include productions for A.C.T., TheatreWorks, San Jose Repertory Theater, Marin Theater Company, Seattle Repertory Theater, Old Globe, and Initman Theater.
Associate Artist Ron Campbell returns to California Shakespeare Theater as Coupler in Restoration Comedy. A founding member of The Actor’s Gang in L.A., Campbell has appeared in California Shakespeare Theater productions of The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Tempest, The Comedy of Errors, Much Ado About Nothing, and Henry IV. Known for his one-man show R. Buckminster Fuller: The History (and Mystery) of the Universe, Campbell most recently completed a run with Teatro Zinzanni, and starred in the critically lauded Aurora Theater Company production of The Thousandth Night. He has also appeared in productions at Mark Taper Forum, Seattle Repertory Theater, The Old Globe, A.C.T., and Intiman Theater, and is the recipient of a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award, eight Dramalogue awards, four Backstage West Garland Awards, and two Bay Area Critic’s Circle Awards.
Danny Scheie, who appeared in the company’s productions of The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, Romeo and Juliet, and Twelfth Night, returns to California Shakespeare Theater as Sir Novelty Fashion in Restoration Comedy. Scheie has received multiple awards for his work as both an actor and director at Berkeley Repertory Theater, Yale Repertory Theater, Trinity Repertory Company, South Coast Repertory Theater, Pasadena Playhouse, Magic Theater, Marin Theater Company, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, TheaterWorks, Aurora Theatre Company, and Center Repertory Company.
Marcia Pizzo returns to California Shakespeare Theater as Berinthia inRestoration Comedy. For the company, she has appeared in Two Gentlemen of Verona, Merchant of Venice, King Lear and The Tempest. Additional credits include productions at A.C.T., Magic Theater, Marin Theater Company, Theater on the Square, New Conservatory Theater, and Marin Shakespeare Company.
Alexander Alioto returns to California Shakespeare Theater as Young Fashion in Restoration Comedy. Alioto previously appeared in the company’s production of Much Ado About Nothing, Benten Kozo and Cellophane at the Flea Theater in New York, and Off-Broadway in The Basement. Rowan Brooks also returns to California Shakespeare Theater, where he was last seen in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby and The Tempest, as Lory in Restoration Comedy. Previous credits include productions at Pacific Repertory Theater, Shotgun Players, and the Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park. Drea Bernardi; Chad Deverman; Christopher Maikish; Rami Margron; Lisa Price; Kunal Prasad; and Rebecca Martin round out the talented cast.
The creative team for Restoration Comedy includes; Hugh Landwehr (set designer); Russell H. Champa (lighting designer); Anna R. Oliver (costume designer); Eric Drew Feldman (sound designer); Mary Beth Cavanaugh (choreographer); Laura Hope (dramaturg);; Stephen LeGrand (sound designer); Randall Lum (stage manager);; and Lynne Soffer (dialect and text coach).
About the Ticket Supplier: California Shakespeare Theater
The California Shakespeare Theater is committed to being a leading community citizen by nourishing the imaginations of audiences, artists and learners of all ages. We are dedicated to creating boldly imagined and deeply entertaining interpretations of Shakespeare's plays, fresh rediscoveries of important works of World Theater, and new works inspired by classic literature. Through our Artistic Learning programs, we are devoted to providing meaningful and accessible educational opportunities to a diversity of learners throughout the Greater Bay Area.