2006-07 Season

Fall 2006

Via Dolorosa
by David Hare
Presented in cooperation with Berkshire Theatre Festival
One week only!
Directed by Anders Cato
Featuring Jonathan Epstein
September 14-17, 2006
Laurie Theater

When writer and director David Hare turned fifty, he embarked on a journey to the fifty-year-old state of Israel. Via Dolorosa is the result of his travels and numerous conversations with politicians and artists, settlers and historians, both in Israel and the Palestinian territory. Hare explores not only the landscapes, ideologies and emotions of the region, but his own values and beliefs, and those of Western civilization. Elliot Norton award winning actor Jonathan Epstein (Berkshire Theatre Festival’s Amadeus and Boston Theatre Works Othello) stars.

The Waiting Room
by Lisa Loomer
Directed by Janet Morrison, faculty member, theater arts
October 12-22, 2006
Laurie Theater

A dark comedy about the timeless quest for beauty—and its cost. Three women from different centuries meet in a modern doctor's waiting room. Forgiveness From Heaven is an eighteenth-century Chinese woman whose bound feet are causing her to lose her toes. Victoria is a nineteenth-century tightly corsetted English woman suffering from what is commonly known as "hysteria." Then there is Wanda, a modern gal from New Jersey who is having problems with her silicone breasts. Husbands, doctors, Freud, the drug industry and the FDA all come under examination. The play is a wild ride through medical and sexual politics, including the politics of the ever-present battle with breast cancer.

The Physician of His Honor
By Pedro Calderon de la Barca
Translated by Dian Fox and Donald Hindley, Brandeis faculty members
Original score by Yoko Nakatani
Directed by Monica Vinao and Eric Hill, chair, theater arts
Nov 9 -19, 2006
Mainstage Theater

One of the most intellectually and emotionally engaging of the Spanish Golden Age (seventeenth century) plays, as well as the most controversial. Taking place during the reign of King Pedro of Castile (1350-1369), it is one of the spectacular 'honour dramas', in which the main characters confront compelling yet conflicting imperatives. The Physician of His Honour is beautiful in its poetry and unsettling in its resolution. For more than 350 years the play and its author have been as fiercely reviled as they have been enthusiastically acclaimed by audiences and readers.

Made possible through generous support from the Poses Foundation.

Spring 2007

Balm in Gilead
By Lanford Wilson Directed by Liz Terry, faculty member, theater arts
Feb 8 - 18, 2007
Laurie Theater

In an all-night coffee shop on New York's upper Broadway, the riff-raff, the bums, the petty thieves, the lost, the desperate of the big city come together. At the core of the play are Joe and Darlene, two young people who would seem to have the strength and the need to transcend the turmoil and ugliness of the life in which they found themselves-but are, instead, crushed by it. But their loss is quickly absorbed in the maelstrom, as the others go on desperately seeking the joy and release and purpose in life which will, most certainly, continue to escape them.

The Dream Project
By Jon Lipsky and the cast
Directed by Jon Lipsky
April 19-29, 2007
Laurie Theater

Using his technique of Dream Enactment, director Jon Lipsky will spend a year working with the actors using their dreams as the source for dramatic material. Dreams will provide an opportunity to work with Imagery, Narrative, Spatial Relations, Connection to Audience and Ensemble Techniques. Mr. Lipsky is the Associate Artistic Director of the Vineyard Playhouse. He has been playwright-in-residence at Boston's TheaterWorks and Lowell's Merrimack Repertory Theatre. His works have also appeared at the American Repertory Theatre, The Berkshire Theater Festival, La Mama ETC, The Missouri Repertory, Theater Emory and other regional theaters. He is professor of acting and playwriting at Boston University. Made possible through generous support from the Herbert and Kim Marie Beigel New Play fund and Jane Paley Price '69 and Larry Price '67.

Second Look Series
During the second weekend of each production, Brandeis Theater Company invites you to attend a post-play discussion, designed to bring you closer to one or more aspects of the play and give you the chance to meet the creators of the show.

Peformance Schedule/Prices:
Thursday Preview at 8pm - $16
Friday Opening at 8pm - $20
Saturday at 8pm - $20
2nd Thursday at 8pm - $18
2nd Friday at 8pm - $20
Saturday Matinee at 2pm - $16
2nd Saturday at 8pm - $20
Sunday Matinee at 2pm - $20