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Welcome to Berkeley! 

Don’t forget your student body cards: Flashing one at most of the box offices around Berkeley will give you a significant cut in the cost of a ticket for some of the best live theater productions in the Bay Area. You’ve landed in a place that a distinguished director, Lillian Groag, described as having “a pool of the best actors in the United States.” The local theaters are eager to get you to see what they produce. And most of it is first-rate.  

Naturally, they’re glad to have anybody buy a ticket, but they’re making a specific effort to bring in people from your generation. It’s important enough to them to cut their revenue in order to get you into the theater.  

Sure, theater people are notoriously idealistic but their interest in getting you and your friends to see what they have to offer isn’t all altruism. They want to get you hooked. Maybe you’d better be warned: live theater can be addictive. Once they get you get turned on, there’s a good chance you’ll still be toddling into theaters when every hair you have left has turned white.  

That’s what they have in mind. A while back, theater people woke up to the fact that films and television had taken over the audiences that had supported the theater for centuries. Young people just didn’t think about going to live theater. Theater audiences were aging. If there wasn’t some kind of action, the stage, the whole heart of the dramatic world, was literally going to die along with their audiences.  

Voila! Cheap tickets for students arrived. Some places even have date nights. Bring a party to one of the best theaters around and you’ll get a free ticket. Idea after idea is being developed to encourage younger people to come and enjoy. Believe me, you’re welcome.  

And they very much hope you’ll be coming back for the rest of your life. 

Here’s a brief introduction to the theaters in the immediate area. Berkeley has such an active theatrical scene that it can keep you busy on almost every weekend of the year. In addition to the theaters that will be mentioned here, the UC Department of Theater, Dance & Performance Studies, is offering both Mainstage and Student Workshop productions that will be well worth your time—and won’t kill your pocketbook. The city theaters and the UC departments sometimes draw on each other for their mutual enrichment. This list is limited to theaters outside the campus and within the City of Berkeley. 

The Actors Ensemble of Berkeley 

Actors Ensemble doesn’t need to give a student discount; they charge everybody a flat $10. The oldest group in Berkeley, they will perform in the Live Oak Theater at 1301 Shattuck Ave. (at Berryman) in Berryman Park. Their season will open with “Camping with Henry and Tom” (That’s Thomas Edison and Henry Ford) showing on Friday and Saturday evenings, Oct. 24 through Nov. 22. It’s American history taken the easy way. 

The Aurora Theater 

The Aurora is located at 2071 Addison St., a half-block from the Downtown BART on Shattuck Avenue. Half–price tickets for seniors and students half an hour before performances. There are also free tickets for students for previews. Director Tom Ross says that the theater is definitely developing programs with younger audiences in mind. He is directing “Lobby Hero” which he describes as “an outrageous comedy” playing Nov. 14 through Dec. 21. He expects that it will particularly appeal to that audience. Barbara Oliver, the Artistic Director who is one of the founders of the theater, will direct the UC production of George Bernard Shaw’s “Getting Married” on the weekends of Nov. 14 and 21 at the campus Durham Studio Theatre. 

Berkeley Repertory Theatre 

Berkeley Rep, at 2025 Addison St., next door to Aurora, is a 35-year-old Berkeley institution. It now has two theaters, immediately adjacent to each other: the Thrust Stage, wtih 400 seats, and the Roda Theatre, a 600-seat proscenium theater. Special rates for students and for people under age 30. They also have special “nite/OUT” evenings for Lesbian /Gay/Bisexual/Transgender audiences which includes the performance and a reception with food, drink and music at $43 a ticket. The Rep won a Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre in 1997, and attracts outstanding actors from around the country for their seven annual productions. 

California Shakespeare Theater 

Headquartered in Berkeley, but performing in a beautiful outdoor setting just east of the Caldecott Tunnel, the Bruns Amphitheater is set up to be a terrific evening quite aside from the performance. Look at www.calshakes.org for directions. They provide bus rides to the site for people who take BART. CalShakes includes other plays besides Shakespeare in their season, and provides free lectures, discussions and a multitude of other goodies associated with the current production. Inquire about reduced student rates by calling the box office at 548-9666 or 548-3422. Go early and take your lunch with you. 

Central Works 

In Berkeley, never get the idea that the price of a performance has anything to do with the quality of the production. This group is one of the many who have built their reputation (excellent and innovative) while performing in a room at the Berkeley City Club. They create their own plays by taking ideas from Shakespeare—only the old guy would have trouble recognizing the relationship when they’re through. They frequently have “Pay what you can” performances.  

Impact Theater 

“Impact Briefs 6: Shock and Awe,” a set of short and funny pieces, is now playing at La Val’s Subterranean Theatre—the basement of La Val’s Pizza Restaurant, about half a block up Euclid from UC’s North Gate. Don’t let the location turn you off: lots of the Berkeley theater companies have spent good time there. The company bills itself as “Theatre for People who HATE Theatre” and their target audience is 18 to 35. They say that they’re dedicated to keeping their ticket prices down to the cost of a movie ticket. Try them out at www.ImpactTheatre.com.  

Shotgun Theater 

Right now, Shotgun Theater is producing a smashing production of Brecht’s “Mother Courage”—for free, Saturdays and Sundays in John Hinkle Park at 4:00 p.m. until Sept. 14. (The Sept. 13 performance will be at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts at 2640 College Ave.). Call 704-8210 to find out their pricing policy for the coming season when they’ll settle into the Julia Morgan Center for an extended stay. 

Transparent Theater 

The Transparent Theater is a young and innovative group located at the northeast corner of Ashby Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Way, across the street from the BART parking lot. Thursdays are “Pay What You Can Night.” Their first production for the season is “No Ghost Hamlet” which will play Oct. 17 through Nov. 23. In this production, there is no ghostly material; Hamlet is a woman whose relationship with Ophelia is a lesbian love affair and the whole thing is backed by “a furious rock sound track.” 

Sound innovative enough to you?