Carlo Gozzi's The Green Bird, in a production by Minneapolis' Theatre de la Jeune Lune, ends its run at Berkeley Repertory Theatre Oct. 27. This adaptation, different from Lion King director Julie Taymor's which closed this past spring on Broadway, opened Sept. 13 at the Bay Area venue.
A visually dazzling story, The Green Bird tells of twins Renzo and Barbarina, who, on discovering that the sausage seller and his wife who raised them are not their real parents, set off on a magical quest to find their true mother and father. That journey includes singing apples, magical pebbles, statues with attitude and a mystical green bird. Gozzi, know for his fables or fairy stories, penned The King Stag, along with The Love of Three Oranges and Turandot, both sources for the famous operas that followed them.
Theatre de la Jeune Lune's Dominique Serrand directs, as well as designing the set and portraying Brighella. He is joined by Sarah Agnew (Smeraldina), Brian Baumgartner (Tartagliona), Stephen Cartmell (Renzo), Robert Ernst (Calmon), Vincent Gracieux (Tartaglia), Geoff Hoyle (Truffaldino), Michael Edo Keane (the Green Bird), Jenny Lord (Pompea), Rachelle Mendez (Ninetta) and Stacy Ross (Barbarina).
Joining Serrand on the design team are Sonya Berlovitz (costumes), Marcus Dillard (lighting) and Matthew Spiro (sound). The puppets were created by Steven Epp, actor Gracieux and Peggy Snider. Eric Jensen composed and performs the score.
Tickets are $51-$40.50 with $15.99 ticket price for anyone under 30. Berkeley Repertory Theatre is located at 2025 Addison Street. For tickets, call (510) 845-4700. Berkeley Rep is on the web at http://www.berkeleyrep.org.
