Ott Returns to Berkeley for Three-Actor Crime and Punishment, Opening March 4 | Playbill

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News Ott Returns to Berkeley for Three-Actor Crime and Punishment, Opening March 4 Sharon Ott, former artistic director of Berkeley Repertory Theatre, has been in residence lately at her old Bay Area digs after a 12-year absence. She staged the three-actor version of the sprawling Russian epic, Crime and Punishment, opening March 4 after previews from Feb. 27.

Performances continue to March 29 at the Rep's intimate Thrust Stage. The cast includes J.R. Horne (Porfiry and others), Delia MacDougall (Sonia and others) and Tyler Pierce (Raskolnikov and others).

"I am thrilled to return to Berkeley Rep after 12 years," Ott said in a statement, "and particularly pleased to direct on the Thrust Stage, which is without a doubt one of my favorite theatres in the country. I never do anything halfway — so this season I'll be staging two shows at Berkeley Rep. In addition to Crime and Punishment, I'll be back in May with the premiere production of Amy Freed's farce, You, Nero. I love it that these plays have such different tones and styles, and look forward to sharing that contrast with Bay Area audiences. I'm also enjoying this opportunity to reconnect with some of my favorite local collaborators, including Delia McDougall and Lydia Tanji for this play and Charles Dean and Danny Scheie for Nero."

Of Ott, the Rep's artistic director, Tony Taccone, stated, "Many of our subscribers have been with us since her days at the Theatre, and I know they're eager to see her work again. This script is an elegant and compelling distillation of a complex book, and the perfect challenge for her skills."

One of the world's most influential authors, Fyodor Dostoevsky is best known for "The Brothers Karamazov," "The Idiot" and "Notes from the Underground."

In his Crime and Punishment, now in a 90-minute play by Marilyn Campbell and Curt Columbus, "a police inspector interrogates a man about murder [and] we journey through the mind of a criminal," according to production notes. "What did he do? Why did he do it? And what would you be capable of in certain circumstances? Performed with only three actors, this chamber piece compresses all the tension and pathos of the novel into a powerful evening of theatre." The play's premiere earned Chicago's prestigious Joseph Jefferson Award for Best New Adaptation.

During her 13-year tenure at Berkeley Rep in Berkeley, CA, Ott directed The Ballad of Yachiyo; Heartbreak House; Lady from the Sea; The Tooth of Crime; Twelfth Night; Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992; The Woman Warrior; and Yankee Dawg You Die. She then served as artistic director of Seattle Repertory Theatre for nine years. Ott has also staged plays and operas for Manhattan Theatre Club, Playwrights Horizons, and The Public Theater in New York; South Coast Repertory and the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles; Arena Stage in Washington, DC; the Huntington Theatre Company in Boston; Opera Colorado, San Diego Opera, and Seattle Opera; and many others.

In addition to being an actor and playwright, co-adaptor Marilyn Campbell is the co-founder and artistic associate of the Writers' Theatre in Glencoe, IL. Her other full-length plays include The Beats, The Gospel According to Mark Twain and My Own Stranger. Co-adaptor Curt Campbell currently serves as artistic director of Trinity Repertory Company. Before that, he was the associate artistic director of Steppenwolf Theatre Company, artistic director of the Chicago Park District's Theater on the Lake, and an artistic associate at Victory Gardens Theater. He recently published a volume of translations entitled "Chekhov: The Four Major Plays."

Ott's creative team includes Christopher Barreca (scenic design), Lydia Tanji (costume design), Stephen Strawbridge (lighting design), Cliff Caruthers (sound design) and stage manager Heath Belden.

For tickets or more information, call (510) 647-2949 or toll-free at (888)-4-BRT-TIX or visit berkeleyrep.org.

 
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