Berkeley Repertory Theatre Artistic Director Tony Taccone announced that the theatre's upcoming mainstage season will now include the West Coast premiere of Paula Vogel's How I Learned to Drive, replacing Philip Yan Gotanda's premiere of Yohen, and arranging for Athol Fugard's Valley Song to be produced at a theatre San Francisco.

Vogel's How I Learned to Drive will be co-produced with SF's Magic Theatre as the first production of 1998. Gotanda's play, which has received two workshops at the Rep, is being considered for a future production.

Valley Song is now part of the limited-run season and will be staged offsite at San Francisco's Lorraine Hansberry Theatre .

In announcing the program change, Taccone said, "Our decision to alter the original season line up began when we met with Philip last week and he mentioned that it would be his preference to have more time to work on Yohen. Our interest in and the availability of Paula's play coupled with the Magic's strong history with her history with her work made the move a natural."

Gotanda said, "Though I've had two productive workshops and gone through several workable drafts of Yohen, I still feel I haven't found the heart of the piece. And instead of being bound by a production date while feeling this way, I'd rather be patient and take the time to further develop it." Gotanda is in residency at Berkeley Rep and premiered two previous plays there. For more information on the Berkeley Repertory Theatre or the Magic Theatre visit their regional listings on Playbill On-Line.

--By Sean McGrath