Director Wilson Milam's latest project, the Berkeley Repertory production of Patrick Marber's Closer, starts previews May 19 in Berkeley, California. Closer opens May 24 and will run through July 9.

Milam's staging of Killer Joe, by scribe Tracy Letts, played at the Soho Playhouse, and their most recent collaboration, Bugs, ran at Washington, D.C.’s Woolly Mammoth. There, Milam had to face a challenging few weeks of “technical madness” in launching Bugs, especially since that Washington, D.C. opening overlapped with a Chicago opening of Killer Joe.

The West Coast premiere of Closer concludes Berkeley's 32nd season. Set in London, the play is described in production notes as a "touching and unflinchingly honest examination of love and relationships."

The play stars Maggie Gyllenhaal (Homegrown, A Dangerous Woman) as Alice, Andrew Borba (Oregon Shakespeare Festivals' Othello) as Dan, Natacha Roi (understudied her role on Broadway) as Anna and Thomas Schall (Broadway's Art, Ivanov, Hamlet) as Larry. The design team comprises scenic designer Daniel Ostling, lighting designer Peter Maradudin, costume designer Meg Neville and sound designer Matthew Spiro. Stage manager is Michael Suenkel.

Closer premiered in 1977 at the Royal National Theatre in London, first at the Cottesloe Theatre and later at the Lyttelton.

Tickets are $19. Berkeley Rep is located at 2025 Addison Street. For tickets call the Berkeley box office at (510) 845-4700 or toll free at (888) 427-8849.