Welcome to Aurora’s 28th Season of three Bay Area Premiers, a West Coast Premiere of a recent Broadway hit, a classic comedy from the 1960s and a new O+G Aurora commissioned World Premiere. I think the title of our first play, Exit Strategy is appropriate as this season’s theme. This is my final season of 27 years of building Aurora, as the company’s Artistic Director. Our plays this season do seem to be very specifically about moving from one place to another, whether it be physically, spiritually, professionally or politically.
Apropos to my moving on, I’ve asked incoming Artistic Director, Josh Costello, to direct our opening production as well as curate the second slot.
It’s been a wondrous ride working at Aurora. I’m feeling great about next season; the theatre is in good hands. And I look forward to coming back next year as a director. Onward!
— DC Metro Theatre Arts
Incoming Artistic Director’s Choice
— Time Out New York
WEST COAST PREMIERE
A long-married couple live in a ramshackle cottage near the edge of a nuclear disaster that recalls the 2011 Fukushima catastrophe. Intruding into their somewhat eccentric existence comes Rose, a former co-worker at the power station whose appearance after 30 years is a mystery that will inspire both laughter and an increasing sense of menace. But Rose is on an important mission.
LOOT
AURORA CLASSIC
Hailed as a masterpiece of black comedy farce, Loot follows the fortunes of two young thieves in swinging 60s London. Dennis works for an undertaker and Hal’s old Mum has just died. Having robbed a bank, the lads need a place to stash the loot and Mum’s coffin seems like the perfect place – but where to stash poor Mum? Playing roughhouse with the conventions of popular farce, Orton creates a world gone mad, hilariously examining hypocritical mores still percolating in our current time.
— Huffington Post
THE RULER
AN O+G WORLD PREMIERE
A ruler, a rebel, and a stranger play a three-way game of cat and mouse in a mythical province reminiscent of our own world. In a rapidly changing political landscape, are these players engaged in a friendly chat or a dangerous power struggle? Are they sliding down a slippery slope into fascism, or is this all a game? Who is telling the truth? Known for his plays that probe the layers of reality, Obie Award-winning local playwright Christopher Chen (Caught, Shotgun Players; You Mean To Do Me Harm; SF Playhouse) asks us to question our beliefs about power and authority in this new play specially commissioned by Aurora.
"Local playwright Chen is a talent to keep an eye on." — SF Chronicle
SEX WITH STRANGERS
In this smart, contemporary comedy, twenty-something star sex blogger Ethan tracks down his literary idol, the gifted but obscure forty-ish novelist Olivia. As their initial attraction turns to sex, and they inch closer to finding success, both must confront the dark side of ambition, ageism, sexism, and the trouble of reinventing oneself in the digital age.
— The New York Times