Welcome

As I contemplate the seven plays that comprise the 2025/26 season, I am struck by the range of families that will be represented on our stages.

Maybe all great theatrical literature is ultimately about families…The ones into which we are born. The ones we choose. The ones for which we are willing to wage wars. The ones for which we forsake our own sense of self. Romeo and Juliet. A Doll’s House. Uncle Vanya. August: Osage County. Topdog/Underdog. Fences. Fool For Love. I’m sure we each have our own list of those that inspired us, horrified us, perhaps motivated us toward a reconciliation. (Or a rupture!)

I first became aware of Jez Butterworth as a writer when his play Mojo had its New York premiere at the Atlantic Theater. It was 1997, and the play, with its all-male cast, spitfire dialogue, and extraordinary performances, took the city by storm. And while the violence of Mojo, especially in the era of Quentin Tarantino et al, created a certain expectation as to the kind of writer Jez Butterworth was, his subsequent plays have allowed us to reckon with the expansive nature of his gifts. From Parlour Song to Jerusalem to The Ferryman, Jez has created some truly titanic characters in recent theatre history. The women at the center of The Hills of California — perhaps especially Veronica and Joan — live alongside the epic mothers and daughters in the canon (Mama Rose, Gertrude, Amanda Wingfield, Ella Tate in Shepard’s Curse of the Starving Class) and certainly hold their own against the male heroes and antiheroes of Butterworth’s other plays.

When I saw the Broadway production last year, the richness of the language, complexity of the relationships, and extraordinary craft of the writing made me want to bring The Hills of California to Berkeley. To do so in partnership with my longtime friend and colleague Loretta Greco, and to welcome her to Berkeley Rep for the first time, is an opportunity for which I am deeply grateful.

Thank you for joining us, and being part of our family.

Warmly,

Johanna Pfaelzer | Artistic Director

Welcome to Berkeley Rep and Jez Butterworth’s The Hills of California. Following its acclaimed London run and transfer to Broadway, where I first had the pleasure of seeing this remarkable play, we are honored to be collaborating with The Huntington for The Hills of California’s first American production and to produce its West Coast premiere. Collaborations like this, known as co-productions, where two or more theatre companies share the costs and efforts of creating a theatre piece that moves between their venues, enable us each to share with our respective audiences work with the scale and ambition of The Hills of California.

This production continues Berkeley Rep’s proud tradition of presenting bold, globally significant plays alongside the most exciting new voices in American theatre. Our 2025/26 season is brimming with stories that entertain, challenge, and inspire. After The Hills of California, you can look forward to the world premiere of Mother of Exiles in the Peet’s Theatre — a sweeping, multigenerational triptych. In the new year, we premiere Jacob Ming-Trent’s autobiographical and music-filled tour de force, How Shakespeare Saved My Life, and welcome back to the Berkeley Rep stage Jimmy Smits and Wanda De Jesús in All My Sons.

A subscription is the very best way to experience all of this — and to support the artistic ambition and community impact that define Berkeley Rep. Subscribers enjoy the lowest ticket prices, the best seats, and flexible exchanges, all while ensuring the theatre you love remains a vital cultural home for the Bay Area. Additionally, subscribers get early and discounted access to our special limited engagement events, like Tony Award-winner Jefferson Mays’ upcoming virtuosic performance of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and beloved humorist and bestselling author David Sedaris’ return in January.

Whether this is your first visit or you have subscribed for years, we are grateful you are here. Thank you for joining us — and I look forward to seeing you throughout this entire season of unforgettable theatre.

Enjoy the show!

Tom Parrish | Managing Director