Thu May 1 - Sun May 18 Eastenders Repertory Company presents 3 Vanek Plays Tel. (510) 568-4118 Website

$15 - $20 Box Office: (510) 568-4118

Description Eastenders Repertory Company returns to the Jewish Community Center of the East Bay with 3 Vanek Plays: Audience, Unveiling, and Protest by former president of the Czech Republic, Václav Havel. Imprisoned for four years by the repressive Communist regime, Havel originally wrote Audience and Unveiling in the mid-1970s to entertain a small gathering of fellow writers, all of whom had their work banned in their native countries. The Vanek plays have since been produced more often and in more countries than any other of Havel’s plays – and been so influential that three of Havel’s fellow playwrights, Pavel Kahout, Pavel Landovský and Jirí Dienstbier, were inspired to write their own Vanek plays around the same central character. Ferdinand Vanek, the fictional protagonist of the trilogy, is Havel’s alter-ego, a 'dissident' playwright. In Audience we see Vanek working in a brewery in a bleakly absurd and comical encounter with his boss, the Brewmaster; in Unveiling we follow our hero as he visits a frighteningly and avidly consumerist, conformist couple; finally, in Protest, Vanek confronts his friend, a successful TV writer, whom he tries to convince to sign a petition renouncing the government. Audience Directed by Susan E. Evans Assistant Director Alexandra Nikolchev Unveiling Directed by Susan E. Evans Assistant Director Jennifer Daly Protest Directed by Gina Baleria at Jewish Community Center of the East Bay 1414 Walnut Street Berkeley, CA Runs: Thurs., May 1, Sat., May 3, Sunday, May 4, Thurs., May 15, Sat., May 17, Sunday, May 18. Plays: Thurs & Sat. at 8:00 p.m. & Sunday evenings at 7:00 p.m., Sun. matinees (May 4, 18) at 2:00 p.m. On Monday, May 5, and Wed., May 7, only: Audience will be presented together with a staged reading of Morass, a Vanek play by Pavel Kohout. The performance will be followed by a moderated discussion about the role, ethical responsibilities and freedoms of the artist in a political context. TICKETS: $20 All Performances; $15 Member, KQED, KTEH, TBA, student and senior discounts. For more information call (510) 568-4118

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