No Child...

Description

With No Child…, Nilaja Sun shines a light on the struggles—and miracles—of America’s public schools. In an incredible solo show, she plays an entire classroom of children, their teachers, their parents, the principal, the janitor and even a security guard with a metal detector at the front door. Sun takes on 17 roles in 70 minutes, transforming her eight-year adventure as a teaching artist into a master class on heartbreak, humor and hope. No Child… proves one passionate person can still make a difference, and this off-Broadway show became the breakaway hit of the year. Critics gave it straight A’s, audiences cheered and Sun won every award you can name. It’s a class act, so don’t leave No Child… behind.

As the breakout hit of the New York theatre season, No Child… graduated with top honors:
* 2007 Obie Award for Distinguished Performances
* 2007 Lucille Lortel Award for Best Solo Production
* 2007 Outer Critics Circle Award for Best New American Play
* 2007 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Solo Performance
* 2007 U.S. Comedy Arts Festival Award for Best Solo Show
* 2007 Theater World Award for Best Debut Performance

Nilaja Sun is so bright you can’t look away. She’s been a teaching artist in the New York public school system for eight years while also writing and performing in numerous off-Broadway shows. She received the prestigious Princess Grace Award for theatre in 2003, and has been inundated with prizes for No Child… as it’s toured Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Washington, DC. In Yoruba, her first name—appropriately enough—means “peacemaker.”

Hal Brooks is renowned for directing powerful solo shows. In fact, his production of Thom Pain (based on nothing) by Will Eno played nearly two years off Broadway, and the play was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. A member of the Directors Lab at Lincoln Center and the former artistic director of Rude Mechanicals Theatre Company in New York, Brooks also staged the off-Broadway premiere of Don DeLillo’s Valparaiso.

“A marvelous performance…touching and funny.”—New York Times

“Theatrically riveting…It’s enough to make the angels weep to watch this caring, committed performance artist recreate her experiences at notoriously bad-news schools…Every kid deserves a teacher like Nilaja Sun.”—Variety

“A couple seasons back, Sarah Jones burst onto the off-Broadway scene with Bridge & Tunnel and raised the proverbial bar for solo shows. Now, with the sensational No Child…, Nilaja Sun has pretty much obliterated it.”—Entertainment Weekly

“Amazing…We see what Sun is saying, and we agree. Art is a different way, often a better way to tap into a child’s soul than rote learning. But of course all the art in the world can’t stop a bullet. And Sun doesn’t shy away from the bullets and the abuse and the neglect of inner-city life…While the 70-minute play doesn’t turn into a political lecture, it’s easy to infer that Sun sees a problem in a system that forces schools to drop classes about the arts in favor of standardized testing…One teacher can make all the difference [and] when the teacher is as good as Nilaja Sun, that pie is pretty delectable.”—National Public Radio

“A 16-character, two-gender, eight-ethnicity extravaganza. Sun transforms nightly into diverse personalities of all ages who form the tempestuous life of a New York City public school…Sun has repeatedly been compared to her idol Robin Williams for her talent for mimicry, and like Williams she harbors her serious side…actors are courting her advice, directors are clamoring to enlist her talents, and teachers—above all—are calling her their savior.”—American Theatre

“Like Lily Tomlin and Whoopi Goldberg in their early work, Sun brings us not her world but the world…An object lesson in what should not be missing from any life curriculum: hope.”—The New Yorker

“Major talents such as Danny Hoch and Jefferson Mays have set this genre’s bar high. But Nilaja Sun takes the art of quick change into hyperspeed with No Child…, her solo show about theater as urban emergency kit…What may sound like a predictable journey from hard knocks to triumph shifts into something electric through Sun’s stunning, disciplined performance.”—LA Times

“Teachers are going to love Nilaja Sun’s one-woman show No Child…”—New York Times

“An unexpected, superb achievement. No Child… is about the difference a single human being can make in the kingdom of the damned. No child left behind? Not while Nilaja Sun is around.”—New York Observer

“There’s nothing like attending one of those rare shows that lights up a stage so much it makes us glad to be alive. It’s what keeps us going back to the theater, even when the pickings are thin, hoping that we’ll stumble across another such gem. If we encounter one or two a season, it’s a very good year.”—Standard Times (Boston)

“Sun doesn’t just shine, she blazes…If you’re seeking a follow-up to Sarah Jones’ brilliant Bridge & Tunnel, this is it. Here’s another multicharacter solo show that shines a warm, welcome light on the city’s margins…a bravura crowd-pleaser.”—New York Newsday

“Virtuosic…intelligent, clear-eyed, and sometimes painfully funny…By reminding us of the actual children who are, for all the rhetoric, getting left behind No Child… reminds us why we simply must do better for this next generation of our fellow citizens.”—Boston Globe

“To call her a virtuoso would be an understatement. She pushes herself to the limit, and the result is not to be missed.”—Boston Herald

“Superbly performed and thoroughly gripping…No Child… is a must-see—especially for teachers, who will understand and appreciate this show best of all.”—Chicago Tribune

“In No Child…, the life altering affect theatre can have on children is thrown center stage.”—BroadwayWorld.com

More Info

Link

http://berkeleyrep.org/season/0708/2729.asp

Call

510.647.2949 (Box Office)