David Auburn will direct this summer’s production of Sick, by Zayd Dohrn, at the Berkshire Theatre Festival, artistic director Kate Maguire has announced. Mr. Auburn has been working steadily as a director for both film and the stage since winning the Pulitzer Prize in 2001 for his play Proof. For Sick, he will be working with his fellow Julliard alum Zayd Dohrn in bringing this intriguing black comedy to the stage. This marks Mr. Auburn’s first return to Berkshire Theatre Festival since he worked with the company 13 years ago on a workshop production of his first play, Skyscraper.
On working this season with Mr. Auburn, Ms. Maguire says, “Obviously, getting someone of David’s stature to join us on this relatively new work is a dream come true. David combines both a writer’s sensibilities with a keen directorial eye and is the perfect person to help bring Zayd’s vision to the stage. I’m very excited to see the results.”
Sick is the story of the Krebs family who live in a home on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. This home has been turned into a veritable “clean room” to provide safe haven to the children of the Krebs family, both of whom suffer appear to suffer from severe allergies. But despite Mrs. Krebs’ attempts to protect her family with scrubbers, masks, and isolation, the delicate balance is brought to the breaking point when her husband’s academic career brings a stranger into their safe house. In its New England Premiere, Sick seeps onto the stage as a terrifying family drama filled with dark comedy, mistrust, and shocking realism.
Sick runs on Mondays through Saturdays August 18 through September 6. Show times are Monday, Tuesday and Thursday through Saturday at 8pm, Wednesday at 7pm, with matinee performances on Thursdays and Saturdays at 2pm. There will be no matinee performance on Thursday, September 3 and the show will close with a special matinee on Sunday, September 6 at 2pm. Opening/Press night is August 22 at 8pm.