Andrew Pang (left) and Keong Sim in a previous production of “After the Quake.”

Hanson Tse tells bedtime stories to Kayla Tucker. Both Sim and Tse will also appear in the Berkeley Rep production.

Novelist Haruki Murakami

BERKELEY — This month, Berkeley is the epicenter of Bay Area drama when Tony Award-winning director Frank Galati brings “After the Quake” to the Berkeley Repertory Theatre.

In the aftermath of the Kobe earthquake, noted Japanese author Haruki Murakami penned a book of stories by this name — and now Galati offers up an inventive adaptation of two of these tales.

Performed on Berkeley Rep’s intimate Thrust Stage, the show begins previews on Friday, Oct. 12, opens Wednesday, Oct. 17, and closes Sunday, Nov. 25.

Showtimes are Tuesdays and Fridays at 8 p.m.; Wednesdays at 7 p.m.; Thursdays and Saturdays at 2 and 8 p.m.; Sundays at 2 and 7 p.m. There will be no performance on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 22, and no matinees during previews or on Oct. 18 and 27 or Nov. 1, 10 and 15.

The executive producers are Bill Falik and Diana Cohen, Wayne Jordan and Quinn Delaney, Marjorie Randolph, Richard A. Rubin and H. Marcia Smolens, and the Strauch Kulhanjian Family. The official season sponsors for Berkeley Rep’s 40th birthday are BART and Wells Fargo.

The official season sponsors for Berkeley Rep’s 40th birthday are BART and Wells Fargo.

“It’s a pleasure to bring this show to Berkeley Rep,” Galati remarks. “Murakami is one of the most dazzling and mysterious writers of fiction in our contemporary world. His vision is at once comic and disturbing. His sense of language is clean, precise, and deeply poetic.

“When we approached Murakami to adapt the book, we couldn’t have predicted that such vast calamities would unfold before our eyes — here in the aftermath of 9/11, Katrina, Rita, and the tsunami, ‘After the Quake’ speaks to the loss of life, the shattering grief, the terrible fear of a world unstable politically, and a planet that seems to be shifting under our feet.”

“I’m really pleased to bring Frank Galati’s staging of Murakami’s remarkable stories to Berkeley Rep,” says Tony Taccone, the theater’s artistic director. “Frank is a director whose work I have long admired. His adaptations for both the film and the stage, which include ‘The Accidental Tourist’ and ‘The Grapes of Wrath,’ remain singular accomplishments.

“It is delightful to watch him train his theatrical insight and expansive imagination on the uniquely magical world of Haruki Murakami.”

Galati earned rave reviews for Broadway’s “Ragtime” and two Tony Awards for “The Grapes of Wrath.” Murakami won Japan’s equivalent of the Pulitzer for novels such as Kafka on the Shore and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. Now the two talents collide in “After the Quake,” which the New York Times called “an elegant, economic, gently hypnotic piece of theater.”

A timid man woos an old flame, enchanting her anxious daughter with whimsical stories of a six-foot frog’s fight to save Tokyo. In this poignant new play, we see that a storyteller can’t dispel the world’s woes, but he can teach a child, and himself, how to face fear.

The Chicago Tribune said, “Murakami’s small gems caught the imagination of adapter-director Frank Galati, who has gracefully intertwined them into a mesmerizing 100-minute theater piece filled with plenty of humor and whimsy … a treatise on how we can travel with our imaginations to new, vibrant territory.”

TimeOut Chicago called the pay "rare —  a comfortable play to watch but a haunting one to remember."

But perhaps the show is best described in the words of one of Murakami’s characters: “I want to write about people who dream and wait for the night to end, who long for the light so they can hold the ones they love. But right now I have to stay here and keep watch over this woman and this girl.”

Murakami became Japan’s most celebrated author after an epiphany at a baseball game convinced him he could write novels. Born in Kyoto in 1949, he grew up in Kobe and studied in Tokyo. His first book, Hear the Wind Sing (1979), won the Gunzou Literature Prize. He followed this success with Pinball 1973 (1980) and A Wild Sheep Chase (1982), earning the Noma Literary Prize for New Writers. These first works are now known as The Trilogy of the Rat.

His subsequent books include Hard-Boiled Wonderland and The End Of The World (1985), Norwegian Wood (1987), Dance, Dance, Dance (1988), South of the Border, West of the Sun (1992), and The Elephant Vanishes (1993).

In the early ’90s, Murakami spent four years in the U.S., teaching at Princeton and writing The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (1994), which won the Yomiuri Literary Prize.

He returned home in 1995, after the Kobe earthquake and the poison gas attack in the Tokyo subway. Murakami responded to these tragedies by interviewing the victims, publishing a non-fiction book known in English as Underground (2000) and the collection of short stories called After the Quake (2002).

Other recent works include Sputnik Sweetheart (1999), Kafka on the Shore (2005), and After Dark (2007).

Murakami’s books have been published in more than 30 languages, and he often translates American authors into Japanese, including titles by Raymond Carver, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and John Irving.

The two stories presented on Berkeley Rep’s stage also appeared in GQ and The New Yorker.

Galati is renowned for transforming literary works into transcendent theater. When he brought “The Grapes of Wrath” to Broadway, he won a Drama Desk Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award, and two Tony Awards, as adapter and director.

He also received a Tony nomination for staging the Broadway hit “Ragtime,” which turned E.L. Doctorow’s novel into a musical.

Galati has earned nine Joseph Jefferson Awards for his work on Chicago stages: five as a director, three as a writer, and one as an actor. He and Lawrence Kasdan were nominated for an Academy Award for the screenplay to Anne Tyler’s Accidental Tourist.

Galati is a member of the Steppenwolf ensemble, an associate director at the Goodman Theatre, and an emeritus professor in the department of performance studies at Northwestern University.

For this production of “After the Quake,” Galati has assembled a cast of “uncommon magnitude,” said the Berkeley Rep.

• Paul H. Juhn (Katagiri/Takatsuki) has numerous New York credits, including “Fuenteovejuna” with the National Asian American Theatre Company; “SIDES: The Fear is Real,” directed by Anne Kauffman at Mr. Miyagi’s Theatre Company; “wAve” at Ma-Yi Theater Company; and “White Chocolate,” directed by David Schweizer at The Culture Project. His regional credits include the Guthrie, La Jolla Playhouse, and Mixed Blood Theatre.

• Keong Sim (Narrator/Frog) performed in “Rashomon” with Pan Asian Repertory Theatre and traveled with that production to the Havana International Theatre Festival. He has also been seen at the Cincinnati Playhouse, Hangar Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Long Wharf, Paper Mill Playhouse, The Public Theater, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, and Steppenwolf.

• Jennifer Shin (Sayoko/Nurse) appeared in Collaboraction’s long-running production of “The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow” and The Artistic Home’s staging of “Savage/Love,” both in Chicago. Her first feature-length film, “Second Moon,” was screened at the 2006 Pusan International Film Festival and the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago as part of the 2007 Asian-American Showcase.

• Hanson Tse (Junpei) has performed off Broadway in “Righteous Babes at P.S. 122,” “Romeo and Juliet” at The Public, and “Zen Junior High” at HERE Arts Center. He appeared in the world premiere of Naomi Iizuka’s “Strike-Slip” at Actors Theatre of Louisville as part of the 2007 Humana Festival of New American Plays, and has also been seen at La Jolla Playhouse, Long Wharf, and Steppenwolf.

Two local children will complete the cast, alternating in the role of Sala: 6-year-old Gemma Megumi Fa-Kaji of Berkeley and 9-year-old Madison Logan V. Phan of Richmond.

The actors are joined on stage by two musicians who perform a dreamlike score on cello and koto.

A member of the Belden String Quartet, Jason McDermott (cello) has provided accompaniment for

“Alice and Hard Times” at Lookingglass Theatre Company, “The Clean House” at Yale Repertory Theatre, “The Dazzle” at Steppenwolf, “The Father” at Writers’ Theatre, “The Passion Play Trilogy” at Arena Stage, “Pericles” at the Shakespeare Theatre Company, “Travesties” at Court Theatre, “Silk” at the Goodman, and “Whitman” at About Face Theatre.

Berkeley Rep audiences will recall the sound of his strings from “The Secret in the Wings.”

Jeff Wichmann (koto) was first introduced to the koto at Augustana College and then studied under koto master Kazue Sawai in Tokyo, earning an advanced koto license from the Sawai Koto Academy. Over the last 20 years, he has played with numerous ensembles at such venues as the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, and Tokyo Museum of Contemporary Art. He also performs with the rock band Tenki.

To give the play a solid foundation, Galati has recruited a team of talented designers. James Schuette (scenic designer) created the costumes for Berkeley Rep’s “Big Love.” His extensive international credits include shows at American Repertory Theatre, Classic Stage Company, Mark Taper Forum, Manhattan Theatre Club, New York Theatre Workshop, New York City Opera, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Playwrights Horizons, Santa Fe Opera, and Seattle Opera.

Mara Blumenfeld (costume designer) returns to Berkeley Rep, where she previously designed Mary Zimmerman’s productions of “Metamorphoses” and “The Secret in the Wings.” Her New York credits include Brooklyn Academy of Music, Circle in the Square, Lincoln Center, Metropolitan Opera, New York Shakespeare Festival, and Second Stage Theatre.

James Ingalls (lighting designer) returns to Berkeley Rep, where he designed “How I Learned to Drive,” “McTeague: A Tale of San Francisco,” “The Revenger,” and “Yellowman.” Locally, he has also worked on shows at American Conservatory Theater, Cal Performances, San Francisco Ballet, and San Francisco Opera.

Theater-lovers can prepare for the quake with 18 special events:

• Target Teen Night begins at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 12, and includes dinner and a behind-the-scenes discussion with a member of the artistic team. Tickets are $8 for members of Berkeley Rep’s Teen Council, $12 for all other teens. Info: (510) 647-2978 or school [at] berkeleyrep.org.

• Opening night festivities on Wednesday, Oct. 17, include a pre-show dinner for donors at Downtown Restaurant and a post-show party for the audience with food from Liaison Bistro and wine from Raymond Vineyards.

• Berkeley Rep’s new book club, led by the theater’s literary manager, Madeleine Oldham, meets at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 26. Read The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle before attending and RSVP to (510) 647-2916 or mspence [at] berkeleyrep.org.

• Free 30-minute docent presentations about the show take place every Tuesday and Thursday at 7 p.m.: Oct. 16, 18, 23, 25 and 30; Nov. 1, 6, 8, 13, 15 and 20. There will be no docent presentation on Thanksgiving, but an extra presentation has been scheduled for Friday, Nov. 23.

• Post-play discussions moderated by theater professionals follow the 8 p.m. shows on Thursday, Nov. 1; Tuesday, Nov. 13; and Friday, Nov. 16.

This year, Berkeley Rep isn’t just shaking things up on stage; it’s also introducing new prices that let more people experience live theater. Each theater is now divided into three seating sections with different prices for each section, as is the case at most venues. These new prices make Berkeley Rep more affordable to people in the community who are just starting school, starting careers, and starting families because lower prices are now available for every performance.

Tickets start as low as $27, and discounts are available for groups, seniors, students, and anyone under 30 years of age.

The Thrust Stage is located at 2025 Addison St., one block from Berkeley’s downtown BART station and close to AC Transit bus lines. The box office is next door at 2025 Addison St. For tickets or information, call (510) 647-2949 or toll-free at 888-4-BRT-Tix, or visit www.berkeleyrep.org.

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