For the 2024/25 season, I’ve been drawn to stories that lean heavily into comedy as the doorway to explore what it means to engage one’s curiosity, and how that inevitably can lead to unexpected places. As the final choices for the season came together, I was delighted to discover the common theme of Mischief emerging, almost by Magic, binding the season as a cohesive journey of delightful Mayhem. I am also proud to present a program that celebrates the rich relationships between the older and younger generations, which I personally find deeply healing.

If you like to laugh… if you like to be surprised… if you like a little mischief in your life, you won’t want to miss our 57th Season! - Matt M. Morrow, Center REP Artistic Director

The Classic Comedy Deliciously Re-envisioned  

ARSENIC AND OLD LACE  

Written by Joseph Kesselring 
Directed by Matt M. Morrow  

September 8 – 29, 2024   

“Fabulously screwball!” - Chicago Sun Times  

The grandmother of dark comedies gets a mischievous and campy makeover as Artistic Director Matt M. Morrow makes her Center REP directorial debut. Newly engaged theater critic Mortimer discovers his two elderly Aunts are harboring some killer secrets, just as his estranged brother descends upon the family home, upending everything he thought to be true in his life. To save his family, his fiancé, and his own sanity, Mortimer must learn to navigate a new world gone mad… all while trying to make the 8 o’clock curtain. Deliciously macabre, classically winsome, and queerishly delightful, get ready for a new vision for one of theater’s most enduring comedies.

A Solo Musical Adventure

DRAGON LADY  

Written and performed by Sara Porkalob 
Directed by Andrew Russell 
In association with Marin Theatre

October 27 – November 24, 2024  

“Dragon Lady roars with fire and tightens like a coil!”  - San Francisco Chronicle  

Broadway powerhouse Sara Porkalob takes Center REP by storm in her acclaimed one-woman musical adventure!  

On the occasion of her 60th Birthday, Maria Porkalob unspools her mesmerizing origin story to the rapt attention of her granddaughter Sara. In a tour-de-force act of honoring her grandmother’s life and legacy, Sara masterfully embodies countless colorful characters from Maria’s sensational history—from a Manila nightclub teeming with gangsters and lovers, to a Washington state trailer park where the bonds of family are forged. Chauffeured by a wickedly talented live band and Sara’s powerhouse vocals, you’ll be transported by this solo musical adventure that has critics and audiences across the country on their feet!   

The Holiday Classic Returns!  

A CHRISTMAS CAROL 

Written by Charles Dickens  
Adaptation by Cynthia Caywood & Richard L. James  
Directed by Scott Denison    

December 12 - 22, 2024  

Return to bustling Victorian London—and the gloomy office of miserly old Scrooge, who dismisses the cheerful sounds of the holiday season with a “humbug!” When he is visited by three spooky spirits, the curmudgeon is forced to face his past, present, and his potential future, unless he comes to believe the true meaning of family, and the magic of the holiday season. Brimming with carols, music, dance, spectacular special effects and a multigenerational cast of nearly two dozen, Center REP’s annual production has been hailed by critics and audiences alike as “THE Christmas Carol to see in the Bay Area!”

World Premiere of a Graphic Novel Noir Thriller  

FROGGY

Written by Jennifer Haley 
Director of Creative Technology Jared Mezzocchi 
Directed by Matt M. Morrow  

February 9 – March 2, 2025  

Nearly a decade in the making, this sensory-rich rollercoaster of a thriller springs theater into the future in this altogether wild new work from a team of today’s groundbreaking theater-artists.  

It’s 2007, and motion capture “3D” animation has taken the film and video gaming industry by storm. For Froggy, it’s been a year of obsessing over her actor boyfriend’s disappearance. When she discovers clues to his whereabouts embedded in a violent, underground video game, Froggy dives down a deadly rabbit hole to uncover his—and her own—fate. From the brilliantly demented minds of Blackburn Award-winner Jennifer Haley (The Nether, Netflix’s Mindhunter), multimedia artist / Obie Award-winner Jared Mezzocchi (VietGone) and directed by Center REP Artistic Director Matt M. Morrow, Froggy is next generation storytelling, fusing the styles of graphic novels, film noir, and today’s revolutionary virtual media to create a thrilling new theatrical event not to be missed.

East Bay Premiere!   

THE ROOMMATE

Written by Jen Silverman 
Directed by Vanessa Stalling   

March 30 – April 20, 2025  

“Wonderfully sharp. . . well crafted. There’s a lot of fun to be had!” - The Mercury News  

Who says being single, middle-aged, and an empty nester has to be a bummer?   

Now in her mid-50’s—and recently ‘liberated’ from her child and husband—Sharon needs a roommate to share her Iowa home. Robyn, also in her mid-50s, seeks a refuge and a chance to reboot. When the two become roomies and their odd-couple of a friendship deepens, truths emerge, along with hidden talents and secret desires. Part mystery, part comedy and altogether original, this two-hander contemporary classic takes on what it means to be middle aged, middle class, in the middle of America, and how to change it all by throwing caution to the wind.

A World Premiere Musical!  

HAPPY PLEASANT VALLEY:   
A Senior Sex Scandal Murder Mystery Musical 

Book, Music & Lyrics by Min Kahng  
Directed by Jeffrey Lo  
A Co-Production with TheatreWorks Silicon Valley  

June 1 – 29, 2025  

In partnership with TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, celebrated Bay Area composer / playwright Min Kahng (The Four Immigrants) has created a world-premiere musical that explodes everything you thought you knew about being young and successful—and old and horny.  

When internet influencer Jade Park is cancelled online, she seeks redemption by taking on a precarious challenge—helping her rebellious grandmother June, who has the raised eyebrows of many in her senior residential community following a string of mysterious deaths of her lovers. When the body count starts to rise, the pressure is on Jade to solve the mystery and save her grandmother’s (sex) life! This romp of a world-premiere musical explodes the social taboos around aging by celebrating the Boomer spirit and the intergenerational connections that make family worth fighting for.