The Trial of Katharina Kepler: A Staged Reading
Written by Karen Marguerite Caronna
Directed by Neil Harkins
Fri Aug 23, 2024 8:00 PM - 10:30 PM
La Val's Subterranean Theater
Click here for Reservations | Program
In 1621, Johannes Kepler, the father of modern astronomy, is called to his birth town to defend his mother in a trial for witchcraft. As the trial progresses, his own scientific work is called into question as heretical.
Can he save her? Can he save himself? The play resonates with current themes of oppression, oppression of women, retrograde anti-science beliefs, nonsensical but serious accusations.
One night only, Friday, August 23rd at 8 p.m. Free, donations accepted. Limited space available!
La Val's Subterranean , 1834 Euclid Ave, Berkeley, CA 94709, in the basement of La Val's Pizza. Not wheelchair accessible.
Part of Actors Ensemble's 2024 Summer Staged Reading Series, all at LaVal's Subterranean Theatre, presented in conjunction with our Summer 2024 production of Moliere's The Imaginary Invalid, opening August 24th at John Hinkel Park Amphitheater.
With:
JOHANNES KEPLER - Alan Coyne
KATHARINA KEPLER - Joyce Jacobson
EINHORN - Greg Gutting
MAGISTRATE - David Noll
KRAUTLIN/CRISTOPH/VILLAGERS - TBA
URSULA/VILLAGERS - Kimberly Taylor
MARGARET/VILLAGERS - Chloe Wasil
PASTOR BINDER - Joseph Schmitz
Karen Marguerite Caronna is a writer and performer proud to be living in Oakland, California. Karen has performed on films, on stage and in commercials, is a Brady Fellow with 3Girls Theater, and a finalist with Bay Area Playwright's Foundation for the play, Dream of a Marginal Deity. Karen has written short plays performed by local theater groups and theater conferences and published short stories, and in 2016 performed in the Actors Ensemble/Inferno Theatre co-production of King Lear at John Hinkel Park.
Neil Harkins is a playwright & director, who has produced short play readings at Fort Mason and LiveOak Theaters, raising over $2000 for bay-area charities. His play Background Noise was an audience favorite in PCSF PlayOffs 2021, and his full-length plays Epic Western & Robot Intervention received staged readings in the 2022 PCSF Reading Series and Berkeley Rep Playwriting Intensive. He is Assistant Director of the Baldwin Centennial Project's performance Inventory: James Baldwin Abroad during the Summer of 2024.
Actors Ensemble is the longest-running theatre organization in Berkeley, founded in 1957. We aim to produce quality theatre emphasizing the ensemble, with a community flavor.
Image from "The Trial of George Jacobs, August 5th, 1692" , by T. H. Matteson, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=103769189
Other readings in the series:
Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of the Missing Mystery, written and directed by Tyler Scott Null, Tuesday, August 27th, 8 p.m.
Greenwood, written and Ddrected by Stuart Bousel, Friday, August 30th 8 p.m.
