The origin story

THE SEVEN MEMBERS of PigPen Theatre Co. — Alex Falberg, Arya Shahi, Ben Ferguson, Curtis Gillen, Dan Weschler, Matt Nuernberger, and Ryan Melia — began making art together as freshmen at the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama in 2007. The group explored resourceful ways of storytelling during the Playground student festival, limiting themselves to their own budgets (i.e., “things lying around our dorm rooms”). After graduating, they made two shows that toured the fringe festival scene, and their breakout show became The Old Man and The Old Moon. That inventive, delightful production won prizes wherever it landed and became a bona fide hit in Chicago and New York. Confronted with the possibility of using more resources now that they found acclaim, PigPen instead dedicated themselves to their minimalistic, handmade aesthetic. Their folky brand of music would stay live onstage, and their plays would remain rife with puppets, flashlights, crates, and sheets. This commitment stems from a core belief for their company: to invite the audience to bring their imagination into the room.

Since The Old Man and The Old Moon, the group has toured exclusively as a band (they shared a bill with Mumford & Sons), made their feature film debut, and created three more shows. During this time, Chris Herzberger, the senior vice president of Universal Theatrical Group, saw a production of PigPen’s and thought they would be the perfect group to adapt Kate DiCamillo’s book The Tale of Despereaux. He proposed the idea, the group said yes with zeal, and they were off to create their first-ever adaptation.

Berkeley Rep has admired PigPen’s zany brand of theatricality from afar, so when we heard that Despereaux was in the works we thought this could finally be our chance to work together. We received script drafts and videos of workshops, and, in the winter of last year, committed to a production. After Despereaux’s summer run at The Old Globe in San Diego, we could not be more excited to bring PigPen’s latest creation to Berkeley.