Berkeley Rep, San Jose Rep announce seasons

Time to start thinking about those season tickets -- or at least cherry picking which shows you're going to make a point of seeing next season.Berkeley Repertory Theatre's 2008-09 season was announced this week. Here's how it shapes up.Yellowjackets by Itamar Moses (left) -- Berkeley native writes about Berkeley High School and the student newspaper. Tony Taccone directs.Joe Turner's Come and Gone by August Wilson -- East Bay resident Delroy Lindo returns to Berkeley Rep to direct the play that earned him a Tony Award nomination.The Arabian Nights by Mary Zimmerman -- Local audiences are getting quite used to the dynamic theatricality of Chicago's Zimmerman, a near-constant in Berkeley Rep's recent seasons. This time out she's zaaaing up the legend of the 1,001 nights.The Vibrator Play by Sarah Ruhl -- The last time director Les Waters was paired with Ruhl, the results were extraordinary. Eurydice turned out to be one of the best nights at the theater in a good long while. Now the director and the fast-emerging writer pair up for a world premiere about six lonely people seeking relief from a local doctor.Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky -- Former Berkeley Rep artistic director Sharon Ott returns to direct Marilyn Campbell and Curt Columbus' 90-minute adaptation of the classic Russian crime novel.The Lieutenant of Inishmore by Martin McDonagh -- The pairing of Waters and McDonagh was exciting last season in The Pillowman. Now Waters sinks his teeth into McDonagh's bloody comedy about a dead cat and the Irish troubles.Yellow Face by David Henry Hwang -- Hwang finally makes his Berkeley Rep debut with a satirical self-portrait of a writer caught in a controversy of his own creation.For information visit www.berkeleyrep.org.And now for San Jose Rep's new season, the final for artistic director Timothy Near.The Foreigner by Larry Shue -- A staple of community theaters everywhere, this comedy involves a rural fishing lodge, mistaken identity and slow-witted rubes.Splitting Infinity by Jamie Pachino -- Nobel prize-winning astrophysicist decides to use physics to prove whether God exists or not.Around the World in 80 Days by Mark Brown (adapted from Jules Verne) -- Adventurer Phileas Fogg embarks on the original version of "Amazing Race" in this streamlined, highly theatrical stage adaptation.The Kite Runner by Matthew Spangler (adapted from Khaled Hosseini) -- A big coup for San Jose Rep, this is the world premiere stage adaptation of the hot, hot novel that has already been turned into a controversial movie.The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee by Rachel Sheinkin and William Finn -- This utterly charming musical was a big hit in San Francisco, and now it makes its way into the regional theater circuit.For information visit www.sjrep.com.