Written by Laura Wade
Directed by Caroline Clark
Produced by Raven Players @ Raven Theater | May 2025
Behind the gingham curtains, being a domestic goddess isn’t as easy as it looks. Home, I’m Darling is Laura Wade’s dark comedy about sex, cake, and the quest to be the perfect 1950s housewife. The play explores the very human concept of identity, the current rise of the tradwife movement, and our collective nostalgia for “the good old days” which weren’t, of course, quite as good as we may remember. Winner of the 2019 Olivier Award for Best New Comedy.
Directors Notes, May 2025
“When did women decide to give up the world and go back home?”
― Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique (1963)
Welcome home, darling audience! As you settle in, prepare to be transported across the pond, into a meticulously crafted 1950s suburban home in England, the heart of Judy and Johnny's life together. The mid-century design and fashion provide the ideal framework for a seemingly simpler time, while inviting us to explore our complex relationship with the past.
Before we slip back in time, a note about context. Home, I’m Darling premiered in 2018, amid the crest of fourth-wave feminism, marked by the “me too” and “lean in” movements, using social media to advocate female empowerment and women’s efforts to balance career and family. Today, a scant seven years later, the cultural landscape has shifted with the rise of “tradwife” trends and influencers on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, showcasing alluring videos of women in vintage attire embracing homemaking and rejecting the possibility of women “having it all”. And so it is that this play feels even more relevant now than when it premiered, with Judy embodying the essence of a mid-20th-century housewife: struggling to balance domestic ideals with the realities of an ever-changing world.
I hope you enjoy our journey into a deceptively “simpler time” where things are rarely what they seem to be at first glance. The delightfully dark, sharp, and distinctly British humor provides fertile ground for a number of provocative topics to ponder: the complexities of identity, the allure – and limitations – of nostalgia, and the significance of the choices we make in reconciling the past with our present realities.
Thank you for supporting local non-profit live theatre.
Photo Credits: Dennis Whitaker
Written by Lynn Nottage
Directed by Caroline Clark
Produced by Pear Theatre | October-November, 2019
TBA Recommended Production
Synopsis:
As layoffs, promotions and picket lines begin to chip trust away between a group of friends who have spent their lives sharing drinks, secrets and laughs while working together on the factory floor, they find themselves pitted against each other in a heart-wrenching fight to stay afloat.
Winner of the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Photo Credits: Michael Craig
Written by Evan Kokkila-Schumacher
Directed by Caroline Clark
Produced by Pear Theatre | March-April 2019
Synopsis:
Nick and Deanna left Earth 5 years ago on a one-way mission into the cosmos aboard their vessel, Sojourn. As they get further from home, their ship provides the means for survival, but the mission itself and the isolation of space threaten to divide them. This futuristic, yet timely play from the Pear Playwrights Guild explores the fate of humanity in an ever-expanding universe.
Original Score by Charlie Hoyt available here.
“Reality is incredibly larger, infinitely more exciting, than the flesh and blood vehicle we travel in here. If you read science fiction, the more you read it the more you realize that you and the universe are part of the same thing. Science knows still practically nothing about the real nature of matter, energy, dimension, or time; and even less about those remarkable things called life and thought. But whatever the meaning and purpose of this universe, you are a legitimate part of it. And since you are part of the all that is, part of its purpose, there is more to you than just this brief speck of existence. You are just a visitor here in this time and this place, a traveler through it.” ―Gene Roddenberry
Photo Credits: Michael Craig
Written by Douglas Brook
Directed by Caroline Clark
Produced by Silicon Valley Shakespeare | July-August 2018
Director’s Notes | July 2018
You’re about to participate in a sacred oral tradition passed down through generations, floated over an ocean, rolled across prairie trails, and perched amongst coastal redwoods on the modest stage that lies before you. The swashbuckling tale of Robin Hood has drawn audiences and performers alike for almost 800 years. Similar stories of merriment and frivolity, have come and gone. What is it about Robin of Loxley that’s kept the western world intrigued for this long?
Robin and his merry band of outlaws who rob from the rich and give to the poor remind us that a single person can evoke their community to enact change.
As citizens of the Bay Area, we are part of another sacred tradition; one of progress, innovation, and social justice. Our community faces many challenges. Wage disparities, housing shortages, race inequality, and immigration reform are complex issues that can only be resolved by persistent civic engagement.
Our band of merry artists, designers, and volunteers hope that our work inspires you to rally your own band, engage in civic duty, and give back to your community. Volunteer at Second Harvest Food Bank! Build a scrappy lemonade stand and give the proceeds to a charity you hold dear! Register to vote! Donate to a local nonprofit outdoor theatre company with the initials S-V-S ;)
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”
- Margaret Mead
Photo Credits: Evelyn Hunyh
Written by Sarah Ruhl
Directed by Caroline Clark
Produced by Pear Theatre | August-September 2017
TBA Awards Recommended Production
Bay Area Theatre Critic’s Circle Excellence in Theatre Awards
Winner- Overall Production, South Bay
Winner- Costume Design | Kathleen O'Brien
Nominee- Lighting Design | Kedar Lawrence
Nominee- Sound Design | Caroline Clark
Nominee- Principal Actress, Play | April Culver
Nominee- Ensemble
Nominee- Entire Production, Bay Area
Photo Credits: Michael Cruise
Written by Thomas Gibbons
Directed by Caroline Clark
Produced by Pear Theatre | January - February 2017
TBA Awards Recommended Production
Drawing on current research in artificial intelligence, robotics, and the possibility of “downloading” human consciousness as a means of extending the human lifespan, Uncanny Valley charts the relationship between Claire, a neuroscientist, and Julian, a nonbiological human. As Julian is “born” over the course of the play---first his head, then an arm, then both arms and his torso, and finally his legs---Claire educates him in techniques of being as human as possible: mirroring people’s speech, engaging in small talk, playing a musical instrument. Her goal is to overcome the “uncanny valley” effect by which people’s initial fascination with a lifelike artificial human inevitably transforms into revulsion. Their deepening friendship and Julian’s growing “humanity” lead to the revelations of an unhealed sorrow in Claire’s personal life and, ultimately, the purpose for which Julian has been created. The play culminates in an unexpected encounter between them that tests their knowledge of each other and of their own natures. Uncanny Valley explores the painful divide between creator and creation, the inherent unpredictability of consciousness, and how we are redefining what it means to be human in the 21st century.
Photo Credits: Ray Renati and Caroline Clark
Written by Diane Tasca
Directed by Caroline Clark
Produced by Pear Theatre | September-October 2015
World premiere production. Pear Artistic Director Diane Tasca created the stage adaptation of “Night Bus” from a magazine story by Samuel Hopkins Adams. The romantic comedy follows the adventures of rich girl Elspeth (played by Sarah Cook) and poor boy Peter (Drew Reitz), who meet on a bus and travel together, eluding those seeking Elspeth.
Caroline Clark directs “Jericho,” which launches Pear’s 2015-2016 season. Pear’s new space is just blocks away from its former venue and has more than double the capacity.
The ensemble actors in “Jericho” include Dave Sikula, Keith Larson, Stephanie Whigham, Todd Wright and Leslie Newport, all of whom play multiple roles.
Photo Credits: Ray Renati
Written by David Lindsay-Abaire
Directed by Caroline Clark
Produced by Pear Theatre | October-November 2014
Set in the wilds of suburban New Jersey, Kimberly Akimbo is a hilarious and heartrending play about a teenager with a rare condition causing her body to age faster than normal. When she and her family flee Secaucus under dubious circumstances, Kimberly is forced to reevaluate her life while contending with a hypochondriac mother, a rarely sober father, a scam-artist aunt, her own mortality and, most terrifying of all, the possibility of first love.
Photo Credits: Ray Renati
I have experience in all aspects of scenic work including design, construction and dressing. I enjoy creating dynamic spaces that are simple, airy, and showcase the actors and their performances. I work closely with lighting and costume designers to select color palettes that create contrast and visual interest. I believe that thoughtful, character-driven details and purposeful, modest dressing are ways to delight the audience and enhance storytelling.
Scenic Quotes to Live By…
“I can take any empty space and call it a bare stage. A man walks across this empty space, whilst someone else is watching him, and this is all that is needed for an act of theatre to be engaged.”
-Peter Brook
“Everything on the set should be used up, burned up, blown up, destroyed, or otherwise completely chemically altered over the course of the story or else it didn’t belong there to begin with.”
-Romulus Linney
