Berkeley Rep docent talks on ‘The Cook’

The Drama Association of Rossmoor (DAOR) will host a post-show conversation by a Berkeley Repertory Theatre docent on Monday, Oct. 12 at 10:30 a.m. in the Performing Arts Studio at Hillside Complex. There is no charge.

The conversation will be about “The Cook,” written by Eduardo Machado and directed by David Mendizábal.

This season, the docent talks will be post-show conversations, designed for both those who have seen a performance of the play and those who have not. Participants will be able to share their reactions to the performance. There will also be general questions about topics presented in the play that apply to residents’ individual lives.

Participants will be able to ask questions and hear from the docents. The docent conversation for “The Cook” will take place the day after the production ends. The conversations for the season’s six other plays will take place during the productions’ runs.

In “The Cook,” an aristocratic Cuban family flees from Havana to Miami on the eve of Castro’s revolution, entrusting their mansion to their devoted cook Gladys, who vows to protect it until their return. For 40 years, she keeps her promise, enduring loss, upheaval and the slow unraveling of a country’s dreams. But when the aristocrats’ daughter returns, Gladys finds she has sacrificed everything for a bond that has been forgotten.

Berkeley Rep Associate Artistic Director Mendizábal (“All My Sons,” “Mexodus”) directs Machado’s sharp, funny and quietly devastating play, where two worlds are held in tension: the life carefully preserved, and the life that had to be lived.

The production, which opened Sept. 4, runs until Oct. 11 at Peet’s Theatre, 2025 Addison St., Berkeley.

For information on the docent program, call Diana Insolio at 1-203-530-1891.