Directed by Daniel Sullivan, performances will begin in February 2016. Casting for the title role will be announced at a later date. McDormand won her Tony Award playing a woman who copes with the effects of losing her job in the 2011 drama Good People.

Berkeley Rep also announced key casting for two other productions. Steven Epp will make his seventh Berkeley Rep appearance in Treasure Island, and award-winning actress Kathleen Chalfant will play the lead role in the West Coast premiere of Sarah Ruhl's For Peter Pan on her 70th birthday. The theatre previously announced the casting of British actress Samantha Barks in the title role in the world premiere of Amélie, A New Musical, set to begin its run in August. “We’re thrilled to have these esteemed and talented artists join us next season,” stated artistic director Tony Taccone. “It’s a compliment to our vision of transformative theatre to have actors of this level of skill, pedigree, and ambition on board to fill these very pivotal roles. Frances is a signature artist whose body of work and commitment to the stage is unparalleled. We’re pleased that she will finally be making her Berkeley Rep debut. Kathleen is a revered actress and I’m elated that she will be returning to our stage in a highly poignant new play. The season wouldn’t be complete without Steven, a Berkeley Rep favorite who is talented in so many ways.”

Epp will portray Long John Silver in Mary Zimmerman’s Treasure Island, which is described as "a visually tantalizing and exhilarating heart-pounding voyage filled with tales of swashbuckling gentlemen o’ fortune, a malicious mutiny, and a deadly quest for fabled buried booty." A co-production with Chicago’s Lookingglass Theatre Company, Treasure Island will start its run in April 2016.

Chalfant will play Kathy, the eldest of five siblings, in For Peter Pan on her 70th birthday. Directed by Les Waters, performances will begin in May 2016. For more information, call (510) 647-2949 or visit berkeleyrep.org.