In 2006, Berkeley Repertory Theatre arranged to send four shows from the Bay Area to the Big Apple — now it celebrates the new year with four new plays.

The Tony Award-winning theater will complete its 39th season with the world premiere of “To the Lighthouse,” the West Coast premiere of Neil Bartlett’s “Oliver Twist,” “The Pillowman” from Oscar- and Tony-winning writer Martin McDonagh, and Tanya Barfield’s “The Blue Door,”

“This was a particularly fertile year for those of us at Berkeley Rep,” said Tony Taccone, the theater’s artistic director, “and I’m looking forward to the shows we’ve lined up for the first half of 2007. I’m proud to continue our tradition of presenting the best new voices in American theater, even as we introduce adaptations of great works from the past. It’s an honor to welcome distinguished artists such as Delroy, Tanya, Neil, and Adele to our stage, and to reunite our audiences with the incomparable work of Martin, Paul, and — of course — Les.”

The year begins with a play the New York Times called “a spellbinding stunner”

Get ready for an edgy and enthralling evening when Les Waters tackles the latest shocking script from Martin McDonagh, author of “The Beauty Queen of Leenane” and “Six Shooter.” “The Pillowman” is a darkly funny thriller where the laughs trail into gulps and gasps, a mystery where “whodunit” is the least of your concerns. A man tells creepy stories to entertain his mentally challenged brother — but then grisly murders that mirror these tales slice through town, and two cops come knocking. “The Pillowman” mesmerized audiences during its recent London and Broadway runs.

“To the Lighthouse” is an ambitious adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s visionary novel, a captivating collaboration from Waters, acclaimed composer Paul Dresher and accomplished playwright Adele Edling Shank. Waters combines Shank’s script with a soaring score commissioned from Dresher to create a profound reflection on love, family and the inexorable tide of time. “To the Lighthouse” illuminates the life of a house, where a couple live, argue, love, and endure; where children play, cry and grow up; where a woman paints. She paints the sea. She paints the lighthouse. And, finally, she paints the stage.

 In April, popular actor Delroy Lindo directs Tanya Barfield’s breathtaking script, “The Blue Door,” which wrests an African-American academic out of his ivory tower. After coming to prominence with Broadway performances in “Master Harold and the Boys” and “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone,” Lindo reinforced his reputation with films such as “The Cider House Rules” and “Malcolm X.” Now he directs this powerful play from a promising young writer on Berkeley Rep’s intimate Thrust Stage. When he refuses to attend the Million Man March, a professor finds his personal and professional lives thrown into turmoil. Unable to sleep in the bed abandoned by his wife, he is visited by his ancestors — men who fought to be free, to vote, to obtain justice. “The Blue Door” is a searing examination of family and identity that will resonate with anyone who has ever struggled to live with — or escape — the past.

This season of surprises concludes with a twist — an adaptation of a classic novel from one of Britain’s most innovative theater artists. Inspired by the vivid world of the Victorian music hall, Neil Bartlett’s “Oliver Twist” uses the original language of Charles Dickens’ novel to dramatize one of the most moving stories ever written about childhood. A cast of unforgettable characters brings the underworld of 19th-century London to life, a city teeming with danger and fear, all seen through the eyes of a bewildered child. By turns comic and tragic, musical and dramatic, Bartlett’s “Twist” took London by storm.

“This is Dickens in all his dark, gaudy glory,” exclaimed London’s Daily Telegraph. “I really can’t recommend this show too highly.” Oliver Twist is produced in association with Theatre for a New Audience and American Repertory Theatre, and Berkeley Rep is thrilled to present its West Coast premiere in the Roda Theatre.

Tickets to these shows are priced from $33 to $61 and are on sale now. Discounts are available for students, seniors, groups, UC Berkeley alumni, employees of K-12 schools, and anyone under 30. Berkeley Rep’s box office is open Tuesday through Sunday from noon to 7 p.m. at 2025 Addison St. For tickets or information, visit berkeleyrep.org or call (510) 647-2949 or toll-free at 1.888.4.BRT.Tix.