Nilaja Sun has a little cold — nothing serious, but enough to make things difficult if you're facing an audience that's paid good money to hear you.

In the classroom, where this whole "No Child "..." thing started, the kids wouldn't care much if their teacher was a bit hoarse. But now, after being the hottest thing off-Broadway, performing "No Child "..." 600 times and counting, Sun has to watch her voice and everything else.

"It's not necessarily that it's harder (than being a teacher); it's more like after doing 600 shows I have to be kind of a monk when I'm not performing and really have to take care of my voice and health," says Sun, who opened "No Child "..." at Berkeley Rep on Monday for a run that goes through June 1. "I have to be really dedicated to the show. This is definitely the longest I've been in any one show. And every night feels like opening night because it seems like everyone who comes has a different point of view."

The idea, originally anyway, was to write a piece about what it's like in the classroom, Sun's day job for nine years as a teaching artist with the New York City school system. Her friends in the Epic Theatre Ensemble, the stage group she'd been working with for years, urged her to apply for a grant and tell her story in the theater.

So, she did, figuring she'd do a few performances, tell the tale, and resume her regular life of days in the classroom and nights in the theater.

Only it didn't

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turn out that way. The show was an enormous off-Broadway hit, winning numerous awards and launching Sun on a road trip with "No Child "..." that has so far taken her to Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and now Berkeley following its two-year off-Broadway run.

"It's really been quite amazing the amount of support I've gotten in different cities and theaters," says Sun, who remains a bit dumbfounded by the response to the show. "Most of the time, because it seems like my reputation is starting to precede me, my runs are starting to be just about sold out before I arrive, and the people who see the show at first tend to be those who are reading up on theater and new shows. They're usually the type of people who have never walked into a public school or haven't been to one in a long time."

The teachers, on the other hand, begin turning out a couple of weeks after the opening when word gets out and tickets become available.

"It really is different for the teachers," she says. "I think a lot of them see the show, take a deep breath and sort of laugh and cry. For them, it's something more therapeutic."

In publicity for the show, Sun is credited with playing 17 roles, from students and staffers to objects around the school, but she claims the total is only 16.

"But 17 keeps coming up for some reason. I think it's because the classroom is like another character, which makes it a total of 17," she says.

Sun says she plans to take advantage of acting and writing opportunities that have presented themselves since the show opened, but she will always spend time teaching as well.

Reach Pat Craig at 925-945-4736 or pcraig@bayareanewsgroup.com.