South Coast Repertory's Pacific Playwrights Festival (PPF) will celebrate its 11th annual edition with a lineup composed of seven SCR-commissioned plays from an array of writers. Since its creation in 1998, PPF has grown into one of the most important festivals of new scripts in the United States. This year's Festival will take place during the May 2 through May 4 weekend with a workshop production, four staged readings and two fully-staged World Premieres on South Coast Repertory's two major stages. Tickets to PPF may be purchased online at www.scr.org, by phone at (714) 708-5555 or in person at the SCR box office.
SCR's ten previous Festivals have introduced 57 new plays to the national stage including Amy Freed's
The Beard of Avon,
Lynn Nottage's
Intimate Apparel,
Nilo Cruz'
Anna in the Tropics, Rolin Jones'
The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow and
David Lindsay-Abaire's Pulitzer Prize-winning
Rabbit Hole.
On the eve of the Festival, May 1, Artistic Directors David Emmes and Martin Benson will receive the 2007-08 Margo Jones Medal. The prestigious award honors those who have demonstrated a significant impact, understanding and affirmation of the craft of playwriting, with a lifetime commitment to the encouragement of the living theater everywhere. Previous recipients include Lucille Lortel, Joseph Papp, Zelda Fichandler, Lloyd Richards,
Jane Alexander, Al Hirschfeld, Ellen Stewart, Jon Jory and
Andre Bishop. Representatives of the Ohio State University Libraries and College of the Arts will present the award to Emmes and Benson.
At the center of the 11th Annual Pacific Playwrights Festival are the fully-staged World Premieres of
What They Have by Kate Robin and
The Injured Party by Richard Greenberg, a workshop production of a play by Sharr White and staged readings of plays by Amy Freed, Lauren Gunderson, John Kolvenbach and
Lynn Nottage.
Robin's play
Anon. was commissioned by SCR and presented as part of the theater's 2004 NewSCRipts series. Writer and supervising producer of HBO's
Six Feet Under, her other plays include
Intrigue With Faye,
Swimming In March,
The Light Outside,
Bride Stripped Bare and
Given Away. Chris Fields directs.
Greenberg received the Tony Award for his play,
Take Me Out. South Coast Repertory commissioned and presented the World Premieres of Greenberg's
Hurrah at Last (PPF 1998),
The Violet Hour,
Everett Beekin (PPF 1999),
A Naked Girl on the Appian Way (PPF 2005),
Night and Her Stars,
The Extra Man and
Three Days of Rain (a Pulitzer Prize finalist), and also commissioned
Our Mother's Brief Affair, presented at last year's Festival.
Trip Cullman directs.
PPF veteran Amy Freed returns to SCR with a staged reading of
You, Nero. Her past SCR commissions are
The Beard of Avon (PPF 2001),
Safe in Hell (PPF 2003) and
Freedomland (a Pulitzer Prize finalist). Her other plays include
Restoration Comedy,
The Psychic Life of Savages and
Still Warm. Her plays have been widely produced in the regional theater as well as Off-Broadway. Prizes and awards include the Charles MacArthur Award, the Joseph Kesselring Prize and Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award. Sharon Ott directs.
Lauren Gunderson is represented by a staged reading of
Emilie – The Marquise du Châtelet Defends Her Life at the Petit Théâtre at Cirey Tonight. A playwright, screenwriter, short story author and actor, Gunderson's work has received the Berrilla Kerr Award for American Theatre, Young Playwright's Award and Eric Bentley New Play Award. She has been produced Off-Broadway (
Parts They Call Deep) and Off-Off Broadway (
Sus Manos). Kate Whoriskey directs.
John Kolvenbach's
Goldfish was presented earlier this year as part of SCR's NewSCRipts series. His other plays include
Gizmo Love,
Fabuloso and
The Gravity of Means. Loretta Greco directs.
Lynn Nottage brings her newest work,
By the Way, Meet Vera Stark, to the 2008 Festival. Co-commissioned with CENTERSTAGE, Intimate Apparel (PPF 2002) received numerous awards, including the 2004 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play and the Outer Critics Circle Best Play Award. Her other plays include
Ruined, Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine;
Crumbs from the Table of Joy;
Las Meninas;
Mud, River, Stone;
Por'knockers and
Poof! Her honors include the MacArthur Foundation "Genius Grant" Award. Mark Rucker directs.
Up and coming playwright Sharr White's
Sunlight will receive four workshop performances during the three days of the Festival. His produced plays include
Six Years,
The Dream Canvas,
The Last Orange Dying,
Safe from the Future and
Iris Fields. David Emmes directs.
The Honorary Producers of the Pacific Playwrights Festival are Bette and Wylie Aitken, Pamela and Curtis Reis, Jean and Tim Weiss and Linda and Tod White. The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust supports the Pacific Playwrights Festival and to The Shubert Foundation's grant supports all of SCR's play development efforts.
Coast Magazine is the Media Partner and The Wyndham Orange County Hotel is the Official Hotel of the Pacific Playwrights Festival.
Ticket prices for the 11th Pacific Playwrights Festival range from $12 per individual reading, $20 for the workshop performance and $31-$62 for What They Have and The Injured Party. The festival runs from May 2 through May 4. Tickets can be purchased online at www.scr.org, by phone at (714) 708-5555 or in person at the SCR box office.
South Coast Repertory is located at 655 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa, at the Bristol Street/Avenue of the Arts exit off the San Diego (405) Freeway in the Folino Theatre Center, part of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. Parking is available off Anton Blvd. on Park Center Drive.
CALENDAR: Culture Clash in AmeriCCa (3/16-4/6), NewSCRipts #4 (3/31), What They Have (4/4-5/4), The Injured Party (4/20-5/11), Pacific Playwrights Festival (5/2-4), Taking Steps (5/16-6/15), Imagine (5/30-6/15).
Tony Award-winning South Coast Repertory, under the artistic direction of David Emmes and Martin Benson, is widely recognized as one of the leading professional theaters in the United States. Founded in 1964, SCR is committed to theater that illuminates the compelling personal and social issues of our time, not only on its stages but through its education and outreach programs. While its productions represent a balance of classic and modern theater, SCR is renowned for its extensive new play development program, including the Pacific Playwrights Festival. Of SCR's more than 400 productions, 107 have been world premieres with subsequent stagings achieving enormous success across America and around the world. SCR-developed works have garnered eight Pulitzer Prize nominations with Margaret Edson's Wit winning the prize in 1999 and
David Lindsay-Abaire's Rabbit Hole in 2007. Located in Costa Mesa, California, in 2002 SCR opened the Folino Theater Center, an expanded three-theater complex that includes the 507-seat Julianne Argyros Stage, the 336-seat Julianne Argyros Stage and the 94-seat Nicholas Studio.
