South Coast Rep Playwrights Festival Announces Line-Up

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 PPFmay 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," press notes state. 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.The Pacific Playwrights Festival will also feature a workshop production ofa play by Sharr White and staged readings of plays by Amy Freed, Lauren Gunderson, John Kolvenbach and Lynn Nottage.

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

Tony Award-winningSouthCoast 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 FolinoTheaterCenter, 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.