Photo Flash: ELLIOT, A SOLDIER'S FUGUE Begins Performances

Performances have begun for Center Theatre Group's production of "Elliot, A Soldier's Fugue" by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Quiara Alegría Hudes. Directed by Shishir Kurup, the production will open February 3 and continue through February 25, 2018, at the Kirk Douglas Theatre.

The cast for "Elliot, A Soldier's Fugue" includes, in alphabetical order, Rubén Garfias, Peter Mendoza, Jason Manuel Olazábal and Caro Zeller. The creative team includes set design by Sibyl Wickersheimer, costume design by Raquel Barreto, lighting design by Geoff Korf and sound design by John Nobori. The production stage manager is Maggie Swing.

A soldier, like his father and his father's father, 19-year-old Elliot is back from Iraq with a Purple Heart. As he recovers from his injuries and decides whether to return to Iraq, he yearns for a truer connection with his father and considers his own limited options outside the military.

Phoebe Hoban of The New York Times said "'Elliot, A Soldier's Fugue' is that rare and rewarding thing: a theater work that succeeds on every level, while creating something new. The playwright, Quiara Alegría Hudes, who has degrees in music (a bachelor's from Yale) and playwriting (a master's from Brown), combines a lyrical ear with a sophisticated sense of structure to trace the legacy of war through three generations of a Puerto Rican family."

"Elliot, A Soldier's Fugue," the first in a trilogy of plays, is being produced at the Douglas at the same time as Center Theatre Group is presenting the second play in that trilogy, Hudes' Pulitzer-winning "Water by the Spoonful" at the Mark Taper Forum. The Latino Theater Company will present the final installment of the trilogy with their production of "The Happiest Song Plays Last" at the Los Angeles Theatre Center (LATC). Presented all together, the full trilogy gives Los Angeles theatre audiences a rare opportunity to immerse themselves in this exciting playwright's work.

Photo Credit: Craig Schwartz

Peter Mendoza, Ruben Garfias and Jason Manuel Olazabal

Ruben Garfias, Peter Mendoza and Jason Manuel Olazabal

Peter Mendoza

Peter Mendoza

Peter Mendoza and Caro Zeller (background)

Caro Zeller

Ruben Garfias (background) and Jason Manuel Olazabal

Ruben Garfias

Caro Zeller and Jason Manuel Olazabal

Jason Manuel Olazabal and Ruben Garfias

Caro Zeller, Ruben Garfias, Jason Manuel Olazabal and (above) Peter Mendoza