SCR to Present Premiere of Greenberg's OUR MOTHER'S BRIEF AFFAIR

Tony Award-winning playwright Richard Greenberg’s Our Mother’s Brief Affair will receive its World Premiere at South Coast Repertory as part of the theater’s 12th annual Pacific Playwrights Festival.  Commissioned by SCR and directed by Pam Mackinnon, Our Mother’s Brief Affair will run April 3 through May 3, 2009 on the Segerstrom Stage.  Low-priced previews are available from April 3 through April 9.  Opening night is April 10.  Tickets to My Mother’s Brief Affair may be purchased online at www.scr.org, by phone at (714) 708-5555 or in person at the SCR box office.

In Our Mother’s Brief Affair, adult siblings Seth and Abby have reunited to tend to their elderly mother, Anna, who has a habit of playing out periodic deathbed scenes for her children.  But this time something is different.  This time Anna has a story to tell, about a long-ago love affair with a man whose name is synonymous with betrayal.

The prolific playwright will be represented on Broadway twice before the Costa Mesa premiere.  First up is the much-anticipated revival of Rodgers and Hart’s Pal Joey for which Greenberg has written a new book.  Directed by Joe Mantello (Wicked), the musical begins previews begin on Nov. 14.  The New Year begins with the Broadway premiere of The American Plan.  Directed by David Grindley (Journey’s End), the production begins previews on Jan. 2, 2009.

South Coast Repertory commissioned and presented the World Premieres of Greenberg’s The Injured Party, A Naked Girl on the Appian Way, The Violet Hour, Everett Beekin, Hurrah at Last, Night and Her Stars, The Extra Man and Three Days of Rain (Pulitzer Prize finalist).  SCR has also produced his play The Dazzle.  Greenberg’s other plays include Eastern Standard, Jenny Keeps Talking and The Maderati.  A staged reading of Our Mother’s Brief Affair was presented at the 2007 Pacific Playwrights Festival.  Greenberg received the Tony Award for his play, Take Me Out.

Pam Mackinnon recently directed All the King’s Men (Intiman Theatre), the World Premiere production of Edward Albee's Occupant (Signature Theatre Company), John Fugelsang’s All The Wrong Reasons (New York Theatre Workshop) and The Four of Us by Itamar Moses (The Old Globe).  Her other credits include David Mamet’s Romance (Goodman Theatre), Gina Gionfriddo’s After Ashley (Philadelphia Theatre Company) and Bach at Leipzig by Itamar Moses (New York Theatre Workshop).  Other productions include the World Premiere of Edward Albee’s Peter and Jerry (Hartford Stage Company); Yazmina Reza’s LIFEx3 (Alley Theatre); Victor Lodato’s Slay the Dragon (American Conservatory Theater); Edward Albee’s The Play About the Baby (Goodman Theatre); Tina Howe’s Water Music (EST); and the U.S. regional (Alley Theatre) and European (Vienna) premieres of Edward Albee’s The Goat or, Who Is Sylvia?

Our Mother’s Brief Affair is one of two World Premieres to receive full productions during SCR’s nationally renowned Pacific Playwrights Festival which will take place May 1 through May 3, 2009.  The World Premiere of Lauren Gunderson’s Emilie – The Marquise du Châtelet Defends Her Life at the Petit Théâtre at Cirey Tonight will be presented on the Julianne Argyros Stage from April 19 through May 10.  In addition to the two fully-produced plays, the weekend festival showcases five new plays commissioned by South Coast Repertory in readings and workshops and attracts audiences and theater professionals from across the country. 

Orange County Business Journal and KCRW are the Media Partners for My Mother’s Brief Affair.  KOCE-TV is the Segerstrom Stage Season Media Partner.

TICKETS to Our Mother’s Brief Affair can be purchased online at www.scr.org, by phone at (714) 708-5555 or by visiting the box office at 655 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa.  Performances begin on April 3 and continue through May 3.  Ticket prices range from $20 to $64.  Low-priced preview performances are available from April 3-9.  Performance times:  Previews:  Friday, April 3 and Saturday, April 4 at 8:00 p.m.; Sunday, April 5, Tuesday, April 7 and Wednesday, April 8 at 7:30 p.m.; and Thursday, April 9 at 8:00pm.  Regular Performances:  Tuesday and Wednesday evenings at 7:30 p.m.; Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:30 p.m.; and Sunday evenings at 7:30 p.m.  Discounts are available for full-time students, patrons 25 years of age and under, educators, seniors and groups of 15 or more.  There will be a “Pay-What-You-Will” performance on Saturday, April 11 at 2:30 p.m. ($10 Minimum) and an ASL-interpreted performance on Saturday, May 2 at 2:30 p.m.

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, 108 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 Segerstrom Stage, the 336-seat Julianne Argyros Stage and the 94-seat Nicholas Studio.

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