La Jolla Playhouse Extends SUSURRUS Through 10/23

Due to popular demand, La Jolla Playhouse today announced an extension of its production of Susurrus, the innovative, site-specific piece that launched The Playhouse's new Without Walls (WoW) program. Written by internationally-renowned theatre artist David Leddy, Susurrus will now run at the San Diego Botanic Garden in Encinitas 9:00 am to 4:00 pm Thursdays -- Sundays through October 2 and on the following additional dates: Saturday, 10/8, Sunday, 10/9, Friday, 10/14, Sunday, 10/16, Friday, 10/21, Saturday, 10/22 and Sunday, 10/23. Tickets are $20 and are available online at LaJollaPlayhouse.org or by calling The Playhouse Box Office at (858) 550-1010.

Susurrus - defined as a soft murmuring or rustling sound, such as the sound of wind in the trees - is a unique audio play that has been presented around the world in various garden locations. Audiences experience a subtly woven narrative by listening on iPods, where they'll hear the play unfold while following a mapped route through the San Diego Botanic Garden (SDBG), specifically designed by the playwright. Without actors or stage, Susurrus is part radio play, part avant-garde sonic art and part stroll in the park. The listener hears snippets about opera, memorial benches and botany, which fit together into poignant story of love and loss. Recommended for mature audiences.

One of the major highlights of the 2010 Edinburgh Festival, Susurrus has been described by The Guardian as "a sensual reinterpretation of A Midsummer Nights' Dream with a contemporary edge." The North County Times raved, "La Jolla Playhouse has created a magical, three-dimensional, multisensory world this month with Susurrus...it's a fascinating theatrical adventure that is not to be missed."

"We are delighted that our patrons have embraced our first Without Walls presentation of Susurrus, allowing us to extend its run," said Christopher Ashley. "The partnership forged with the San Diego Botanic Garden has also been extremely rewarding - their staff has worked seamlessly with ours to make this fascinating site-based piece a tremendous success. We couldn't have asked for a better location to launch the WoW program."

The Susurrus experience begins at the San Diego Botanic Garden Visitor Center (230 Quail Gardens Drive, Encinitas, CA) and lasts approximately 90 minutes. Up to six patrons will be admitted every 15 minutes between 9:00 am and 4:00 pm. Each ticket to Susurrus includes admission to the San Diego Botanic Garden; parking is $2.00. Susurrus takes place in all weather (umbrellas will be provided in case of rain); patrons are advised to wear comfortable walking shoes and appropriate outer wear. Please contact the Box Office for accessibility options.
Without Walls is funded by a $900,000 grant from The James Irvine Foundation. Over the next four years, The Playhouse plans to both commission and present a series of additional site-specific productions at locations throughout the San Diego community. These works will be chosen from numerous local, national and international theatre artists and companies, each of whom will be offered residencies and/or performance opportunities through the WoW program. Underscoring the theatre's mission of providing "unfettered creative opportunities for the leading artists of today and tomorrow," coupled with the idea that The Playhouse is defined by the work it creates - not the space in which it is performed - The Playhouse is using this grant to offer theatrical experiences that venture beyond the physical confines of its facilities.

David Leddy is an award-winning playwright and director based in Glasgow, UK. He specializes in work that combines dramatic new writing with elements of performance art and unusual locations ranging from a graveyard to a greenhouse, from a pitch-black cupboard to his own bedroom. He has been described as "Scotland's hottest, edgiest young playwright" by The Sunday Times and a "site-specific genius" by The Scotsman. Leddy's recent work includes Susurrus; White Tea, which took place inside a huge paper box where the audience donnEd White paper kimonos and sipped Japanese tea as the actors performed around them; Sub Rosa, a gothic promenade piece in the backstage labyrinth of a Victorian theatre and Home Hindrance, where an audience of six people moved from room to room in Leddy's own home and found a different actor in each room. Outside Scotland, his work has been shown in London, Amsterdam, Milan, Boston, Buenos Aires and Delhi. Recent prizes include the Edinburgh International Festival Fringe Award, a Herald Angel and a Fringe First.

Set on 37 acres in north coastal San Diego County, the mission of San Diego Botanic Garden, formerly Quail Botanical Gardens, is to inspire people of all ages to connect with plants and nature. The Garden includes nearly 3,500 kinds of plants representing three general plant habitat types: desert collections, Mediterranean collections and subtropical/tropical collections. Demonstration gardens such as the children's garden, "Seeds of Wonder," as well as the Hamilton Children's Garden, the largest interactive children's garden on the west coast, encourage conservation education, focusing on horticultural themes and traditional uses of plants. For more information, visit www.sdbgarden.org.

The James Irvine Foundation is a private, nonprofit grantmaking foundation dedicated to expanding opportunity for the people of California to participate in a vibrant, successful and inclusive society. The Foundation's grantmaking focuses on three program areas: Arts, California Democracy and Youth. Since 1937 the Foundation has provided over $1 billion in grants to more than 3,000 nonprofit organizations throughout California. With $1.6 billion in assets, the Foundation made grants of $65 million in 2010 for the people of California.

 

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