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2010-2011 Season
by Soyia Ellison
The future is here, and it looks a little like the past. But only a little.
South Coast Repertory’s 2010-2011 season will feature three audience favorites from decades past – Misalliance, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Three Days of Rain – along with three Southland premieres and two yet-to-be-named world premieres.
Kicking things off is George Bernard Shaw’s mischievous Misalliance, brought to life by Artistic Director Martin Benson. Benson has a long and lauded history with the works of Shaw; he has won the L.A. Drama Critics Circle’s directing prize three times for his Shaw productions. Stage and screen veteran Dakin Matthews, an SCR regular who recently portrayed Polonious in Hamlet, will play the pivotal role of wealthy underwear magnate John Tarleton.
“Some people hear the name ‘Shaw’ and think ‘intellectual,’” said Benson. “But he is so funny and human.”
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George Bernard Shaw.
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Take this line from Misalliance, for example: "If marriages were made by putting all the men's names into one sack and the women's names into another, and having them taken out by a blind-folded child like lottery numbers, there would be just as high a percentage of happy marriages as we have now."
Would Shakespeare disagree?
Probably not. After all, he gives us a trio of fickle lovers in the comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream (one of whom falls in love with a donkey), and warns us that “the course of true love never did run smooth.”
The imaginative Mark Rucker, who has directed 20 shows at SCR, including the smash hit Much Ado About Nothing, will helm next season’s production, which will star Founding Artists Hal Landon, Jr. and Richard Doyle, among others.
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William Shakespeare.
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Producing Artistic Director David Emmes will direct a revival of Richard Greenberg’s Three Days of Rain, which had its world premiere at SCR in 1997 and went on to be a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. In 2006, Julia Roberts made her Broadway debut in a revival of the play, and James McAvoy received an Olivier Award nomination for his performance in last year’s London revival.
“It’s fair to say that Three Days of Rain is a work of art, a play for the ages,” Emmes said. “In the late 90s, Richard was already an established playwright—we had staged two of his plays, Night and Her Stars and The Extra Man—but when this commission arrived on our doorstep, we knew immediately it was something special. That it has gone on to so many productions is certainly no surprise because it’s one of those plays that will never be dated. It’s of the moment, always, and we all agreed—including Richard—that the moment had come for a major revival. I’m looking forward to directing it this time around.”
SCR’s three Southland premieres all have one thing in common: talented female playwrights.
- Gina Gionfriddo’s Becky Shaw – a 2009 Pulitzer Prize finalist – is a wicked relationship comedy that begins with a blind date that includes a trip to the police station. (Fitting for a play from a woman who writes for “Law and Order.”)
- Annie Baker’s funny Circle Mirror Transformation, about a group of misfits taking an acting class in a small Vermont community center, made such a splash Off-Broadway last fall that it was extended twice.
- And Sarah Ruhl’s In the Next Room, or the vibrator play, which was just named a Pulitzer finalist, drew raves during its Broadway run from Charles Isherwood of The New York Times, who called it “insightful, fresh and funny…a sex comedy … but for adults with open hearts and minds.”
SCR’s artistic staff is still hard at work choosing the plays that will fill the final three slots of next season. At least two of the three will be world premieres that will make their debut during the 14th annual Pacific Playwrights Festival. Watch your e-mail for news on the latest play choices.
And, of course, next season will include the 31st rendition of the holiday classic, A Christmas Carol, starring Hal Landon, Jr. as everyone’s favorite somersaulting Scrooge.
2010-2011 SEASON
SEGERSTROM STAGE
MISALLIANCE
by George Bernard Shaw
directed by Martin Benson
(Sept. 10 – Oct. 10, 2010)
SCR and GBS—a relationship that has wowed theatre audiences with stellar productions and endless awards. Now the fun begins anew, and Shaw is at his mischievous best, turning his sharp wit to the relationship between parents and children. While the elders argue ideas and morals, the younger generation longs for action, adventure, love and independence. Especially Hypatia, who is tired of all the talk and ready for something to happen. Finally it does!
BECKY SHAW
by Gina Gionfriddo
directed by Pam MacKinnon
(Oct. 22 – Nov. 21, 2010)
Like the Victorian upstart Becky Sharp, this modern Becky is unsure, overdressed and socially ambitious. But watch out. She’s no shrinking violet, as the silkily cynical Max soon learns. From their first blind date, which includes an unscheduled visit to the police station, these 30-somethings, along with the newlyweds who set them up, surprise us—and themselves—in a comedy thriller The New York Times called “ferociously funny.”
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM
by William Shakespeare
directed by Mark Rucker
(Jan. 21 – Feb. 20, 2011)
Off go four young lovers into the woods! This revival of a fantastical comedy features the Bard’s most meddlesome—and memorable—character. Yes, Puck will create chaos in the night, but what fun to join in, knowing that by daybreak all will be well in this mystical, moon-drenched masterpiece.
(To Be Announced)
(April 1 – May 1, 2011) A world premiere production will debut as part of the 2011 Pacific Playwrights Festival.
THREE DAYS OF RAIN
by Richard Greenberg
directed by David Emmes
(May 13-June 12, 2011)
The cheering began on opening night of its world premiere at SCR. It never stopped. From New York to theatres across America, from London’s West End to a Broadway revival, audiences knew they were seeing something special. A newly discovered journal, filled with enigmatic entries, recalls Greenwich Village in the early 1960s when two young architects, unaware they’re on the brink of fame, struggle with plans for a major commission. But it’s left to their children, 30 years later, to sort out the mystery behind their lives—and loves. The journey comes full circle when SCR produces this major revival.
HOLIDAY SHOW
A CHRISTMAS CAROL
by Charles Dickens
adapted by Jerry Patch
directed by John-David Keller
(Nov. 27-Dec. 26, 2010) Segerstrom Stage
Recapture the spirit of an old-fashioned Christmas with this timeless Dickens classic and all your favorite characters—Tiny Tim and the Cratchit family, the Fezziwigs, the Ghosts of Christmas past, present and yet-to-come—and, of course, Ebenezer Scrooge himself.
JULIANNE ARGYROS STAGE
IN THE NEXT ROOM
or the vibrator play
by Sarah Ruhl
directed by Casey Stangl
(Sept. 26 – Oct. 17, 2010)
Broadway’s latest mega-hit is set in the Victorian era, just before its corseted women shed their inhibitions. A new electric invention has been introduced to the medical world. Dr. Givings, one of its early champions, marvels at the effect it has on patients suffering from “female hysteria,” while in the adjoining room, his own wife yearns for another kind of intimacy. This funny, tender and illuminating play has generated a buzz of excitement from East Coast to West.
CIRCLE MIRROR TRANSFORMATION
by Annie Baker
directed by Sam Gold
(Jan. 9 – 30, 2011)
Pretend to be a baseball glove. Write down your darkest secret and lie on the floor while someone reads it out loud. Have an entire conversation using only the word “goulash.” Welcome to Marty Kreisberg’s acting class! In a small Vermont town, a divorced and depressed carpenter, a flirty former actress, a pouty 16-year-old, and Marty’s hippie husband are all a bit bored with life and looking for an outlet. But are they ready for what Marty’s exercises reveal about them and their classmates? The New York Times called this comedy triumph “absorbing and sharply funny” in a debut that was extended twice by popular demand.
(To Be Announced)
(March 13 – April 3, 2011)
(To Be Announced)
(April 17 – May 8, 2011) A world premiere production will debut as part of the 2011 Pacific Playwrights Festival.
2010-2011 Theatre for Young Audiences Season
SIDEWAYS STORIES FROM WAYSIDE SCHOOL
adapted from Louis Sachar's Wayside School novels
by John Olive
directed by Anne D’Zmura
(Nov. 5-21, 2010)
The biggest hit of TYA’s inaugural season is back—with sound kabooming and lights kaflashing! The classrooms of Wayside School are stacked one on top of the other thanks to a mistake by the builders—and the craziness only escalates as you climb all the way up to the 30th floor, where witchy Mrs. Gorf is casting spells on her bedraggled students, one by one. But when the kids turn the tables on Mrs. Gorf, their little world only gets stranger in this fast-paced, deliriously funny adaptation of Louis Sachar’s beloved series for young readers. (And remember: Miss Zarves doesn’t exist! There is no nineteenth floor!)
PETER PAN
by J.M. Barrie
adapted for the stage by Douglas Irvine
directed by Art Manke
(Feb. 11-27, 2011)
You’ll swear Peter Pan is flying! The beloved story of the boy who wouldn’t grow up, which has excited and enthralled children for generations, takes off like never before in this highly theatrical and sprightly new adaptation. Fans of Peter Pan (and isn’t that everyone?) will be whisked away into the night with Wendy and Michael to Neverland—and imaginations will soar with them. Of course, they’ll meet Captain Hook and all the rogues, and of course Peter will save them from the evil pirate and get them safely back to bed.
LUCKY DUCK
book by Bill Russell and Jeffrey Hatcher
music by Henry Krieger
lyrics by Bill Russell
director TBA
(May 20-June 5, 2011)
The Ugly Duckling meets “American Idol,” with music by the composer of Dreamgirls! This rollicking riff on a favorite fairy tale begins in the barnyard, where things aren’t going so well for a waterfowl named Serena. She’s got great pipes but is lacking in the looks department, so off she goes to the big city, where she lands a wolf agent and gets a fabulous make-over. But as her journey toward superstardom progresses—with help from her animal friends (including a few that step in from other fairy tales)—Serena discovers that fame is only feather deep.
All selections are subject to change.
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