South Coast Repertory’s Pacific Playwrights Festival (PPF) celebrates its 13th annual outing with a lineup of longtime collaborators and new theatrical voices. Since its creation in 1998, PPF has grown into one of the most important festivals of new scripts in the United States. Well known as SCR’s premier showcase for introducing new plays and writers to the national stage, PPF also serves as a gathering place for writers and theatre leaders from across the country to meet and share ideas and interests.
This year’s festival takes place April 23-25 and features seven plays during an action-packed weekend: five staged readings and two fully-staged world premieres on SCR’s two major stages.
The New York Times calls SCR “an incubator of major talent… South Coast has mounted an impressive list of acclaimed plays, long before the East Coast establishment got wind of them.” SCR’s 12 previous festivals have introduced 83 new plays to the national stage, including Amy Freed’s The Beard of Avon, Lynn Nottage’s Intimate Apparel, Nilo Cruz’s Anna in the Tropics, Rolin Jones’ The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow and David Lindsay-Abaire’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Rabbit Hole.
READINGS (play titles link to more information)
COMPLETENESS by Itamar Moses directed by Pam MacKinnon Friday, April 23 at 1pm on the Segerstrom Stage
Megabytes and microbes collide in a 21st-century romantic comedy about the timeless confusions of love.
HAPPY FACE by David West Read directed by Art Manke Friday, April 23 at 3:30pm on the Julianne Argyros Stage
Trying to take care of her kid brother, Poots, Wendy finds her funds dwindling and her prospects bleak — but she’s a spitfire with a plan, and no one should bet against her.
BETWEEN US CHICKENS by Sofia Alvarez directed by Casey Stangl Friday, April 23 at 8pm and Saturday, April 24 at 2:30pm and 8pm in the Nicholas Studio
Two small-town girls new to the L.A. scene — party-girl Meagan and homebody Sarah — find their roles shifting after the arrival of a couch-crashing stranger.
RIGHT TO THE TOP by Amy Freed directed by Doug Hughes Saturday, April 24 at 10:30am on the Segerstrom Stage
Super-architect Gregor Zubrovsky has built monuments to himself in cities all over the world. And you don’t want to mess with him if you know what’s good for you.
KIN by Bathsheba Doran directed by Sam Gold Sunday, April 25 at 10:30am on the Julianne Argyros Stage
Falling in love isn’t simple when an intricate web of family and friends gets tangled up in the proceedings – as Anna and Sean discover in this wry drama about kith and kin.
FULL PRODUCTIONS
THE LANGUAGE ARCHIVE World Premiere by Julia Cho directed by Mark Brokaw March 26 - April 25, 2010
George is a linguist who knows many, many languages; but when his marriage starts to unravel, he suddenly finds himself utterly at a loss for the right words.
DOCTOR CERBERUS World Premiere by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa directed by Bart DeLorenzo April 11 - May 2, 2010
Doctor Cerberus rises from the mists in “Nightmare Theatre,” and 13-year-old Franklin emerges as the season’s most appealing anti-hero.
INFORMATION
Tickets for readings are $12 each. Tickets for full productions range in price from $31 to $65.
Theatre professionals: please contact Kimberly Colburn at 714-708-5841 for industry packages and more information.
The Honorary Producers of the 2010 Pacific Playwrights Festival are Sophie and Larry Cripe, Yvonne and Damien Jordan, John and Sue Murphy, Thomas B. Rogers and Sarah J. Anderson and Linda and Tod White. Special thanks to the Shubert Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, the Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Elizabeth George Foundation.
Coast Magazine is the Media Partner and The Wyndham Orange County Hotel is the Official Hotel of the Pacific Playwrights Festival.
Read more about the Pacific Playwrights Festival.
See the list of play titles presented during previous Pacific Playwrights Festivals.
