THE 2004 PACIFIC PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL

READINGS

Vesuvius
by Lucinda Coxon
directed by David Emmes
Friday, May 7 at 1pm on the Argyros Stage

At a resort near Naples, the man and woman who share a villa are strangers. They arrived separately, expecting to enjoy peaceful holidays—alone. But their lives become entwined in the shadow of Mt. Vesuvius, where there is a different conception of time. A young man was here once, not so long ago, bringing joy and a zest for life. And yet, like the people of Pompeii, he lived on the brink of disaster. Though their minds shrink from remembering, the man and woman remember: paths never taken, dreams unfullfilled—and the search for love.

The Clean House
by Sarah Ruhl
directed by Bill Rauch
Friday, May 7 at 3:30 pm on the Segerstrom Stage

Mathilda is a Brazilian cleaning woman who likes to tell jokes but hates to clean. She works for a woman doctor who doesn’t have time to clean. The doctor has a sister who loves to clean. Soon the doctor’s home is tidy, but her life is a mess. Her surgeon husband, stricken by bashert, moves out. But everyone needs a cleaning woman. So Mathilda splits her time between homes, where her employers find love and laughter in surprising places.

Singing Forest
by Craig Lucas
directed by Bartlett Sher
Saturday, May 8 at 10:30am on the Segerstrom Stage

Jules Ahmad, the second richest man in the world, has some secrets. Now he’s going on “Oprah” to share them. But the man who appears on the show is not really Jules. He’s hanging out incognito at Starbucks. His problem started with his grandmother, who was psychoanalyzed by Freud in the 1930s. She survived the war in Europe and is still around, seeking anonymity in such places as Alcoholics Anonymous.

Safe as Houses
by Richard Greenberg
directed by Ethan McSweeny
Sunday, May 9 at 11am on the Segerstrom Stage

Doing what he does so deftly, Greenberg dissects social and family mores and finds them both fascinating—and wanting—in this gripping play written in 1998 and substantially revised for the Festival. Rob is invited for a visit to the posh home of his golden-boy college friend, where he becomes both an observer and a participant. But there's something going on behind the genteel facade of privilege and family that will turn order to chaos, and its ramifications won't be fully realized for years to come.

More information on the Pacific Playwrights Festival.