THE 2007 Pacific Playwrights Festival

South Coast Repertory’s Pacific Playwrights Festival (PPF) celebrates its 10th 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 premiere 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 will take place from May 4 through May 6 and features seven plays during an action-packed weekend:  a workshop production, four staged readings and two fully-staged world premieres on SCR’s two major stages.

Six of the seven plays in the Festival were commissioned by SCR, including new plays by preeminent American playwrights Richard Greenberg, Donald Margulies, José Rivera and John Strand,and two by newcomers David Wiener and Kenneth Lin. The Festival’s seventh offering was contributed by Los Angeles playwright Julie Marie Myatt.

“Nationally recognized as an incubator of major talent,” recently stated The New York Times, “South Coast has mounted an impressive list of acclaimed plays, long before the East Coast establishment got wind of them.” SCR’s nine previous Festivals have introduced 65 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 Rabbit Hole.

READINGS

Shipwrecked! 
The Amazing Adventures of Louis de Rougemont (as Told by Himself) — An Entertainment
by Donald Margulies
directed by Bart DeLorenzo
Friday, May 4 at 1 p.m. on the Julianne Argyros Stage

A dog, a giant octopus, a pickpocket, a crusty old sea captain and a librarian are just a few of the characters in Pulitzer Prize winner Donald Margulies’ whimsical new play. Louis narrates the story of a man (himself!) lost at sea who embarks on a 30-year adventure so inspiring of awe — according to Louis — it will make your pupils dilate and your pulse race. Because it’s about the very nature of artifice and storytelling, Shipwrecked is alternately thrilling, silly, moving — and utterly wonderful. As for believability, that all depends on how imaginative you are.

Boleros for the Disenchanted
by Jose Rivera
directed by Octavio Solis
Friday, May 4 at 3:30 p.m. on the Segerstrom Stage

“A man must sin. It’s in our blood.”  So says Flora’s fiancée, Manuelo, but she will have none of it. Nor is she interested in her mother’s idea that a witch’s spell can make him faithful, or her father’s cheerful proposal to have Manuelo killed. Instead, Flora goes away to forget, and handsome Eusebio arrives to see that she does. Rivera, an Obie Award-winning playwright and Oscar-nominated screenwriter, has poignantly captured the heart of a Puerto Rican family trying to hold onto the old ways while searching for a better life. A story of commitment, faith and how to endure the ravages of time with hope and humor.

Our Mother's Brief Affair
by Richard Greenberg
directed by Pam MacKinnon
Saturday, May 5 at 10:30 a.m. on the Segerstrom Stage

Adult siblings Seth and Abby have reunited to tend to their elderly mother, Anna, who has the 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 long-ago Saturday afternoons, about escorting young Seth to his viola lessons at Juilliard despite his constant protestations… and about what she did while he played scales. A love affair made out of weekly matinees at a small hotel, with a man whose name is synonymous with betrayal. Tony Award-winning playwright Richard Greenberg returns to SCR with his latest urbane comedy of human foibles.

The Italian Straw Hat
book and lyrics by John Strand
music by Dennis McCarthy
directed by Stefan Novinski
Sunday, May 6 at 10:30 a.m. on the Segerstrom Stage

This rollicking new musical follows hapless young bridegroom Fadley as he scrambles through the landscape of turn-of-the-century New York, trying to correct a horrendous misunderstanding that may derail his wedding. It seems Fadley’s horse has eaten a young lady’s hat, and if he can’t find a replacement — today! — all will be lost. But where to find another Italian straw hat?  With flavors of vaudeville, light opera, and even barbershop quartet, Dennis McCarthy’s music lends period pizzazz to John Strand’s felicitous American adaptation of the classic farce by Eugene Labiche.

WORKSHOP PRODUCTION

Po' Boy Tango
by Kenneth Lin
directed by Chay Yew
Friday, May 4 at 7:45; Saturday May 5, at 2:30 and 7:45; and Sunday, May 6 at 2:30 in the Nicholas Studio
(No Late Seating)

Richie Po is an immigrant factory worker, the middle-aged son of a celebrated Chinese chef. Gloria B is an African-American nurse whose specialty is soul food. These two unforgettable characters reunite over a sizzling duck sandwich, and as they share stories and recipes they gradually sort out what went wrong ten years ago, when a life was saved but a friendship was lost. Presiding over all is Richie’s mother, Po Mama, creator of the Great Banquet, who kicks the pants off every television personality who ever stirred a pot of shark fin soup. In life, as in cooking, secret ingredients make all the difference.

FULL PRODUCTIONS

My Wandering Boy
by Julie Marie Myatt
directed by Bill Rauch
March 30 - May 6, 2007

Emmett had it all — but he went looking for something else. For the detective on his trail, only the mystery of Emmett remains, kept alive by those who came under his spell.

System Wonderland
by David Wiener
directed by David Emmes
April 22 - May 13, 2007

It’s the age-old story about the lure of Hollywood. But before Wiener sends his characters out to swim with the sharks, he tears up the formula and starts all over.

INFORMATION

Read more about the Pacific Playwrights Festival.

See the list of play titles presented during previous Pacific Playwrights Festivals.