Press Release: Pacific Playwrights Festival

Pacific Playwrights Festival Continues With 3 Digital Readings in May

COSTA MESA, Calif. (May 3, 2021)—South Coast Repertory’s (Artistic Director David Ivers and Managing Director Paula Tomei) annual showcase of new plays by today’s hottest playwrights—the Pacific Playwrights Festival (PPF)—continues in May with three digital readings of new works by Charlie Oh, Shayan Lotfi and Christine Quintana. The festival concludes in June with a final reading. The high-quality film productions of each reading, created with a multi-camera setup, capture the best qualities a traditional play reading. Digital play-reading tickets are $19 per streaming device. Tickets are available online at www.scr.org.

“We’re incredibly excited to share these three plays with SCR audiences—all written by artists who are new to our stages, said Andy Knight, PPF co-director." Coleman ’72 by Charlie Oh is a beautifully realized family road-trip play that meditates on the slipperiness of memory and the fragility of democracy. Shayan Lotfi’s staggering Park-e Laleh brings audiences into an unexpected and unpredictable world as an Iranian immigrant tries to build a new life in London. And Clean by Christine Quintana, set in a Mexican resort, is an elegant and intimate two-character story that looks at the collision of two worlds as it mines the nuances of both language and emotion. All three plays are wildly different from another, but all are equally filling.”

• Streaming May 10-16: Coleman ’72 by Charlie Oh

  Directed by SCR Artistic Director David Ivers; dramaturg Andy Knight
  The story follows a Korean American family as they pile into the Buick for an all-American road-trip: open plains, rickety camper-trailer, kimchi and banchan. But Korean parents and American kids hold conflicting ideas of what they’re looking for when the real purpose of their journey comes to light.

  #PPFPlaywrights is Available Now: In this free, YouTube interview, director David Ivers talks with playwright Charlie Oh about Coleman ’72. https://youtu.be/6kpvl4RgI9A

• Streaming May 24-30: Park-e Laleh by Shayan Lotfi

  Directed by Mike Donahue; dramaturg Andy Knight
  Amir seeks asylum in the U.K. after fleeing persecution in his native Iran, but he’s haunted by what he's left behind. Now he's attempting to settle in a city full of strangers—looking for anything or anyone that might allow him to finally feel at home.

• Streaming May 31-June 6: Clean by Christine Quintana
  Directed by Lisa Portes; dramaturg Anna JenningsTwo women from different worlds meet in the fake paradise of a Mexican resort: Adriana, who works at the hotel, and Sarah, who's there for her sister’s wedding. Torrential rain, a father’s death and the mistakes of a night bring them together … but whatever they have in common, many cultural borders separate them.

Coming in June

Harold & Lillian
book & lyrics by Dan Collins music by Julianne Wick Davis
based on the documentary film by Daniel Raim
directed by Michael Greif
dramaturg: Jerry Patch
Streams: June 21-27
About this play: A musical about the Hollywood romance of storyboard artist Harold Michelson and film researcher Lillian Michelson. Beginning with their elopement after Harold came home from World War II, their marriage spanned six decades—during which they overcame daunting personal challenges and made surprising movie magic.

Bonus Video Features for the 2021 Festival

• #PPFPlaywrights: An offshoot of SCR’s #Commissioned video series, this new video series features the five wordsmiths and one composer who contributed the work included in this year’s festival. Each interview will be available to stream, free, shortly before the release of the reading with which it's associated.
• Samples From the Lab: Available for ticket purchasers, this exclusive video series features excerpts from commissions-in-process by Jane Bruce, Jessica Moss and Caroline V. McGraw. Videos will be released on May 6, May 20 and June 10 and each streams for 11 days.

Festival Ticket Information

Digital play-reading tickets are $19 per streaming device and may be purchased online at www.scr.org or by phone at (714) 708-5555. SCR’s Box Office is open for calls Mondays, noon-5 p.m., and Tuesdays-Fridays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., or emails at [email protected]. More information is available at www.scr.org.

Created in 1998, the Pacific Playwrights Festival has grown into one of the leading festivals of new plays in the country and showcases some of the best new work on SCR’s radar. The festival offerings generate lively conversation, future world premieres and subsequent productions. The previous 22 festivals have introduced such award-winning plays as A Doll’s House, Part 2 by Lucas Hnath, Cambodian Rock Band by Lauren Yee, Vietgone by Qui Nguyen, Marjorie Prime by Jordan Harrison, Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage,Anna in the Tropics by Nilo Cruz, The Language Archive by Julia Cho and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Rabbit Hole by David Lindsay-Abaire.

The Pacific Playwrights Festival Honorary Producers are Sally Anderson and Tom Rogers, Laurie and Steve Duncan, Kristen and Adrian Griggs, Samuel and Tammy Tang, and Linda and Tod White.

The 2021 Pacific Playwrights Festival is made possible with generous support from The Shubert Foundation, the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Elizabeth George Foundation.

The long-term success of PPF is greatly assisted by The Cripe Eberhard Drachman Family Endowment, The Yvonne and Damien Jordan Endowment, The Jean and Tim Weiss Next Generation Endowment and The Tod and Linda White Pacific Playwrights Festival Endowment.

Complete information is available at www.scr.org.