Greenberg, Margulies, Rivera, et al. Set for South Coast Rep Festival
South Coast Repertory will present its 10th annual Pacific Playwrights Festival, May 4-6. Six of the seven plays in this year’s festival were commissioned by the company, including new works by Richard Greenberg, Donald Margulies, and José Rivera. Two of the plays, by Julie Marie Myatt and David Wiener, are being presented as full productions in longer runs as part of SCR’s regular season.
Following is a complete list of the plays being presented; for more information, visit www.scr.org or phone 714-708-5555.
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My Wandering Boy, by Julie Marie Myatt; directed by Bill Rauch
The play centers on a young man named Emmett who has gone missing. A great athlete and an exceptional student, he dropped off the radar after college, and now his parents have hired a retired cop to find him.
System Wonderland, by David Wiener; directed by David Emmes
Jerry and Evelyn once made brilliant movies together and even won an Oscar, but that was 10 years ago. Jerry’s producer sends over a film school graduate to help out, but Jerry knows that wunderkind assistants can have ravenous ambitions.
Po’ Boy Tango, by Kenneth Lin; workshop production
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. As these two characters share stories and recipes, they gradually sort out what went wrong 10 years ago, when a life was saved but a friendship was lost.
Shipwrecked! The Amazing Adventures of Louis de Rougemont (As Told By Himself) — An Entertainment, by Donald Margulies; staged reading
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 Margulies’ whimsical new play about a man lost at sea who embarks on an awe-inspiring, 30-year adventure.
Boleros for the Disenchanted, by José Rivera; staged reading
“A man must sin. It’s in our blood.” So says Flora’s fiancé, Manuelo, but Flora will have none of it. She goes away to forget — and the handsome Eusebio arrives to see that she does.
Our Mother’s Brief Affair With David Greenglass, by Richard Greenberg; staged reading
Adult siblings Seth and Abby tend to their elderly mother, who has the habit of playing out periodic deathbed scenes for her children. But this time something is different; Anna has a story to tell about long-ago Saturday afternoons, about escorting young Seth to his viola lessons at Juilliard, and about what she did while he played scales.
An Italian Straw Hat, book and Lyrics by John Strand, music by Dennis McCarthy; staged reading
Based on the classic farce by Eugene Labiche, this 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.
