All the Stage Is a Beach for New Voices

Necessity as the mother of invention has given birth to “The Beach Plays,” an evening of eight short shore pieces to be read today by New Voices Playwrights Workshop.

New Voices, a consortium of local playwrights that meets at the Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse to discuss works in progress, learned a month ago that its planned February reading would be visually enhanced: The stage would be covered with sand for the playhouse’s current production, “Coastal Disturbances,” a play by Tina Howe set on a New England beach.

Faced with the absurd prospect of having actors standing in sand, New Voices founder Christopher Trela set a challenge for the members: Crank out an evening’s worth of plays, no more than 10 or 15 minutes long, that take place at the beach.

They had less than two weeks to come up with the goods, Trela said. The results include “The Naked Truth,” about two guys’ first sortie to a nude beach; and “Hour Glass,” in which a couple argue as they stroll the sand.

Trela’s contribution, “Beach Baby,” features Kimberly Wind, an actress from Newport Beach, who complained that, being pregnant, she wouldn’t get any parts for a while. Trela promised to write one for her: “That gave me an extra challenge: ‘What am I going to do with a pregnant woman on the beach?”

The closing of “Coastal Disturbances” on March 5 will bring a rare opportunity for anyone interested in two tons of free sand.

“If somebody wants to come and take it away, I’m more than happy to let them,” said Lynn Reinert, president of the Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse.

What if there are no takers?

“I haven’t wanted to think about it,” Reinert said.

“The Beach Plays,” presented by New Voices Playwrights Workshop at Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse, 661 Hamilton St. today at 7:30 p.m. $5. (949) 225-4125.

“Coastal Disturbances,” through March 5 at the Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse, 661 Hamilton St. Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m. $10-$12. (949) 650-5269.