SCR greets middle age with three lineups

Tom Titus

Back in 1964, a year before starting up operations in Newport Beach

under the name South Coast Repertory, the company now firmly

ensconced at 655 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa had a summer fling

up the coast a ways in Long Beach.

The Actors Workshop, as it was then called, mounted three

productions -- “The Hostage,” “Major Barbara” and “The Alchemist” --

after which it was decided that the group of young and energetic

performers would seek its fortune in our back yard.

Thus, the upcoming slate of SCR plays, which concludes in 2004, is

being dubbed the 40th anniversary season, even though the name South

Coast Repertory won’t actually turn 40 until 2005. This time, they’re

striking out on three separate fronts.

In addition to the six plays announced for the Segerstrom Stage

and five more penciled in for the Julianne Argyros Stage, SCR has

reached out to its future subscribers with a three-show program

called Theater for Young Audiences, also to be presented on the

Argyros Stage.

The 2003-04 lineup includes a world premiere by Amy Freed (who

wrote “Freedomland” and “The Beard of Avon” for SCR); a new work from

Nilo Cruz (author of “Two Sisters and a Piano,” who just won a

Pulitzer Prize for his body of work), and revivals of some certified

“oldies” -- Sophocles’ “Antigone” and Edmond Rostand’s “Cyrano de

Bergerac.”

David Emmes and Martin Benson, who founded the company and remain

its artistic directors, are calling the upcoming season their most

ambitious to date. It will require a company of more than 100 actors

and as many as 50 designers.

“With the completion of the Folino Theater Center and an infusion

of new enhancement funds from several foundations, as well as SCR’s

expanded endowment, South Coast Repertory has entered the most

exciting -- and most productive -- era in its history,” Emmes

declared.

The Segerstrom Stage Season launches the new schedule with “The

Last Night of Ballyhoo” by Alfred Uhry, directed by Warner Shook

(Sept. 5 to Oct. 5). Next is Ted Tally’s “Terra Nova,” directed by

Benson (Oct. 17 to Nov. 16). The 21st edition of “A Christmas Carol”

is booked for Nov. 29 to Dec. 27.

“Antigone,” directed by Kate Whoriskey, opens Jan. 30 and will run

through Feb. 29, followed by the premiere of Freed’s “Safe in Hell,”

directed by Emmes (April 9 to May 9), and “Cyrano,” directed by Mark

Rucker (May 28 to June 27).

The Argyros Stage season will open Oct. 3 with the West Coast

premiere of Cruz’s “Anna in the Tropics,” directed by Juliette

Carrillo (Oct. 3 to 19). Marcos Loya’s “La Posada Magia” will be back

for its 10th anniversary staging Dec. 9 to 24. A new (or at least

unfamiliar) play, John Strand’s “Lovers and Executioners,” gets the

new year under way at the Argyros under Bill Rauch’s direction (Jan.

9 to 25).

An SCR favorite playwright, Alan Ayckbourn, will again be

represented, this time by “Intimate Exchanges,” directed by Benson

(March 12 to 28). Not to be confused with SCR’s latest offering,

“Intimate Apparel,” opening this weekend, “Intimate Exchanges” is a

circuitous comedy first staged by SCR in 1993. The theater will bring

back its two stars of that show, Richard Doyle and Kandis Chappell,

for the new version.

The final Argyros Stage production (April 25 to May 16), a new

play that will be part of the Pacific Playwrights Festival, is yet to

be announced.

The third element of SCR’s 2003-04 season, Theater for Young

Audiences, will get under way Nov. 7 with “The Emperor’s New

Clothes,” playing through Nov. 16. The next offering will be

“Sideways Stories From Wayside School,” to be staged Feb. 13 to 22.

A children’s classic, “The Wind in the Willows,” has been adapted

for the stage by SCR’s Richard Hellesen and Michael Silversher. This

show will be offered from June 11 to 20.

All in all, the “big 4-0 season” shapes up to be big indeed with a

total of 14 productions in the new Folino Theater Center. Personally,

I’m looking forward to the real 40th season -- and my own 40th of

covering the local theater scene -- starting in 2005.

* TOM TITUS’ columns run Thursdays and Saturdays.