21st century plays take spotlight at SCR

Tom Titus

It’s only a few years into the 21st century, but South Coast

Repertory will be devoting its upcoming schedule to plays written

primarily in this millennium.

For its 2004-05 season, SCR will mount nine productions on its two

stages -- and six of them will have been written in a year beginning

with a 2. Four of these six will be world premieres, something that’s

become a familiar occurrence at the Costa Mesa theater complex.

“We’re tremendously excited about the composition of our upcoming

season,” said David Emmes, SCR’s producing artistic director who

founded the company with Martin Benson in 1964 (moving it to Newport

Beach in 1965 when it officially became South Coast Repertory). “It’s

the third season in our expanded Folino Theater Center, and we have a

particularly strong slate of new works by top-rank, mid-career

writers.”

Three of the world premieres, all commissioned by SCR, are David

Margulies’ “Brooklyn Boy,” which kicks off the new season in

September on the Segerstrom Stage; Christopher Shinn’s “On the

Mountain” and Lucinda Coxon’s “Vesuvius,” both ticketed for the

Julianne Argyros Stage. The fourth premiere is, as yet, unannounced.

In “Brooklyn Boy,” opening Sept. 3, a writer’s career takes off

when his autobiographical novel becomes a bestseller and Hollywood

beckons. Will success spoil Eric Weiss? Tune in and find out. It

should be fun. Margulies, you may recall, created “Sight Unseen” and

“Collected Stories,” both of which premiered at SCR.

Up second on the Segerstrom Stage will be Alan Bennett’s “Habeas

Corpus,” set in the swinging England of the 1960s and ‘70s. In this

risque comedy, a doctor lusts after a patient who, in turn, prefers

the doctor’s son. It arrives Oct. 15.

“The Clean House” by Sarah Ruhl, part of last weekend’s Pacific

Playwrights Festival as a staged reading, comes to full bloom Jan. 21

on the Segerstrom Stage. This one centers around a Brazilian cleaning

lady who straightens up her clients’ lives as well as their homes.

Arthur Miller is a national treasure -- hands down our greatest

living playwright -- and his “Death of a Salesman,” “The Crucible”

and “All My Sons” have been given the full treatment at SCR. Next

season, “A View From the Bridge” will be Miller’s latest drama on the

Segerstrom Stage, opening May 20.

On the Julianne Argyros Stage, the season opens Sept. 26 with “The

Retreat From Moscow” by William Nicholson, author of “Shadowlands.”

It centers around a bombshell about to be dropped by a quiet-living

fellow on his 35th anniversary.

“On the Mountain” by Christopher Shinn will receive its premiere

production, opening Jan. 2. It’s the story of a rebellious

16-year-old girl with a gift for writing and her mother, who once had

a turbulent affair with a suicidal rock star.

Another festival entry, Lucinda Coxon’s “Vesuvius,” arrives April

24 for its world premiere. This one involves a man and woman who

share a villa near Naples, in the shadow of that infamous mountain

that laid waste to Pompeii so many centuries ago.

The silver anniversary of SCR’s annual production of “A Christmas

Carol” arrives this year, and the holiday favorite opens Dec. 3 on

the Segerstrom Stage. A week later, “La Posada Magica” mounts the

Argyros Stage for its 11th annual presentation.

SCR’s Theater for Young Audiences on the Argyros Stage will

feature three productions -- “The Hoboken Chicken Emergency,” opening

Nov. 5; “Pinocchio,” arriving Feb. 4, and a children’s play yet to be

selected, coming June 3.

With “A View From the Bridge” the only familiar entry of the

season (except for the Christmas favorites), the 2004-05 season at

South Coast Repertory should be an interesting one indeed. Theater

for our century.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Daily Pilot. His reviews

appear Fridays.