SCR reveals most of 2005-06 season

TOM TITUS

South Coast Repertory, which traditionally announces its new season

in bits and pieces, has come up with definite titles for seven of the

nine productions that eventually will grace its two main stages in

2005-06.

Four plays each are confirmed for the theater’s Segerstrom Stage

and three others for the Julianne Argyros Stage for what will be

South Coast Repertory’s 41st season in Orange County. So far, there

are two American premieres, one West Coast premiere and one world

premiere, with at least one other world premiere yet to be announced.

Scheduled for production on the Segerstrom Stage next season are

Bertolt Brecht’s “The Caucasian Chalk Circle,” a revival of Garson

Kanin’s “Born Yesterday,” the American premiere of Terry Johnson’s

“Hitchcock Blonde” and a return visit from Tom Stoppard’s “The Real

Thing.”

The Argyros Stage will be offering the West Coast premiere of “Man

from Nebraska” by Tracy Letts, Joe Penhall’s “Dumb Show” in its

American premiere and the world premiere of “Bossa Nova” by Kirsten

Greenidge.

Themes of morality, justice and the effects of war on individuals

pervade Brecht’s “Caucasian Chalk Circle,” which focuses on a maid

caught holding a baby in the middle of a revolution. It’s a return

for the theater to one of its favorite playwrights in the company’s

formative years of the 1960s.

“Born Yesterday” will be familiar to both theatergoers and movie

buffs as the comedy about a brusque wheeler-dealer out to “smarten

up” his vacuous girlfriend while twisting a few high-level arms in

Washington. Judy Holliday’s performance in the 1950 movie earned her

an Oscar.

“Hitchcock Blonde” focuses on the master of suspense, Alfred

Hitchcock, and his obsession with casting blond heroines in his

movies (Grace Kelly, Doris Day, Tippi Hedren, Janet Leigh, Eva Marie

Saint, etc.). This cinematic mystery cuts back and forth from a 1919

London sound stage to the celebrated shower scene in “Psycho” from

1960.

Stoppard’s “The Real Thing” is a comedy about marital maneuvering

and real or imagined infidelity. The prolific British playwright

examines these themes in a play within his play. It’s South Coast

Repertory’s only repeat production of the new season.

A TV host whose show is on the skids is the central figure of

“Dumb Show.” He’s recruited for the banquet circuit by the promise of

an impressive fee, and the resultant overkill is the stuff of this

new comedy.

“Man From Nebraska” is the story of a family man who wakes up one

morning to find he has lost his faith, with no explanation for this

crisis of conscience. When he departs for London on an odyssey of

self-discovery, his wife and grown daughters are afraid he’s gone

around the bend.

“Bossa Nova,” which will be featured at this year’s Pacific

Playwrights Festival, focuses on an African-American woman striving

to escape her upper middle-class existence. She encounters some

quirky characters all too eager to lend a hand.

A number of subscription offers are available for the 2005-06

season, including price breaks for students and senior citizens. More

information on the schedule may be obtained by calling the theater’s

subscriber hotline at (714) 708-5599.

*

The Irvine Barclay Theater will be lighting up next week with

three full productions of international origin geared for young

audiences and their families. Two will be new to local audiences,

while the third is a condensed version of a classic tragedy.

That latter play would be Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” created by a

troupe from -- where else? -- Denmark, boiled down to an 80-minute

modern adaptation. The production involves only four performers --

two actors and two double bassists -- playing all of the characters,

male and female, while preserving the seriousness and depth of the

original. “Hamlet” will be presented Monday through Wednesday at

7:30, with the opening performance already sold out.

Next Thursday and Friday will feature a visit from “Frog and His

Friends,” a musical by a group from the Netherlands geared for ages 4

to 8. Performances will be given Thursday at 10 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Closing the program May 7 and 8 will be “Typo,” a Canadian import

focusing on a bumbling writer creating a show about himself. The

comedy is described at Chaplinesque and is recommended for all ages.

Curtain times are 3 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday.

The Barclay Theater is located on the UC Irvine campus, and

tickets may be reserved by calling the box office at (949) 854-4646.

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

appear Fridays.