New Julia Cho play begins rehearsals

The cast of Julia Cho's "The Language Archive" began rehearsals today for the Pacific Playwrights Festival. Mark Brokaw directs, with Seana Kofoed, Brenda Wehle, Maria Thayer, Matt Letscher and Tony Amendola.

Two more Festival plays begin rehearsals

Rehearsals began today for two more Festival plays: "Extraordinary Chambers" by Irvine-native David Wiener and "9 Circles" by Bill Cain.

The "9 Circles" team: Gabriel Greene, Blake Robbins, Bill Heck, Nancy Bell, Kevin Daniels, director Michael John Garces and playwright Bill Cain.

The "Extraordinary Chambers" team: Darrell Kunitomi, Andrew Borba, Kirsten Potter, director Art Manke, playwright David Wiener, Greg Watanabe and Kimiko Gelman.

LA Times features Jenny O'Hara

The LA Times has a terrific story written by David Ng about Jenny O'Hara in today's paper: http://bit.ly/gdRvI. Only a few chances left to see her in "Our Mother's Brief Affair." The show closes this Sunday, May 3. Here's a quirky photo of Jenny with co-star Matthew Arkin: http://ping.fm/XnL0d

"In a Garden" grows at South Coast Repertory

The cast of Howard Korder's "In a Garden" arrived today to begin rehearsals for the Pacific Playwrights Festival reading. "In a Garden" is directed by David Warren with actors Mark Harelik, Greg Germann and Bernard White.

Teen Player to present "Hard Times"

SCR's Teen Players will be presenting Charles Dickens' "Hard Times" in May - http://bit.ly/czWgM

Scenes from "Emilie"

"Emilie" FotoFilm

"Emilie, Mistress of Voltaire"

Read the story on Playbill: "Emilie, Mistress of Voltaire, Tells Her Tale in CA World Premiere" (now in previews - opens this Friday!) http://bit.ly/DBtvo

Artistic Director Martin Benson tweets!

Artistic Director Martin Benson is tweeting from "Collected Stories" rehearsals, a revival of one of SCR's most successful commissioned plays! Kandis Chapell returns as Ruth Steiner, the character she created in the original SCR production. Look for the MB at the start of his tweets! (follow us at @SouthCoastRep on Twitter)

"Shipwrecked!" nominated for Drama League Award

Drama League Awards announced today! Donald Margulies' "Shipwrecked! An Entertainment" nominated for Distinguished Production of a Play! http://bit.ly/Lr0Ip

SCR's impact on playwrighting noted in LA Times

Artistic Director David Emmes on Lynn Nottage's Pulitzer in today's LA Times - "SCR has a commitment to 'serve and to identify young writers who have unique voices.'" http://bit.ly/q8Xaw

Lynn Nottage wins Pulitzer Prize!

Lynn Nottage wins Pulitzer Prize! Best wishes from your friends at South Coast Repertory! http://bit.ly/ZuFmi Here's a photo from the SCR premiere of Lynn Nottage's "Intimate Apparel" - http://ping.fm/yxz4f

Lynn Nottage news

Nice feature about Lynn Nottage in today's LA Times. She's shortlisted for this year's Pulitzer Prize! Mentions SCR commission "By the Way, Meet Vera Stark."

Here's a photo of Lynn at rehearsals for "Meet Vera Start" at last year's Pacific Playwrights Festival:

"Emilie" begins previews

The first preview performance of "Emilie" is today at 2pm. Break-a-leg, cast and crew!

"Emilie" photos on BroadwayWorld

BroadwayWorld.com posted a selection of "Emilie" photos!

PhotoPlay - David Emmes on the set

Artistic Director David Emmes discusses a scene with Natacha Roi & Don Reilly on the set of "Emilie."

PhotoPlay - Emilie's Tech Table

Mark Johnson, Joseph Wilbur & sound designer Vincent Olivieri at tech rehearsals for "Emilie."

PhotoPlay - Building Emilie's Costumes

The costume shop's Catherine Esera uses some muscle for the world premiere of "Emilie."

Actors and Directors Announced for PPF

South Coast Repertory has announced the lineup of actors and directors who will participate in the 12th annual Pacific Playwrights Festival (PPF). Since its creation in 1998, PPF has grown into one of the most important festivals of new scripts in the United States. This year’s Festival will take place during the May 1 through May 3 weekend and will feature five staged readings and two fully-produced World Premieres on South Coast Repertory’s Segerstrom and Julianne Argryos Stages. Tickets to PPF may be purchased online at http://www.scr.org, by phone at (714) 708-5555 or in person at the SCR box office.

This year’s Pacific Playwrights Festival presents fully-produced stagings of new plays by Richard Greenberg and Lauren Gunderson, and staged readings of plays by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Bill Cain, Julia Cho, Howard Korder and David Wiener.

David Warren will direct In a Garden by Howard Korder (Friday, May 1 at 1:00pm) featuring Greg Germann, Mark Harelik and Bernard White.

Bart DeLorenzo will direct Doctor Cerberus by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Friday, May 1 at 3:30pm) featuring Steven Culp, Nike Doukas and Matt McGrath.

Art Manke will direct Extraordinary Chambers by David Weiner (Friday, May 1 at 7:45pm and Saturday, May 2 at 7:45pm) featuring Andrew Borba, Kimiko Gelman, Darrell Kunitomi, Kirsten Potter and Greg Watanabe.

Michael John Garcés will direct 9 Circles by Bill Cain (Saturday, May 2 at 10:30am). Casting is currently in progress.

Mark Brokaw will direct The Language Archive by Julia Cho (Sunday, May 3 at 10:30am) featuring Tony Amendola, Matt Letscher and Maria Thayer.

Anchoring the 12th annual Pacific Playwrights Festival are the fully-produced World Premieres of Our Mother’s Brief Affair, a new comedy by Richard Greenberg about two adult siblings who reunite to tend to their elderly mother and are astonished to learn about her long-ago love affair, and Lauren Gunderson’s Emilie – La Marquise Du Châtelet Defends Her Life at the Petit Théâtre at Cirey Tonight , the story of an 18th century Parisian noblewoman and her lifelong affair with the Enlightenment superstar Voltaire.

SCR’s 11 previous festivals have introduced 78 new plays to the national stage including Amy Freed’s The Beard of Avon, Donald Margulies’ Shipwrecked! An Entertainment, Lynn Nottage’s Intimate Apparel, Nilo Cruz’s Anna in the Tropics, Rolin Jones’ The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow and David Lindsay-Abaire’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Rabbit Hole.

Visit http://ping.fm/B86Mc/plays/pacificplaywrightsfestival/pacificplaywrightsinfo0809.aspx for more info about PPF!

Exclusive first look at the set for "Emilie"

SCR's production team loads in the set for the World Premiere of "Emilie" by Lauren Gunderson.

TheaterMania weighs in on OMBA

"Whether writing about Charles Van Doren and the quiz show scandals, New York Jews trying to assimilate into Orange County's more laid back lifestyle, children trying to come to grips with the legacy of their parents, or the locker rooms of professional baseball, Tony Award winner Richard Greenberg has consistently struck a chord with audiences. His latest play, Our Mother's Brief Affair, getting its world premiere at South Coast Repertory, is one of his simplest and best efforts yet. ...Director Pam MacKinnon and her cast deftly belt out all of the playwright's many riffs out of the park. The result is a thrill ride of verbiage --intellectual, touching, bitter, loving, and fascinating." http://ow.ly/2LMJ

The Hollywood Reporter raves about OMBA!

Richard Greenberg's brilliant comedy about a "Flatbush on the Thames" family is a triumph of laughter and tears. For an hour and 45 minutes, Richard Greenberg's new play about a "Flatbush on the Thames" family's dotty indifference to reality and self-knowledge holds the audience with a delightfully bittersweet blend of laughter, romance and mystery. The streetwise, battered Jewish characters who populate his latest premiere -- "Our Mother's Brief Affair," presented by South Coast Repertory -- gambol surrealistically through fields of delight, envy, anger and dismay until the story drifts off into a fog of acceptance. ...The production is as near-perfect as a world premiere can be. The chemistry between the script and the production is more like alchemy." http://ow.ly/2LBX

Video Clip of "Our Mother's Brief Affair"

Watch a video clip of "Our Mother's Brief Affair" with Arye Gross, Matthew Arkin, Jenny O'Hara and Marin Hinkle: http://bit.ly/FJbo

Production photos of "Our Mother's Brief Affair"

Richard Greenberg's "Our Mother's Brief Affair" opens tonight! See the production photos on Facebook at South Coast Repertory: http://bit.ly/iyDog

Matthew Arkin guests at "Inside the Season"

Our Mother's Brief Affair's Matthew Arkin will be a guest at 4/18 Saturday morning seminar, "Inside the Season." $12 http://bit.ly/wSQMg

"Our Mother's Brief Affair" FotoFilm

Check out the new FotoFilm of "Our Mother's Brief Affair" on YouTube! http://bit.ly/2astxP or at SCR! www.scr.org.

OC Register's Paul Hodgins interviews Richard Greenberg

Richard Greenberg has a provocative theory: adultery used to be more common when he was growing up.

"Oh, sure it was. Adultery per se was more frequent then than it is now. People cheated – more than we know," said the playwright, 51, whose latest play, "My Mother's Brief Affair," looks at infidelity in an era when the subject was discussed in whispers, behind closed doors, and rarely. Commissioned by South Coast Repertory – the Costa Mesa theater's ninth Greenberg world-premiere production – it opens this weekend on the Segerstrom Stage... http://bit.ly/D5HsP

Berkeley Rep "You, Nero" cast announced

Jeff McCarthy joins cast of SCR's "You, Nero" at Berkeley Rep. Danny Scheie returns as that zany Emperor! http://bit.ly/RLkh

Previews are going well for OMBA

Previews are going well for the world premiere of Richard Greenberg's "Our Mother's Brief Affair." Looking forward to Friday's opening!

Back Stage covers SCR's 2009-10 season

Les Spindle covers SCR's new season at the Back Stage Blog: http://bit.ly/z58PZ

Les Spindle covers SCR's new season at the Back Stage Blog: http://bit.ly/z58PZ

Lauren Gunderson talks about "Emilie"

Playwright Lauren Gunderson discusses world premiere of "Emilie" in new video at SCR- http://bit.ly/21GB0H or YouTube- http://bit.ly/oUH1l

Playwright Lauren Gunderson discusses world premiere of "Emilie" in new video at SCR- http://bit.ly/21GB0H or YouTube- http://bit.ly/oUH1l

Congratuations Lucille Lortell Award Nominees!

Congratulations to this year's Lucille Lortel award nominees celebrating the best of Off Broadway theater!

And extra special kudos to these SCR-affiliated artists:

• Lynn Nottage for Outstanding Play - Ruined
• Kate Whoriskey for Outstanding Director - Ruined

Lynn's work-in-progress, By The Way, Meet Vera Stark, was seen at SCR at the 2008 Pacific Playwrights Festival. SCR presented the world premiere of Intimate Apparel (which was directed by Kate Whoriskey) and also Crumbs from the Table of Joy.
Jenny O'Hara and Arye Gross in SCR's world premiere of Our Mother's Brief Affair.

Kate, an Associate Artist at SCR, also directed the staged reading of Emilie – La Marquise Du Châtelet Defends Her Life at the Petit Théâtre at Cirey Tonight at the 2008 Festival and productions of The Piano Teacher, The Clean House, Life is a Dream, Antigone and The Caucasian Chalk Circle.

• Lorenzo Pisoni for Outstanding Solo Show - Humor Abuse

Lorenzo appeared last season in the world premiere of Richard Greenberg's The Injured Party.

• Lap Chi Chu for Outstanding Lighting Design - The Good Negro

Lap is currently at SCR designing the lighting for the world premiere of Richard Greenberg's Our Mother's Brief Affair. Lap has designed many shows at SCR, including System Wonderland, Dead Man's Cell Phone, What They Have and The Importance of Being Earnest.

http://ping.fm/7YxrB

Congrats to SCR alum's Lucille Lortel nominations: Lorenzo Pisoni, Lap Chi Chu, Kate Whoriskey and Lynn Nottage. http://bit.ly/7bSHX

SCR-commissioned "Rabbit Hole" to be a Film

Aaron Eckhart is in negotiations to star opposite Nicole Kidman in "Rabbit Hole" film of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play commissioned by South Coast Rep. http://bit.ly/No98M

Congratulations Lucille Lortel award nominees

Congratulations to this year's Lucille Lortel award nominees celebrating the best of Off Broadway theater!

And extra special kudos to these SCR-affiliated artists:

** Lynn Nottage for Outstanding Play - "Ruined"
** Kate Whoriskey for Outstanding Director - "Ruined"

Lynn's work-in-progress, "By The Way, Meet Vera Stark," was seen at SCR at the 2008 Pacific Playwrights Festival. SCR presented the world premiere of "Intimate Apparel" (which was directed by Kate Whoriskey) and also "Crumbs from the Table of Joy."

Kate, an Associate Artist at SCR, also directed the staged reading of "Emilie – La Marquise Du Châtelet Defends Her Life at the Petit Théâtre at Cirey Tonight" at the 2008 Festival and productions of "The Piano Teacher," "The Clean House," "Life is a Dream," "Antigone" and "The Caucasian Chalk Circle."

** Lorenzo Pisoni for Outstanding Solo Show - "Humor Abuse"

Lorenzo appeared last season in the world premiere of Richard Greenberg's "The Injured Party."

** Lap Chi Chu for Outstanding Lighting Design - "The Good Negro"

Lap is currently at SCR designing the lighting for the world premiere of Richard Greenberg's "Our Mother's Brief Affair." Lap has designed many shows at SCR, including "System Wonderland," "Dead Man's Cell Phone," "What They Have," and "The Importance of Being Earnest."

For a complete list of nominees: http://bit.ly/13ixd6

Break-a-leg!

"Finian's Rainbow" to Shine on Broadway

Glad to see that Encores! “Finian’s Rainbow” will transfer as a full production to B'way after Labor Day. What a wonderful score, though the book has always been problematic. http://bit.ly/1GQKZp

SCR Announces 2009-10 Season

SCR's 2009-10 season starts with Sondheim! Read about at the OC Register: http://bit.ly/1lXVnd and at our site: http://bit.ly/7bSHX