The 50th Season and Beyond

Fifty years ago, a band of untested former theatre students embarked on “an artistic odyssey on little more than raw talent and enthusiasm.” That’s the genesis for South Coast Repertory, which has done tremendous work serving the Orange County community—and American theatre—for a half-century.

“Sometimes it’s easy to forget the power of what you have in your own backyard,” says Marc Masterson, South Coast Repertory’s artistic director. “We should never take for granted David Emmes and Martin Benson—and the rest of the SCR team—have built here and what has been accomplished as a result of the community leadership that got behind their vision and enabled them to grow this company into one of the finest theaters in America.

“We should celebrate that in our 50th year and we should celebrate them because they are really pioneers and entrepreneurs and innovators. They built something truly special here and we need to take care of it. We need to build on it for the future,” he says.

“From inception, SCR has been blessed with a forward-thinking community who realized the potential to have world-class theatre in their own backyard” says Managing Director Paula Tomei.  “David and Martin inspired audiences with the risks they took onstage and gained respect for their business savvy, which gives us a position of strength as we move into our next 50 years.”

With an eye toward the future, Masterson sees the world becoming a “smaller” place.

“We live in a global culture and the work that South Coast Repertory will do over its next 50 years will increasingly reflect that world community,” he says, taking a moment to reflect on SCR.

“I think we will have significant artists from the world stage here with us and we will take our work out more globally, as we did this past season by taking Chinglish to the Hong Kong Arts Festival. People in other parts of the country and the world know SCR more through the plays that have begun here than they do through re-productions of the classics or other contemporary plays and repertoire,” he says.

“You only turn 50 once and we're planning to mark this year with a series of activities aimed at celebrating all things SCR” says Tomei.  “There will be public displays that trace our history as a company, an open house with tours and backstage insights into the artistry of SCR and recognition throughout the season on our website and otherwise of the artists, audiences and community leaders who have helped define SCR throughout the years.”

“As we move forward, I think we will continue to examine how we reflect the community around us and engage not only our local Orange County community, but that global one as well,” adds Masterson.