LOS ANGELES -- Scottish playwright Sharman MacDonald's 1984 play, When I Was a Girl, I Used to Scream and Shout, was to have its Los Angeles premiere Jan. 16 at the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble. However, according to an Odyssey spokesperson, that date has been pushed back, probably to Jan. 23. Directed by Elina deSantos, the play is scheduled to run through March 7.

Scream and Shout was MacDonald's first play and received a staging in New York in 1998. It premiered in Scotland and won her the Evening Standard's award for Most Promising Playwright. Her first play, The Winter Guest, was made into a film in 1996 with Emma Thompson and her mother, Phyllida Law.

In 1997, MacDonald was commissioned to write the libretto for a new opera, "Hey, Persephone," with music by Deirde Gribbin. It was performed in Scotland this past summer.

Scream and Shout is about "sex, lies and laughter and is set on a Scottish beach in 1983," notes a company press release. "The four characters of a 1996 turning point return to the scene of 'the dirty deed' and the story of 'the girl who got out' unfolds."

Featured in the cast are Shannon Branham, Dylan Kussman, Sally Kirkland and Rachel Singer. The producers are Ron Sossi and David Mills. The Odyssey is at 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd. Call (310) 477-2055.

-- By Willard Manus
Southern California Correspondent
and David Lefkowitz