Starting off the season on the South Coast Rep main, 507-seat Segerstrom Stage will be the world premiere presentation of Donald Margulies' Brooklyn Boy, produced with Manhattan Theatre Club — which will present the work on Broadway in January 2005.
The work centering around a novelist who is finally garnering success while his life is otherwise faltering: his marriage is on the rocks, his father is in the hospital, his aunt is pestering him and Hollywood is calling. Daniel Sullivan will direct.
William Nicholson's Retreat From Moscow which just enjoyed a Broadway run will kick off the season at SCR's 336-seat Julianne Argyros Stage. The drama centers on a couple who, after 35 years of marriage, reevaluate their relationship when the humdrum husband unleashes a shocking revelation to his unhappy wife. Martin Benson will direct.
Alan Bennett's Habeas Corpus follows at the California stage. The work, set in the swinging '70s, finds a doctor who lusts after his patient, while the patient lusts after the doctor's son, and the doctor’s wife lusts after the president of the British Medical Association. And don't forget the naughty vicar. Bill Rauch directs.
South Coast Rep next presents its annual holiday tradition as A Christmas Carol and La Posada Magica play on both stages during the winter season. The new year brings The Clean House by Sarah Ruhl. The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize winner centers on a Brazilian cleaning woman who hates her job, but longs to be a stand-up comedian. Kate Whoriskey will direct.
Christopher Shinn's On the Mountain makes its world premiere following on the Argyros stage. The new work commissioned by SCR looks at a rebellious teenager and her thirty-something mother, who is searching for firm ground after her rock star lover commits suicide.
Keeping the premieres coming, SCR will then present two fresh new works (yet to be announced) at both spaces. The mainstage world premiere selection — chosen from SCR commissions — will highlight the eighth annual Pacific Playwrights Festival. The other stage will see a new comedy fresh from the New York or London stage.
Lucinda Coxon's Vesuvius erupts onto the stage, making its world premiere at SCR. At a Neapolitan resort in the shadow of the title geological formation, two strangers arrive for a quiet holiday alone to discover they are sharing a villa. David Emmes directs.
Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge closes out the season at South Coast Rep. The drama tells of a longshoreman at the center of a forbidden love with his niece and the lengths at which he works to keep her close. Benson will direct.
The SCR season lineup (subject to change) is as follows:
