Howard Korder and Richard Greenberg, two of South Coast Rep's favorite playwrights, made news recently at the Orange County theatre. Greenberg was named associate artist of SCR, a designation which was created in 1989 for playwrights, directors and actors. The other four associate artists are director David Chambers, designer Michael Devine, playwright Craig Lucas and director Mark Rucker.

Korder and the SCR were recently awarded $40,000 from the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays. The grant will underwrite the Jan. 2000 world premiere of Korder's The Hollow Lands, a story of American Manifest Destiny as seen through the eyes of a 19th century immigrant.

SCR and Korder are among six theatre-playwright teams that will share $200,000 from the Kennedy Center for New American Plays, a project of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, with support from The Andrew Mellon Foundation and Countrywide Home Loans, in cooperation with the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities.

Greenberg's most recent SCR-commissioned play, Everett Beekin, was read at the 2nd Annual Pacific Playwrights Festival in June. Hurrah At Last, also commissioned by SCR, was produced on the Mainstage as the final play of the l997-99season and served as the centerpiece of the first PPF before moving to New York's Roundabout Theatre Company.

Reached at his home in New York City, Greenberg said, "This is a lovely way to make official the welcome I've always felt at South Coast Repertory." -- By Willard Manus
Southern California Correspondent