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"Emerging writers need homes," says playwright Lila Rose Kaplan, writer of Wildflower, which began July 13 at the McGinn/Cazale Theatre in Manhattan as part of the Second Stage Theatre's 2009 Uptown Series. The Uptown Series is more than just a home for the new generation of theatre artists; it's a rare opportunity where, as Kaplan says, "an emerging playwright can take risks and get produced."

Second Stage Theatre's artistic director Carole Rothman and associate artistic director Chris Burney chose Kaplan for the 2009 Uptown Series. Burney says, "Uptown has always been about strongly told stories, with complex and real characters, often told through a unique sense of humor. I think Wildflower embraces all of these qualities."

Rothman and Robyn Goodman founded Second Stage Theatre in 1979 to "give 'second stagings' to contemporary American plays that originally failed to find an audience due to scheduling problems, inappropriate venues or limited performance runs." The mission has expanded to include the development and production of new plays on its mainstage and in the Uptown Series, which supports young theatre artists. This summer, Kaplan joins the ranks of playwrights Brooke Berman, Rajiv Joseph, Adam Bock and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, among others, who have participated in The Uptown Series at early stages of their careers.

Kaplan's play, Wildflower, also directed by Sardelli, is a comic drama that explores the discovery of desire and its unexpected consequences. Kaplan began writing Wildflower "in the spring of 2006 in San Diego", where she was working on her MFA at University of California San Diego "and people were talking about the 'wildflower explosion' that happened every year. Wildflowers bloomed across the Southwest and it was an event. People would drive for hundreds of miles to see them. It sounded like foliage on the East Coast. My curiosity was piqued."

She heard about a Wildflower Hotline and became intrigued, wondering, "How could flowers be urgent enough for a hotline? It got me thinking, when does something beautiful become dangerous?"

Kaplan ruminated and then it hit her: "Adolescence. Adolescence is when something beautiful becomes dangerous. Desire flows through our veins for the first time. Innocence transforms into experience." She began to wonder about the woman who answers the Wildflower hotline and began writing Wildflower.

Burney saw an early draft of the show when he was brought to UCSD as a visiting professional during the Baldwin Festival of New Plays. He recalls, "My time there allowed me to both see the play and get to know Lila Rose a bit. Wildflower was one of those stories that just stayed with me — Lila Rose created a world of complex, unique characters that I would often recall. I continued to read Lila Rose's work, and continued to be fascinated by her language. It really was that early introduction and the continued relationship with Lila Rose and her work that made Wildflower such a natural choice for this summer."

He adds, "We are constantly meeting with writers, going to readings, talking with leaders at various graduate and developmental programs throughout the country — basically constantly monitoring the lifeblood the American theatre. I'm often asked how can I read so many plays — and I say it's a little like being an archaeologist in Egypt: You have to keep digging. It is the constant pursuit and the promise of finding a fresh voice that is endlessly exciting."

"When Chris contacted me this year about producing the play," says Kaplan, "he said that it had haunted him. New plays don't move forward without people like Chris Burney and Carole Rothman and theatres like Second Stage Theatre." Continued...