By Kenneth Jones
30 Oct 2009

Saturn Returns stars Kristen Bush and Graham Michael Hamilton

Noah Haidle's character study Saturn Returns, showing the same man played by different actors at three stages of a lifetime, opens Oct. 30 in its West Coast premiere on South Coast Repertory's Segerstrom Stage.

Saturn Returns played Off-Broadway at Lincoln Center Theater's Mitzi Newhouse in fall 2008. "Haidle has continued to work on the play since then, including during early rehearsals at SCR," according to a production note.

Nick Ullett, Conor O'Farrell and Graham Michael Hamilton play Gustin Novak at ages 88, 58 and 28, respectively, for SCR. Producing artistic director David Emmes directs the production in Costa Mesa, CA. Previews began Oct. 23 for a run that continues to Nov. 22.

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Haidle joked in a statement: "I don't think you could ever be finished with anything, because then what would you do the next day?" He said he once got up in the middle of the night to change lines in a play that had already been published and was sitting on his bookshelf. "Nothing's perfect; nothing's ever finished. Everything can always be better."

"As Saturn Returns opens," according to SCR notes, "88-year-old Gustin (Nick Ullett) is explaining to his home health nurse that he has called her not because he's sick, but because he's lonely. His daughter is gone. His wife is gone. But, we learn, their presence still fills the house. This inventive, time-bending story soon introduces us to 58-year-old Gustin (Conor O'Farrell) and his daughter, Zephyr, as well as 28-year-old Gustin (Graham Michael Hamilton) and his wife, Loretta."

Kristen Bush plays all three female roles.

The play takes its name from an astrological phenomenon known as the Saturn Return: Each time Saturn nears the position in the sky it held at the time of a person's birth, astrologists believe, that person undergoes a major life transformation. It takes Saturn about 29.5 years to orbit the sun, so these major changes occur roughly every 28 to 30 years.

The creative team includes Nelson T. Eusebio III (assistant director), Ralph Funicello (set design), Nephelie Andonyadis (costume design), Lonnie Rafael Alcaraz (lighting design), Kimberly Egan (sound design), Kelly Miller (dramaturg) and Chrissy Church (stage manager).

Tickets may be purchased online at www.scr.org, by phone at (714) 708-5555 or in person at the SCR box office.

Conor O'Farrell and Kristen Bush in Saturn Returns