COSTA MESA, CALIF.: South Coast Repertory has announced its 2018-19 season, which comprises 10 shows, as well as 3 offerings for young audiences and the annual Pacific Playwrights Festival.
“We’re enthusiastic about what next season has to offer,” said SCR managing director Paula Tomei in a statement. “The range of work is both compelling and entertaining and we look forward to the experience that our audiences and artists will have when they join together.”
The season begins with Sense and Sensibility (Sept. 1-29), adapted from the popular Jane Austen novel by Jessica Swale, about the romantic fortunes of two sisters of marriageable age.
Following is Christopher Durang’s comedy Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (Sept. 30-Oct. 21), about middle-aged siblings named for Chekhov characters in a country house where rivalries are rekindled and resentments rage.
Next is Native Gardens by Karen Zacarías (Oct. 13-Nov. 10), a comedy about a dispute between neighbors in Washington, D.C.
Nate the Great (Nov. 2-18), a musical by John Maclay and Brett Ryback based on the children’s detective book series.
SCR’s beloved annual production of A Christmas Carol (Nov. 24-Dec. 24), directed by John-David Keller, will again feature Hal Landon as Scrooge—his 39th consecutive year in the role.
Next, Chicano comedy trio Culture Clash returns to SCR with a self-titled work (Dec. 30-Jan. 20, 2019), written and performed by Richard Montoya, Ric Salinas, and Herbert Siguenza.
Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s bloody revenge musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street follows (Jan. 19-Feb. 16, 2019).
The TYA offering Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed: The Rock Experience is next (Feb. 1-17, 2019). Based on Mo Willems’s book, it is adapted by Willems, with music by Deborah Wicks La Puma.
Following is Anna Ziegler’s Photograph 51 (March 3-24, 2019), based on the true story of the pioneering DNA scientist Rosalind Franklin.
As part of the theatre’s annual Pacific Playwrights Festival, which runs Apr. 26-28, 2019, SCR will present two world premieres whose titles have yet to be announced: one running March 30-April 27, 2019, the other April 14-May 5, 2019.
Next is David Henry Hwang’s contemporary classic M. Butterfly (May 11-June 8, 2019), about the long affair between a French diplomat and a mysterious Chinese opera diva.
The slate concludes with a TYA production of Margery Williams’s The Velveteen Rabbit (May 24-June 9, 2019).
South Coast Rep was founded in 1964 and is widely recognized as one of the leading professional theatres in the U.S., particularly in the field of new-play development.
