Annual Pacific Playwrights Festival goes digital

SOUTH COAST REPERTORY

by Patty Marsters

pattym@lwsb.com

This year’s Pacific Playwrights Festival will be offered in a digital format over three months to accommodate COVID-19 restrictions. South Coast Repertory’s (SCR) showcase for new plays, which launched in 1998, usually takes place over three days, drawing theater professionals from across the country to play readings and staged productions. Many previously featured plays have gone on to premiere at SCR, to Broadway or win major awards. “The festival comes with ‘you-saw-it-first’ bragging rights!” says SCR’s PR director, Tania Thompson.

The readings will be filmed on the Segerstrom Stage and smaller Julianne Argyros Stage after roughly three days of rehearsals, livestreamed to ticketholders anywhere in the U.S. and beyond. The high-quality, professional video production will employ a with a multi-camera setup to best capture the nuances of a traditional, in-person play reading.

In addition to the five scheduled readings, each of which is available for about a week, there’s a video series featuring the five playwrights, as well as one composer, plus a series of excerpts from commissions-in-process.

The plays chosen for the 2021 festival are: “Covenant”: York Walker’s story focuses on Georgia blues guitarist Johnny “Honeycomb” James, who may have sold his soul to the devil to attain his musical genius. Directed by Tamilla Woodard, with SCR Associate Artistic Director John Glore as dramaturg, it streams through May 2.

“Coleman ’72”: In this work by Charlie Oh, Korean parents and their American kids find they hold conflicting ideas while on an all-American road-trip. SCR Literary Manager Andy Knight serves as dramaturg for this David Ivers-directed read, which is available May 10-16.

“Park-e Laleh”: Knight is also dramaturg for Shayan Lotfi’s tale of an Iranian man seeking asylum in the U.K. Haunted by what he’s left behind, Amir tries to find a feeling of home in something or someone. Directed by Mike Donahue, it streams May 24-30.

“Clean”: A Mexican resort worker and a guest discover what they have in common—and what cultural borders separate them— in this Christine Quintana play, with translations by Paula Zelaya Cervantes. Lisa Portes directs, with SCR Artistic Coordinator Anna Jennings as dramaturg; it’s streaming May 31-June 6.

“Harold & Lillian”: This musical, based on the documentary film by Daniel Raim, examines the marriage of Hollywood storyboard artist Harold Michelson and film researcher Lillian Michelson. The book and lyrics are by Dan Collins, with music by Julianne Wick Davis; the reading is directed by Michael Greif, with SCR Resident Dramaturg Jerry Patch. It’s available for viewing June 21-27.

The “#PPFPlaywrights” series features the above authors and composer in interviews, each of which will stream shortly before the release of the reading with which it’s associated.

Festival ticketholders will also receive “Samples from the Lab”— exclusive video excerpts from works-in-process by Jane Bruce, Caroline V. McGraw and Jessica Moss—that will be released on May 6 and 20 and June 10.

A package to see all five digital readings is $80, and single reading tickets are $19. For more information, or to purchase tickets, go to www.scr.org or call the SCR box office at (714) 708-5555 on Mondays, from noon-5 p.m., and Tuesdays-Fridays, from 10 a.m.-5 p.m.