With CalFest, SCR Joins U.S. Theater’s Vanguard

Workshops and staged readings for new plays--once so rare--have become as common as pigeons. There probably is not a U.S. theater troupe large or small that has not done some kind of workshop series modeled on that granddaddy of play development programs, the National Playwrights Conference in Waterford, Conn., run by the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center of New York.

But festivals that show their devotion to new plays by giving them full-fledged productions are still a comparative rarity: Just a handful of regional theaters across the country undertake such ambitious and expensive projects (see story, Page 51-B). With the beginning of the California Play Festival, South Coast Repertory has joined that select group.

CalFest includes three world premieres, a new children’s play and five staged readings of works in progress. The heart of the festival will begin Saturday. It is costing more than $250,000, paid for with a challenge grant of $43,500 from the California Arts Council, $130,500 in donations from corporations and individuals and money from SCR’s annual operating budget.

The impulse for CalFest arose chiefly because the Costa Mesa theater is celebrating its 25th anniversary this season.

“I just felt it was important to do something new,” says producing artistic director David Emmes, who co-founded the Tony Award-winning company with artistic director Martin Benson. “It’s understandable to look back, but more worthwhile to look forward.”

He adds that CalFest helps to underscore “the idea that the West Coast continues to emerge as a major force in the American theater.”

Most of all, however, CalFest “is serving valuable writers” and a regional Southern California audience that Emmes characterizes as “very eager for the opportunity to see fresh work.”

Whether CalFest will become a regular fixture in the SCR schedule, or is a one-time event has yet to be decided.

THE 1989 CALIFORNIA PLAY FESTIVAL SCHEDULE

The Plays:

-- “Abundance,” by Beth Henley, April 21 to May 25 (SCR Mainstage).

-- “Dragon Lady,” by Robert Daseler, May 5 to 21 (SCR Second Stage).

--”The Geography of Luck,” by Marlane Meyer, May 16 to June 4 (SCR Second Stage).

For six performances, “Dragon” and “Geography” will alternate in “mini-repertory.” “Geography” will be seen on May 16, 18, 20; “Dragon” on May 17, 19, 21. The Children’s Play:

--”Folk Tales, Too,” by John Glore, May 13, 14, 20, 21 (Founders Hall, Orange County Performing Arts Center).

The Staged Readings:

-- “Soiled Eyes of a Ghost,” by Erin Cressida Wilson, May 13.

--”Once in Arden,” by Richard Hellesen, May 15 (retitled from “Pani Helenie”).

-- “The Land of Plenty,” by Sam Garcia, May 19.

-- “The Story of Yachiyo,” by Philip Kan Gotanda, May 20.

All readings at SCR. (The series began March 27 with “Romantics” by Jeremy Lawrence.) Information: (714) 957-4033.