STAGE NOTES : 2 Playwrights Linked to SCR Win Grants

Two playwrights whose work has been seen at South Coast Repertory--Marlane Meyer and Anthony Clarvoe--have been awarded $15,500 fellowships by the National Endowment for the Arts. The official NEA announcement will be made Monday.

Meyer’s “The Geography of Luck” received its world premiere on the SCR Second Stage in May of 1989 and won SCR’s California Play Competition that year. She is also the author of “Kingfish” and “Etta Jenks,” which premiered at the Los Angeles Theatre Center. Meyer, who grew up in Los Angeles and now lives in New York, has been commissioned to write a new play for SCR.

Clarvoe’s “Pick Up Ax” had a NewSCRipt reading on the SCR Mainstage in October of 1989. The play received its world premiere last winter at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Clarvoe, who lives in Moraga, also has been commissioned to write a new play for SCR.

NEA 1990 fellowships were awarded to a total of 18 playwrights, including several from California: John Steppling of Venice, Lisa Loomer of Los Angeles and Ellen McLaughlin of San Francisco.

Graduate actors from UC Irvine will perform Monday at Stages in Hollywood at 1 and 7 p.m. in joint showcases with graduate actors from Philadelphia’s Temple University and Dallas’ Southern Methodist University. The showcases will be repeated May 7 at the Douglas Fairbanks Theatre in New York.