‘Pygmalion’ to Open SCR ‘97-98 Season

COSTA MESA — South Coast Repertory has named seven of 11 plays scheduled for the 1997-98 season.

The Mainstage season will feature the world premiere of a play by Richard Greenberg, “Hurrah at Last” (April 3-May 10, 1998), about a struggling writer who attends a family Christmas dinner that turns into a fractious affair over a conflict of values about money and success.

Other Mainstage titles so far: George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion” (Aug. 29-Oct. 5), which will open the season; Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” (Feb. 13-March 28); the Orange County premiere of Tom Stoppard’s “Arcadia” (May 22-June 28, 1998), which was staged this season at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles; and the annual holiday production of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” (Nov. 30-Dec. 24).

The Second Stage season will open with a new adaptation of Aristophanes’ “The Birds” by SCR literary manager John Glore, starring the comedy trio Culture Clash (Sept. 16-Oct. 19).

It will continue with the West Coast premiere of Peter Hedges’ “Good as New” (Oct. 28-Nov. 30), a contemporary comedy about a family trying to think ‘60s and live ‘90s; Joe Orton’s black comedy “What the Butler Saw” (March 3-April 5, 1998); and the annual Christmas show “La Posada Magica” (Dec. 5-24).

Of the four remaining titles to be announced--two on the Mainstage and two on the Second Stage--two may be world premieres, an SCR spokesman said. Subscriptions for the six-play Mainstage season range from $114 to $231, and from $103 to $178 for the five Second Stage plays. Information: (714) 957-4033.