Pacific Playwrights Festival

The Pacific Playwrights Festival (PPF), a national forum for playwrights and theatre leaders, is dedicated to developing and producing new American plays. It is held every summer at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, California.

Within the American theatre there is an ongoing need for playwrights to have the opportunity to develop new work with the support of a community of artists. In recent years, many programs that did exist have been redirected or ended. The goal of PPF is to provide a gathering place for writers and theatre leaders to meet informally, sharing ideas and interests as new projects emerge.

The Festival includes four public play readings and a workshop production that showcase new works by established and emerging writers, as well as two world premiere productions.

Festival History

1998
* "Hurrah at Last" by Richard Greenberg (Production - dir. David Warren)*
* "Walking Off the Roof" by Anthony Clarvoe (Workshop - dir. Bill Rauch)
* "Landlocked" by Cusi Cram (Workshop - dir. Juliette Carrillo)
* "On the Jump" by John Glore (Reading - dir. Lee Shallat-Chemel)*
* "Dogeaters" by Jessica Hagedorn (Reading - dir. Michael Greif)
* "The Hollow Lands" by Howard Korder (Reading - dir. David Chambers)*
* "The Mechanics" by Chris Van Groningen (Reading - dir. Andrew Robinson)
* "The Sins of Sor Juana" by Karen Zacarias (Reading - dir. Lisa Portes)

1999
* "On the Jump" by John Glore (Production - dir. Mark Rucker)*

* "References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot" by Jose Rivera (Workshop - dir. Juliette Carrillo)*
* "Illuminating Veronica" by Rogelio Martinez (Workshop - dir. Lisa Portes)
* "Cuchifrito" by Eduardo Andino (Reading - dir. Octavio Solis)
* "Lupe, Now!" by Jonathan Ceniceroz (Reading - dir. Luis Alfaro)
* "The Beginning of August" by Tom Donaghy (Reading - dir. Neal Pepe)
* "Everett Beekin" by Richard Greenberg (Reading - dir. Mark Rucker)*
* "The Mystery of Attraction" by Marlane Meyer (Reading - Jody McAuliffe)
* "The Altruists" by Nicky Silver (Reading - dir. David Warren)

2000
* The Education of Randy Newman words and music by Randy Newman conceived by Michael Roth, Jerry Patch and Mr. Newman (Production - dir. Myron Johnson)
* "The End of It All" by Cusi Cram (Workshop - dir. Lisa Portes)
* "Fighting Words" by Sunil Kuruvilla (Workshop - dir. Martin Benson)
* "Hortensia and the Museum of Dreams" by Nilo Cruz (Reading - dir. Diane Rodriguez)
* "Vieques" by Jorge Gonzalez (Reading - dir. Mark Rucker)
* "Kimberly Akimbo" by David Lindsay-Abaire (Reading - dir. Mark Rucker)*
* "The Butterfly Collection" by Theresa Rebeck (Reading - dir. Bartlett Sher)*
* "The Beard of Avon" by Amy Freed (Reading - dir. David Emmes)*
* "Dulce de Leche" by Daniel Goldfarb (Reading - dir. John Pasquin)
* "Tom Walker" by John Strand (Reading - dir. Kyle Donnelly)

2001
* "The Beard of Avon" by Amy Freed (Production - dir. David Emmes)*
* "California Scenarios" by Luis Alfaro, Joann Farías, José Cruz González, Anne García-Romero and Octavio Solis (Workshop - dir. Juliette Carrillo)*
* "Nostalgia" by Lucinda Coxon (Workshop - dir. Loretta Greco)*
* "Sweaty Palms" by Alejandro Morales (Reading - dir. Lisa Portes)
* "Tight Embrace" by Jorge Ignacio Cortiñas (Reading - dir. Ruben Polendo)
* "Hold Please" by Annie Weisman (Reading - dir. Mark Rucker)*
* "Eye to Eye" by Kevin Heelan (Reading - dir. Seret Scott)
* "Getting Frankie Married — and Afterwards" by Horton Foote (Reading - dir. Martin Benson)
* "Scab" by Sheila Callaghan (Reading - dir. Olivia Honegger)
* "The Falls" by Hilary Bell (Reading - dir. Liz Diamond)

2002
* "Getting Frankie Married — and Afterwards" by Horton Foote (Production - dir. Martin Benson)
* "The Dazzle" by Richard Greenberg (Production - dir. Mark Rucker)
* "99 Histories" by Julia Cho (Reading - dir. Chay Yew)
* "Exposed" by Beth Henley (Reading - dir. Mark Rucker)*
* "Intimate Apparel" by Lynn Nottage (Reading - dir. Kate Whoriskey)*
* "Truth and Beauty" by Steven Drukman (Reading - dir. Ethan McSweeny)
* "Our Boy" by Julia Jordan (Reading - dir. Lisa Peterson)

2003
* "Intimate Apparel" by Lynn Nottage (Production - dir. Kate Whoriskey)*
* "The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow" by Rolin Jones (Production - dir. David Chambers)
* "The Hiding Place" by Jeff Whitty (Workshop - dir. Mark Rucker)
* "Safe in Hell" by Amy Freed (Reading - dir. David Emmes)*
* "Anna in the Tropics" by Nilo Cruz (Reading - dir. Juliette Carrillo)
* "Sea of Tranquillity" by Howard Korder (Reading - dir. Michael Bloom)*
* "Brooklyn Boy" by Donald Margulies (Reading - dir. Daniel Sullivan)*

2004
* "Safe in Hell" by Amy Freed (Production - dir. David Emmes)*
* "Mr. Marmalade" by Noah Haidle (Production - dir. Ethan McSweeny)
* "Vesuvius" by Lucinda Coxon (Reading - dir. David Emmes)*
* "The Clean House" by Sarah Ruhl (Reading - dir. Bill Rauch)
* "Singing Forest" by Craig Lucas (Reading - dir. Bartlett Sher)
* "Safe as Houses" by Richard Greenberg (Reading - dir. Ethan McSweeny)

2005
* "A Naked Girl on the Appian Way" by Richard Greenberg (Production - dir. Mark Rucker)*
* "Vesuvius" by Lucinda Coxon (Production - dir. David Emmes)*
* "Tough Titty" by Oni Faida Lampley (Workshop - dir. Mark Rucker)*
* "Bossa Nova" by Kirsten Greenidge (Reading - dir. Casey Stangl)*
* "The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler" by Jeff Whitty (Reading - dir. Bill Rauch)*
* "Rabbit Hole" by David Lindsay-Abaire (Reading - dir. Carolyn Cantor)*
* "Ridiculous Fraud" by Beth Henley (Reading - dir. Sharon Ott)

2006
* "The Studio" written, directed and choreographed by Christopher d'Amboise (Production)
* "Blue Door" by Tanya Barfield (Production - dir. Leah C. Gardiner)
* "Leitmotif" by Victoria Stewart (Workshop - dir. Jessica Kubzansky)*
* "Human Error" by Keith Reddin (Reading - dir. Les Waters)
* "Empty Sky" by Sarah Treem (Reading - dir. Bill Rauch)
* "System Wonderland" by David Wiener (Reading - dir. Art Manke)*
* "The Piano Teacher" by Julia Cho (Reading - dir. Kate Whoriskey)*

2007
* "My Wandering Boy" by Julie Marie Myatt (Production - Bill Rauch)
* "System Wonderland" by David Wiener (Production - dir. David Emmes)*
* "Po' Boy Tango" by Kenneth Lin (Workshop - dir. Chay Yew)*
* "Shipwrecked! The Amazing Adventures of Louis de Rougemont (As Told by Himself) — An Entertainment" by Donald Margulies (Reading - dir. Bart DeLorenzo)*
* "Boleros for the Disenchanted" by José Rivera (Reading - dir. Octavio Solis)*
* "Our Mother's Brief Affair" by Richard Greenberg (Reading - dir. Pam MacKinnon)*
* "An Italian Straw Hat" book and lyrics by John Strand, music by Dennis McCarthy (Reading - dir. Stefan Novinski)*

2008
* "What They Have" by Kate Robin (Production - Chris Fields)*
* "The Injured Party" by Richard Greenberg (Production - dir. Trip Cullman)*
* "Sunlight" by Sharr White (Workshop - dir. David Emmes)*
* "By the Way, Meet Vera Stark" by Lynn Nottage (Reading - dir. Mark Rucker)*
* "Emilie—La Marquise du Châtelet Defends her Life at the Petit Théâtre at Cirey Tonight" by Lauren Gunderson (Reading - dir. Kate Whoriskey)*
* "Goldfish" by John Kolvenbach (Reading - dir. Loretta Greco)*
* "You, Nero" by Amy Freed, (Reading - dir. Sharon Ott)*

*Commissioned by South Coast Repertory

External links

* [http://www.scr.org/aboutSCR/ppfhpp.asp Pacific Playwrights Festival page] at South Coast Repertory
* [http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117984673.html?categoryid=15&cs=1 Pacific Playwrights Festival article] from "Variety"