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South Coast Repertory (Artistic Director David Ivers and Managing Director Suzanne Appel) announced the lineup for the 27th Pacific Playwrights Festival (PPF), anchored by two world premieres of fully staged productions. Recognized nationally as one of the most anticipated showcases of playwriting excellence and part of the theatre’s play development initiative—The Lab@SCR—PPF runs May 2-4. Single-tickets and discounted ticket packages for all five readings are available at scr.org.
Serving as festival anchors are the previously announced world-premiere productions of You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World!, by Keiko Green, and The Staircase by Noa Gardner. New to the lineup are five staged readings: rachel, nevada by jose sebastian alberdi, The Red Man by JuCoby Johnson, Eat Me by Talene Monahon, Ten Grand by Kate Cortesi and Trip Around the Sun by Jake Brasch.
“This group of plays, while disparate in its stories and styles, feels like a collective reminder of how important it is to come together and pay witness to humanity,” said Andy Knight, PPF Co-Director and Director of The Lab@SCR. “Each play offers its own unique look at the intricacies of human relationships. In these stories, families fall apart, and families come back together again; loved ones hold on too tightly while learning to let go; and lost souls find solace in unexpected people and places. Life is fragile, but living is for the tenacious. In a way, this Pacific Playwrights Festival looks at how complicated it is to keep on living—and how deeply we need each other to do it.”
Both You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World! and The Staircase were developed from previous PPFs. You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World! was featured in 2024 and The Staircase was featured in 2023.
“We welcome you to South Coast Repertory’s 27th Pacific Playwrights Festival, which features an astounding lineup of new work,” Ivers said. “Each world premiere underscores the intimate and sprawling intricacies of our collective humanity—and beyond! I’ve truly never been more excited to challenge our audiences and peer practitioners with material of this caliber.”
Immediately after the 3:30 p.m. Friday reading of The Red Man, the American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA) will present the Harold and Mimi Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award. One of the most prestigious honors a new play can receive, the Steinberg Award recognizes the best scripts premiering professionally outside of New York City. Past award winners include Cambodian Rock Band, I & You and Vietgone—plays largely developed, in part, at South Coast Repertory. Both Cambodian Rock Band and Vietgone became SCR productions.
The weekend also includes a free panel discussion with this year’s festival playwrights on Sunday, May 4, from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. The panel will be moderated by SCR Artistic and Audience Engagement Associate H. Adam Harris.
“The plays for this year's festival ask us to consider what it is to reach for the things or people that protect or nourish us in this complicated world,” PPF Co-Director and Associate Artistic Director Kim Martin-Cotten said. “They invite us to reflect on what is asked of us in the moments that challenge all equilibrium; when certainty falls away and we are pushed into a new landscape that is a departure from—or a return to—what we might call home. We are deeply excited about these seven exceptional writers!”
The 2025 Pacific Playwrights Festival Productions
You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World!
by Keiko Green (Instagram handle, @keikothegreen)
directed by Zi Alikhan
April 5-May 3, 2025, Segerstrom Stage
About this play: Take your seat for a comic, irreverent celebration of life! Since Greg’s terminal diagnosis, he’s felt a deep connection to the Earth—and to save himself, he’ll need to save the planet. Viv desperately wants to savor every last minute with her husband. Meanwhile M, our emcee, searches desperately to find meaning in the chaos of their final year with Dad. A heartfelt family story and joyful theatrical event, as magical as the world itself.
The Staircase
by Noa Gardner
directed by Gaye Taylor Upchurch
April 27-May 18, 2025, Julianne Argyros Stage
About this play: Mother and Son spend their evenings playing cards and retelling stories of Hawaiian legend. Better those than their own, which lurk below the surface. When Son’s former sweetheart resurfaces, both he and Mother must choose how they will embrace the future. A mysterious tale about holding on, letting go and the curious force that pulls us back home.
Staged Readings
rachel, nevada
by jose sebastian alberdi (@milk_jello)
directed by Laura Dupper
Friday, May 2, at 1 p.m., Segerstrom Stage
About this play: Just off Route 375 sits the tiny town of Rachel, Nevada—a popular tourist spot for UFO enthusiasts. Searching for closure after a shared loss, an unlikely couple finds themselves pulled there. But in a place like Rachel, searches rarely come to an end, no matter how hard you look.
The Red Man
by JuCoby Johnson (@jucobyjohnson)
directed by H. Adam Harris
Friday, May 2, at 3:30 p.m., Segerstrom Stage
About this play: Have you ever been so lonely you could just…? Jacqueline has. That is until her estranged twin brother, Jackie, turns up one night at her shack in the Florida swamp. But Jackie’s brought home more than Jacqueline bargained for. Something is following him—and now it’s after her, too.
Eat Me
by Talene Monahon (@talenemonahon)
directed by Josiah Davis
Friday, May 2, at 8 p.m., Saturday, May 3, at 8 p.m., Sunday, May 4, at 2:30 p.m., Nicholas Studio
About this play: R/gourmet_gourmands is a subreddit for fans of fine cuisine. An online community for like-minded people searching for superior nourishment, extraordinary experiences—fulfillment! Here you’ll find what you’ve always hungered for. And once you’ve consumed enough, you might just be transformed.
Ten Grand
by Kate Cortesi (@katecortesi)
directed by Rebecca Wear
an SCR Commission
Saturday, May 3, at 10:30 a.m., Segerstrom Stage
About this play: When an unexpected item turns up in the donation bin at a Boston Goodwill, ordinary workplace drama takes on decidedly higher stakes. A new play about community, the American obsession with violence and how the stories we tell become our destiny.
Trip Around the Sun
by Jake Brasch (@jakebrasch)
directed by Shelley Butler
Sunday, May 4, at 10:30 a.m., Segerstrom Stage
About this play: Phil and Suze have settled into a predictable routine in their Florida retirement community—Jimmy Buffett karaoke during the day and bickering over virgin margaritas at night. But the evening before these Parrotheads are set to leave for Suze’s big birthday cruise, Phil decides to mix things up—for good.
The Pacific Playwrights Festival is made possible with support from The Shubert Foundation, The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, The Elizabeth George Foundation, and the Pacific Playwrights Festival Honorary Producers: Adrian and Kristen Griggs and Peter and Joy Sloan.
ABOUT TICKETS AND LOCATION
The 2025 Pacific Playwrights Festival offers several ticketing options:
Tickets for individual readings are $21 each
Subscriber packages to see all five readings cost $90.
Tickets for the production of You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World! and The Staircase range from $35-$114 each
The Sunday, May 4 playwrights panel discussion is free and open to the public, as is the Harold and Mimi Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award.
Tickets and ticket packages for the general public and theatre industry professionals may be purchased online at https://www.scr.org/plays/plays-landing/pacific-playwrights-festival/2024-pacific-playwrights-festival/
Location: South Coast Repertory is located at 655 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa, at the Bristol Street/Avenue of the Arts exit off the San Diego (405) Freeway in the David Emmes/Martin Benson Theatre Center, part of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. Parking is available on Park Center Drive, off Anton Boulevard.
