WARRIOR CLASS Kicks Off SCR’s 26th NewSCRipts Season 10/10

Warrior Class, a new drama about a young politician whose past could derail his future, will have a staged reading Oct. 10 at 7:30 p.m. as part of South Coast Repertory's NewSCRipts series. It is the 115th play to receive a staged reading in SCR's venerable play reading program.

Kenneth Lin's suspenseful drama centers on Julius Weishan Lee, a New York assemblyman who's been dubbed "The Republican Obama." Lee is the son of Chinese immigrants and a decorated war veteran with a seemingly limitless political career ahead of him. Then someone from his past threatens to reveal a college transgression, and Lee must decide how far he'll go to keep the incident out of the public eye. Whatever his decision, the consequences may be costly.

Warrior Class will be directed by Oanh Nguyen, SCR's producing associate and the artistic director of the Chance Theater.

Lin is the author of Po' Boy Tango, which was part of the 2007 Pacific Playwrights Festival. His plays Fallow, Intelligence-Slave, said Saïd, Life On Paper, Agency* and Genius in Love have been seen at theatres throughout the country, including the ALLIANCE THEATRE, Northlight Theatre, Alley Theatre, The People's Light and Theatre Company, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Marin Theater Company and East West Players. He holds degrees from Cornell University and the Yale School of Drama.

The annual NewSCRipts series of three Monday evening play readings by emerging and established playwrights was launched in 1985 as a way to bring the audience into the process of creating new work. After the readings, which take place on the Julianne Argyros Stage, audience members engage in lively exchanges with the playwright and become active participants in the play's development, providing invaluable feedback for the writer. Plays selected for the NewSCRipts series have earned six Pulitzer Prize nominations, with Margaret Edson's Wit winning the prize in 1999.

South Coast Repertory's NewSCRipts series of play readings is generously underwritten by Elaine J. Weinberg.

TICKETS to the NewSCRipts reading of Warrior Class can be purchased online at www.scr.org, by phone at (714) 708-5555 or in person at the SCR box office. NewSCRipts tickets are $12 each and include audience discussions with the playwright and dramaturg.

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 Folino Theatre Center, part of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. Parking is available off Anton Blvd. on Park Center Drive.

COMING UP: How the World Began (Sept. 25 - Oct. 16), The Trip to Bountiful (Oct. 21 - Nov. 20)

ABOUT SCR: Tony Award-winning South Coast Repertory, founded in 1964 by David Emmes and Martin Benson and now under the leadership of Artistic Director Marc Masterson and Managing Director Paula Tomei, is widely recognized as one of the leading professional theatres in the United States. SCR is committed to theatre that illuminates the compelling personal and social issues of our time, not only on its stages but through its wide array of education and outreach programs. While its productions represent a balance of classic and modern theatre, SCR is renowned for its extensive new-play development program, which includes the nation's largest commissioning program for emerging and established writers and composers. Each year, it showcases some of country's best new plays in the Pacific Playwrights Festival, which attracts theatre professionals from across the country. Of SCR's more than 450 productions, one-quarter have been world premieres, whose subsequent stagings achieved enormous success throughout America and around the world. Two SCR-developed works have won Pulitzer Prizes, and another eight were named Pulitzer finalists. In addition, SCR works have won several Obie Awards and scores of major new-play awards. Located in Costa Mesa, California, SCR's Folino Theatre Center is home to the 507-seat Segerstrom Stage, the 336-seat Julianne Argyros Stage and the 94-seat Nicholas Studio. Today, SCR produces 13 shows and eight public readings each season.

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