Tales from Red Vienna to Be Read in SCR’s NewSCRipts Series 3/14

David Grimm's Tales from Red Vienna will have a staged reading March 14 at 7:30 p.m. as part of South Coast Repertory's NewSCRipts series. It is the 114th play to receive a staged reading in SCR's venerable play reading program.

Set just after the first World War, the story follows Helena, a young widow forced into prostitution by her financial circumstances. Then a friend introduces her to a potential suitor. But does this so-called friend really have her best interests at heart? And is Helena even in a position to date? Helena's search for happiness leads her to unexpected places.

Grimm is an award-winning, New York-based playwright and screenwriter. He is writing the book for the Broadway musical Manhattan Downbeat, incorporating songs by George and Ira Gershwin, directed by George C. Wolfe, and starring Harry Connick, Jr. He recently completed two plays under commission for Huntington Theater Company: an adaptation of Cyrano De Bergerac and the original play This Fabulous Shadow. He has received commissions from Roundabout Theatre Company, City Theatre Company, The Public Theater and Hartford Stage. Past plays include: The Miracle at Naples; Steve & Idi; Chick, The Great Osram; Measure for Pleasure (published by Dramatists Play Service); The Learned Ladies of Park Avenue; Kit Marlowe (NY Post "10 Best Plays of 2000"; GLAAD Media Award Nomination); Sheridan, Or Schooled In Scandal; The Savages Of Hartford; edgar; Enough Rope; A Christmas Golem; Killing Hilda; Theatrophy; Once In Elysium; Divinity Du Styx; Tamburlaine (adapted from Marlowe); I Wake Up Screaming; Following Wolf; Orpheus In His Underwear and Living Expenses. David holds an MFA from NYU, a BA from Sarah Lawrence College, and is a lecturer in playwriting at the Yale School of Drama and Columbia University.

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 Tales from Red Vienna 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: The Weir(March 13 - April 3), Silent Sky (April 1 - May 1).

ABOUT SCR: Tony Award-winning South Coast Repertory, under the artistic direction of David Emmes and Martin Benson, is widely recognized as one of the leading professional theaters in the United States. Founded in 1964, SCR is committed to theater that illuminates the compelling personal and social issues of our time, not only on its stages but through its education and outreach programs. While its productions represent a balance of classic and modern theater, SCR is renowned for its extensive new play development program, including the Pacific Playwrights Festival. Of SCR's more than 450 productions, 117 have been world premieres, with subsequent stagings achieving enormous success across America and around the world. SCR-developed works have garnered eight Pulitzer Prize nominations with Margaret Edson's Wit winning the prize in 1999 and David Lindsay-Abaire's Rabbit Hole in 2007. Located in Costa Mesa, California, in 2002 SCR opened the Folino Theater Center, an expanded three-theater complex that includes the 507-seat Segerstrom Stage, the 336-seat Julianne Argyros Stage and the 94-seat Nicholas Studio.

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