YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO THE END OF THE WORLD! Comes to South Coast Repertory

South Coast Repertory will present a theatrical adventure from a finalist for the prestigious Susan Smith Blackburn Prize—the world premiere of You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World! by Keiko Green. Directed by Zi Alikhan, You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World! runs April 5-May 3 on the Segerstrom Stage.

Green's status as a Blackburn Prize finalist for You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World! illustrates that she is one of the country's most celebrated and rising playwrights. The Blackburn Prize is the largest and oldest award recognizing women and non-binary writers for plays of outstanding quality written for the English-speaking theatre. Eleven finalist playwrights have gone on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

“In this genre-defying comedy about family, death, grief and ultimately life, Keiko Green casts a spell of deep theatrical magic,” read the statement announcing the nomination.

You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World! was featured at the 2024 Pacific Playwrights Festival, where its “epic, darkly comedic spectacle,” as Green called it, captivated audiences. It serves as an anchor production for this year's PPF, May 2-4.

“It's an irreverent, impossibly complicated, impossibly human and ridiculously theatrical comedy with a devastating underbelly,” Ivers said. “Making cancer and the Earth's decay somehow funny, managing the large emotional load carried by all the family—and other characters—that surround the dying Greg and having it all end in a rave of sorts is no small feat. And yet, Keiko manages all that while creating characters who are real people and who represent a diverse population. It's a world premiere not to be missed.”

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.

You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World! addresses topics universal to everyone: family, humanity and celebrating life through the concept that you only live once. It spotlights Green's comedic gift of bringing out humor in situations audiences least expect to find it. It's a play perfect for our times—where we ask ourselves if the world is moving too fast.

“It's fun and funny, but the events that take place and the spectacle part is what gets you. I'm trying to get people to laugh a little at things they're not supposed to,” Green said.

“As Orange County's only Tony Award-winning theatre, South Coast Repertory is deeply committed to bringing our community great plays that invite us to join together and reflect on our shared responsibility to each other,” Appel said. “Keiko Green's brilliant play was written for this moment in time when we, like her characters, are navigating a rapidly changing world. I know that our community will see in this family a joyful approach to that familiar challenge. It is a play that calls on us to celebrate our time on earth with those closest to us and to deeply engage with society and the world.”

With the San Diego Union-Tribune calling Green, “one of the most prolific and whip-smart emerging playwrights around,” this is the perfect opportunity to see a new work from a fresh, exciting playwright.

A Los Angeles-based playwright, screenwriter and performer known for her dark comedies and irreverent takes on various elements of Asian and American life, Green's work has been produced all over the United States, including The Old Globe, Seattle Public Theatre, Cygnet Theatre, Sound Theatre Company, Theater Mu and Actors Express. Her plays have been developed by the prestigious O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, The Kennedy Center, The National New Play Network, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Playwrights Realm, Atlantic Theater Company and The Old Globe and she currently holds commissions from Manhattan Theatre Club/Sloan Foundation and Seattle Children's Theatre/Kennedy Center.

Green's second production of Exotic Deadly: Or the MSG Play just wrapped up at San Francisco Playhouse and the world premiere of Green's Empty Ride just ended its run at The Old Globe. Earlier, Green won the San Diego Critics Circle Best New Play Award for Exotic Deadly: Or the MSG Play, and she won the Gregory Award for Best New Play for Nadeshiko. The Gregory Awards recognize the top productions and performances in Seattle theatre.

Her television credits include “Interior Chinatown” for Hulu. Originally from the Atlanta suburb of Marietta, Green has a BA in Drama from NYU/Tisch and an MFA in Playwriting from UC San Diego.

The New York City-based Alikhan has directed plays all over the country, including Pasadena Playhouse, Primary Stages, Writers Theatre/TheatreSquared), Playmakers Repertory Company, Portland Center Stage, Geva Theater Center, Olney Theater Center and Paper Mill Playhouse, among others.

Alikhan's direction of On That Day in Amsterdam at Primary Stages earned him Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel nominations for Outstanding Director and his direction of Sanctuary City at Pasadena Playhouse was named “Best of the Year” by the Los Angeles Times. His direction of The Band's Visit at Writers Theatre/TheatreSquared was named “Best of the Year” by the Chicago Tribune.

You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World! features Joel de la Fuente (Greg), River Gallo (M), Rafael Goldstein (Will/Others), Anna Lamadrid (Lila/Others), Sharon Omi (Janet/Others) and Alysia Reiner (Viv).

de la Fuente (Instagram handle @joeldelafuente) makes his SCR debut after touring across the country in Jeanne Sakata's one-person play Hold These Truths, which earned him the 2018 Outstanding Performance in a Principal Role from Theatre Bay Area. He appeared in two award-winning streaming shows: Netflix's “Hemlock Grove” and Amazon Prime's “The Man in the High Castle,” and was a series regular on “Space: Above & Beyond,” “Devils” and “The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon.”

Gallo (@rivergallo) is a Salvadoran-American actor, writer, filmmaker, and intersex activist. They are the writer, producer, and star of Ponyboi, the first narrative feature created by and starring an out intersex artist in cinema history. The film premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival in the U.S. Dramatic Competition and will be theatrically released by Fox Entertainment Studios on June 27. Gallo's theater credits include Cordelia/Fool in King Lear at The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts and The 24 Hour Plays on Broadway and Los Angeles. TV credits include “Love, Victor.” They were also featured in the critically acclaimed documentary Every Body, directed by Academy Award nominee Julie Cohen. A graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts (BFA) and USC School of Cinematic Arts (MFA), Gallo is thrilled to return to SCR, having played the role of M in the world premiere staged reading at the 2024 Pacific Playwrights Festival.

Among Goldstein's credits is the role of Jake in Green's 2023 world-premiere of Sharon at the Cygnet Theatre in San Diego, which earned him a Craig Noel Award nomination. After participating in the reading for You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World!, Goldstein returns to SCR after playing Laertes and The Player in Ensemble Theatre Company's production of Hamlet. A presence on Southern California stages since he was 12, Goldstein is a resident artist at A Noise Within.

LaMadrid (@the_annalamadrid) is recognized for playing Fake Angela on HBO's first season of “The Rehearsal,” which join her other television credits as Rocio in “This Fool” and Lacey Gamble opposite Courtney Cox in “Shining Vale.” LaMadrid's stage credits include productions at Pasadena Playhouse, IAMA Theatre Company, Echo Theater, Antaeus Theatre Company and Boston Court Pasadena.

Omi (@sharonkeikoomi) returns to SCR after her hilarious role as Elishiva in Galilee, 34 by Eleanor Burgess last spring. She has appeared in plays at Ahmanson Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, American Conservatory Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, East West Players and Playwrights' Arena, among many others. Omi's recent credits include My Home on the Moon at San Francisco Playhouse, The Great Wave at Berkeley Repertory, Tales of Clamor at USC and No No Boy and Innocent When You Dream at L.A. Theatre Works. She won a Out on Film Festival Award for her role in the film Eat with Me. Omi's recent television credits include “I Think You Should Leave,” “Young Sheldon,” “How to Get Away With Murder,” “Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders,” ‘General Hospital,” “Maggie,” and “The After Party,” among many others.

Reiner (@alysiareiner) is best known for playing Fig in seven seasons of “Orange is the New Black,” for which she won a SAG Award. She also originated the role of Agent Sadie Deaver in the 2023 Emmy and Critics Choice Award-winning “Ms. Marvel.” Reiner's other recurring television roles came in “Better Things,” “The Deuce,” “Shining Vale,” and currently, “The Diplomat.” She also appeared in the popular film Sideways, in an Emmy Award-winning episode of “Broad City,” and head-to head with Viola Davis in “How to Get Away With Murder.” Her New York stage credits include My H8 Letter to the Gr8 American Theatre (The Public Theater), Jesus in Manhattan (Ensemble Studio Theatre) and Jayson with a Y (The New Group).

The design and creative team includes Adam Rigg, scenic design; Lux Haac, costume design; Barbara Samuels, lighting design; Uptown Works, sound design; Nicholas Hussong, projection design; James Alsop, movement consultant and David Nevell, voice and dialect coach. Joanne DeNaut, CSA is the casting director, Maisie Chan is the production manager, Kathryn Davies is the production stage manager, and Lauren Buangan is the assistant stage manager.

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