Greenberg Premieres 'The Injured Party' at SCR April 2008

The Injured Party, a new comedy by Tony Award-winning playwright Richard Greenberg, will receive its World Premiere at South Coast Repertory during the 11th annual Pacific Playwrights Festival.  Commissioned by SCR, and directed by Trip Cullman, The Injured Party will run from April 20 through May 11, 2008 on the Julianne Argyros Stage.  Low-priced previews are available from April 20 through April 24.  Opening night is April 25.  Press night is Saturday, April 26 at 7:45PM.  Tickets to The Injured Party may be purchased online at www.scr.org, by phone at (714) 708-5555 or in person at the SCR box office.

"The Injured Party is set in a specific New York City moment — 2005, when the art installation Cristo's The Gates captured the imagination of city dwellers with its 23 miles of billowing fabric in Central Park.  One of the viewers was Maxine, 92 years old and enormously rich.  Her grandson Seth, who studiously avoided The Gates, is not so rich, hopelessly stalled—and determined that "redistribution must commence."  A bevy of inimitable New Yorkers aid and/or hinder Seth in this ingenious new comedy about family, love, art, money and ambition," explain press notes.

The Injured Party is one of two World Premieres to be presented on SCR's main stages during the nationally renowned Pacific Playwrights Festival which will take place May 2 through May 4, 2008.  The companion World Premiere, to be announced at a later date, will be presented on the Segerstrom Stage from April 4 through May 4.  In addition to the two fully produced plays, the weekend festival showcases new plays in readings and workshops and attracts audiences and theater professionals from across the country.  The complete 2008 PPF lineup will be announced at a later date.

Richard Greenberg received the Tony Award for his play, Take Me Out.  South Coast Repertory commissioned and presented the World Premieres of Greenberg's A Naked Girl on the Appian Way, The Violet Hour, Everett Beekin, Hurrah at Last, Night and Her Stars, The Extra Man and Three Days of Rain, which was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and was recently revived on Broadway.  SCR has also produced his play The Dazzle.  Greenberg's other plays include Eastern Standard, Jenny Keeps Talking, The American Plan and The Maderati.  A staged reading of the SCR-commissioned Our Mother's Brief Affair was presented at the 2007 Pacific Playwrights Festival.

Director Trip Cullman's credits include Some Men (Second Stage), Dark Matters (Rattlestick Theater), Dog Sees God (Century Center), The Wooden Breeks (MCC), Manic Flight Reaction (Playwrights Horizons), Swimming in the Shallows (Second Stage Uptown), Roulette (John Houseman Theater), The Last Sunday in June (Century Center & Rattlestick Theater), Of a White Christmas (Clubbed Thumb), Sweetness and Sam and Lucy (Summer Play Festival '04), and The Wau Wau Sisters (Ars Nova).  For The Play Company, Cullman directed Robert Farquhar's Bad Jazz, Roland Schimmelpfennig's Arabian Night and Brooke Berman's Smashing.

Tickets to The Injured Party can be purchased online at www.scr.org, by phone at (714) 708-5555 or by visiting the box office at 655 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa.  Performances begin on April 20 and continue through May 11.  Ticket prices range from $20 to $62.  Low-priced preview performances are available from April 20-24.

Previews:  Sunday, April 20 at 2:00 p.m.; Tuesday, April 22, Wednesday, April 23 and Thursday, April 24 at 7:45 p.m.  Regular Performances:  Tuesday through Sunday evenings at 7:45 p.m., Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:00 p.m.  Discounts are available for full-time students, patrons 25 years of age and under, educators, seniors and groups of 15 or more.  There will be a "Pay-What-You-Will" performance on Saturday, April 26 at 2:00 p.m. (Suggested Price:  $10; $7 minimum) and an ASL-interpreted performance on Saturday, May 10 at 2:00 p.m.

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.

Photo of Richard Greenberg by Christine Cotter

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