La Jolla Playhouse Reveals Projects for 2024 DNA New Work Series

La Jolla Playhouse has revealed the dates and projects for its 2024 DNA New Work Series, running in the Playhouse’s Rao and Padma Makineni Play Development Center December 5 – 15.  
 
This year’s readings include: A Black-billed Cuckoo, by Mat Smart (Playhouse’s Kill Local), directed by Shelley Butler; Matilde: A Fable, by Kirsten Greenidge (Playhouse’s Milk Like Sugar), directed by Delicia Turner Sonnenberg (Playhouse’s Derecho, The Garden); Marble Rooftop, Emma Has Church, by Eliana Theologides Rodriguez (Playhouse’s upcoming Indian Princesses), directed by Playhouse Director of Arts Engagement and Local Casting Director Jacole Kitchen (Playhouse POP Tours Pick Me Last, Light Years Away); and Invisibles, a La Jolla Playhouse commission by Cheryl L. West (Playhouse POP Tour Hoopla!), directed by Timothy Douglas. For the second year, the DNA Series will also feature a playtest of a WOW work-in-process: American Dream Casino, created by Robert Farid Karimi. 
 
The Playhouse’s DNA New Work Series offers playwrights and directors the opportunity to develop a script by providing rehearsal time, space and resources, culminating in public readings. This process gives audiences a closer look at the play development process, while allowing the Playhouse to develop work and foster relationships with both established and up-and-coming playwrights.
 
“The DNA New Work Series has become an incredibly vital pipeline for new plays and musicals at the Playhouse. Since the launch of the program in 2013, more than a dozen DNA works have gone on to have full productions in our subscription season,” said Christopher Ashley, the Rich Family Artistic Director of La Jolla Playhouse. “DNA has become one of our most popular programs. Patrons relish the opportunity to take part in the birth of a new play, while giving playwrights invaluable feedback in the earliest stages of the development of their work.”
 
The DNA New Work Series has been a launching pad for numerous projects that have gone on to receive full productions in future Playhouse seasons, including Pulitzer Prize winner Ayad Akhtar’s The Who & The What; Chasing the Song, by the Tony Award-winning team of Joe DiPietro and David Bryan (Memphis, Diana); Michael Benjamin Washington’s Blueprints to Freedom; UC San Diego MFA graduate Jeff Augustin’s The Last Tiger in Haiti; Miss You Like Hell, by Pulitzer Prize winner Quiara Alegría Hudes and Erin McKeown; Kill Local, by UC San Diego MFA graduate Mat Smart; What Happens Next, by UC San Diego MFA graduate and faculty member Naomi Iizuka; The Luckiest, by Melissa Ross; The Coast Starlight, by Keith Bunin; SUMO, by Lisa Sanaye Dring; this season’s Derecho, by Noelle Viñas; and next season’s All the Men Who’ve Frightened Me, by Noah Diaz. In addition, Marike Splint’s 59 Acres was developed during the DNA Series prior to its premiere in the 2024 WOW Festival.
 
All DNA New Work Series projects take place with no scenic, costume or staging elements, and actors have scripts in hand. The creative teams will be available for interviews for feature coverage; however, in order to preserve the developmental nature of the program, DNA Series presentations are not open to review.
 
DNA New Work Series Projects

A Black-billed Cuckoo

By Mat Smart
Directed by Shelley Butler
Thursday, 12/5 and Saturday, 12/7 at 7pm
 
Over the span of 24 hours in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, a close-knit birding group is turned upside down when some of its members see a rare bird and some don’t. A quiet comedy about healing, the power of wonder, and how to move on after missing out.
 

Matilde: A Fable

By Kirsten Greenidge
Directed by Delicia Turner Sonnenberg 
Friday, 12/6 at 7pm and Sunday, 12/8 at 2pm 
 
Western Massachusetts, 1852. On a stormy winter night, newly-married freewoman Sarah waits for her husband Hap to return home from clearing the roads. But the knock on her cabin door comes from Matilde, a formerly enslaved woman who claims to need shelter for the night – but might be looking for a lot more. Kirsten Greenidge’s suspenseful new play examines what freedom buys us – and what we still may owe.
 

Marble Rooftop, Emma Has Church

By Eliana Theologides Rodriguez
Directed by Jacole Kitchen 
Thursday, 12/12 and Saturday, 12/14 at 7pm
 
Seven high school girls convene for their annual dance team bonding sleepover, navigating the power imbalances between them and competing to be the most “experienced” in the room. But what happens when one girl goes too far to prove herself to the rest? Alternately hilarious, harrowing and heartbreaking, Marble Rooftop fearlessly explores consent, agency and the price we pay to fit in.
 

Invisibles

By Cheryl L. West
Directed by Timothy Douglas
La Jolla Playhouse Commission
Friday, 12/13 at 7pm; Sunday, 12/15 at 2pm
 
Eurie, Muriel, Tyrique and Mr. Benny work inside the United States’ most sacred hall of government, faithfully but invisibly serving those in power – until a typical day turns into a nightmare. In the aftermath, these essential workers are forced to grapple with the need to be seen – by their country, each other and even themselves.
 

American Dream Casino

A WOW Work-in-Process
Created by Robert Farid Karimi
Friday, 12/6: 4pm & 5:30pm; Saturday, 12/7: 4pm & 5:30pm; Sunday, 12/8: 11am & 12:30pm
 
American Dream Casino is a playful, interactive, casino-like experience that celebrates the power of immigrants’ risk to achieve the American Dream. In this special preview edition, 21 participants at a time will discover the mysteries behind the Casino and the characters who work there. The experience lasts roughly one hour, during which participants must answer the question: how much are you willing to gamble for your own American Dream?
 

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