San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
THEATER NOTEBOOK
New Village Arts pushes shows to 2021
Rather than launching the 20th season of New Village Arts this month, executive artistic director Kristianne Kurner has instead announced that the Carlsbad theater company has postponed the entire season to July 2021 or thereafter as the result of the pandemic.
In a video address to patrons on Facebook last week, Kurner said that the previously planned season cannot be produced inside the theater due to socialdistancing orders, so the goal is to move all of the planned productions back a year, including the annual new play festival and cabaret shows. The company also announced a $150,000 fundraising initiative to support basic operations of the darkened theater through June 2021. The goal is to raise the funds by Nov. 30.
Kurner said that although full productions will not be produced on the State Street theater’s stage this season, there will be work going on behind the scenes to prepare for next season. Two new shows written by San Diego playwrights that were originally scheduled for the 20th season will be undergoing development in the coming months.
The first is “Home,” a holiday musical about a Black matriarch hosting her family for a festive Christmas Eve party and, in the chaos, rediscovering the strength within herself. “Home” is written by Dea Hurston and created by Hurston, Frankie Aliceaford, Kevin “Blax” Burroughs and Milena (Sellers) Phillips. An online workshop performance of “Home” will be presented in December 2020 with a full production onstage in November-december 2021.
Also, Roy Sekigahama’s “Desert Rock Garden,” first presented at NVA’S First Draft New Play Festival last fall, will receive a full production sometime in 2021. The play is about the tender relationship that forms between a young Japaneseamerican orphan and an older Japanese gardener in the Topaz Relocation Center, a Japanese internment camp, during World War II. The production will be underwritten, in part, by a grant from the California Civil Liberties program and two individual donors.
Also ongoing during the theater’s closure will be the company’s education and outreach programs, which will be expanded in an online format. This includes theater training for neurodiverse individuals, Kids Act, Monday Night Live, Playwrights Project and Teatro Pueblo Nuevo. There are also plans for potential online cabarets and outdoor performances and a planned renovation of the theater. The Foundry Artist Studios at New Village Arts remains open Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m.
New episodes of ‘Walks of Life’ and ‘Fake News’ released
Two serial productions in the Playhouse’s Without Walls festival have released new episodes.
The third and final episode of “Walks of Life,” a series of original audio plays designed to be listened to during neighborhood walks, has been released. All three episodes, produced by San Diego’s Blindspot Collective, are available for free download at lajollaplayhouse.org/ walks-of-life.
The third episode of “The Totally Fake Latino
News With Culture Clash” has also just been released online. More episodes will be released later this summer. They can be viewed for free at lajollaplayhouse.org/ wow-goes-digital/fakenews.
‘Hamilton’ star Utomi leads Playhouse’s ‘Wizards’ cast
Chula Vista native Edred Utomi, who until the pandemic hit was playing the title role in the “Hamilton” national tour, is one of six actors taking part in Tom Salamon’s “The Wizards of Oakwood Drive,” an interactive online family theater project launched Thursday and will continue through July 26 as part of La Jolla Playhouse’s first all-digital Without Walls Festival.
Also featured in the cast are Connor Sullivan, Claire Chapelli, Eliana Payne, Jonathan Randell Silver and Sofia Sassone.
“Wizards” is designed for children ages 7 to 12 and their parents. Designed as a scavenger hunt, where parents will hide preplanned items around their home, the plot involves a pair of sibling wizards taking the children on a home treasure hunt. It will be presented as a live Zoom piece for groups of 10 children at a time. Multiple performances are being presented daily. Tickets are $25 per household.
“Wizards” is Salamon’s third WOW piece, following “The Grift” at the Lafayette Hotel in 2015 and “Accomplice: San Diego” in Little Italy in 2013.
For tickets, go to lajollaplayhouse.org/wow-goesdigital.
Diversionary launches new audio play fest
On July 10, Diversionary Theatre launched the Spark New Play Festival. Underwritten by Bill and Judy Garrett, the free festival features a series of four Lgbtq-themed plays that will be rolled out in audiocast format through Sept. 3. The plays will be available for audio streaming for a maximum of two weeks.
First up is Katherine Harroff ’s “The Haunting of the Homosexuals,” a spooky comedy about two LGBTQ roommates, available through Thursday. Still to come later this summer are Harrison David Rivers’ “This Bitter Earth,” Friday through July 30; Miranda Rose Hall’s “Best Lesbian Erotica 1995”; and Sylvan Oswald’s “Trainers,” Aug. 21 through Sept. 3.
For details, go to diversionary.org.
Pam Kragen writes about theater for the San Diego Union-tribune. Email her at pam.kragen@sdunion tribune.com.