South Coast Repertory is reviving Donald Margulies’ Sight Unseen, an SCR-commissioned play that had its world premiere here 20 seasons ago. It will run March 11- April 1 on the Julianne Argyros Stage.
The OBIE Award winner will be directed by SCR Founding Artistic Director David Emmes.
“When we first commissioned Donald, his career was just taking off, and Sight Unseen was the catalyst,” Emmes recalled. “Today, it’s considered a modern classic. We are thrilled to bring this wonderful play back for its 20thanniversary production.”
Set in the early 1990s, Sight Unseen examines the celebrity art world of its day through the character of Jonathan Waxman, an artist with a waiting list for works he has yet to paint. Jonathan’s first European exhibition is just days away, but something is missing, so he heads to the English countryside for a reunion with his estranged college sweetheart and muse, Patricia. The play jumps back and forth in time to reveal the pair’s tangled history, along the way exploring how time and memory transform feelings, relationships and perceptions of the past.
Gregory Sims, who appeared in the film Real Steel and in Sacred Fools Theatre Company’s Richard III, will make his SCR debut as Waxman. Nancy Bell, who starred in the SCR productions of Noises Off, What They Have and All My Sons, will play Patricia. Rounding out the cast are Andrew Borba (SCR’s In the Next Room or the vibrator play) as Patricia’s husband, Nick; and Erin Anderson (The Actors’ Gang’s Cymbeline the Puppet Queen) as Greta, a journalist who puts Waxman through the toughest interview of his life.
Director David Emmes co-founded SCR in 1964 and has directed scores of productions here, including last season’s Three Days of Rain, and, earlier, the world premieres of Amy Freed’s Safe in Hell, The Beard of Avon andFreedomland; Thomas Babe’s Great Day in the Morning; Keith Reddin’s Rum and Coke and But Not for Me; and Neal Bell’s Cold Sweat. He is a recipient of the Margo Jones Award for his lifetime commitment to theatre excellence.
Sight Unseen’s artistic team is comprised of Cameron Anderson (set design), Fred Kinney (costume design),Geoff Korf (lighting design), Cricket S. Myers (sound design) and Kathryn Davies (stage manager).
Pam and Jim Muzzy are the Honorary Producers; OC Metro is the media partner.
