South Coast Rep to Present Comedy, Dance and More in SCRamble, 2/16

Seven theatre ensembles on-the-edge come together at South Coast Repertory for an evening of comedy, dance, clowning and more. The sampling-performed in 10-minute sets called SCRamble-is part of Studio SCR and takes place on Saturday, Feb. 16, at 10 p.m., in the Nicholas Studio. Tickets are available online at www.scr.org.

SCRamble's featured artists include Actors Circle Ensemble, Echo Hart Commons, Moving Arts, Rickerby Hinds, John Prick and The Smith and Martin Company, Ten West, and El Verde.

Actors Circle Ensemble presents The Experiment, written by Melanie Wehrmacher and directed by Tamiko Washington. The performers are Sean Burgos and Alexa Giuffre. Founded in 2011, Actors Circle creates complex and engaging characters in a theatrical environment to provoke thought, freedom of artistic expression, innovative ideas.

Echo Hart Commons presents Josephine, an excerpt from Hôtel de l'Avenir, a clown-cabaret written and performed by Alexis Macnab. Echo Hart is a Los Angeles-based "art engine" with a creative process that transforms, fuses, and defies the boundaries of genre and discipline.

Moving Arts presents an excerpt from The MosaicWonderland Project, directed by Vesna Hocevar. The project is an ongoing exhibition of short scenes and monologues that connect the visual and performing arts. Moving Arts developed the project in conjunction with Southern California artist Kimberly Jordan. Each scene is inspired by an art piece from Jordan's collection and simultaneously tells a story and captures the feeling of each art piece.

Rickerby Hinds presents an excerpt from Dreamscape, written and directed by Rickerby Hinds. Through poetry, dance and beat-boxing, Dreamscape explores the life of Myeisha Mills (Tyisha Miller), a 19-year-old African American woman shot and killed by four Riverside, Calif., police officers. Dreamscape re-frames her death by following the trajectory and impact of the 12 bullets that struck her-each one triggering its own unique memory.

John Prick and The Smith and Martin Company present The Best of Craigslist, performed by Prick and directed by Abigail Deser. Craiglist is a web-series produced by Prick and Mike Hoy, taking ads from Craigslist and portraying the characters who post them. The Smith and Martin Company is a Los Angeles-based Production Company that develops and produces film, theatre and web content.

Ten West presents Ineffable, written and performed by Jon Monastero and Stephen Simon and directed by Bryan Coffee. Ten West is a Los Angeles-based physical comedy duo. Their work is influenced by clown, commedia dell'arte, mime and dance. Both Monastero and Simon are active in the Cirque du Soleil clown database.

El Verde presents Night of the Kukaracha, written by Anthony Aguilar and directed by Alejandra Cisneros. It's namesake is the superhero alter-ego of Mexican immigrant factory worker Arturo Sanchez, whose adventures are chronicled in an episodic series of one-act and full-length productions. In this tale, El Verde faces the Kukaracha King. The performers are Anthony Aguilar, Jeremiah Ocañas, Juan Diego Ramirez, Oscar Basulto, and Angela Imperial.

Tickets: May 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. SCRamble is Saturday, Feb. 16, 10 p.m. Tickets are $15.

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 Theater Center, part of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. Parking is available on Park Center Drive, off Anton Blvd.

Tony Award-winning South Coast Repertory, founded in 1964 by David Emmes and Martin Benson and now under the leadership of Artistic Director Marc Masterson and Managing Director Paula Tomei, is widely recognized as one of the leading professional theatres in the United States. SCR is committed to theatre that illuminates the compelling personal and social issues of our time, not only on its stages but through its wide array of education and outreach programs. While its productions represent a balance of classic and modern theatre, SCR is renowned for its extensive new-play development program, which includes the nation's largest commissioning program for emerging and established writers and composers. Each year, it showcases some of country's best new plays in the Pacific Playwrights Festival, which attracts theatre professionals from across the country. Of SCR's more than 460 productions, one-quarter have been world premieres, whose subsequent stagings achieved enormous success throughout America and around the world. Two SCR-developed works have won Pulitzer Prizes, and another eight were named Pulitzer finalists. In addition, SCR works have won several OBIE Awards and scores of major new-play awards. Located in Costa Mesa, California, SCR's Folino Theater Center is home to the 507-seat Segerstrom Stage, the 336-seat Julianne Argyros Stage and the 94-seat Nicholas Studio. Today, SCR produces 13 shows and eight public readings each season.

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