Adventures on stage

South Coast Repertory is holding its 4th annual Pacific Playwrights

Festival, in conjunction with the Hispanic Playwrights Project, through

July 1. The festival showcases new plays by established and emerging

playwrights. For tickets or information, call (714) 708-5555.

WORKSHOPS

California Scenarios

Playwrights: Luis Alfaro, Joann Farias, Anne Garcia-Romero, Jose Cruz

Gonzalez and Octavio Solis

Plot: Five short plays explore Latino life in California. Part of the

Hispanic Playwrights Project.

Where: Isamu Noguchi California Scenario, 3200 Park Center Drive,

Costa Mesa

When: 8 p.m. today and Sunday, June 29-30 and July 1

Cost: $10

Nostalgia

Playwright: Lucinda Coxon

Plot: On a farm in South Wales, two brothers hear a siren’s song. The

mysterious woman across the river could hold the answer to what is in the

woods. Add in the creator of a world-famous fictional detective and you

have the start to this SCR-commissioned play.

Where: Second Stage, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa

When: 7:45 p.m. June 28-30 and July 1-2

Cost: $18

READINGS

Sweaty Palms

Playwright: Alejandro Morales

Plot: An American journalist in Spain during the summer of 1936, a

dead farmer, his oblivious wife and Gypsies combine in this intriguing

tale. Part of the Hispanic Playwrights Project.

Where: Second Stage, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa

When: 2:30 p.m. today

Cost: $8

Our Tight Embrace

Playwright: Jorge Ignacio Cortinas

Plot: In a Colombian safe house, an elderly female prisoner plays cat

and mouse with her masked guards. But soon she must share the space with

a female journalist, who considers her own kidnapping quite a news story.

Part of the Hispanics Playwrights Project.

Where: Second Stage, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa

When: 2:30 p.m. Sunday

Cost: $8

Hold Please

Playwright: Annie Weisman

Plot: Jessie and Erica are free and single, and in the new millennium

they just want to have an effect. Grace and Agatha already have what they

want, so they don’t have to worry. Or do they?

Where: Mainstage, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa

When: 1 p.m. Friday

Cost: $8

Eye to Eye

Playwright: Kevin Heelan

Plot: Nelson Mandela has just been elected president of South Africa

and in a small New England liberal arts college, the lives of a faculty

family are dramatically altered.

Where: Mainstage, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa

When: 3 p.m. Friday

Cost: $8

Getting Frankie Married -- and Afterwards

Playwright: Horton Foote

Plot: Mrs. Willis, a Texas matriarch on her deathbed, intends to see

her son married, and after years of bachelorhood, Fred intends to do the

right thing by Frankie, his longtime sweetheart.

Where: Mainstage, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa

When: 10 a.m. June 30

Cost: $8

Scab

Playwright: Sheila Callaghan

Plot: Two grad school roommates struggle to get motivated. Christa is

working on her thesis, but neglecting her appearance. While Annie can

help Christa with her looks, she can’t escape visions of her past.

Where: Second Stage, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa

When: 2 p.m. June 30

Cost: $8

The Falls

Playwright: Hilary Bell

Plot: At the turn of the 19th Century in Sydney, Australia, things are

rarely what they seem.

Where: Mainstage, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa

When: 11 a.m. July 1

Cost: $8