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South Coast Repertory’s 2026-27 season features Sondheim, Shakespeare

April 15, 2026

South Coast Repertory’s 2026-27 season will boast works by William Shakespeare, Stephen Sondheim and Oscar Wilde while also presenting the voices of new generations of playwrights, the Costa Mesa theater announced today, April 15.

The season kicks off with a 40th anniversary celebration of Sondheim and James Lapine’s “Into the Woods” and ends with a production of “Hamlet.” Highlghts in between include the West Coast premiere of Iranian playwright Amir Reza Koohestani’s “Blind Runner” and the recent off-Broadway hit “Mother Russia” by Lauren Yee, which will play in repertory with Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest.”

“I am confident this season has something for everyone,” Artistic Director David Ivers said in a statement. “An adventurous, joyful feast hightlighting resilience, empowerment, entertainment and laughter, it’s woven by some of SCR’s favorite returning artists.”

Here’s a look at the upcoming season:

Sept. 12-Oct.10: “Into the Woods” mashes up fairy tales such as “Cinderella,” “Little Red Riding Hood” and “Jack in the Beanstalk” with Sondheim’s songs and score and Lapine’s book, both of which took home Tony Awards when the musical premiered in 1986.

Oct. 18-Nov. 8: An Iranian man trains a blind woman to run a race in Paris at the insistence of his wife, who is a political prisoner. The multimedia production “Blind Runner,” which the Guardian hailed as “mesmerizing,” will be presented in Persian with English subtitles.

Nov. 28-Dec. 27: South Coast Repertory’s timeless version of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” returns for its always popular holiday run. This adaptation by dramaturg Jerry Patch has been staged at SCR since 1980. The theater is working with playwright Amy Freed to develop a new adaptation of the classic, which will debut in the next few years.

Jan. 22-March 20: Lauren Yee’s “Mother Russia” will play in repertory with “The Importance of Being Earnest” on the Segerstrom Stage over a two-month period. Wilde’s classic lampoons Victorian era mores while Yee’s play, set in 1992 Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union, prompted a New York Times theater critic to call it “as funny as it is smart.”

April 4-May 2: “Three-headed Monster,” JuCoby Johnson’s play about a 21-year-old former prison inmate who returns to the Bronx and seeks to connect with his two childhood best friends, will receive its world premiere on SCR’s Nicholas Stage during the Pacific Playwrights Festival.

April 18-May 9: Eleanor Burgess’ “The Ingenue,” a comedy of manners set in 18th century London, will receive its world premiere on the Julianne Argyros Stage during the Pacific Playwrights Festival.

May 8-June 5: “Hamlet,” with Ivers directing, will close out SCR’s season. Raymond Lee, who starred in “Vietgone” at SCR and whose screen credits include “Top Gun: Maverick,” returns to play the melancholy Dane.

Subscription packages for the 2026-27 season are currently on sale. Options include the six-play Super Subscription ($299-$533, depending on performance date and time), the four-play Segerstrom Subscription ($213-$369) and the three-play Julianne Argyros Stage package ($149-$237). Tickets for individual productions will go on sale Aug. 4.

Orange County Register

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South Coast Repertory’s 2026-27 season features Sondheim, Shakespeare

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