DNA New Works Series 2023

As part of the Playhouse’s commitment to being a home for artists to develop new plays and musicals, Playhouse Artistic Director Christopher Ashley created the DNA New Work Series in 2013.

DNA offers playwrights and directors the opportunity to develop a script by providing rehearsal time, space and resources, culminating in public readings. This process gives audiences a closer look at the play development process, while allowing the Playhouse to develop work and foster relationships with both established and up-and-coming playwrights.

Learn more about the series here.

DNA 2023 LINEUP

WEEK 1 Nov. 30 – Dec. 3
"Suburban Black Girl"
By Zakiya Young
Directed by Jacole Kitchen
7 p.m. Thursday, Nov 30
and 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec 2

Zakiya Young is the poster child for racial reconciliation. She code switches with lightning speed. White sorority? Like, no prob. A Black and Latino church with a white pastor? She’ll praise God in Spanish! Broadway? Is it color blind casting or an all-Black show? Doesn’t matter because this suburban Black girl has mastered the art of being ‘non-threatening.’ But when COVID lockdowns put a spotlight on police killing unarmed Black people, everything she suppressed begins seeping out like an infected wound.

"Human Museum"
By Miyoko Conley
Directed by Jesca Prudencio
7 p.m. Friday, Dec 1
and 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec 3

Set in a future where humans have gone extinct, Human Museum follows a group of robots on Earth that run a museum dedicated to organizing the physical and digital artifacts of human life. On the centenary of human extinction, a sudden radio call upends everything the robots thought they knew about the last days of humanity. Human Museum explores what we will leave behind when we’re gone, and who will carry on our legacy.

"59 Acres"
Created by Marike Splint
In collaboration with Jonathan Snipes and Stewart Blackwood

3:00 p.m., 3:15 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 3:45 p.m., 4:00 p.m., 4:15 p.m. on Friday, Dec 1

12:00 p.m., 12:15 p.m., 12:30 p.m., 12:45 p.m., 1:00 p.m., 1:15 p.m., 1:30 p.m. on Sunday Dec. 3

Marike Splint’s new piece is a site-specific, immersive soundwalk that uses the environment around La Jolla Playhouse as its canvas. Layered with disarming metaphors, historical details, and personal musings, 59 Acres takes you on a meditation through the physical, cultural and geographical landscapes we inhabit, while searching for the extraordinary in the mundane.

WEEK 2 Dec. 5-10
"McNeal"
Written and Directed by Ayad Akhtar

7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec 7
and 7 p.m. on Saturday, Dec 9

Good writers borrow, great writers steal. Jacob McNeal is one of the greatest writers, a perpetual candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. McNeal also has an estranged son, a new novel, plenty of old axes to grind, stage 2 liver failure and an unhealthy fascination with Artificial Intelligence. Pulitzer Prize winner Ayad Akhtar’s new play is a keenly-observed and wickedly smart examination of the inescapable humanity – and increasing inhumanity – of our stories.

"To Red Tendons"
By Peter Kim George
Directed by Kat Yen

7 p.m. Friday, Dec 8
and 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec 10

We still don’t know how to talk about what happened in Los Angeles on April 29, 1992, and it’s a problem. A group of young actors come together to re-enact a “primal scene” from the Los Angeles unrest in 1992 using elements of group psychotherapy. Why don’t liberals acknowledge American empire? How do the unseen parts of empire structure what is visible? We’re just trying to live. To Red Tendons deals with seething anger turned inward, and a desire for reconciliation. 

"Sound Place Love"
Created by Braden Abraham and Gordon Hempton
Based on recordings by Gordon Hempton, The Sound Tracker
Directed by Braden Abraham

5 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec 5
and 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec 6

A Without Walls work-in-progress!

Sound Place Love is a captivating, immersive audio installation about celebrated sound artist Gordon Hempton, known as The Sound Tracker. Gordon spent decades capturing disappearing natural environments across the Earth, using a specialized microphone that emulates human hearing. Distilled from hundreds of hours of personal recordings and interviews, this project shares some of his most beautiful and engaging recordings around the globe and his personal struggle with hearing loss. Be the first audience to experience this moving auditory voyage, exploring how we perceive and appreciate the art of listening.

Reserve free tickets
All DNA readings are general admission seating. Tickets are free and reservations are required. Some shows may sell out.

Related links:
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