Theatre in the Woods: PSP’s Staged Reading Series

August 15 to October 4, 2020

The 1st production of the Together Apart Season

Join Pacifica Spindrift Players for a series of outdoor, socially distanced, live theatrical experiences! PSP is proud to present an 8-week series of classic and contemporary staged readings against the backdrop of the beautiful woods of Oddstad Park in Pacifica.

In order to prevent transmission of COVID-19, patrons are asked to bring their own seating (chair or blanket), wear a face covering at all times, and maintain a social distance of at least 6 feet from persons outside their household.

By purchasing tickets to and attending this outdoor performance, audience members agree to accept any risk that may result from their voluntary participation in this activity, and have reviewed and agree with Pacifica Spindrift Players’ COVID-19 Notice.

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, Edited by Russell Jackson
Saturday, August 15th & Sunday, August 16th at 5pm
Directed by Kiera Peacock
The story of two bachelors, John ‘Jack’ Worthing and Algernon ‘Algy’ Moncrieff, who create alter egos named Ernest to escape their tiresome lives. 

Dead Man’s Cell Phone by Sarah Ruhl
Saturday, August 22nd & Sunday, August 23rd at 5pm
Directed by Raissa Marchetti-Kozlov
An incessantly ringing cell phone in a quiet café. A stranger at the next table who has had enough. And a dead man – with a lot of loose ends. So begins Dead Man’s Cell Phone, a wildly imaginative new comedy by MacArthur “Genius” Grant recipient and Pulitzer Prize finalist Sarah Ruhl

Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare, Edited by David Wellens
Saturday, August 29th at 5pm & Sunday, August 30th at 5pm
Directed by Debi Durst
Count Claudio falls in love with Hero, the daughter of his host. Hero’s cousin Beatrice (a confirmed spinster) and Benedict (an eternal bachelor) are each duped into believing the other is in love with them.

God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza, Translated by Christopher Hampton
Saturday, September 5th & Sunday, September 6th at 5pm
Directed by Thomas Times
A playground altercation between eleven-year-old boys brings together two sets of Brooklyn parents for a meeting to resolve the matter. At first, diplomatic niceties are observed, but as the meeting progresses, and the rum flows, tensions emerge and the gloves come off, leaving the couples with more than just their liberal principles in tatters.
*This play contains strong adult language and content 

A Series of One Act Plays by Christopher Durang, Dorothy Parker, & David Ives
Week 1: Saturday, September 12th & Sunday, September 13th at 5pm
Week 2: Saturday, September 19th & Sunday, September 20th at 5pm
Directed by Lizzie Chapman
The Actor’s Nightmare (by Christopher Durang) involves an accountant named George Spelvin, who is mistaken for an actor’s understudy and forced to perform in a play for which he doesn’t know any of the lines.
Here We Are (by Dorothy Parker) describes a tense scene between a newly married couple traveling by train to New York City for the first night of their honeymoon.
Words Words Words (by David Ives) is about three intelligent chimpanzees who are put in a cage together under the eye of a scientist testing the hypothesis that three apes hitting keys at random on typewriters for an infinite amount of time will almost surely produce Shakespeare‘s play Hamlet

Wailing, a New Play by Benjamin Gelb
Saturday, September 26th & Sunday, September 27th at 5pm
Directed by Gary Ferguson
Four gay Jews meet at the Western Wall. Sounds like the beginning of a joke. But for Sam, Marvin, Louis, and Arnold, it’s a moment in time to feel understood for their dueling otherness while wrestling with their faith, their shared histories of rejection, and themselves.
*This play contains strong adult language and content

Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov
Saturday, October 3rd & Sunday, October 4th at 5pm
Directed by Gary Schoenfeld
Three Sisters chronicles three and a half years in the falling fortunes of the four children of a recently deceased Colonel in the Russian army.

*While PSP hopes to be able to present all eight weeks of Theatre in the Woods: PSP’s Staged Reading Series live outdoors, please be aware that should local COVID-19 incidence rates rise to a degree that residents are asked to further limit activities outside the home, PSP plans to present the remainder of its Staged Reading Series streamed online.