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South Coast Repertory to premiere Julia Cho’s drama ‘The Language Archive’

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The last slot in South Coast Repertory’s season goes to ‘The Language Archive’ by Julia Cho, which will have its world premiere March 26-April 25 on the Segerstrom Stage.

The drama concerns a linguist who runs up against the limitations of his chosen milieu, words, when he needs them most -- as his marriage unravels. The director is Mark Brokaw, whose credits include ‘After Miss Julie,’ an adaptation of August Strindberg’s play that’s now on Broadway; ‘Cry-Baby,’ the stage version of the John Waters film that premiered in 2007 at the La Jolla Playhouse and transferred to Broadway; the New York premiere of Paula Vogel’s Pulitzer-winning ‘How I Learned to Drive’; and two recent vehicles for ‘Sex and the City’ stars -- the play ‘Distracted,’ with Cynthia Nixon, and the film of Rebecca Gilman’s play, ‘Spinning into Butter,’ with Sarah Jessica Parker.

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‘The Language Archive’ was commissioned by New York City’s Roundabout Theatre Company, where Brokaw frequently directs; with Roundabout’s consent, South Coast has grabbed it for its premiere production after Cho’s script had a staged reading last spring as part of the Costa Mesa company’s annual Pacific Playwrights Festival.

Cho’s 2007 drama, ‘The Piano Teacher,’ premiered at South Coast; after the likable title character passed out cookies to audience members during her opening monologue, the play darkened considerably while depicting how war’s horror can infect those seemingly at a safe remove. Another Cho play, ‘Durango,’ about conflict between a recently laid-off Korean immigrant and his two Americanized sons, made Times theater critic Charles McNulty’s 2007 ‘best of’ list after its West Coast premiere by L.A.’s East West Players.

-- Mike Boehm

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