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The DNA New Work Series, launched by Artistic Director Christopher Ashley in 2013, is part of the Playhouse’s commitment to being a home for bold new plays and musicals. Through this beloved program, playwrights and directors spend days or weeks developing their new project with access to the Playhouse’s spaces, staff and resources. The process culminates in free, intimate readings and workshops, giving audiences a rare glimpse into brand-new theatre in the making and a chance to shape its evolution.
In 2023, the WOW Work-In-Process joined the DNA lineup, inviting audiences to participate in a multisensory presentation of early-stage immersive, interactive or site-specific projects that could grow into future WOW Festival events or standalone Without Walls productions.
The readings of the DNA New Work Series take place at the Rao and Padma Makineni Play Development Center (PDC) and adjoining rehearsal rooms at La Jolla Playhouse.
WEEK 1: DEC 4 – DEC 7
Written by Brant Russell
Directed by Jaki Bradley
Thu, Dec 4 at 7pm and Sat, Dec 6 at 7pm
PDC at La Jolla Playhouse
Erik and Erika have been intertwined since young adulthood, for better, for worse, and for everything in between. Now 40, they re-unite at a party to celebrate Erika’s engagement – to someone else. Well Well Well is a funny, smart and bruising play that searches for the line between addiction and devotion.
Written by Banna Desta
Directed by Jacole Kitchen
Fri, Dec 5 at 7pm and Sun, Dec 7 at 2pm
PDC at La Jolla Playhouse
Abraha is part of a close-knit group of Eritrean friends living in Washington, DC, driving cabs and dreaming of returning home when their country wins its independence. But as years stretch into decades, Abraha’s dreams of stability crash into political, technological and economic shifts that threaten to upend everything. Red Taxi is a sharp, comedic and moving new play that examines how one can succeed and preserve relationships when “home” is so fragile.
WEEK 2: DEC 11 – DEC 14
A La Jolla Playhouse Commission
Written by Octavio Solis
Directed by Lisa Portes
Thu Dec 11 at 7pm and Sat Dec 13 at 7pm
PDC at La Jolla Playhouse
Ted Williams stared down the fiercest pitchers in baseball while becoming a star for the Boston Red Sox. But when he returns to his childhood home in San Diego to visit his estranged brother Danny, Ted faces an entirely different kind of heat. Octavio Solis’s new play for La Jolla Playhouse explores identity, destiny and how the ties that bind can also strangle.
Written by Quaz Degraft
Directed by Delicia Turner Sonnenberg
Fri Dec 12 at 7pm and Sun Dec 14 at 2pm
PDC at La Jolla Playhouse
Every wolf starts as a cub… some just have to claw their way up. In The Black is a gripping, dark comedy solo play about an ambitious Black accountant fighting for a seat at the table in the high-stakes world of Wall Street. Torn between love, identity and the relentless pursuit of success, he must navigate power, class and identity in a system that was never built for him. How far will he go to survive… and who will he become in the process?
All DNA readings are general admission seating. Tickets are free and reservations are required because space is limited. We recommend RSVP-ing swiftly to avoid missing out.
If you RSVP and can no longer attend, we ask that you release your tickets so someone else can enjoy this experience. Contact Patron Services on (858) 550-1010 or [email protected].
Thank you to our DNA supporters. Tickets for this event have been underwritten through the generosity of the Sheri L. Jamieson New Work Development Fund as well as our DNA New Work Series co-sponsors:
DNA New Works Festival Sponsors
Prebys Foundation
Morrison Foerster
Greta and Stephen Treadgold
DNA Discoverers
Robin and Larry Rusinko
DNA Scholars
Margaret and Tony Acampora
Jendy Dennis Endowment Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation
Hal and Hilary Dunning
Dean J. Haas
Dwight Hare and Stephanie Bergsma
Judy and Bill Garrett
Peggy Ann Wallace
If you would like to join with them in supporting new work at the Playhouse, please consider a tax-deductible donation. Gifts of $250 and above receive membership benefits throughout the year, including program recognition and exclusive invitations to join us for special events with theatre artists.
The DNA New Work Series has been a launching pad for numerous projects that have gone on to full productions in future Playhouse seasons, including Pulitzer Prize winner Ayad Akhtar’s The Who & The What; Chasing the Song, by the Tony Award-winning team of Joe DiPietro and David Bryan (Memphis, Diana); Michael Benjamin Washington’s Blueprints to Freedom; UC San Diego MFA graduate Jeff Augustin’s The Last Tiger in Haiti; Miss You Like Hell, by Pulitzer Prize winner Quiara Alegría Hudes and Erin McKeown; Kill Local, by UC San Diego MFA graduate Mat Smart; What Happens Next, by UC San Diego MFA graduate and faculty member Naomi Iizuka; Melissa Ross’ The Luckiest; Keith Bunin’s The Coast Starlight; SUMO, by Lisa Sanaye Dring in 2023; Derecho, by Noelle Viñas in 2024 and this season’s All the Men Who’ve Frightened Me, by Noah Diaz in 2025.
Top banner photo credit: from the 2024 DNA New Work Series reading of A Black-billed Cuckoo; photo by Samantha Laurent.
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