The Coast Starlight
World-Premiere Play
August 20 – September 15, 2019 Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre
By Keith Bunin Directed by Tyne Rafaeli
One morning, a young man boards the Coast Starlight, the long-distance train that runs from Los Angeles to Seattle. He’s got a secret that can land him in terrible trouble, and he has roughly one thousand miles to enlist the help of his fellow travelers – all of whom are reckoning with their own choices in search of a way forward. Keith Bunin’s new play is a smart, funny and compassionate story about our capacity for invention and re-invention when life goes off the rails.
A La Jolla Playhouse Commission originally developed in the 2018 DNA New Works Series
Complete your evening at The Coast Starlight by making a reservation at our onsite restaurant James’ Place, just steps away from the theatre, or stop by for a drink. Click HERE to reserve your table. James’ Place opens at 5:00 pm.
STELLAR REVIEWS FOR THE COAST STARLIGHT
“MASTERFUL…A rare gem of a theater piece…Extraordinary acting…affecting and often drop-dead funny”
» Read more at the San Diego Union-Tribune
“First-rate world premiere production”
» Read more at Talkin’ Broadway
“Bunin’s ingenuity comes to the fore”
» Read more at CityBeat
“I recommend you buy a ticket”
» Read more at BroadwayWorld
Approximate run time: 95-100 minutes. No intermission.
Content note: This production contains adult themes and language.
Need more detail?
The Playhouse’s mission is to be a safe harbor for the unsafe and surprising. We are proud to engage with artists and audiences on a wide range of subjects as we explore our world together. In order to preserve the excitement of the story-telling that will unfold on stage, we do not list all potential triggers for audiences. Please call our Patron Services Office if you’d like to discuss any concerns you have prior to attending.
Production Sponsors
Una K. Davis
Brian & Silvija Devine
Recipient of an Edgerton Foundation New Play Award
» Click here to read the program online
ACCESS Performance (ASL interpretation, audio description): Saturday, September 7 at 2:00 pm
Top banner photo credit: Camila Canó Flaviá and Nate Mann in The Coast Starlight; photo by Jim Carmody
Cast & Creators
- Creators
- Cast
- Design
Keith Bunin
Playwright
Mr. Bunin is very happy to return to La Jolla Playhouse, where his play Sam Bendrix at the Bon Soir was produced in 2012. His plays The Busy World Is Hushed, The Credeaux Canvas and The World Over all premiered Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons. His other plays include The Unbuilt City (New York Stage and Film), The Principality of Sorrows (Pure Orange Productions) and the musical 10 Million Miles (Atlantic Theatre Company). He wrote the screenplay for the film Horns and was a writer for the HBO series In Treatment. He is currently writing screenplays for MGM, Universal, HBO Films and Fox Searchlight. He lives in Brooklyn.
Keith Bunin Playwright
Tyne Rafaeli
Director
Ms. Rafaeli is a New York-based director of new plays, classics and musicals. Recent productions include Ming Peiffer's Usual Girls at Roundabout Theater Company (New York Times Critics’ Pick), Craig Lucas' I Was Most Alive with You at Playwrights Horizons (New York Times Critics’ Pick), Martyna Majok’s Ironbound and the world premieres of Anna Ziegler’s Actually and Amanda Peet’s Our Very Own Carlin McCullough at Geffen Playhouse, Michael Yates Crowley’s The Rape of the Sabine Women at The Playwrights Realm, and the New York premiere of In a Word by Lauren Yee. She is a 2016-18 Time Warner Directing Fellow at the Women's Project Theater and received the 2014 SDC Sir John Gielgud Fellowship for Classic Direction.
Tyne Rafaeli Director
Mia Barron
Liz
Mary Rose Branick
Understudy for Jane
Camila Canó-Flaviá
Jane
Rhys Coiro
Noah
Nate Mann
TJ
Stephanie Weeks
Anna
Christine Penn
Understudy for Liz
Garrett Schulte
Understudy for TJ
Rob Yang
Ed
- Arnulfo MaldonadoScenic Designer
- Denitsa BliznakovaCostume Designer
- Lap Chi ChuLighting Designer
- Daniel KlugerComposer and Sound Designer
- Shirley FishmanDramaturg
-
TBD Casting;
Stephanie Yankwitt, C.S.A.
and Margaret DunnCasting - Ashley R. MartinStage Manager
- Tyler LarsonAssistant Stage Manager
- Becca DuhaimeProject Production Manager
- Joseph HendelAssistant Director
- Samuel Keamy-MinorScenic Design Resident Assistant
- Emily WootenStage Management Intern
Gallery
Venue Info
Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre
The third and newest of La Jolla Playhouse's theatres, the 6,500-square-foot Sheila and Hughes Potiker theatre is the centerpiece of the first permanent year-round home for the Playhouse — the $17 million Joan and Irwin Jacobs Center.
