Phylicia Rashad Strips Down, Directs La Jolla Playhouse Production

The La Jolla Playhouse's DNA New Work Series is returning early next year with a familiar face in the production team. Phylicia Rashad, best known for her portrayal of Clair Huxtable on The Cosby Show and her Tony award-winning performance in A Raisin in the Sun, will direct Blueprints to Freedom: An Ode to Bayard Rustin, as part of the Playhouse's DNA New Works Series.

The series tests new works in front of an audience for the first time with little or no scenic, costume or staging elements, and actors may have scripts in hand.

“‘DNA’ is really about the first reading; it’s very lo-tech,” La Jolla Playhouse Artistic Director Christopher Ashley told the U-T San Diego.

The DNA New Work Series allows playwrights and directors the opportunity to develop a script by providing rehearsal time, space and resources – all culminating in workshops or readings open to the public, the Playhouse staff explained.

The series runs Feb. 17 through March 2. Ticket reservations will open Jan. 15.

Here is more information about the workshops and readings:

Workshop

By Michael Benjamin Washington
Directed by Phylicia Rashad

In the sweltering political and racial heat of 1963, Bayard Rustin – the brilliant proponent of non-violent civil disobedience – is assigned to orchestrate an unprecedented march for jobs and freedom. Exiled from the Civil Rights movement by both internal and external forces, Rustin grapples with his last chance for professional restoration and spiritual redemption as he masterminds "a tribute to the ancestors" exactly one century after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.

Readings

Monday, Feb. 17 at 7:30 pm

Tickets: FREE (reservation required)

Seuss 1 Rehearsal Room

general admission seating