La Jolla Playhouse, the acclaimed local live performance venue and one of a handful of regional theaters in the United States, has named San Diego’s Circle Circle dot dot as its 2014-15 resident theater company. Spearheaded by Playhouse artistic director Christopher Ashley in 2008, the residency program seeks to encourage the development of local performing arts organizations while contributing to the San Diego theater scene. The program provides a temporary home and sound and lighting support each season to a troupe without a permanent venue.
“In just a few short years,” Ashley said, “Circle Circle dot dot has displayed a startling sense of ambition, adventure and creativity, devising plays alongside local communities and branching out into site-based shows. That commitment to new work and new forms resonates with the Playhouse’s own mission and makes CCdd a natural choice for our next resident theater company.”
Circle Circle dot dot, established in 2010, aims to engage audiences by creating original theater from local stories. In addition to the physical plant, the Playhouse provides its resident companies with marketing and development advice.
This fall, the company will present the premiere of “Red Planet Respite,” written and developed by artistic director Katherine Harroff and several collaborators. The story centers on a crew sent to Mars to test a luxurious resort intended for the socially elite and the psychological extremities they could never prepare for.
In the spring of 2015, the company will be developing a world-premiere earth-sciences production based on California native animal life, created with the help of San Diego-based environmental preservation specialist Michael Nieto. The currently untitled piece will feature puppetry, clowning, dance and music.