YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO THE END OF THE WORLD!—South Coast Repertory
- TheShowReport
- Apr 24
- 4 min read
Updated: Apr 25
"The world is too big to not be kind of magical..."
The world premiere of YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO THE END OF THE WORLD! By Keiko Green plays now at South Coast Repertory—a theatrical heartfelt comedy adventure and finalist for the prestigious Susan Smith Blackburn Prize—through May 3rd, directed by Zi Alikhan and joining the 2024/25 season schedule.
Take your seat for a comic, irreverent celebration of life through the cosmos! Since Greg’s terminal diagnosis, he’s felt a deep connection to the Earth—and to save himself, he’ll need to save the planet. Viv desperately wants to savor every last minute with her husband. Meanwhile M, our narrator, searches desperately to find meaning in the chaos of their final year with Dad. A heartfelt family story and joyful theatrical event, as magical as the world itself.
This innovative comedy features an accomplished cast with numerous credits across all platforms: Joel de la Fuente as Greg, River Gallo as M, Rafael Goldstein portraying Will and others, Anna LaMadrid as Lila and others, Sharon Omi playing Janet and others, and Alysia Reiner who plays the mother, Viv.
M has always had a complicated relationship with the parents, but now urgently feels the pressure of time running out. Greg wants to expand his world, as he commits the rest of his life to fighting climate change, while his wife Viv wants nothing more than to keep Greg confined to their home. In this theatrical spectacle, M uses metatheatricality and the joy of dance and theatre to explore themes of grief, dying, and our connection to the Earth.
Even the costume pieces and set pieces can feel like M’s version of these things. There are about twenty characters total, and some of these can be really up to interpretation (Army Guy, Golden Toad, etc.). Locations in M’s story also change quite frequently, but they are always inside the container of M’s performance.
There are other surreal moment in which Joel de la Fuente’s Greg, a father diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, meets Rafael Goldstein’s plastic green army man, who represents the military industrial complex and arranges the meeting at the behest of their mutual friend, Greta Thunberg.
In the end, it’s a gut-punch, a warm hug, a wake-up call, and a real good time all at once. Ms. Green's stunning style and magical theatricality weave together both the slow death of a person with the slow death of our planet in a way that tugs on your heartstrings while making you dissolve freely into laughter. With a strong ensemble and three nuanced central characters, this play culminates in a dance celebration that makes moonbeam-smiles on most of the audience.
“…(the play)… is a powerful complement to the entirety of our 61st season,” Artistic Director David Ivers said. “It’s incredibly special to have Keiko Green and her moving, irreverent play as an anchor to the Pacific Playwrights Festival. Keiko’s writing is evocative and the play tackles undeniable truths in powerful and sometimes unimaginable ways.”
A performer, playwright, and screenwriter, currently based in Los Angeles and Seattle, Ms. Green’s plays have been produced and developed by the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, the Kennedy Center, Atlantic Theatre Co, Ensemble Studio Theatre, the Playwrights Realm, and Seattle Rep among others. She is Chance Theatre’s 2023 Playwright in Residence and holds commissions from the Old Globe, ACT Theatre, and Seattle Shakespeare Co. She also is a writer on the 2024 Hulu series "Interior Chinatown," currently still in production.
The New York City-based Zi Alikhan has directed plays all over the country, including Pasadena Playhouse, Primary Stages, Writers Theatre/Theatre Squared), Playmakers Repertory Company, Portland Center Stage, Geva Theater Center, Olney Theater Center and Paper Mill Playhouse, among others. Alikhan’s direction of “On That Day in Amsterdam” at Primary Stages earned him Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel nominations for Outstanding Director, and his direction of "Sanctuary City" at Pasadena Playhouse was named “Best of the Year” by the Los Angeles Times.
Considered a dark comedy by some, a dramedy by others, YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO THE END OF THE WORLD serves up a good platter of waggery and magical moments while meeting the darkness of climate grief and the realistic connotations of death. It’s simultaneously beautiful, expansive, furious, gorgeous, and deeply sad at the same time. The script recalls echoes of another quirky, emotional comedy, “You Got Older,” and yet is utterly original with an engine fueled with so much imagination and grief that it makes us laugh, cry, and even want to try to save the world ourselves.
YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO THE END OF THE WORLD! By KEIKO GREEN, Now Playing at SOUTH COAST REPERTORY in their 61ST Season through May 3rd, 2025. Directed by ZI ALIKHAN; Scenic Designer ADAM RIGG; Costume Designer LUX HAAC; Lighting Designer BARBARA SAMUELS; Sound Designer NOEL NICHOLS/UPTOWN WORKS; Projection Designer NICHOLAS HUSSONG; Movement Consultant JAMES ALSOP; Voice & Dialect Coach DAVID NEVELL; Casting JOANNE DENAUT, CSA; Production Stage Manager KATHRYN DAVIES; Artistic Director DAVID IVERS; Managing Director SUZANNE APPEL.
Starring: RIVER GALLO, JOEL DE LA FUENTE, ALYSIA REINER, ANNA LAMADRID, RAFAEL GOLDSTEIN AND SHARON OMI.
Tickets may be purchased online at www.scr.org or by phone at (714) 708-5555. 100 minutes with no intermission, South Coast Repertory is located at 655 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa, at the Bristol Street/Avenue of the Arts exit off the San Diego (405) Freeway in the David Emmes/Martin Benson Theatre Center, part of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. Parking is available on Park Center Drive, off Anton Boulevard.
Chris Daniels
Arts & Entertainment Reviewer
The Show Report
Photo Credits: Scott Smeltzer
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