A Message from Leadership | A Black-billed Cuckoo

Dear Friends,

Welcome to the world premiere of A Black-billed Cuckoo! We’re so thrilled to have you join us for this touching new comedy. 

A Black-billed Cuckoo is the 13th play to make the leap from our DNA New Work Series into our subscription season, and UC San Diego MFA playwright Mat Smart’s second. Mat possesses a bottomless well of curiosity as a writer and a human, and it carries his work to unexpected places. He has written a funny, heartfelt tale about a birding group in Prospect Park Brooklyn and their search for the elusive black-billed cuckoo. Of course what they’re actually seeking is something deeper than a mere bird sighting. It’s an intimate yet mighty play about a universal yearning for purpose, connection and community. 

The DNA Series is an invaluable opportunity for emerging and established playwrights to nurture new ideas and develop them with colleagues and an audience eager to be a part of a new works process. Writers, actors and directors gather to read, work and rework. Audiences are then invited in to listen to what is often the first reading ever of a new piece of literature. For the Playhouse to be entrusted to help nurture these voices is an honor, and we are so grateful to the many donors who make this program possible. 

New play development is indeed in our DNA, and we thank all of you here today for supporting adventurous new work at the Playhouse.

JESSICA STONE
Artistic Director of La Jolla Playhouse

DEBBY BUCHHOLZ
Mangaging Director of La Jolla Playhouse