Other Desert Cities

By Jon Robin Baitz

Directed by Katina Letheule

May 3 – May 26, 2019

Written by Jon Rubin Baitz, Other Desert Cities is both comedy and drama.   Named “Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play” by the Outer Critics Circle in 2011, it was also nominated for five Tony Awards and was a finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

The Story: 
A liberal writer, Brooke Wyeth, returns  home to affluent Palm Springs after a six year absence to celebrate the holidays with her conservative, politically-connected parents. Her father, Lyman Wyeth, is a former Reagan-appointed ambassador, and her mother Polly, a brittle perfectionist.  Brooke is anxious about revealing the publishing plans for her new memoir, about her beloved older brother, Henry.  When the news of Brooke’s memoir is revealed, Polly and Lyman are faced with a choice — either reveal a shocking secret that they have kept for decades, or risk exposure when the world reads their story.

The play’s name refers to a control city guide sign on eastbound Interstate 10 in California, which indicates that the freeway is headed towards Indio, California and “other Desert Cities” (that is, the rest of the Coachella Valley and onward towards Phoenix, Arizona).

Featuring an amazing cast:

Brooke Wyeth – Sarah Nowicki
Polly Wyeth – Marika Kuzma
Lyman Wyeth – Jim Rupp
Trip Wyeth – Peter Marietta
Silda Grauman – Marsha van Broek