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Arts & Entertainment

San Diego Botanic Garden to Host La Jolla Playhouse's 'Susurrus'

The outdoor audio play allows audiences to experience theater in a new way.

Thursday, the La Jolla Playhouse will unveil Susurrus, only it won't be happening on any stage. At least not in the traditional sense. Instead, the  will act as the backdrop, allowing the audience to experience theater in a new way.

Susurrus—defined as a soft murmuring or rustling sound—was written and directed by David Leddy, an award-winning playwright and director based out of Glasglow, Scotland. This site-specific audio play is the first in La Jolla Playhouse’s “Without Walls” (WoW), a four-year series that will include other site-specific productions throughout the region.

To experience Susurrus, small groups of playgoers will listen to the voices of characters via iPod while they walk a route that stops at eight locations throughout the garden. The hope is that along the way, as the plot thickens, the experience of theater is enhanced by the natural beauty that surrounds them. The play certainly challenges audiences to think outside the theater, and that's precisely the point, Leddy said. 

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“My work always plays with the form of theater in some way,” Leddy said. "I'm constantly asking how much the form of theater can be stretched, swiveled, snapped and pieced back together in a new order. At the same time, though, I'm keen to break the rules but keep the traditions. Most importantly, fiddling with form always takes second place to the emotions.”

Even though Susurrus has been featured in a dozen gardens around the world, Leddy was impressed with what the San Diego Botanic Garden, located on 37 acres off Quail Gardens Drive in Encinitas, has to offer.

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“San Diego Botanic Garden is a wonderful location because there is such variety between the different stops,” Leddy said. “It feels like a slightly different environment each time and that's what I'm looking for, a series of special, thoughtful corners that can transport the listener into a new world.”

Even for those familiar with the San Diego Botanic Garden, Susurrus may reveal a new facet of the property.

“Leddy is taking them on these routes the average visitor won’t travel on,” said Diana Goforth, education and event coordinator. “They’re going to see parts of the garden that people may have not even seen.”

Leddy has written several other site-specific plays, which include locations such as his own home, a graveyard and even a blacked-out cupboard. Even though his backdrops may seem out of place, he has managed to make a great impression on the contemporary-theater scene.

“You have to describe [Leddy] as a hot, young and edgy playwright,” said Christopher Ashley, artistic director of the La Jolla Playhouse. “One of the things I love about him is every time he does a show, he completely breaks the rules he sets for himself in previous shows.”

Susurrus will run Sept. 16 through Oct. 2 and tickets can be purchased online.

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