Shakespeare returns to SCR

For the first time in nearly two decades, South Coast Repertory will stage a play by William Shakespeare, as part of its 2006-07 season.

The inclusion of “Hamlet,� directed by Daniel Sullivan and starring Hamish Linklater in the title role, marks a first for the Costa Mesa theater: It has never performed “Hamlet.�

The Segerstrom Stage season will open with George Walker’s “Nothing Sacred,� a play based on “Fathers and Sons,� a novel by Russian author Ivan Turgenev.

“Nothing Sacred� will be followed by the West Coast premiere of “Ridiculous Fraud,� a family comedy set in the South, by Beth Henley, who is best known for her Pulitzer Prize-winning play, “Crimes of the Heart.�

A yet-to-be selected world premiere play to debut during the 2007 Pacific Playwrights Festival next May will also be included in the Segerstrom Stage season.

The theater’s Julianne Argyros Stage season will include the dark comedy “Pig Farm� by Greg Kotis, 2002 Tony Award winner for best book of a musical for “Urinetown,� and “Bach at Leipzig,� a new play by writer Itamar Moses. Also under consideration for the Argyros Stage in the coming season are three plays that will be read at the playwrights festival: “Leitmotif� by Victoria Stewart, “The Piano Teacher� by Julia Cho and “System Wonderland� by David Wiener.