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AARON SORKIN HAS BECOME one of television’s most notable writers, mostly because of The West Wing, which set several records for collecting Emmy Awards. But he attained fame in theater with his 1989 Broadway hit, A Few Good Men. His subsequent screenplay for that film took him to Hollywood for more movies and then television. Sorkin’s current NBC series, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, has been critically praised but struggles for ratings.

Now he’s coming back to the theater, scripting La Jolla Playhouse’s newest Page to Stage workshop production, The Farnsworth Invention (February 20–March 25). And anyone who enjoys television should recognize the title name. Philo T. Farnsworth was a young genius who, in 1927, devised the first working image-transmitting system. He, of course, had many imitators and competitors, chiefly the Radio Corporation of America, a media giant built and headed by immigrant-turned-mogul David Sarnoff. The bitter legal struggle between the two, a classic example of the little guy versus the big company, forms the core of Sorkin’s play.

The Playhouse’s record with the Page to Stage development program is mightily impressive, with two such productions—I Am My Own Wife, featuring Jefferson Mays, and Billy Crystal’s 700 Sundays—going on to win plaudits and Tonys on Broadway. Farnsworth is the final production staged by Des McAnuff as Playhouse artistic director.

PROGRAM PERUSERS attending The Four of Us might be temporarily taken aback—the play has only two characters. Itamar Moses’ comedy, getting its world debut at the Old Globe’s Cassius Carter (February 3–March 11), concerns two writer buddies and their duality of reactions as they deal with the sudden success that has come to one of them. Moses says the plot is a twist on a cynical Gore Vidal quote: “It’s not enough to succeed. Others have to fail.” In this case, “others” is a good friend. “I’ve been on both sides,” says Moses. “I’ve lived through those years when friends and I were dealing with varying levels of success. I know how each person feels.”

The story also deals with questions of how success is defined and how it relates to personal values. It can be seen, Moses says, as a metaphor on the nature of all friendships. And, he emphasizes, it’s definitely a comedy—in both the modern and classic meanings.

FOR NEW VILLAGE ARTS, underscore the first word. Although the Carlsbad company has been producing acclaimed works since 2001, the new year brings a cluster of innovations. Most notably, NVA is getting a new home in downtown Carlsbad. The troupe had hoped to open its new season there, but the inevitable construction delays mean that patrons, for a couple more months, still have to wend their way from Palomar Airport Road through side streets to the company’s make-do theater in the Jazzercise Building.

That season kickoff is NVA’s first repertory offering, a clever pairing of Anton Chekhov’s classic Three Sisters (February 3–March 4) and Beth Henley’s Pulitzer-winning dramatic comedy Crimes of the Heart (January 27–March 4), also about a trio of siblings. Both casts feature three of the town’s best actors, Jessica John, Kristianne Kurner and Amanda Sitton. Dana Case directs Crimes, and NVA artistic director Francis Gercke stages Sisters, using Brian Friel’s lauded translation of Chekhov’s Russian.

If all goes well, the new theater will be inaugurated with another first—a spring San Diego premiere of John Patrick Shanley’s Sailor’s Song, a romance with dance directed by Kurner and choreographed by Robin Christ. Kurner also is NVA’s executive director, demonstrating what’s not new about the company—its versatility. Gercke also acts, and John recently was named marketing director. Oh, yeah, she’s also designing the costumes for both plays.

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