Categories: Justin Duyao, THE BUZZ

THE BUZZ: Newly Renovated and Renamed North County Theatre Celebrates Opening of Tony Award-winning “The Ferryman”

By Justin Duyao

December 8, 2022

The Ferryman Set Model  – Designed by Douglas Cumming

Located in the heart of Carlsbad Village, the newly-renovated and renamed Dea Hurston New Village Arts Center (NVA) will celebrate its grand reopening with a month-long run of Jez Butterworth’s Tony Award-winning play, “The Ferryman.” In its first U.S. production since its 2018 run at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre on Broadway, “The Ferryman” will open to the public on Feb. 4th and run through March 5th.

Arts leader Dea Hurston

In July of this year, NVA announced the arts complex had been renamed in honor of San Diego playwright and veteran arts volunteer Dea Hurston, whose legendary 30-year career as a local arts leader has garnered national acclaim, making NVA the second arts center in the nation to be named after a Black woman, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune. 

The renaming comes as the arts center had its auditorium modernized and public spaces redesigned to be a cultural gathering space and arts education center for the community.

“I’ve enjoyed exploring my artistry through writing, and the New Village Arts Center has played a significant role in creating a space for me to foster my creativity,” Hurston said. Following NVA’s reopening, “it will be an inclusive place for all artists to meet, create and practice their craft, take dance classes and attend lectures and exhibits.”

In addition to the renaming of the building, NVA is initiating the Dea Hurston Fellowship program, which will create opportunities at the high school, college and professional levels for BIPOC women and other underrepresented artists.

“I cannot imagine a more exciting time for New Village Arts since we first moved into this building in 2007,” said Founder and Executive Artistic Director Kristianne Kurner. “We have renovated the space so that it can present a much wider variety of performing and visual arts, and at the same time we are mounting the most ambitious season in our history.” 

One of the lead donors for the project is the Conrad Prebys Foundation, which gave $500,000 to the renovation campaign last fall. Additional donors include the Sahm Family Foundation, the Nordson Foundation, the Ginn Family Foundation and The Next Stage. To honor this support, “The Ferryman” will debut in NVA’s Conrad Presbys Theatre. 

Set in Northern Ireland in 1981, “The Ferryman” takes place during the Carney farmhouse’s annual harvest celebration and feast, which are halted by the arrival of an unexpected visitor. The New York Times theater critic Ben Brantley called it “a shivery suspenser, a hearthside family portrait, a political tragedy and a journey across mythic seas.”

“From the moment I finished reading Jez Butterworth’s ‘The Ferryman’, I knew it would be the highlight of my 20+ year career,” said Kurner, who is also directing the show’s NVA run. “I was immediately drawn in by the way it addresses the effect of violence in society through the lens of an epic family story. There is so much joy, laughter, romance and play amidst the stark realities of the North of Ireland in 1981.”

In addition to picking up the 2019 Tony Award for Best Play, “The Ferryman” also won the Drama Desk Award for Best Play, a Drama League Award for Outstanding production of a Play and an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Play. The New York Drama Critic’s Circle also named it the Best Play by the New York Drama Critics’ Circle. 

Outside the U.S., “The Ferryman” has won three 2018 Olivier Awards, including Best New Play and Best Director, along with a number of Evening Standard Awards and a U.K. Critics’ Circle Award for Best New Play.

Tickets now on sale at NewVillageArts.org or by calling (760) 433-3245


Dea Hurston New Village Arts Center Opening Events
Dedication and Ribbon Cutting: Jan. 27, 10:30am
Grand Re-Opening Community Celebration: Jan. 28, 12-4pm 

Jez Butterworth’s “The Ferryman”
Previews Jan 27 – Feb 3, 2023
Opening: February 4, 2023 at 7:30pm
Runs Feb 4 – March 5, 2023

New Village Arts
2787 State St. 
Carlsbad, CA. 92008



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