Martin Benson

They started on a shoestring, traveling from venue to venue, hauling their props and costumes in a station wagon. Realists would give them little chance of sustaining their lofty concept of world-class professional theater. Their growth was measured in carefully orchestrated steps: Step 1, a mobile theater group, introducing itself to local audiences; Step 2, a small theater converted from a marine swap shop in Newport Beach; Step 3, a larger playhouse in downtown Costa Mesa; Step 4, a two-theater complex in South Coast Town Center that would win worldwide renown and a Tony award.

Claudia Figueroa Sunil Kuruvilla isn't joking when he says he heard bells ringing when he conceived "Fighting Words," one of 10 plays included in this year's Pacific Playwrights Festival at South Coast Repertory. "Fighting Words," which makes its debut next week at the third annual festival, is based on the life of Johnny Owen. The bantamweight boxer from Wales rose to success in the late 1970s, but died in 1980 from head injuries he suffered in a match for the world bantamweight title at the Los Angeles Olympic Auditorium.

Tom Titus The year was 1947. Americans were still in a euphoric, self-congratulatory mood following victories on two fronts in World War II. Then a budding young playwright named Arthur Miller threw a monkey wrench into the works with his first Broadway play, "All My Sons." Miller's postwar counterpunch was a body blow that still packs a wallop, particularly when presented with such uncompromising power as South Coast Repertory offers in its revival, the latest in the company's American Classics series.

Maybe they should have gone to Las Vegas instead. David Emmes and Martin Benson, co-founders of South Coast Repertory, probably didn't realize their luck Tuesday night when they showed up at the crowded Costa Mesa premiere of the new trailer for the Theater District. But when it came time to raffle off a few door prizes, both Emmes and Benson were holding winning tickets. As it turned out, though, their luck didn't do them very much good. Benson's exciting prize was a pair of tickets to see a show at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, South Coast Rep's next-door neighbor.