🎭 NEW! San Francisco Theatre Newsletter
San Jose Stage Company has announced the cast and creative team for the Bay Area Regional Premiere of The Coast Starlight by Tony Award–nominated playwright Keith Bunin, running April 1–26, 2026 at The Stage in downtown San Jose (490 South 1st Street, San Jose, CA 95113).
🎭 NEW! San Francisco Theatre Newsletter
Originally developed at La Jolla Playhouse and later produced at Lincoln Center Theater, Bunin’s acclaimed play now arrives in Silicon Valley for its Bay Area regional premiere.
Set aboard the iconic train that travels the Pacific Coast from Los Angeles to Seattle, The Coast Starlight follows six strangers whose lives begin to intersect during the long overnight journey. As the miles pass, their stories intertwine in surprising and deeply human ways—revealing unexpected connections, hidden pasts, and a dangerous secret that could change everything.
Playwright Keith Bunin first began imagining The Coast Starlight while living in the Bay Area.
“Initially, I was staying at a Hyatt House in Emeryville,” Bunin recalled. “The hotel was right next to the Amtrak station, and Emeryville is a stop on the Coast Starlight. That’s when the idea for the play began to take shape.”
Bunin describes the work as an exploration of the surprising connections that emerge in transient spaces.
“There’s something about being on a train—about being between destinations—that allows people to open up in ways they might not otherwise,” Bunin said in an interview with Lincoln Center Theater. “The play is really about connection, and the moments when strangers suddenly see each other clearly.”
“The Coast Starlight has a unique connection to the Bay Area and there’s something special about presenting a play in the region where its story first began to take shape,” says Randall King, Artistic Director. “Keith Bunin’s play captures the feeling of being in motion and reminds us that even brief encounters can reveal surprising truths about who we are and how we connect with one another.”
Director Rebecca Haley Clark to helm the production. Clark is a theatre director whose work spans New York, Brazil, and Scotland. Recently directed “Master Harold”…and the Boys at Santa Cruz Shakespeare where she also serves as Director of Education. Her directing credits also include Emilia, The Mountaintop, and original works including Cycle-Logical and Hindsight 2020.
Born and raised in Santa Cruz, California, Clark holds an M.F.A. in Classical and Contemporary Text (Directing) from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and a B.A. in Drama and Comparative Ethnic Studies from Columbia University. She was awarded a Fulbright research grant to study Shakespeare and race studies in Rio de Janeiro and currently lectures in the Film and Theatre Department at San José State University.