The Playwrights' Theatre series, sponsored by the Eugene O'Neill Foundation, will host a performance of "El Paso Blue," a modern Western play exploring life in West Texas, on Sunday afternoon (May 18) in Danville.

Following the show, San Francisco Chronicle theater critic Robert Hurwitt will moderate a discussion and interview with "El Paso Blue" playwright Octavio Solis.

The play touches on the issues of border politics, immigration, loss of culture, supernatural events, assimilation and revenge by following the story of a man who gets out of jail only to find that his wife ran off with his father.

When "El Paso Blue" debuted in San Francisco in 1994, Hurwitt called the work, "a concentrated, continually inventive, darkly comic delight."

"Octavio Solis' poetic language reflects a voice unique in American theater and one that digs at the roots of what it means to be human," said Eileen Herrmann, an Eugene O'Neill scholar and member of the Eugene O'Neill Foundation Board of Directors. "Like a Greek tragedy, like the characters of Arthur Miller or Eugene O'Neill, the characters go on a journey toward a fateful end."

Sunday's performance begins at 2 p.m. in the Old Barn at the Eugene O'Neill National Historic Site. The cast includes Matt Kizer, Carla Pauli, Armando Rodriguez and Arwen Anderson. The show will feature live music written for the play and performed by Michael "Hawkeye" Herman.

Tickets can be reserved online or by phone at 925-820-1818. Seating is limited.

Playwrights' Theatre is presented by the Eugene O'Neill Foundation, Tao House in partnership with the National Park Service (NPS). Those attending Sunday's performance will be taken to the site by an NPS shuttle, departing from the Museum of the San Ramon Valley, 205 Railroad Ave. in downtown Danville. Shuttle details will be forwarded to reservation holders in advance. Private vehicles are not permitted at the site.