Of the new and newish plays I saw in the region, James Ijames’ “Fat Ham” and Eboni Booth’s “Primary Trust” proved their award-winning mettle to Southern California audiences.

Within the first 30 minutes of the magical realist dramedy “Nightbitch,” Amy Adams, starring as a newish parent teeming with fury and resentment, discovers that the oozing pustule that appeared on her back contains what appears to be a tail, the clearest sign yet that she is transforming into a dog.

An acquaintance gave Coppola a list of five newish concert composers to check out, including Thomas Adès and the Argentina-born Golijov.

In what counts as the present day — there is an earlier timeline in which young Valya is played by Jessica Barden and Tula by Emma Canning — the sisters have lifted themselves to positions of influence by way of the newish Sisterhood, later the Bene Gesserit; they’re nuns, basically, who have learned to bend minds.

“It’s a newish microphone technology that’s kind of amazing,” says McLeod.