A History of Freaks

PlayGround presents
A HISTORY OF FREAKS by Katie May (World Premiere)
Directed by Doyle Ott
May 13-June 15, 2019 at Potrero Stage
Tickets: $26.50-$56.50 (PWYC $6.50-$41.50, 5/13 & 5/14)

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A TBA Awards Recommended Production. When Joe returns from college to take the reins of his family’s traveling circus, he finds the sideshow performers under the big top, an animal trainer with no animals, a wire-walker grounded since the loss of her formerly conjoined twin, and a show struggling to find its footing in the modern world. To save the circus, they’ll have to face long-buried truths and rediscover the power of circus magic. Featuring: Patrick Russell*, Elena Wright*, Laura Espino, Stephanie Prentice*, Sean Garahan*, and Steven Westdahl. A History of Freaks was originally commissioned and developed in 2009 at College of Idaho, May’s alma mater. The play was a 2015 PlayGround Festival selection where it received further development and public staged readings.
* Member, Actors’ Equity Association

Reviews
Theatre Eddys/Eddie Reynolds (5/16/19)
My Cultural Landscape/George Heymont (5/20/19)
SF Examiner/Jean Schiffman (5/20/19)
San Francisco Chronicle/Lily Janiak (5/23/19)

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Katie May’s (A History of Freaks) plays include Abominable (PlayGround/Symmetry Theatre Company, Lark Playwrights’ Week Finalist), Manic Pixie Dream Girl (fringeNYC & A.C.T. Costume Shop, San Francisco), Black Sheep Gospel (Great Plains Theater Conference), and A History of Freaks (Finalist, David Mark Cohen Award), among others. Her short play Rapunzel’s Etymology of Zero (Best of PlayGround Festival, Short + Sweet Sydney) was published in the Best of PlayGround Anthology, 2011, and was subsequently made into an animated short film that screened in festivals both nationally and internationally. May has been a member of the San Francisco PlayGround Writers Pool since 2008, and a PlayGround Playwright in Residence since 2014. Her work has received productions in San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Arizona, Idaho, and Sydney, Australia. May is the recipient of grants and fellowships from the Virginia Piper Writing Center, National University of Singapore, Women in Film LA, and a two-time PlayGround Emerging Playwright Award winner. She holds an MFA from Arizona State University.

Patrick Russell* (Joseph)
Laura Espino (Claire)
Elena Wright* (Eve)
Steven Westdahl (Ron)
Sean Garahan* (Solomon)
Stephanie Prentice* (Sabine)
(L-R) Laura Espino and Patrick Russell in Katie May's A HISTORY OF FREAKS (May 13-June 15, 2019), part of the 23rd annual PlayGround Festival of New Works at Potrero Stage. Photo: Mellophoto.com.
(L-R) Steven Westdahl and Sean Garahan in Katie May's A HISTORY OF FREAKS (May 13-June 15, 2019), part of the 23rd annual PlayGround Festival of New Works at Potrero Stage. Photo: Mellophoto.com.
Elena Wright in Katie May's A HISTORY OF FREAKS (May 13-June 15, 2019), part of the 23rd annual PlayGround Festival of New Works at Potrero Stage. Photo: Mellophoto.com.
(L-R) Patrick Russell and Sean Garahan in Katie May's A HISTORY OF FREAKS (May 13-June 15, 2019), part of the 23rd annual PlayGround Festival of New Works at Potrero Stage. Photo: Mellophoto.com.
(L-R) Stephanie Prentice and Elena Wright in Katie May's A HISTORY OF FREAKS (May 13-June 15, 2019), part of the 23rd annual PlayGround Festival of New Works at Potrero Stage. Photo: Mellophoto.com.
(L-R) Steven Westdahl, Laura Espino, and Sean Garahan in Katie May's A HISTORY OF FREAKS (May 13-June 15, 2019), part of the 23rd annual PlayGround Festival of New Works at Potrero Stage. Photo: Mellophoto.com.
(L-R) Patrick Russell, Sean Garahan and Stephanie Prentice in Katie May's A HISTORY OF FREAKS (May 13-June 15, 2019), part of the 23rd annual PlayGround Festival of New Works at Potrero Stage. Photo: Mellophoto.com.
(L-R) Steven Westdahl and Elena Wright in Katie May's A HISTORY OF FREAKS (May 13-June 15, 2019), part of the 23rd annual PlayGround Festival of New Works at Potrero Stage. Photo: Mellophoto.com.
(L-R) Sean Garahan, Laura Espino, Elena Wright, and Patrick Russell in Katie May's A HISTORY OF FREAKS (May 13-June 15, 2019), part of the 23rd annual PlayGround Festival of New Works at Potrero Stage. Photo: Mellophoto.com.
Steven Westdahl in Katie May's A HISTORY OF FREAKS (May 13-June 15, 2019), part of the 23rd annual PlayGround Festival of New Works at Potrero Stage. Photo: Mellophoto.com.
(L-R) Laura Espino and Elena Wright in Katie May's A HISTORY OF FREAKS (May 13-June 15, 2019), part of the 23rd annual PlayGround Festival of New Works at Potrero Stage. Photo: Mellophoto.com.
Elena Wright in Katie May's A HISTORY OF FREAKS (May 13-June 15, 2019), part of the 23rd annual PlayGround Festival of New Works at Potrero Stage. Photo: Mellophoto.com.