PlayGround presents

4th Annual Innovator Showcase

Nov 7-28, 2022
Live at Potrero Stage + Simulcast

Acknowledging the Legacy of the Land We Inhabit

PlayGround acknowledges that we are on the unceded ancestral homeland of the Ramaytush (RAH-my-toosh) Ohlone (oh-LOW-nee) and Lisjan (lih-SHAH-n) Ohlone, the original inhabitants of the San Francisco Peninsula and East Bay, respectively. As the past and present Indigenous stewards of this land and in accordance with their traditions, the Ramaytush Ohlone and Lisjan have never ceded, lost, nor forgotten their responsibilities as the caretakers of this place, as well as for all peoples who reside in their traditional territory. We recognize the historic injustice of the forcible removal of the Ohlone people from their ancestral lands, and that we benefit from living and working on their traditional homeland. We wish to pay our respects by acknowledging the Ancestors, Elders and Relatives of the Ramaytush and Lisjan Communities and by affirming their sovereign rights as First Peoples. We honor the storytellers of the Ohlone and are grateful for our ability to share and uplift Indigenous stories and those of other historically marginalized communities.

To learn about the legacy of the land you inhabit, visit Native-Land.ca | Our home on native land. To read the complete Land Acknowledgment Policy, click here.

PlayGround’s Anti-Racist Policy

PlayGround recognizes the impact of racial oppression within society and the American Theater and that we have been complicit in White Supremacy culture. Our goal is to co-create safety for our community by identifying and interrupting instances of racism and all forms of oppression when we witness them, through specific actions rooted in the principles of anti-racism and accessibility. In its endeavor to address the implications of our history, PlayGround is committed to its compliance with the following fundamental rights:

• The recognition of inherent dignity and worth of each human being.
• The recognition of equality of all human beings.
• Recognition of rights of ethnic, racial, cultural, linguistic and religious groups.
• Equality and non-discrimination.

PlayGround’s Anti-Racist Policy applies to: all members of the PlayGround community, including employees, independent contractors, volunteers, audience members, donors, and general members of the community.

To read the complete Anti-Racist Policy, click here.

Thank you to PlayGround members!

We would like to thank PlayGround members Dr. Elaine Baskin & Kenneth R. Krechmer, Sidney Glass & Eleanor Clement Glass, Kenneth C. Clews, Paulette Donsavage & Deeje Cooley, Sunny Da Silva, Carole Florian, Ms. Kristy Lin Billuni, Mr. Scott Mullen, Ms. Vicki Oswald, Michelle Ruscetta, Kathryn Ryan, Andrew Trott, and Dr. Eidell Wasserman for their contribution.

A Monday Night PlayGround membership is a tax-deductible donation and directly supports the more than 400 artists involved in a Monday Night PlayGround season. Members are guaranteed tickets and simulcast access to twenty-four (24) Monday Night PlayGround performances, weekly, October 10, 2022-May 1, 2023, with extended on-demand viewing. Click here to become a member.

Programs & Cast Lists

November 7, 2022 7pm PT

Oakland Public Theater

Staged reading from
 Baldwin Centennial Project
by Richard Talavera
directed by Norman Gee

James Baldwin .………….... Jake Fong
Richard Wright ..…………... Reg Clay
David ………………. Evan Held
Freud/Jung, Mysterious Stranger……………. Steve Ortiz
Giovanni ..…………... Bacilio Mendez II
Chester Himes ………………..Pete Fitzsimmons
White Lady/Party Girl/Elizabeth Hardwic ……………………. Jamie Strube

November 9 & 16, 2022 7pm PT

Poltergeist Theatre Project

the premeire of
SITCOM SEAGULL
by Chris Steele

November 12, 2022 7pm PT / November 13th, 2022 2PM PT

Juneteenth Theatre Justice Project

staged reading of
RACHEL
by Angelina Weld Grimke
Directed by Willie E. Jones

November 12 –  14, 2022 7PM PT
 
The Chikahan Company

the premiere of
FOR MY LOLO
by Ely Sonny Orquiza

November 18 &19, 2022 7pm PT / November 20th, 2022 2PM PT

Latinx Mafia

the premiere of
CHARLES DARWIN, HER TRUE STORY
by J. Lynn Jackson
directed by Terezina Vital

Charles Darwin ………….. L. Duarte
Salvador, Pablo Neruda, Frida Kahlo, Fidel Castro,  ……………………Hector Závala
Nora Astorga, Subcomandante Marcos

November 19th, 2022 2PM PT / November 20th, 2022 7PM PT

City Street Artists

a staged reading of
LIMÃO Y SAL
by Linda Maria Girón
directed by Alexander Espinosa Pieb

Ary……… Alejandra Maria Rivas

November 22nd, 23rd, 25th, 2022 7PM PT

Native Writers’ Theater

“An Evening of New Native Works”
by Beth Piatote, Linda Amayo-Hassan & Matt Kizer & Dr Greg Johnso
directed by Nick Garcia

Shannon R. Davis
Michelle Navarrete

November 26th. & 27th, 2022 2PM PT, 7PM PT

Theatre Cultura

 the premiere of
LA VIDA LOBO
by Linda Amayo-Hassan

Lola ………….. Bianca Catalan

November 28th, 2022, 7PM PT

Analog Theatre presents

elections from the workshop of
UNDER MY UMBRELLA
devised by Nikki Meñez, Jed Parsario, Rebecca Pingree and Elissa Beth Stebbins

These live streams are produced under a SAG-AFTRA New Media Agreement.

PlayGround is a member of Theatre Bay Area and Theatre Communications Group,
and an Associate Member of the National New Play Network (NNPN).

Biographies

PLAYWRIGHTS

W. FRAN ASTORGA (“An Evening of New Native Works”), they/them, is a Storyteller and Creative Producer based out of San Francisco, California. Their full-length play Exhaustion Arroyo was featured in IN THE MARGIN’s New American Theatre Festival (2021), the Latinx Theatre Common’s 2022 Comedy Carnival, and is soon to be published. Fran was recently in San Francisco Shakespeare Festival’s production of Much Ado About Nothing as Margarette and Verges. They are currently the Conservatory Manager at American Conservatory Theater. Follow Fran @theyarefran on most social networks.

LINDA MARIA GIRÓN (Limao Y Sal, “they”), they/elle, is a queer Guatemalan-american actor, playwright, music and visual artist. Their work is informed and inspired by ritual, queerness and anti-racist practice; with a primary focus on examining the neo-colonialism of Latin America and its diasporas. They received their BA in Theater & Performance Studies from UC Berkeley and have since worked under many artistic homes in the Bay Area, including: Shotgun Players, AlterTheater Ensemble, Crowded Fire Theater, CalShakes, FaultLine Theater, SFBATCO, CentralWorks, New Conservatory Theater Center, the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts and Golden Thread Productions. www.lindamgiron.com | @lindamariagiron

MATT KIZER (“An Evening of New Native Works”), he/him, is a proud member of the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California. He recently produced and acted in Native Writers’ Theater inaugural production An Evening of New Native Plays. Matt also appeared as Tashtego in Moby-Dick at American Repertory Theater. Other favorite performances include roles in The River Bride (Alter Theater), El Paso Blue (Eugene O’Neill Foundation), Damn Yankees (AMTSJ), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and West Side Story(Mountain Play). He’s performed in the beloved The Bracebridge Dinner pageant at the Awahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park. He also plays ukulele and sings with his band. Matt is the Artistic Director of Native Writers’ Theater.

LINDA AMAYO-HASSAN (La Vida Lobo / “An Evening of New Native Works”), she/her, is a Chicana/Native actor and playwright, and the Artistic Director of Theatre Cultura. Linda is also a singer, director, and theatre professor at Chabot College. Her most recent performance was in Beth Piatote’s Indian Reality show for Native Writers’ Theatre. Linda is currently under commission with PlayGround for her play LA VIDA LOBO which was featured in Best of PlayGround 23. She is a member of the Pear Playwrights Guild, SameBoat Theatre Collective, Native Writers and had the honor of attending The Kennedy Center Playwriting Intensive in 2018.

J. LYNN JACKSON (Charles Darwin: Her True Story), he/him, writes for justice, spirit, community, and love while at home in the US and Mexico. Jackson’s full-length plays include The Red Sweater, Lucía Fuentes, and Charles Darwin, Her True Story. Lucía Fuentes was a semi-finalist for the 2021 Woodward International Playwriting Prize and was was one of three plays selected for PlayGround’s inaugural Free-Plays Festival (2022). Charles Darwin, Her True Story was one of four plays selected by North Star for their 2020 New Plays Workshop Intensive, by the Playwrights Center for their first Open Play Showcase actors’ reading, by the Dramatists Guild for their Footlights actors’ reading series and now by Latinx Mafia for PlayGround’s Innovators Showcase Festival (2022). Jackson’s a member of the Dramatists Guild, the Berkeley Play Cafe, the Playwrights’ Center and is an ally with the Latinx Mafia Leadership Team for Playground’s 2022 Innovator Incubator. Jackson’s career also included work in philanthropy, healthcare, and community service organizations in Chile, Mexico, Cuba, and the US.

JED PARSARIO (Under My Umbrella), he/him, has been involved in numerous PlayGround projects including Potrero Nuevo Project, Kano & Abe: A Daly City Bible Story, and Best of PlayGround 23. Jed is a company member of PlayGround and Red Ladder Theatre Company. http://www.jedparsario.com/

BETH PIATOTE (“An Evening of New Native Works”), she/her, is a scholar of Native American/Indigenous literature and law; a creative writer of fiction, poetry, plays, and essays; and an Indigenous language revitalization activist/healer, specializing in Nez Perce language and literature. She is the author of two books: Domestic Subjects: Gender, Citizenship, and Law in Native American Literature (Yale 2013), which won an MLA award; and The Beadworkers: Stories (Counterpoint 2019), which was longlisted for the Aspen Words Literary Prize, the PEN/Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction, and shortlisted for the California Independent Booksellers Association “Golden Poppy” Award. Her current projects include a series of scholarly essays on Indigenous law through sensory representations of sound, vision, synaesthesia, and haunting in the long 20th century literary works; essays on Indigenous language revitalization; a novel, a poetry collection, and further development of her play, Antíkoni, which was selected for the 2020 Festival of New Plays at the Autry. She has held several artist residencies and frequently teaches writing at Fishtrap: Writing and the West and other workshops. In 2021, she will serve as a judge for the PEN America/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize.

REBECCA PINGREE (Under My Umbrella), she/her, is a regular Director/Performer at Mask Mondays at Standard Deviant, and is currently developing Bud & This is Not Moose & Tweety with Analog Theatre (which she co-founded with Elissa Beth Stebbins) which will be featured as part on Playground’s Innovator Incubator Showcase in the coming weeks. Rebecca holds an MFA in Collaborative Theatremaking from Rose Bruford, and is a proud member of PlayGround, TBA, TheatreFirst’s T1 Collective, and BAARJ (Bay Area Artists for Racial Justice). ( ), she/her/hers, opens Into the Woods at Berkeley Playhouse this weekend, playing The Baker’s Wife. She’s a regular Director/Performer at Mask Mondays at Standard Deviant, and is currently developing Bud & This is Not Moose & Tweety with Analog Theatre (which she co-founded with Elissa Beth Stebbins) which will be featured as part on Playground’s Innovator Incubator Showcase in the coming weeks. Rebecca holds an MFA in Collaborative Theatremaking from Rose Bruford, and is a proud member of Playground, TBA, TheatreFirst’s T1 Collective, and BAARJ (Bay Area Artists for Racial Justice).

ELY SONNY ORQUIZA (For My Lolo), he/him, is a locally grown artistic director, stage director, and teaching artist. His works aim to champion and highlight stories of the Asian diaspora, Asian American identity and belonging, queerness and their intersectionality with other historically marginalized people in the United States. For more on his works: elysonnyorquiza.org, @TheOrquiza (Instagram).

CHRIS STEELE (Sitcom Seagull), they/them, is a queer trans nonbinary performance artist, writer, and activist whose work centers on highlighting queer narratives throughout history and combating bigotry and white supremacy. They are a co-founder of the subversive, queer, feminist collective Poltergeist Theatre Project through which they’ve funded and produced 3 years of world-premiere works. Their award-winning drag personas Polly Amber Ross and Peter Pansexual can be found on Instagram @pollyandpeter. As a community activist, their work centers on connecting the Queer Trans community in the Bay with professional artistry opportunities. They are a founding member of the Trans & Gender Non-Conforming Advocacy Collective and the upcoming queer artistry resource BookBayDrag.com.

RICHARD TALAVERA (Baldwin Centennial Project), he/him, is from the generation of theater artist that emerged after, Teatro Campesino with the same political agenda and process. What was called “critica /autocritica. Working with Teatro Latino, Teatro De la Esperanza, Tailspinner’s, and Oakland Public Theater to name a few, he has developed work based on oral tradition, improvisation, and Third World History.

ACTORS

CARLOS AGUIRRE (“An Evening of New Native Works”) he/him, has been performing and educating in the Bay Area for 25 years. He has shared the stage with The Roots, Eryka Badu, Black Eyed Peas, Mary J. Blige, Jam Master Jay, and L.L. Cool J, among others. He is fresh off a guest appearance with the Broadway Tony Award Winning production of “Freestyle Love Supreme” and is currently producing his original rap and beatbox adaptation of Edgar Allen Poe’s The Tell Tale Heart, Aguirre shares his experience by teaching at various schools and at-risk environments throughout the Bay Area.

BIANCA CATALAN (La Vida Lobo, “Lola”), she/her, is a San Francisco native and received her BA in Theater at The City College of New York. She has performed in San Francisco Youth Theater’s Dream Ensemble for In and Out of Shadows (Vanessa), The Afterlife (Crystal), both written by Gary Soto, and Hamlet (King Claudius). She also sings folkloric and traditional music from Latin America with her band Araya. You can see them performing the first Tuesday of the month at Alamo Square Seafood Grill. Follow her on Instagram @araya_sounds.

REG CLAY (The Baldwin Project), he/him, s a graduate of Duke Ellington School of the Arts and NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Reg has acted with Bindlestiff, Town Hall Theatre, the Altarena Theatre and many others. Reg is also a playwright and a songwriter. Check out his and Norman Gee’s podcast, The Yay.

SHANNON R. DAVIS (“An Evening of Native Works”), she/hers/they, is a Bay Area director, storyteller, educator, & community connector originally from Wisconsin. She is in the Cal Shakes Artist Circle, is Director of Community Connections at American Conservatory Theater, a Guest Artist at UC-Berkeley, and a co-founder of the Bay Area Theater Accountability Workgroup. She holds an MFA in Directing & Acting from UW-Madison, specializing in directing intercultural theatre for social awareness. She is a classics buff who turns traditional storytelling reverentially on its head with devised satire and puppetry. Shannon champions storytelling not normally included in traditional white patriarchal theatre narratives. Shannon strives to create true community through practicing active Decolonization and Anti-Racism. She’s worked with: New Native Theatre, SF Shakes, A.C.T., Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Native Writers Theatre, American Repertory Theatre, American Indian Community House, Cal Shakes, Anchorage Opera, Theatre of Yugen, Berkeley Rep, MoxieArts NY, Brava Theater, Theatre Battery, Ohio University, Ashland New Play Festival, Forward Theatre, UC-Berkeley, Shotgun Players, TheaterWorks, Marin Shakespeare, Renaissance Theaterworks, Playwrights Foundation, & others. www.shannonrdavis.com

L. DUARTE (Charles Darwin: Her True Story, “Charles Darwin”), they/them, is an actor, director & playwright whose recent projects include: August: Osage County with San Jose Stage Company, Julius Caesar with PacRep, The Review with Theatre Rhinoceros , Helen! With Theatre of Yugen, Into the Beautiful North & The King of Cuba with CentralWorks. Duarte is a graduate of UCLA, UCSC, and has trained with A.C.T. and Shakespeare & Co. They are a founding member of Latinx Mafia, a Bay Area collective of Latinx Teatristas, who work to ensure Latinx stories are valued and accurately represented. www.latinxmafia.com Find a full range of work by Duarte at Casting Networks https://app.castingnetworks.com/talent/public-profile/d69eed18-24bd-11ec-8124-c9bb66a47a51

JAKE FONG (Baldwin Centennial Project, James Baldwin), he/him, studies theater at SFSU focusing on performance, while also studying Stage Combat Training with Dueling Arts International. His most recent work is Unofficials Spooky Staged Reading at TheatreFirst and a full production of Compared to What at Masquers Playhouse.

EVAN HELD (Baldwin Centennial Project, “David”), he/him, is an actor and educator with San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, and is hoping to work further with companies across the bay area in many capacities. Currently slated for two upcoming shows at Ross Valley Players, Evan is committed to the accessibility of theater. His most passionate work is with SF Shakes on the Shakespeare’s Heartbeat program, bringing joy and learning to the Special Ed. Community.

MICHELLE NAVARRETE (“An Evening of Native Works”), she/her/ella, is a Theatre Artist, both on and off the stage. Born and raised in SF and the Bay Area, she fell in love with performing and storytelling at an early age. From singing out her Abuelitas favorite rancheras to belting out showtunes, she has always followed her fire within. After receiving her BFA in Acting from Marymount Manhattan College, she continued her career in NYC performing and producing theatre. In the Bay Area, she has worked with TheatreFirst (Company Collective Member), Cal Shakes, Custom Made Theatre, Bay Area Children’s Theatre, Impact Theatre, Faultline Theatre, Theatre Cultura, to name a few. She is also a proud member of Latinx Mafia (latinxmafia.com). As a performer, educator and activist, she has made theatre and the performing arts part of her life and message.

BACILIO MENDEZ II (The Baldwin Centennial Project, “Giovanni”), he/him, is not the one.

ANNETTE AMELIA OLIVEIRA (Baldwin Centennial Project), she/her, has had many theatre roles including women (and men) who are wise, fierce, sometimes losing marbles, often Latinx. She’s performed in two Shakespeare plays at Marin’s redwood-ringed Curtain Theatre. She was honored to play in Hector Zavala’s 40, Latino, Single and Gay web series. Annette has acted via Zoom for many theatres and playwrights groups. She records audiobooks for Learning Ally and you’ll soon find two books she recorded for Penguin-Random House on Audible.com.

SEAN OWENS (Baldwin Centennial Project), they/them, has been a playwright and performer in the Bay Area for 30 years. They have created solo shows, full musicals, genderfluid comedies, and countless short plays— earning them two Bay Area Critics’ Circle Awards, and “Best Comic Playwright” from the SF Weekly. They currently write, teach and direct for Killing My Lobster, and are directing the world premiere of Toby Moore’s “Atomic Comic” at Z Space in 2023. They are part of the development team for “Gaslit,” Poltergeist Theater’s next big hit!

ALEJANDRA MARIA RIVAS (LIMÃO Y SAL, “Ary”), she/they/elle, is a non-binary Latine/Chicane multi-disciplinary artist and administrator, Los Angeles born, currently living in the Bay Area. Artistically, Alejandra is a performer, director, writer, producer, and stage manager. Collaborators include: American Conservatory Theater, California Shakespeare Theatre, TheatreFirst, Crowded Fire, Shotgun Players, UC Berkeley, Bay Area Women’s Theatre Festival, and Town Hall Theatre. Administratively she has worked with A.C.T. since 2019, in both the Conservatory and Education & Community Programs departments. Alejandra has a BA in Performance & Theatre Studies with a minor in Psychology from Saint Mary’s College of California. LIVING ON OHLONE LAND.

ROBERTO RUIZ JR. (La Vida Lobo, “Lobo”), he/him, is a current student at California State University East Bay pursuing his degree in the Performing Arts. Within his first year he has learned more about the arts and about himself. He was taught to sing and dance and was able to test his skills performing in the musical “A Grand Night for Singing”. Roberto is excited to be back performing La Vida Loba with a great cast of people and welcomes all with opens arms

EARLENA SOMERA (Baldwin Centennial Project), is thrilled to be working with PLAYGROUND again (NANAY and THE BALDWIN CENTENNIAL PROJECT). Meaningful projects have been: working alongside her daughter Mallory in DRAGONVILLE U.S.A. mentoring kids at risk, STEEL MAGNOLIAS (Arty & Dollie Award Recipient), THE PIANO LESSON (Arty Award nominee in choreography) with Mira Theatre Guild; IN HER MOTHER’S IMAGE; MOTHER LOVE with Oakland Public Theatre; workshopping then performing as Gamecock/Asparagus Picker/Manang in Chris Millado’s stylized PeregriNasyon: IS AMERICA IN THE HEART?, depicting the Pilipino Manongs’ migration to America–paying loving tribute to her Pop and Lolo who arrived here in 1929.

JAMIE STRUBE (Baldwin Centennial Project, “White Lady/Party Girl/Elizabeth Hardwick), she/her,  is an actor and singer in the SF Bay Area. Previous credits include Shelby in Steel Magnolias (Chanticleers Theatre), Laura (U/S) in The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin (San Francisco Playhouse) Amy in Tape (Expression Productions San Francisco), Stage Kiss (The Other Other Theatre Company), and in the web sketch comedy series Man Francisco and Sketchy Betches. She has trained in the Meisner Technique and the Barrow Group Approach.

HECTOR ZAVALA (Charles Darwin: Her True Story, “Salvador Dobé, Pablo Neruda, Frida Kahlo, Fidel Castro, Nora Astorga, Subcomandante Marcos), he/they, is considered a chameleon in a thousand ways. He mixes his studies in Performative Art, Acting, Dance, Multimedia, Costumes, Set Design and his love for theater to instill his own style of culturalism, carrying with him the weight of the universal struggle to defend one’s own. He has participated in international festivals such as FITLA, (International Latin Theater Festival of Los Angeles.), the Edinburgh Theater Festival and the Ibero-American Art Festival. He has collaborated with greats from the “Chicano” community and is currently on tour with his One Man Show “Seeking the Last Gay Man”.

DIRECTORS

ALEXANDER ESPINOSA PIEB, they/them, is a queer, nonbinary artist based in the Bay Area. They are a graduate of UC Berkeley’s Theater and Performance Studies program, and have since been fortunate enough to bring new plays like Gary Soto’s The Afterlife onstage, both nationally and internationally, as well as Linda Girón’s Memoria del Silencio en el País de la Eterna Primavera. Alexander feels blessed to be surrounded by so many brilliant, creative performers and artists, and thanks the audience for helping their work reach more and more hearts.

NORMAN GEE (The Baldwin Centennial Project), he/him, just comes off a double-header: performing with SF Mime Troupe (sfmt.org) all summer in the new musical BACK TO THE WAY THINGS WERE, while directing COMPARED TO WHAT for Masquers Playhouse in Pt. Richmond (masquers.org), a beautiful piece about the Pullman Porters set in West Oakland. This fall Norman will appear in the SJ Stage (thestage.org) production of MEET JOHN DOE. All while juggling duties as an Associate Producer for SF-Playground!

KATJA RIVERA (La Vida Lobo; Associate Producer), she/her, studied theater at LACC Theatre Academy and Drama Studio London at Berkeley. Bay Area acting credits include: Shotgun Players, Magic Theatre, Theatre Rhinoceros, Center Rep. Directing credits include Shotgun Players,Douglas Morrison, CustomMade Theatre, RPE (Danville), SF Playground and TheatreFIRST. She is a proud member of Shotgun Players, SF Playground and Latinx Mafia, as well as a very proud Abuela of Leo and Eleanor! (Do you want to see some pictures?)

TEREZINA VITAL (Charles Darwin: Her True Story), she/her, is Educational Development Manager within the SOL DEL NIÑO MUSEUM in Mexicali, Mexico, and for 20 years has worked as an actress, stage director and theatrical pedagogue.

PRODUCTION & STAFF

ANTHONY LOPEZ (Stage Manager), he/him, is thrilled to be here with Teatro Cultura and Native Writers’ Theater. He recently got his certificate in technical theater from Las Positas College. In his time there he focused on stage management. Anthony recently started waiting professionally in the bay. He recently was the SM for Chabot’s Tartuffe and CYTs Beauty and the Beast.

RIQ ZAMORA (Costumer and Prop Designer), he/him, is a mexican actor, cabaret performer and escenic creator. Graduated from Universidad Veracruzana in 2022. He has received recognitions such as PECDA Veracruz (2019) and the 2nd Price to Scenic Production in Veracruz provided by IVEC and Centro Cultural Helénico (2021), directing Agreste (Malva Rosa).

PLAYGROUND, California’s leading playwright incubator, provides unique development opportunities for the Bay Area’s, Los Angeles’ and now New York’s best new playwrights, including the monthly Monday Night PlayGround staged reading series, annual PlayGround Festival of New Works, full-length play commissions and support for the production of new plays by local playwrights through the New Play Production Fund. To date, PlayGround has supported over 250 early career playwrights, developing and staging more than 1000 of their original short plays through the Monday Night PlayGround staged reading series and the PlayGround Festival. PlayGround has also commissioned 90 new full-length plays by 60 of these writers through its Commissioning Initiative and, through the innovative New Play Production Fund, has directly facilitated the premiere of 34 plays at theatres of every size, including three that have gone on to NYC and other major theater communities. Most recently, PlayGround renovated and relaunched the former Thick House Theater in San Francisco’s Potrero Hill as Potrero Stage, a state-of-the-art center for new plays, home to PlayGround’s expanding artistic programs and some of the Bay Area’s most distinguished new play developers and producers. Over the past twenty-four years, PlayGround has served to identify some of the most important new local voices for the theatre. PlayGround’s alumni have gone on to win local, national, and international honors for their short and full-length work, including recognition at the Humana Festival, O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, The Lark’s Playwrights’ Week, New York International Fringe Festival, and others. PlayGround received the 2009 Paine Knickerbocker Award for outstanding contributions to Bay Area theatre, 3 BATCC Awards for Best Original Script for PlayGround commissions, a 2014 National Theatre Company Grant from the American Theatre Wing (founder of the Tony Awards®), and a 2016 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award. Visit https://PlayGround-sf.org for more information.

POTRERO STAGE is a 99-seat state-of-the-art performance space located in the heart of San Francisco’s Potrero Hill neighborhood, operated by PlayGround, and serving as home to some of the Bay Area’s leading new play developers and producers, including PlayGround, Crowded Fire, Golden Thread, and Playwrights Foundation, among others. While the venue is closed during the COVID pandemic, Potrero Stage will highlight the best in online programming by PlayGround, Potrero Stage resident companies and other Potrero Stage producers. For more information, visit https://potrerostage.org.

PlayGround is deeply grateful for the generous contributions of the many individuals, foundations, gifts of $125 or more committed between October 1, 2021 & October 10, 2022.

GOVERNMENT, CORPORATE, & FOUNDATION DONORS

Alameda County Arts Commission • Amazon • American Rescue Plan Act & CARES Act • Art Space Development Corporation • Berkeley Civic Arts • The Bernard Osher Foundation • Bill Graham Supporting Foundation of the Jewish Community Federation & Endowment Fund • California Arts Council • California Nonprofit Performing Arts Grant Program • Creative Capacity Fund • First Republic Bank • The Fleishhacker Foundation • Goldman Sachs • Google • Grants For The Arts • Koret Foundation • Lenore & Howard Klein Foundation • The Leo J. & Celia Carlin Fund • Negley Flinn Charitable Foundation • NIAC • Nvidia • Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation • Planet Earth Arts • The Shubert Foundation • The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation • Zellerbach Family Foundation

INDIVIDUAL SUPPORTERS

SEASON SPONSORS ($5000+)

William Bivins, Emilie T. & Gordon C. Brooks, Jerome Joseph Gentes & Michael David Bourque, Lara Gilman & Jim Kleinmann, Peggy Haas, David Steele, Anonymous

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS ($2500–$4,999)

John H. Gilman, Regina S. Guggenheim

PRODUCERS CIRCLE ($1000-$2499)

Sidney Glass & Eleanor Clement Glass, In Memory of M. David MacCallum, Jr., Rebecca Martinez, Nitin, Arthur & Toni Rembe Rock, Marian Scheuer Sofaer & Abraham D. Sofaer, Anonymous (3)

PLAYWRIGHTS CIRCLE ($500-$999)

Thomas Patrick Broyhill, David Goldman, Jeff Gregory, Regina S. Guggenheim, Linda Kremer, Lisa A. Mammel, Lisa Morse, Nvidia, Nancy & Carty Spencer, J.B. Strasser, Susannah Wise & Scott Lebus, Anonymous (3)

PATRON ($250-$499)

Dr. Elaine Baskin & Kenneth R. Krechmer, Lily L Chow, Ruben & Keli Grijalva, Vicki Hamilton, Roxy Jones, Ray and Carla Kaliski, Annie Stuart, Lisa R. Taylor, Maury Zeff, Anonymous (3)

ASSOCIATE MEMBER ($125-$249)

Maura C. Berkelhamer, Dr. Katherine Ardis Blenko, Frieda de Lackner, Jessica Forbess, Mr. Eric Garcia, Sarah Gasser, Tom Goetzl, Gina Harris, Abbe S. Kalos & Kitt Saginor, Jennifer King, Douglas & Mary Ann Le Blanc, Gregg Le Blanc, Trynne Miller & David Prince, Everett & Julia Moore, Louis Parnell, Dr. Alan Pearl, Ms. Madeline Daly Puccioni, Mike Rosenthal, Lisa Gaye Thompson, Jeffrey Trescott, Liam Vincent, Mr. Darryl Wilburn, Janine & Darryl Wilburn, Robin L. Wimsatt, Kelli Wong, Anonymous (3)

To contribute to PlayGround, visit https://playground-sf.org/contribute or contact PlayGround Associate Director of Development Lana Richards at lana@playground-sf.org or by phone at (415) 992-6677.

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Monique Hafen Adams, Barbara Anderson, Nicole Bruno, Madeleine Butler, Allie Costa+, Jediah Craig, Cherielyn Ferguson, Ipsheeta Furtado, Bailey Jordan Garcia+, Lauren Gorski,+ Aaron Higareda+, Sam Hurwitt, Tejahra Jacobs, Lisa Kang, Ruth Kirschner, Anne Yumi Kobori+, Steve Koppman, Jennifer Le Blanc+, Kristy Lin Billuni, Justin Lopez+, David MacFadden-Elliott, Daniel Martinez, Alanna McFall+, Bacilio Mendez II, Matthew Morishige, Vicky Pham, Bridgette Portman, Alexis Roblan, Jessica Rowe+, Anthony Sampson Semandiris, David Schweidel, Tony Sciullo, Marissa Skudlarek, Alexis Standridge, Max Tachis, Lisa Thompson, Eteya Trinidad, Michael Tuton, Kaz Valtchev, Daysha Veronica+, Michael Waterson, Christian Wilburn+, Maggie Wilson+, Maury Zeff
+ Resident Playwright

PLAYGROUND COMPANY

Molly Aaronson-Gelb, Angel Adedokun, Patrick Alparone, Liz Anderson, Rinabeth Apostol, Michael Asberry, Michael Barrett Austin, Mary Baird, Aldo Billingslea, Millie Brooks, Julia Brothers, Nicole Apostol Bruno, Lizzie Calogero, Ron Campbell, Joy Carlin, Nancy Carlin, Tessa Corrie, David Cramer, Will Dao, Anne Darragh, Dodds Delzell, Livia Gomes Demarchi, Carolyn Doyle, Nora el Samahy, Rebecca Ennals, Gisela Feied, Britney Frazier, Michael French, Claire Ganem, Sarah Gasser, Norman Gee, Douglas B. Giorgis, Amy Glazer, Cindy Goldfield, BW Gonzalez, Gabriel Grilli, Christian Haines, Rosie Hallett, Eric Fraisher Hayes, Brian Herndon, Monica Ho, Laura Humphrey, J Jha, Colin Johnson, Jennifer King, Dean Koya, Danielle Levin, Amy Lizardo, Jeffrey Lo, Gwen Loeb, George Maguire, Melanie Marshall, Alicia Mason, Leontyne Mbele-Mbong, Julia McNeal, Bacilio Mendez II, Sam Misner, Brady Morales-Woolery, Lisa Morse, Khary L. Moye, Molly Noble, Joseph Patrick O’Malley, Karen Offereins, Annete Oliveira, Soren Oliver, Ely Sonny Orquiza, Melissa Ortiz, Doyle Ott, June Palladino, Carla Pantoja, Louis Parnell,​​ Jed Parsario, Michael Phillis, Krystle Piamonte, Rebecca Pingree, Stephanie Prentice, Ezra Reaves, Virginia Reed, Cathleen Riddley, Katja Rivera, Adrian Roberts, Stacy Ross, Adam Roy, Katie Rubin, Patrick Russell, Lindsey Marie Schmeltzer, Louel Senores, Robert Sicular, Jeunee Simon, M. Graham Smith, Ken Sonkin, Lauren Spencer, Teddy Spencer, Chris Steele, Howard Swain, Jomar Tagatac, Emilie Talbot, Danielle Thys, Isabel Anne To, Jon Tracy, Dane Troy, Mark Rafael Truitt, Liam Vincent, Ian Walker, Maryssa Wanlass, Tracy Ward , Reggie D. White, Aaron Wilton, Elena Wright

PLAYGROUND AMBASSADORS

Jomar Tagatac (Co-Chair) , Aaron Wilton (Co-Chair) , Aldo Billingslea, Tessa Corrie, Livia Demarchi, Britney Frazier, Claire Ganem, Cindy Goldfield, Rosie Hallett, Jeffrey Lo, Gwen Loeb, Brady Morales-Woolery, Karen Offereins, Ely Sonny Orquiza

PLAYGROUND STAFF

Jim Kleinmann, Co-Founder & Artistic Director 
Norman Gee, Associate Producer 
Jed Parsario, Associate Producer 
Stephanie Prentice, Associate Producer 
Katja Rivera, Associate Producer 
Jacque Bugler, Production Manager 
Brittany Mellerson, Resident Designer 
Lana Richards, Associate Director of Development 
Sarah Gasser, Resident Stage Manager 
Emlyn Doolittle, 2022 Producing Fellow / 2022-23 Directing Apprentice 
Savannah Greene, 2022-23 Producing Fellow 
Justin P. Lopez, 2022-23 Producing Fellow 
Bacilio Mendez II, 2022 Producing Fellow 
Tanvi Agrawal, 2022-23 Directing Apprentice
Jenna Stein-Corman, 2022-23 Directing Apprentice

PLAYGROUND BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Stephanie Prentice, Chair
James A. Kleinmann, President
Rondrell McCormick, VP-Communications
Emilie Talbot, VP-Development
Nitin, Treasurer
Katie May, Secretary
Regina Guggenheim, Chair Emeritus
Diana Burbano
Philippa Kelly
Lisa Mammel
Rebecca Martinez
David Steele

www.PlayGround-sf.org
3286 Adeline St #8
Berkeley, CA 94703-2485
info@playground-sf.org
(415) 992-6677