Company in the News Dec-2024

See what PlayGround Writers, Company Members, and Alumni are up to this December!

Monique Hafen Adams has been writing for a children’s podcast called Dorktales Storytime. She has two episodes out already (“Never Never No No Land” and “Knock on Wood”) and is slotted to write five more. Check it out anywhere you listen to Podcasts!

Mary Baird is seeing lots of local theatre in Nevada City. Part of all female writing group and attempting to write a one person, maybe two person performance piece. Missing being in community with PlayGround. Have a safe, healthy and prosperous Holiday into the New Year.

Michael Barrett Austin recently closed Fallen Angels at Aurora Theatre Company.

Ben Chau-Chiu is assistant directing A.C.T.’s A Whynot Christmas Carol this holiday season! Featuring fellow company members, Rosie Hallett, Stacy Ross, and Jomar Tagatac among other Bay Area favorites. This new Carol tackles not only the traditional Dickens story, but also the process of what it takes for theater artists to create a show that is important to us and the community we are a part of. Performances start Nov 26 and runs through Dec 24. Tickets range from $29-151

Rudy Guerrero is performing as the “Emcee” in the Theatre Rhinoceros production of Cabaret. The run has been extended until December 29, 2024.

Working with The Pulp Stage in Portland, OR, Greg Lam has compiled and published the first collection of short plays written by writers in the Writer’s Room of Pulp Stage for their Writer’s Nightmare series. Each collection, selected around different pulp genres, will contain at least five ten minute play scripts. The first edition is called Hard Boiled and contains plays about crime and takes on noir movies and books. These collections will be available on Amazon and will be published in an ongoing basis for the foreseeable future.

Alka Nayyar is proud to be back as Mrs. Cratchit and as the team’s South Asian Cultural Consultant for New England’s largest production of A Christmas Carol at The Hanover Theatre in Worcester, MA!

Annette Amelia Oliveira got to play the last confederate widow in a fun and insightful play titled Mz Alberta by Richard Talavera at the Potrero Stage. She has narrated stories in two new audiobooks: A Sunny Place for Shady People by Mariana Enriquez and The Best Short Stories of 2024 edited by Amor Towles. Check them out at audible.com

Kimberly Ridgeway is directing Madhuri Shekar’s In Love and Warcraft at City Lights Theatre (San Jose, CA). The show runs January 16 – February 9, 2025.

Katja Rivera is gearing up to direct Romeo and Juliet with SF Shakespeare’s Shakespeare on Tour, a production that will play to over 40,000 students during it’s run!

In the spring and summer of 2025, Ely Sonny Orquiza is thrilled to direct Topher Payne’s PERFECT ARRANGEMENT at Sonoma State University and a contemporary adaptation of TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA with the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival. This holiday season, he will bring Stan Stone’s A MURDER AT CHRISTMAS to life for PlayGround’s Hitchcock-inspired staged adaptations. Ely sends warmth, love, and boundless creativity to all the artists keeping the Bay Area’s artistic heartbeat alive!

Central Works will produce Maury Zeff’s full length play DADA TEEN MUSICAL: THE PLAY at the Berkeley City Club October 18 to November 16, 2025. There are four roles: three 17-year-olds (2 F, 1 M) and one 30-ish male. Auditions will be held in Berkeley December 7, 8, and 9. Please email maury1 at gmail.com if you are interested in auditioning or follow the link to the attached audition PDF and email Gary Graves.