“Shakespeare’s Sequels” with Marin Shakespeare and SF Shakes
SAN FRANCISCO – “We know what we are but not what we may be.” – Ophelia, Hamlet
In the spirit of past PlayGround topics such as “Shakespeare’s Prequels” and last year’s “Shakespeare Multiverse, ” PlayGround writers are set to take on a new sector of the Bard’s not-previously-explored canon: THE SHAKESPEARE SEQUELS. What happens after that joyous wedding at the end of every Comedy? Who cleans up the bloodbath at the end of each Tragedy? And might we see some alternative Histories, post-Act V? Join us for the next Monday Night PlayGround and find out! Don’t miss our next Monday Night PlayGround on Monday, January 27 at 7pm PT, in-person at David Brower Center (Berkeley) and simulcast. These plays will be produced in association with Marin Shakespeare Company and San Francisco Shakespeare Festival.
“We’re pleased to announce our local Shakespeare company partners, bringing their decades of expertise in producing the Bard to our special round of Monday Night PlayGround: Shakespeare Sequels,” said Jim Klienmann, PlayGround Co-Founder Artistic Director. “As we have with past Shakespeare themed events, these partnerships will make our celebration of new work inspired by the classics even more special.”
The plays and playwrights include:
The Case of the Missing Messenger by Madeleine Butler
I Love Hero by Laura Domingo
Othello: Lies and Consequences by Carl Andrew Johnson
The Shrewing of the Tame by Greg Lam
Coriolanus 2: End Game by Kimberly Ridgeway
One Gentle Man by Stan Stone
PlayGround’s sister companies, PlayGround LA (in association with Independent Shakespeare Co.), PlayGround NY (in association with SoHo Shakespeare Company), and PlayGround CH (in association with Theater Wit) will present their own interpretations of the theme throughout the month.
As part of PlayGround’s commitment to radical accessibility, Monday Night PlayGround is admission-free (donations gratefully accepted) for online reservations and day-of admission in-person. Advance in-person reservations do requite an admission free of $10. For the complete schedule or to reserve tickets, visit https://playground-sf.org/monday.
The 30th anniversary season of PlayGround’s celebrated Monday Night PlayGround staged reading series on third Mondays, Oct-Mar, will be held in-person at Potrero Stage and the David Brower Center and depending on the week (check the Monday Nigh calendar for details) and live simulcast through March 17, 2025. Each month, PlayGround announces a topic and writers have just four-and-a-half days to generate their original ten-page script. Recent topics have included: ”The Legacy of the Land We Inhabit,” “Origin Story,” “What the World Needs Now…”, and “Give and Take.” The top six scripts are matched with directors and a cast of leading local professionals and rehearsed for just ninety minutes on the day of the performance. Following a brief technical rehearsal to add sound and other design elements, the six short plays are performed as script-in-hand staged readings for an in-person and live-stream viewing audience on third Mondays, October through March.
Audience members can also experience the thrill of being a producer through the monthly People’s Choice Awards, helping to determine which plays and playwrights go on for consideration in PlayGround’s annual short play showcase, Best of PlayGround. Advance reservations are required. Admission is free but donations are gratefully accepted. Masks are strongly recommended for in-person performance and attendees should be symptom-free and have no recent exposure to individuals with COVID. *November Monday Night Playground will be held in-person at Potrero Stage and live simulcast.
Why Free?
At the beginning of the pandemic in May 2020, PlayGround began streaming all of its live programs, increasing accessibility to artists and audiences not only in the Bay Area but across the globe. At the same time, PlayGround made the bold choice to offer all programs admission-free. Why free admission, particularly when so many arts organizations were struggling to stay afloat and every dollar is a critical resource to support artist compensation? We chose free admission because it furthered our commitment to radical accessibility, ensuring that no one would be turned away for lack of resources. And as many of the PlayGround artists began their journey with us as audience members, it also ensured that the future artists of PlayGround would not encounter barriers to their participation. Of course, we offer audiences the opportunity to make a donation when reserving their free tickets and we hope that you’ll consider doing so if you’re able, recognizing that your direct support makes it possible for us to continue providing fair and equitable wages for professional artists while sustaining our radical accessibility efforts for all. And, as always, we thank you for your generous support!
PlayGround Company
PlayGround’s 2024-25 Writers Pool: Linda Ayres-Frederick, Tanika Baptiste, Daniel Baxter, Nico Bocalan, Robyn Brooks, Madeleine Butler, Melina Cohen-Bramwell, Jediah Craig, rob dario, Laura Domingo, Elizabeth Flanagan, Reed Flores, Antonio Greene, Garret Groenveld, KT Frances Hartline, Grace Hoffman, Everett Holland, Christine C. Hsu, Carl Johnson, Ruth Kirschner, Sarena Kuhn, Greg Lam, Jennifer Le Blanc, Kristy Lin Billuni, Daniel Martinez Jr., Richard Perez, Bridgette Portman, Kimberly Ridgeway, George Rose, Louel Señores, Alexis Standridge, Stan Stone, Lisa Gaye Thompson, Kaz Valtchev, Livian Yeh, and Maury Zeff.
Supporting PlayGround playwrights and the Monday Night series are the members of the PlayGround Company, representing some of the Bay Area’s leading directors, actors, designers, and stage managers. The 2024-25 PlayGround Company includes: Molly Aaronson-Gelb, Angel Adedokun, Patrick Alparone, Linda Amayo-Hassan, Liz Anderson, Rinabeth Apostol, Michael Asberry, Michael Barrett Austin, Mary Baird, April Ballesteros, Tanika Baptiste, Aldo Billingslea, Julia Brothers, Nicole Apostol Bruno, Lizzie Calogero, Ron Campbell, Nancy Carlin, Joy Carlin, Ben Chau-Chiu, Zoe Chien, Tessa Corrie, David Cramer, Will Dao, Anne Darragh, Roshni Datta, Khalia Davis, Natalia Delgado, Dodds Delzell, Livia Gomes Demarchi, Carolyn Doyle, Leticia Duarte, Nora el Samahy, Rebecca Ennals, Gisela Feied, Britney Frazier, Michael French, Claire Ganem, Sarah Gasser, Norman Gee, Douglas B. Giorgis, Linda Giron, Amy Glazer, Cindy Goldfield, BW Gonzalez, Gabriel Grilli, Rudy Guerrero, Karina Gutierrez, Rosie Hallett, Katherine Hamilton, Eric Fraisher Hayes, Brian Herndon, Champagne Hughes, J Jha, Colin Johnson, Jennifer King, Danielle Levin, Amy Lizardo, Jeffrey Lo, Gwen Loeb, George Maguire, Melanie Marshall, Alicia Mason, Leontyne Mbele-Mbong, Julia McNeal, Sam Misner, Brady Morales-Woolery, Lisa Morse, Khary L. Moye, Molly Noble, Karen Offereins, Annette Oliveira, Soren Oliver, Ely Sonny Orquiza, Tony Ortega, Doyle Ott, June Palladino, Carla Pantoja, Louis Parnell, Jed Parsario, Michael Phillis, Krystle Piamonte, Rebecca Pingree, Stephanie Prentice, Ezra Reaves, Virginia Reed, Cathleen Riddley, Kimberly Ridgeway, Katja Rivera, Adrian Roberts, Stacy Ross, Adam Roy, Katie Rubin, Patrick Russell, Miyoko Sakatani, Louel Senores, Robert Sicular, Dave Sikula, 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, Christian Wilburn, Wayne Wong, Elena Wright, and Hector Zavala.
About Marin Shakespeare Company: our mission extends far beyond that of a typical theatre company. With Shakespeare as our endless source of inspiration, we have become a vibrant engine of community engagement, education, and social change. Marin Shakespeare Company strives to create a lasting impact in three key areas: On Stage, Education, and Social Justice. Since 2003, Marin Shakespeare Company has been offering Shakespeare classes in California State Prisons, now serving 13 prisons statewide. Visit our website at marinshakespeare.org to learn more about our ON STAGE, EDUCATION, and SOCIAL JUSTICE programs. Thank you for supporting excellence in live theatre and arts education!
About San Francisco Shakespeare Theatre: we believe that Shakespeare experienced in a communal setting – whether it be outdoors, in a classroom or in a theater – elates the soul, inspires the mind and unifies those who sit beside each other. For the majority of our audiences, we are the first point of contact with Shakespeare and the performing arts. Our programming represents the plays in their finest light, demonstrates their relevance to today’s society, and inspires our students and audiences to seek out additional theatrical experiences. By lowering practical and perceptual barriers, the Festival encourages broad participation in the arts and makes these artistic activities an active part of community life. The Festival plays a vital role in the Bay Area arts community, serving as a catalyst for audience development by reaching thousands of people who otherwise do not attend live theater or may have never experienced it at all. The San Francisco Shakespeare Festival is dedicated to arts education, using its programs to foster a life-long appreciation of learning and the arts. The Festival is a 501c3 nonprofit organization whose mission is to make the words and themes of Shakespeare accessible to everyone, regardless of age, ethnicity, financial status or level of education.
PlayGround, a national leading playwright incubator, provides unique development opportunities for the Bay Area’s, Los Angeles’, New York’s, and Chicago’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 350 early career playwrights, developing and staging more than 1,500 of their original short plays through the Monday Night PlayGround staged reading series and the PlayGround Festival. PlayGround has also commissioned 100 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 36 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-seven 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 Steinberg Awards, Glickman Awards (including 6 of the last 10), O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, and New York International Fringe Festival, among 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.