PlayGround presents Season 32

MONDAY NIGHT PLAYGROUND

“Bedtime Stories”
March 2nd, 2026 7pm PT
David Brower Center & 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.

Monday Night PlayGround Memberships

We are deeply grateful to our 2024-25 Monday Night PlayGround Members, whose direct support helps to underwrite artists fees for the Monday Night series across all four regions:

Dr. & Mrs. Sam & Naomi Abramovitz, Sharon Baldwin, Julie Berthold, Tim Bishop, Linda B Breaux-Smith, Emilie T. & Gordon C. Brooks, John Brown, Summer Broyhill, Madeleine Butler, Ben Cain, Sidney Glass & Eleanor Clement Glass, Joan Cleveland, Sheila Collins, Marilyn Berg Cooper, Logan Varas De Valdes, Betsy Dudak, Cathy Earnest, Ann Ehrmann, Krystyna Finlayson, Michael Tonjum & Jan Gilman, Hollis Greenwood, Elizabeth Groenewegen, Gail Hillebrand & Hugh Barroll, Brandy T Jones, Roxy Jones, Jacqueline Whittier Kubicka, Emily Kuroda, Mr. & Mrs. Douglas Le Blanc, Alice Lehmann, Karen & Matt Levesque, Kristy Lin Billuni, Melinda Lopez, Linda G Marks, Dolores Martinez, Dr. Sheila McCormick, Yvonne McIntyre, Cynthia L Morishige, Dan Morley, Molly Noble & Bob Guilbault, Annette Oliveira, Emily Brauer Rogers, George Rose, Jessica June Rowe, Michelle Ruscetta, John J. Ruskin, Miyoko Sakatani, Jennifer Schultz & Eric Rosenzweig, Mark Sherstinsky, Nancy W. Smith, Stan Stone, Cathy M Stonie, Mary Lou Torre, Kim Tram, Vicki Victoria, Dr. Eidell Wasserman, Bex White, Janine Wilburn, and Cindy Womack. Thank you! 

To learn more about the Monday Night PlayGround membership program, click here.

BECOME A MEMBER TODAY!

Wicked Stepdaughter
by Bridgette Dutta Portman
Directed by Norman Gee
Aurielle………………Isabel Anne To
Vyra……..Emilie Talbot

And Then I Would Dream
by KT Frances Hartline
Directed by Lindsey Abbott
Ray…………….Joseph Alvarado
Miguel………Leon Goertzen

Nyeli and the Fishbone Key
by Lisa Gaye Thompson
Directed by Jim Kleinmann
Nyeli………………..Zoe Chien
Mama………….Sakura Nakahara
Man.………………Louis Parnell

Abuela Knows Best
by Richard Perez
Directed by Katja Rivera
The Kid……………….April Ballesteros
La Llorona (Maria)…………Annette Oliveira

Artie and the Three Bears
by Laura Domingo
Directed by Tanika Baptiste
Artie………………..Jed Parsario
Mommy…………………Danielle Levin
Goldilocks.…………….GG Grilli

Not That Kind of Monster
by Daniel Martinez Jr.
Directed by River Bermudez Sanders
Father.……………….Carolyn Doyle
Child.…………….Louel Senores
Monster……………Terrance Smith

Stage Manager – Raphael Louis Buenaventura

This performance is produced under agreement with SAG-AFTRA.

PlayGround is a member of Theatre Bay Area, ART/New York, the League of Chicago Theatres and Theatre Communications Group.

Biographies

PLAYWRIGHTS

BRIDGETTE DUTTA PORTMAN (Wicked Stepdaughter), she/her, is a playwright and novelist. More than two dozen of her plays have been produced locally, nationally, and internationally. She received the 2023 June Anne Baker Prize from PlayGround, and has been a finalist for the Bay Area Playwrights’ Festival, the Theatre Bay Area TITAN award, the PlayPenn Conference, the New Dramatists playwrights’ residency, and more. She holds an MFA in creative writing (Spalding University, 2018) and teaches composition and dramatic writing at UC Berkeley’s College Writing Programs.

KT FRANCES HARTLINE (And Then I Would Dream), she/her, is a Berkeley-based playwright and screenwriter. After working as a New York City public school teacher, she was editor for two New York-based magazines and wrote for Oakland and Parents Press. Her plays have appeared in festivals around the country, including It’s Alarming, a Heideman Award finalist which premiered in Playground’s Monday Night Series. Her screenwriting accolades include AFF Second Rounder and Finalist in the International PAGE Awards. She is now a Top Tier member of Roadmap Writers’ Career Writer Program. Her greatest joy is squeezing into a hardcore punk show and watching the son she homeschooled absolutely shred on drums.

LISA GAYE THOMPSON (Nyeli and the Fishbone Key), she/her, is a 2025 Three Girls Theatre Brady Fellow. Her full-length play, At the End of Our Streets the Stars, set entirely in the magical world of the San Francisco Bay will have its first staged reading on May 17, 2026. Lisa has had multiple short plays selected for staged readings, and her play, Mack and Mimi Encounter Totality won Best of Playground and had a production at Portrero Stage. Lisa is a founding company member, playwright, and performer with Write Away, an online improvisational playwrighting show.

RICHARD PEREZ (Abuela Knows Best), he/him, is a writer, actor, and director and with an emphasis on new play development. He is the former Artistic Director of The Bloomington Playwrights Project in Indiana, Associate Artistic Director of Chicago Dramatists and currently serves as the Artistic Director of Town Hall Theatre in Lafayette
His play Backdraft was recently chosen to be one of “The Seven”, a national ten-minute play festival at Fusion Theatre in New Mexico.

LAURA DOMINGO (Artie and the Three Bears), she/her, is a Native Hawaiian/Filipina writer and actor based on Oakland, CA. She has written screenplays for three Best Film winners for the 48-Hour Film Project (2019 – San Jose; 2020 – U.S. West; and 2021 – San Jose), and her short plays won runner-up in 2023 and 2024 for Silicon Valley Shakespeare’s 48-Hour Play Festival. She is part of the writing pool with SF-based sketch comedy company Killing My Lobster.

DANIEL MARTINEZ JR. (Not That Kind of Monster), he/him, is an award winning playwright and actor based in San Jose, CA. This is his third season in the Writers Pool and he feels so lucky to get to write stories with some amazing people. Daniel recently debuted his one-act play, Vodka Cran. Daniel has also been featured in Best of Playground. Daniel debuted his latest one-man play, What’s in a Name?, in Playground’s Solo Festival this past January. Daniel was also recently named a semi-finalist in Nosotros’ Ya Tu Sabes Monologue Slam, for his comedic monologue “Honey Walnut Shrimp.” He’s excited you’re here!

ACTORS

JOSEPH ALVARADO (And Then I Would Dream; “Ray”), he/him, is thrilled to be making his Monday Night Playground debut! On stage, he most recently played Henry Y. Huang in Yellow Face with Shotgun Players. Other cherished credits include playing Jack in Aunt Jack at New Conservatory Theatre Center, Resten in The Language Archive at Masquers Playhouse, Atung in The Chinese Lady at Pear Theatre and Bobby in Company at City College of San Francisco.  He was born, raised and still lives in San Francisco and shares his home with his 19-year old cat, Malcolm.

APRIL BALLESTEROS (Abuela Knows Best; “The Kid”), she/her, is an actor, director, educator, and stage manager. She is a company member with Theatre Cultura and worked in the Artistic Learning Department at the California Shakespeare Theater for 7 years. She has worked with San Francisco Playhouse, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, SF Shakespeare Festival, Shotgun Players, and SFBATCO, to name a few. She earned a BA in Theatre Arts from California State University, East Bay, and hails from East Los Angeles.

ZOE CHIEN (Nyeli and the Fishbone Key; “Nyeli”).

CAROLYN DOYLE (Not That Kind of Monster; “Father”), she/her, is an AEA/SAG actor who has performed throughout the Bay Area and has been performing with PlayGround since its inception. Additionally, she’s a solo performer and has performed at Porchlight, CounterPULSE, EXIT Theatre, and Tell It on Tuesday!, among others. Carolyn’s solo show, Good Grief: Tales of a Persistent Blockhead just wrapped up at the 9th Annual PlayGround Solo Performance Festival.

LEON GOERTZEN (And Then I Would Dream; “Miguel”), he/him, has worked at Capital Stage (The Chinese Lady), East West Players (My Tired Broke Ass Pontificating Slapstick Funk), Berkeley Repertory Theatre (U/S, Journey to the West), Will and Company (Three Musketeers) , Ferocious Lotus (Crane, Carnal, One Act Comedy Workshop, Rooted), Asian American Theater Company (Importance of Being Earnest, Rental Car, Walls, The Cure), San Francisco Mime Troupe (Getting Real), Road Theatre Company (Importance of Being Earnest, Bang Bang You’re Dead), Cutting Ball Theater (Madame Ho, Carnal Prayer Mat), Aurora Theater Company (Global Age Project), and New Conservatory Theater (Fortune and Friends’ Eyes). Film credits include Quitters (with Kieran Culkin and Mira Sorvino) and Beauty and The Blade. Leon is a graduate of the School of Drama at UNC School of the Arts and is a member of Actors’ Equity Association, Screen Actors Guild, Ferocious Lotus Theatre Company, and Playground.

GG GRILLI (Artie and the Three Bears; “Goldilocks”), he/him, is an actor, director, writer, producer, filmmaker, and teacher. He’s worked at theaters in the Bay Area, New York City, and around the country for over three decades. Recent projects include directing The Servant of Two Masters with Bentley School at the Lesher Center and attending the Emma Rice Company’s first ever educators residency. He was the Founding Artistic Director of BrickaBrack, a multidisciplinary ensemble company, from 2012 – 2020. PlayGround member since 2008! Recently with PG: Nick in Shadow of an Uncle Nick (A Very Hitchcock Christmas), Victor in Work/Shoot (Festival). www.gggrilli.com.

DANIELLE LEVIN (Artie and the Three Bears; “Mommy”).

SAKURA NAKAHARA (Nyeli and the Fishbone Key; “Mama”), she/her, is a San Francisco Bay Area based actor, voice actor, improviser, and teaching artist. Recent performances include Aya in “Apertures of Love in Times of War” (PlayGround Festival of New Works), Emmy Lou in ‘The Confession of Lily Dare’ (New Conservatory Theatre Center), Sugar in ‘Tiny Beautiful Things’ (Plethos Productions), Frances in ‘Melancholy Play’, (Theater Lunatico), and Eurydice, Lucina, et al. in ‘Metamorphoses’ (The Pear Theatre) and many more. Sakura also performs as a voice actor, notably portraying the role of Parker in the Student BAFTA-nominated virtual reality mystery game, ‘Penrose Station’.

ANNETE AMELIA OLIVEIRA (Abuela Knows Best; “The Kid”), she/her, has played women (and men) who are wise, fierce, sometimes losing marbles, often Latinx on stages coast to coast.  She’s performed in Shakespeare plays at Marin’s redwood-ringed Curtain Theatre. She played every role imaginable for SF’s Shoestring Radio Theatre. Now specializing in audiobooks, she has recorded for Penguin-Random House, Scholastic, Hachette and Audible. Check out her website at annettenarrates.com.

LOUIS PARNELL (Nyeli and the Fishbone Key; “Man”), he/him, has been active in Bay Area theatre for the last 50 years. He works most regularly at the SFPlayhouse where he just performed in NOISES OFF and understudied INTO THE WOODS. He’s also worked at A.C.T., Center Rep, TheatreWorks and many other theaters. He also works periodically in film and television.

JED PARSARIO (Artie and the Three Bears; “Artie”), he/him. Analog Theater Collective Member, Playground Company Member, Red Ladder Theatre Company Teaching Artist, and San Francisco Mime Troupe Collective Member.

LOUEL SENORES (Not That Kind of Monster; “Child”), he/him, is a Berkeley-based actor, stage manager, and playwright. Recent acting work includes The Future is Queer (Left Coast Theatre) & To My Girls (New Conservatory Theatre). Recent SM Credits includes Puppy Mind (New Conservatory Theatre Youth Aware). Recent playwriting work includes Better Unkept (part of Best of PlayGround 2024). He’s a proud company member of Berkeley Interactive Theater, PlayGround SF, Left Coast Theatre, and a member of Shotgun’s EDIB Committee. When he’s not doing theater, he’s teaching Zumba at the Berkeley YMCA! Come thru! LouelSenores.com.

TERRANCE SMITH (Not That Kind of Monster; “Monster”), is thrilled to be back for another Monday Night at Playground! He has performed in theatres all across the Bay Area, including: SF Playhouse, Marin Shakes, Hillbarn Theatre, Town Hall Theatre, African-American Shakes, SPARC Theatre, The Lorraine Hansberry Theatre Company and many others. He’s toured nationally with the End of isolation Company and has performed overseas at the Eugene O’Neill Festival. He also voices DJ Train Trax on the Daytime Emmy Award winning Netflix Cartoon series Go Go Cory Carson. terranceaustinsmith.com

EMILIE TALBOT (Wicked Stepdaughter; “Vyra”), she/they, is a Bay Area based actor, director, teacher, and a longtime PlayGround company member as both an actor and director. Most recently she played Abby in Ripcord at the Rogue Theatre Company. She has also worked with the Prague Shakespeare Company in the Czech Republic and has appeared appeared on numerous stages across the United States from Boston to La Jolla, Ashland to Dallas. Film and Television work includes Little Mother Lies, 13 Reasons Why, Starting Over, and a whole slew of commercials, industrials, radio dramas, and video games including STAR WARS Beyond Victory. This May she will be starring in THE GLASS MENAGERIE with SPARC in Livermore. www.emilietalbot.com.

ISABEL ANNE TO (Wicked Stepdaughter; “Aurielle”), she/her, is an actor, singer, and PlayGround company member based in the SF Bay Area. She has enjoyed performing in Monday Night PlayGround for the past 8 seasons, in addition to PlayGround SF festival productions (The Passing Storm, Starlight, and Funny, Like an Abortion). Other selected credits: Tea Party (One Of Our Own Theater), The Jersey Devil Play (Awesome Theatre), and Avenue Q (New Conservatory Theatre Center). Isabel has also collaborated on to-be-released film projects with Liam Kirk and Èlement Magique. Offstage, she enjoys cross-stitching, pickleball, and traveling. www.isabelanneto.com

DIRECTORS

NORMAN GEE (Wicked Stepdaughter), he/him, is the Artistic Director of Oakland Public Theater (OPT), and Associate Producer with PlayGround-SF where he regularly directs. Norman also acts with companies including A.C.T., SF-Shakes, San Jose Stage, Livermore Shakes /SPARC & SF Mime Troupe. Last year Gee produced OPT’s INVENTORY/James Baldwin Abroad, celebrating Baldwin’s centennial, a final project with recently deceased playwright Richard Talavera. There is a memorial honoring Richard at the Mission Cultural Center in SF on Oct.26. November Norman performs in My Obsession with HamletMachine at Dance Mission, and possibly a new work with Word For Word at ZSpace-SF in Spring 2026.

LINDSEY ABBOTT (And Then I Would Dream), she/her, is thrilled to make her directing debut at PlayGround! She currently works at the San Francisco Opera in the marketing department, and is thrilled to be on the leadership team for Curtain Theatre in Mill Valley as Managing Director. She thanks her husband for his continued support and love.

JIM KLEINMANN (Nyeli and the Fishbone Key; Artistic Director & Co-Founder),he/him, co-founded PlayGround in 1994, along with playwright Brighde Mullins and director Denise Shama, and has served as Artistic Director since 1996. For PlayGround, he has provided artistic and administrative leadership for the past twenty-eight seasons, developing PlayGround’s unique array of new playwright and new play incubator programs, including Monday Night PlayGround, the PlayGround Festival of New Works, the full-length play Commissioning Initiative, the New Play Production Fund, Potrero Stage: PlayGround Center for New Plays, and most recently the Innovator Incubator. For PlayGround, he has directed more than one hundred short and full-length plays, including works by Garret Jon Groenveld, Aaron Loeb, Geetha Reddy, Lauren Yee, Katie May, and many others. Recent directing and dramaturgy credits include David Steele’s Vignettes on Love and Ruben Grijalva’s Value Over Replacement. He is a veteran arts administrator with more than thirty years of experience, including stints leading Traveling Jewish Theatre, Smuin Ballet and Berkeley Symphony, and received his MFA from the Yale School of Drama.

KATJA RIVERA (Abuela Knows Best), she/her, believes that stories have the power to save lives. Originally from Los Angeles, she studied at LACC Theatre Academy and Drama Studio London, Berkeley. Bay Area acting credits include: Shotgun Players, Magic Theatre, Theatre Rhinoceros, Center Rep. Directing credits include Shotgun Players, Theatre Cultura, Douglas Morrison, CustomMade, SF Playground, SF Shakespeare, Town Hall Theatre and TheatreFIRST. She is a company member of Shotgun Players, an associate producer with PlayGround-SF and a member of Latinx Mafia. Recent directing credits include:Yerma (Shotgun Players) La Vida Loca (Theatre Cultura) References To Salvador Dali…(Custom Made Theatre), Romeo & Juliet (SF Shakespeare, Tour) and True West (Town Hall Theatre). Her next directing gig is Antony + Cleopatra for SF Shakespeare Co.

TANIKA BAPTISTE (Artie and the Three Bears).

RIVER BERMUDEZ SANDERS (Not That Kind of Monster), they/them, is excited to be making their directing debut with PlayGround! They are a multi-disciplinary theatre artist with credits from companies throughout the region, including San Francisco Playhouse, Oakland Theatre Project, Berkeley Playhouse, and more. Some recent projects include Presidio Theatre’s Peter Pan (Tock the Croc) Crowded Fire Theatre’s limp wrist on the lever (Charli), and Oakland Theatre Project’s Cabaret (Assistant Choreographer). This spring you can see them as “Trevor” in Hillbarn Theatre’s production of The Play That Goes Wrong.

PRODUCTION

RAPHAEL LOUIS BUENAVENTURA (Stage Manager), he/him, is a Bay Area–based stage manager, production manager, and director with extensive experience across new works, festivals, and independent theatre. Known for their calm leadership, rigorous organization, and artist-first approach, Raphael specializes in supporting bold, queer, and ensemble-driven storytelling. Recent credits include work with SF Playground, Theatre Rhinoceros, Bindlestiff Studio, and JT Presents, as well as serving as Executive Director of SF Eagle Players. Raphael thrives in fast-paced rehearsal rooms and brings grounded, joyful professionalism to every process.
For collaborations: rsd.buenaventura@gmail.com

PLAYGROUND, founded in 1994 by Jim Kleinmann, Brighde Mullins and Denise Shama, has grown into one of this nation’s leading playwright incubators and theatre community hubs, with a core commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, helping to uplift and center artists from historically underrepresented communities. Over three decades, PlayGround has supported more than 300 early-career playwrights, developing and staging over 1,500 of their original short plays through PlayGround’s signature programs, Monday Night PlayGround and the PlayGround Festival of New Works. PlayGround has also commissioned 100 new full-length plays by 60 of these writers through its Commissioning Initiative and has directly facilitated the premiere of 36 of those works through its innovative New Play Production Fund. Over the past 29 years, PlayGround has developed a unique model for identifying and nurturing some of this country’s best new writers, while helping them to build a significant body of original work and lasting connections with the artistic collaborators they need to know to ensure their success. PlayGround expanded to Los Angeles in 2012, to NYC in 2021, and to Chicago in 2022.

In 2015, PlayGround signed a long-term lease to operate the former Thick House Theater (San Francisco), where PlayGround has produced its festival since 2008. Following a successful $300,000 renovation, PlayGround reopened the theatre in February 2017 as Potrero Stage: PlayGround Center for New Plays. In addition to supporting PlayGround’s expanding new play programs (including the PlayGround Solo Performance Festival launched in 2018, as well as Free-Play Festival and “Twisted” Holiday Show, both launched in 2022), the theatre serves as home for some of the Bay Area’s leading new play developers and producers. In 2019, PlayGround launched the Innovator Incubator, fostering theatrical innovation and next generation innovative theatre companies. The program culminates in the annual Innovators Showcase, which takes place each November, featuring over half-a-dozen new works, from developmental readings to full premieres, by the year’s Innovator Incubator cohort. PlayGround has fostered 13 new companies through this program.

Following the closure of theaters due to the pandemic in 2020, PlayGround was one of the first theatres in the country to shift all of its programming online, with the launch of the PlayGround Zoom Fest and a unique partnership with the performers union, SAG-AFTRA. With the return of in-person performance, PlayGround recommitted to radical accessibility with admission-free programming and online simulcast and on-demand streaming of all performances.

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), Humana Festival, O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, 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.

In addition to its company of playwrights, PlayGround maintains a company of leading local directors, actors, designers and technicians whose work is regularly seen on the top professional stages in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago and at regional theatres across the country. PlayGround has actively positioned itself as a hub, bringing together hundreds of individuals and organizations representing the best in local theatre. For more information about PlayGround, visit https://playground-sf.org.

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.

Coming Soon

PLAYGROUND CONTRIBUTORS

PlayGround is deeply grateful for the generous contributions of the many individuals, foundations, corporations and government agencies whose contributions make our work possible. This list reflects gifts of $125 or more committed between January 1, 2025 & January 25, 2026.

GOVERNMENT, CORPORATE, & FOUNDATION DONORS

Alameda County Arts Commission • Art Space Development Corporation • Berkeley Civic Arts • Berlanti Family Foundation • Bill Graham Supporting Foundation of the Jewish Community Federation & Endowment Fund • California Office of the Small Business Advocate • Fleishhacker Foundation • Grants For The Arts • KFF • Koret Foundation • LA County Arts Commission • Lenore & Howard Klein Foundation • The Leo J. & Celia Carlin Fund • National Endowment of the Arts • Negley Flinn Charitable Foundation • New York State Council on the Arts • News Corp • NIAC • Nvidia • Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation • Ronald Whittier Family Foundation • Rye Financial Services • SF Shines • The Shubert Foundation • State Compensation Insurance Fund

SEASON SPONSORS ($5000+)

Emilie & Gordon Brooks, Dan Cohn & Lynn Brinton, Keith Goldstein & Donna Warrington, Jim Kleinmann & Lara Gilman, Jackie Kubicka, Craig Moody, Darryl Wilburn

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS ($2500+)

Randy Adams, John Gilman, Regina Guggenheim, Kathryn Hecht, Nitin Nitin & Vasugi Kailasam, Jessica June Rowe, Christian Wilburn, Janine Wilburn, Anonymous

PRODUCERS CIRCLE ($1000-$2499)

Jahnavi Alyssa, Linda Amayo-Hassan, Meriko Borogove, Anne Brady, Summer Broyhill, Madeleine Butler, Sheila Collins, Jediah Craig, Elizabeth Dudak, Jessica Forbess, David Goldman, Greg Gorel, Gina & Steve Harris, Uma Incrocci, Jonathan Josephson, Linda Kremer, Tobi Marcus, Rebecca Martinez, Bram McGinnis, Molly Noble & Bob Guilbault, Kendall Phillips, Evelyn J Pine & Doug Peckler, Bridgette Dutta Portman, Arthur Rock & Toni Rembe Rock, Kathryn Ryan, Miyoko Sakatani, Diane Sampson, Sanjit Sengupta, Kurt Taylor, William C. Thompson, Jeffrey Trescott, Hechale Productions

PLAYWRIGHTS CIRCLE ($500-$999)

Tanvi Agrawal, Ben Cain, Lydia R. Diamond, Leon Goertzen, Philip Gotanda & Diane Takei, Toby Inoue, Paul & Pam Kleinmann, Margery Kreitman, Kathy Roberts & Aaron Loeb, Jenny Rand, Cindy & Chris Redburn, John Ruskin, Kitt Saginor, Mercedes Segesvary, Jerome Solberg

PATRON ($250-$499)

Linda Ayres-Frederick / Phoenix Arts Association Theatre, Ruth Brayton, Marilyn Cooper, Clint Fleener, Alex Loddengaard, Alan Maass, Tobi Marcus, Stephanie Prentice & David Haines, George Rose, Mark Sherstinsky, Jon & Susan Sweedler, Mary Lou Torre, Robin Wimsatt, Maury Zeff

ASSOCIATE MEMBER ($125-$249)

Sharon Baldwin, Deepanshu Dutta, Krystyna Finlayson, Clint Fleener, Patience Haggin, Abbe Kalos, Karen Levesque, Pam Mackinnon, Linda Marks, Jack Needleman, Karen Reaume, Katja Rivera, Nancy Smith, Ann Hearn Tobolowsky, Christina Velasco, Matt W Wills, Susannah Wise

To contribute to PlayGround, visit https://playground-sf.org/contribute or contact PlayGround Director of Development Lana Richards at lana@playground-sf.org or by phone at (833) 992-6677.

PlayGround-SF Writers Pool 2025-26

Linda Ayres-Frederick, Paul Braverman, Robyn Brooks, Madeleine Butler, Melina Cohen-Bramwell, Jediah Craig, Laura Domingo, Garret Groenveld, KT Frances Hartline, Carl Andrew Johnson, Ruth Kirschner, Greg Lam, Justin P. Lopez, Daniel Martinez Jr, Gillian O’Leary, Richard Perez, James Perry, Bridgette Dutta Portman, Jan Probst, Kimberly Ridgeway, George Rose, Sophie Ruf, Sanjit Sengupta, Greg Sigur, Chris Steele, Stan Stone, Lisa Gaye Thompson, Maury Zeff

PlayGround Resident Playwrights

San Francisco: Monique Adams, Madeleine Butler*, Laura Domingo**, Bridgette Dutta Portman, Daniel Martinez Jr., Christian Wilburn; Los Angeles: Summer Broyhill, Amy Ellenberger, Paris Herbert-Taylor, Jonathan Josephson, Mercedes Segesvary, Baylee Shlichtman*; New York: Saiya Floyd, Howard Ho, Dana Leslie Goldstein, Wade Lawrence Hollomon, Lyra Nalan, Camron Wright*; Chicago: Anne Brady*, Jessie Bond, alfonzo kahlil, Juliet Kang Huneke, Karissa Murrell Myers, Katherine Swan.

* Playwrights under commission for the 2025-26 season
** June Anne Baker Award Winner

PlayGround Company

Molly Aaronson-Gelb, Angel Adedokun, 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, Natalia Delgado, Dodds Delzell, Livia Gomes Demarchi, Carolyn Doyle, Leticia Duarte, Nora el Samahy, Rebecca Ennals, Britney Frazier, Michael French, Claire, Ganem, Norman Gee, Douglas B. Giorgis, Linda Giron, Amy Glazer, Leon Goertzen, Cindy Goldfield, BW Gonzalez, GG Grilli, Rudy Guerrero, Karina Gutierrez, Rosie Hallett, Katherine Hamilton, Matthew Hanjoong, Eric Fraisher Hayes, Brian Herndon, Champagne Hughes, J Jha, Christian, Jimenez, Colin Johnson, Jacinta Kaumbulu, Emily Keyishian, Jennifer King, Tessa Koning-Martinez, Randy Lee, Danielle Levin, Amy Lizardo, Jeffrey Lo, Gwen Loeb, Charisse Loriaux, George Maguire, Melanie Marshall, Alicia Mason, Leontyne Mbele-Mbong, Julia McNeal, Sam Misner, Eiko Moon-Yamamoto, Brady Morales-Woolery, Carolina Morones, Lisa Morse, Khary L. Moye, Sakura Nakahara, Molly Noble, Karen Offereins, Annette Oliveira, Soren Oliver, Ely Orquiza, Tony Ortega, Doyle Ott, June Palladino, Carla Pantoja, Louis Parnell, Jed Parsario, Michael, Phillis, Krystle Piamonte, Rebecca Pingree, Stephanie Prentice, Ezra Reaves, Ginny 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 Truitt, Liam Vincent, Ian Walker, Maryssa Wanlass, Tracy Ward, Reggie D. White, Christian Wilburn, Wayne Wong, Elena Wright, Hector Zavala

PlayGround Staff

Jim Kleinmann, Co-Founder & Artistic Director 
Lana Richards, Director of Development 
Jonathan Josephson, Director of Marketing & Communications 
Stephanie Prentice, Education Coordinator
Tanika Baptiste, MNP Executive Producer 
Norman Gee, MNP Associate Producer 
Katja Rivera, MNP Associate Producer 
Zoe Chien, MNP Associate Producer & Casting Director 
Brittany Mellerson, Resident Designer & Technical Director 
K’Zhane McGill, Box Office Manager 
Donna Fondjo, 2025-26 Producing Fellow 
Jordan Don, 2025-26 Producing Fellow 
Juliana Morgado Brito, 2025-26 Producing Fellow 
Devin Cunningham, 2025-26 Producing Fellow 

PlayGround Ambassadors

Julia Brothers, Jordan Carlson, Ben Chau-Chiu , Julia Crowley, Sheri Flanders, Claire Ganem, Eric Geller, Monica Ho, Tony Kim, Christine Liao, AJ Lily, Ely Sonny Orquiza, Andrew Perez, Ivan Rivas, Miyoko Sakatani, Braedyn Youngberg

PlayGround Equity Workgroup

Diana Burbano, Victoria Evans Erville, Norman Gee, Jim Kleinmann, Brittany Mellerson, Tiana Randall-Quant, Katja Rivera, M. Graham Smith.

PlayGround Board

Stephanie Prentice, Chair 
James A. Kleinmann, President 
Christian Wilburn, Vice President
Nitin, Treasurer
Ben Cain, Secretary
Regina Guggenheim, Chair Emeritus
Tanvi Agrawal
Linda Amayo-Hassan
Julia Brothers
Howard Ho
Alex Kingsley
Rebecca Martinez
Kendall Phillips
Jessica June Rowe

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
https://facebook.com/PlayGroundsf
https://instagram.com/playgroundsftheatre
www.playground-sf.org

PlayGround
3286 Adeline St #9
Berkeley, CA 94703-2485