Company in the News June-2026

Posted by on June 1, 2026

See what PlayGround-SF Writers and Company Members are up to this month including: Monique Hafen Adams, Charisse Loriaux, Hector Zavala, Hechale Productions, Miyoko Sakatani, Greg Lam, Saffron Quinn, Jacinta Kaumbulu, and Eiko Moon-Yamamoto!

Héctor Zavala and Hechale Productions’ PUENTES, is a bilingual youth acting intensive created by our dear in Mexico City for young artists ages 7–14. The program brings together participants from the United States and Mexico for a week of acting, movement, cultural exchange, and creative collaboration. Classes are taught by professional artists working in theater, film, and dance, while families have the option to participate in parallel cultural and artistic experiences throughout the city. PUENTES grew from a desire to create earlier artistic connections across borders and give young people a space where language, imagination, and community can meet naturally. Click HERE for more information. Continue scrolling for information about Hechale Productions’ upcoming productions and acting retreat!

Monique Hafen Adam’s play, ON BLACKWELL’S ISLAND, was selected for as a Semi-Finalist at Premiere Stages in New Jersey. This follows her Finalist recognition for the same play at Bay Area Playwrights Foundation.

Charisse Loriaux is currently in DRACULA, A FEMINIST REVENGE FANTASY, REALLY at SFPlayhouse running through June 27. For 50% off tickets use discount code BITEBACK50 at checkout. Click HERE for tickets!

Saffron Quinn is a SDCF Directing Fellow! Saffron will support Director Robert O’Hara on his upcoming production of La Cage Aux Folles at New York City Center. Click HERE for tickets.

Eiko Moon-Yamamoto and Jacinta Kaumbulu are performing in Oakland Theater Project’s The House of Bernarda Alba, by Federico García Lorca, adaptation by Chay Yew. Running until June 7 at the Omni Commons in Oakland. Tickets are $40-$70. Contact box office for available “pay-what-you-can-ticket” $10-$20. Click HERE for tickets.

Greg Lam will be returning to his alma mater Reed College in Portland, OR on June 12-13 to attend his reunions and to produce two series of readings of short plays and excerpts by fellow alumni playwrights, including himself, Lee Blessing, Anne Washburn and the recently deceased Eric Overmyer, among other Reed Alumni playwrights. His plays will be the short play The Santa Thing and an excerpt from a comedy revue he started while a student at Reed which has been revived continually by current students ever since.

Miyoko Sakatani is thrilled to be performing one of the Best of the Best of PlayGround for the second year in the One PlayGround Festival & Conference June5-7. Miyoko will reprise her role as G.G. in Stan Stone’s fabulous play “Bridges of San Francisco County” with cast mates Ryan Tasker and Rolanda Bell. Looking forward to a great conference and getting to work with some of the creative team from PlayGround LA, NY and CH.

Additionally, Miyoko Sakatani’s theatre company, “Playland Productions” will be producing a webinar reading “Through the Eyes of Tokyo Rose,: by Cathy Midori Stonie on June 20th. Miyoko will be directing and performing with a cast of 6 actors who will be playing over 25 characters, many real life people in history. This is a biographical fiction about Iva Toguri, the woman behind the myth of “Tokyo Rose.” Through unfortunate events, she became a political scapegoat and one of the most hated women in America in a trial that gripped the nation in 1949. An important and timely story of political corruption, racism, misogyny and the power of the media to sway public opinion and threaten democracy. Email playlandproductions@gmail.com for more information.

Hechale Productions celebrates a New Cross-Border Milestone: CLORO in Mexico City and Awaken Your Artist Retreat. Hechale Productions is excited to share a new company update with our PlayGround community. Thank you, PlayGround fam, for being one of our community partners.

This June, Hechale’s production CLORO will be presented in Mexico City with the support of Mexico’s Federal Ministry of Culture and as part of the programming of Sistema de Teatros de la Ciudad de México, Mexico City’s public theatre system. CLORO is a Spanish-language premiere of Bleach, a contemporary British play by Dan Ireland-Reeves, translated and directed by longtime PlayGround member Héctor Zavala. If you happen to be in Mexico City, performances run June 6–21, 2026 at Foro A Poco No. Click HERE for tickets.

For Hechale Productions, this is part of our larger mission: building a meaningful artistic bridge between theatre communities in the Bay Area, the U.S., and Mexico. That bridge continues this August with “Awaken Your Artist: Hechale International Acting Retreat/Intensive”, taking place August 17–22, 2026 in Mexico City. Designed for working actors, the retreat brings together artists from the Bay Area, LA, Mexico City, and beyond for one immersive week of training, collaboration, theatre-going, cultural exchange, and artistic renewal.

The program includes 30+ hours of workshops and masterclasses, one-on-one coaching, writing, movement, devising, directing, solo performance, film acting, theatre nights, artist conversations, cultural excursions, 6 nights in a 4-star hotel, scheduled transportation, and select meals.
Awaken Your Artist offers space for deeper process, international connection, and a renewed relationship with craft beyond the pressure of constant auditions, burnout, and the next gig.
PlayGround members receive a special community discount.

Full program and application:  https://hechaleproductions.com/actingretreat
To learn more, email Hechale Productions or schedule a Zoom conversation with the team.
hechaleproductions@gmail.com