Welcome to the 2021 PlayGround Gala. This year’s gala celebrates twenty years of the June Anne Baker Prize and the legacy of the twenty women playwright who’ve received the prize since 2002. Initiated by PlayGround benefactor John H. Gilman in memory of his late wife, the June Anne Baker Prize recognizes the top new female playwright representing a gifted new comedic and/or political voice and is selected from among the annual Best of PlayGround playwrights. Tonight provides us an opportunity to not only celebrate the impact of these women playwrights but to also recognize the work remaining to ensure truly equitable access for women theatre artists across all disciplines and to help elevate more women theatre artists into leadership positions. We thank you for joining us and being a part of this moment and movement!

Jim Kleinmann
Co-Founder & Artistic Director
PlayGround

Gala Sponsors
William Bivins
Emilie & Gordon Brooks
Jerome Joseph Gentes & Michael Bourque
John H. Gilman
Peggy Haas
Jim Kleinmann & Lara Gilman
Lisa Mammal
Rebecca Martinez
Craig & Kathy Moody
Frannie Pope & Robert Hohman
Arthur Rock & Toni Rembe Rock
John Ruskin
Sharon Simpson
Kate Stechschulte & David Cost
David Steele
Mike Wakerly & Sophie Golden
University of California- San Francisco

Gala Co-Chairs
Eleanor Clement Glass
Rebecca Martinez

Masters of Ceremonies
Stephanie Prentice
Amy Lizardo

Gala Caterer
Martha Avenue Home Cooked Meals

Gala Dramaturg
Philippa Kelly

PlayGround Company

PlayGround Board
Regina Guggenheim, Chair
James A. Kleinmann, President
Jerome Joseph Gentes, VP-Communications
Emilie Talbot, VP-Development
Nitin, Treasurer
Katie May, Secretary
William Bivins
Diana Burbano
Eleanor Clement Glass
Lisa Mammel
Rebecca Martinez
Rondrell McCormick
Stephanie Prentice
Katja Rivera
David Steele

PlayGround Staff
Jim Kleinmann, Co-Founder & Artistic Director
Annie Stuart, Associate Artistic Director
Liam Vincent, Director of Growth
Norman Gee, Associate Producer
Jed Parsario, Associate Producer
Stephanie Prentice, Associate Producer
Katja Rivera, Associate Producer
Jacque Bugler, Production Manager
Brittany Mellerson, Resident Designer
Sarah Gasser, Resident Stage Manager & Assistant to the Artistic Director
Lindsey Abbott, 2021-22 Producing Fellow
Daniel Benitez, 2021-22 Producing Fellow
Caroline Portante, 2021-22 Producing Fellow
Wallace Yan, 2021-22 Producing Fellow
Edna Mira Raia, Post Fellow
Lana Richards, Post Fellow
Chris Steele, Post Fellow

PlayGround Writers
Linda Amayo-Hassan+, Cass Brayton+, Tom Bruett+, Rachel Bublitz+, Madeleine Butler, Vanessa Cassandras, Reg Clay, Victoria Evans Erville, Jessica Fechtor, Ipsheeta Furtado, Akaina Ghosh, Linda Maria Giron, Garret Jon Groenveld+, Monique Hafen Adams, Sam Hurwitt, Tejahra Jacobs, Lisa Kang, Anne Yumi Kobori, Molly Krost+, Jennifer Le Blanc, Jonathan Luskin+, Christopher Magee, Alanna McFall, Bacilio Mendez II, Isaac Ontiveros+, Conrad Panganiban, Erin Marie Panttaja, Evelyn Jean Pine+, Madeline Puccioni, Neiry Rojo, Kevin Rolston, Annette Roman, Rebecca Schweitzer , Susan Sher, Marissa Skudlarek, Alexis Standridge, Chris Steele, Shruti Tewari, Lisa Gaye Thompson, Eteya Trinidad+, Daysha Veronica+, Madison Wetzell, Christian Wilburn+, 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*, Giselle Boustani-Fontenele, Millie Brooks, Julia Brothers*, Nicole Apostol Bruno, Lizzie Calogero*, Ron Campbell*, Joy Carlin*, Nancy Carlin*, Desdemona Chiang, Tessa Corrie, David Cramer*, Will Dao*, Anne Darragh*, Dodds Delzell*, Livia Gomes Demarchi, Carolyn Doyle*, Nora el Samahy*, Rebecca Ennals, Britney Frazier*, Michael French, Claire Ganem, Sarah Gasser, Norman Gee*, Douglas B. Giorgis*, Amy Glazer, Cindy Goldfield*, BW Gonzalez*, Christian Haines, Margo Hall*, Rosie Hallett*, Katherine Hamilton, Daryl Anthony Harper, Eric Fraisher Hayes*, Brian Herndon*, Monica Ho*, Laura Humphrey, J Jha, Colin Johnson, Lyndsy Kail*, Dean Koya, 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*, Molly Noble*, Joseph Patrick O’Malley*, Karen Offereins, Annette Oliveira*, Soren Oliver*, Ely Sonny Orquiza, Melissa Ortiz*, Doyle Ott*, June Palladino*, Carla Pantoja*, Louis Parnell*, Jed Parsario*, Michael Phillis, Rebecca Pingree, Stephanie Prentice*, Ezra Reaves, Virginia Reed, Cathleen Riddley*, Katja Rivera, Adrian Roberts*, Neiry Rojo, Stacy Ross*, Adam Roy, Katie Rubin, Lindsey Marie Schmeltzer, Louel Senores, Robert Sicular*, Jeunee Simon, M. Graham Smith, Ken Sonkin*, Lauren Spencer*, Teddy Spencer*, 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*
* Member, Actors’ Equity Association

PROGRAM

6:00pm Welcoming Reception

Live music by Sonia Boyd Reavis & Maestro Nunzio Sisto

What is the June Anne Baker Prize?
Presentation by Philippa Kelly, Cal Shakes Resident Dramaturg

HELLA LOVE OAKLAND
by Robin Lynn Rodriguez
Directed by Tessa Corrie
Backpack Mom 1.……………..…………..Nicole Bruno
Backpack Mom 2……………………….Karen Offereins
Backpack Mom 3…….……………………. Amy Lizardo

6:35pm Dinner

The Impact of the June Anne Baker Prize
Presentation by Geetha Reddy, June Anne Baker Recipient

OPHY’S APOTHECARY
by Karen Macklin
Directed by Tessa Corrie
Ophy.……………………………………………Nicole Bruno
Anna………………………………………..Karen Offereins
Boy..…….……………………………………… Amy Lizardo

7:15 Dessert

Elevating Women In Their Early Careers
Presentation by Annie Stuart, PlayGround Associate Artistic Director

Fund-A-Future Auction

Closing Toast

8:00pm Conclusion of Gala

Jasmine Murray
Stage Manager

Charlie Anthony Mejia
Technical Director

Sarah Gasser
Zoom Stage Manager

Upstaging Convention: Twenty Years and Counting

It is exactly 101 years since the granting of women’s suffrage in the United States (to this day, the Equal Rights Amendment has yet to be ratified and adopted.) It’s also 100 years since the Dramatists’ Guild of America was formed in an attempt to protect the rights and livelihoods of playwrights – and the election of Amanda Green as President of the Guild in 2021 marks the first year that a woman has ever been appointed to this position. We feel that it is vital to hear women’s voices through more than the megaphone afforded a woman in a leadership position: which makes the June Anne Baker Prize all the more significant for the values it uplifts and enables. A sociologist, a city planner, an attorney, and a lover of words, June Anne Baker moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1970, where she lived almost until her death in 2000. Her husband, John H. Gilman, inaugurated the June Anne Baker prize in 2001, “to be awarded annually to a female Emerging Playwright Award winner representing a gifted new comedic or political voice for the stage. [The award] includes a commissioning grant and development support of the new full-length play.”

When Aristotle wrote that “silence is a woman’s glory,”  he was shaping a culture with a hierarchy of men, women and slaves in that order. The world has taken over two and a half thousand years to let go of the idea that women’s silence is our greatest virtue – and while the road to equity has yet to be fully paved, we propose a communal shout of joy for these twenty women playwrights who are taking us on their creative, brilliant journeys.

Philippa Kelly
PlayGround Gala Dramaturg

June Anne Baker History

The June Anne Baker Prize was initiated by John H. Gilman in memory of his late wife. The Prize is awarded annually to a female playwright selected from among that year’s Emerging Playwright Award winners, representing a gifted new comedic and/or political voice for the stage and includes a commission. The Prize provides a commissioning grant for a new full-length play and support for readings and workshop productions of the new work.

June Anne Baker (1946-2000) was born and raised in Mankato, Minnesota to a playful mother and a political father. She was a sensitive soul with a very big heart. June had a love affair with words and dreamed of being a writer. She received her under- graduate degree in Sociology from Arizona State University, a Masters in Regional and City Planning from the University of Oklahoma, and a law degree from Boalt Hall at UC Berkeley. June moved to San Francisco in 1970 and had an active city planning career with the City of Concord and Marin County. June was an active feminist, and proud of it. She was a founding member of Bay Area Women Planners. June loved life, and politics, and fun. She was serious and re ective, and yet had an overabundance of youthful enthusiasm. As a good friend once said, “If you don’t think feminists have a sense of humor, you never met June Baker.” June turned to writing in her 40s and found an inner life that she needed to explore. While contemplating and struggling with thoughts of how she might manifest her writer self, she was diagnosed with salivary gland cancer. Her struggle turned from expression to survival, yet she never lost her joie de vivre. This award honors June’s great love for humor and politics and her commitment to advancing opportunities for women. She would want this award to make easier the struggle and more manifest the works of the emerging playwrights who receive it.

To read scripts by the June Anne Baker Prize playwrights, visit Issuu.com or the New Play Exchange.

June Anne Baker Prize Recipients (2002-2021)

Erin Bregman (she/her) has been described by DC Theater Scene as making “an impossible story come to life.” Her plays and libretti have been produced and developed across the country, including with Just Theater, Rorschach Theater, Washington National Opera, The San Francisco Conservatory of Music, The Brick, Inkwell, Profile Theater, ACT, The Lark, The Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Impact Theater, and PlayGround. She has been a multi-year finalist for the Princess Grace Awards and the Global Age Project, and has been a resident artist at Djerassi, Zoo Labs, the Playwrights Foundation, the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, and PlayGround. erinbregman@gmail.com

Rachel Bublitz (she/her) is a playwright who tells stories about women, creating exciting new work for young performers. The Z Space premiere of her play Ripped received the Will Glickman Award for the best premiere play in the Bay Area. She’s developed her work with Playwrights Foundation, PlayGround, Utah Shakespeare Festival, and San Francisco Playhouse. Other plays include Burst (developed at Salt Lake Acting Company, Keegan Theatre Company, Road Theatre Company, and more), and The Night Witches (published with Dramatic Publishing). When she’s not writing, she’s watching her two kids dominate at water polo. RachelBublitz.com.

Patricia Cotter (she/her) is a playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. Her plays include The Daughters, 1980 (Or Why I’m Voting for John Anderson), The Surrogate, I’ll Give You Something To Cry About, and The Rules of Comedy. Musicals include The Break Up Notebook, Rocket Science, and Mulan Jr. Patricia’s work has been produced and developed at TheatreWorks, New York Theatre Workshop, The Vineyard Theatre, Playwrights Horizons, The Village Theatre, The Actors Theatre of Louisville’s Humana Festival, and Bay Area Playwrights Festival. A former Resident Playwright at Playwrights Foundation, her awards include the American Academy of Arts & Letters, Richard Rodgers Award, Emmy Award. cotterpatricia@gmail.com

Kristina Goodnight (she/her) lives in the Netherlands with her wife and 13-year-old son, and teaches English and drama at Utrecht University of Applied Sciences. An increasingly independent child and a lockdown have given her more time of late to rekindle her theatrical pursuits. She has become involved with English Theater Utrecht as an actor and writer, as well as starting the podcast Schrijf Maar Raak with a group of fellow writers. Kristina is currently completing a full-length play about immigration, love and complicated family relationships in the midst of a pandemic. She is the inaugural June Anne Baker Prize recipient. kristina.goodnight@hu.nl

Genevieve Jessee (she/her) received her MFA in Playwriting from Boston University, and is now based in Puerto Rico. Her work has been staged at PlayGround, The Source Festival, Atlanta Black Theatre Festival, San Francisco Fringe Festival, EXIT theatre, Those Women Productions and the Festival de Marseille. She is the recipient of commissions from PlayGround and Planet Earth Arts. Her awards include the June Anne Baker Prize, Best of the San Francisco Fringe (2012), Emerging Playwright Award (PlayGround), Congo Square Theater’s 2021 Emerging + Professional 10-minute play competition winner, and the recipient of a California Arts Council Artists-in-Communities grant. She was a fellow at the 2018 Cultural Diaspora Playwriting Residency at the Camargo Foundation in Cassis, France, where she further developed her play The Diaspora Cycle, which was a finalist for the 2019 Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Semi-finalist for the 2019 O’Neill National Playwright’s Conference, and appeared in the 2020 Kilroys list. Mccallgj@gmail.com

Melissa Keith (she/her) has been in the PlayGround Writers Pool for four years, and has had six Monday Night selections. Originally from the Midwest, Melissa began playwriting while earning her BA in Theatre from Marquette University. Since arriving in the Bay Area, Melissa has enjoyed working with Virago, SF Shakespeare Festival, KML, NCTC, Open Tab, Theatre Rhino, and PCSF. In September, Melissa will direct Puppetry of the Lobster, a puppet sketch-comedy show with SF’s own sketch group, Killing My Lobster. mkeith529@gmail.com

Brady Lea (she/her) teaches clowning and physical theatre to grad students of opera at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and comedy, and physical theatre and improvisation at the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts. Starting her career as a circus clown, she now writes, devises, directs and translates plays, and is forever thankful for the connection that PlayGround has given her to so many theatre artists of all stripes, and is proud to be among such a cohort of June Anne Baker Prize winners. brady@well.com

Karen Macklin (she/her) is an award-winning multi-genre writer. She has been published and produced professionally as a journalist, essayist, playwright, and author of creative nonfiction. Her articles have been published across the country in more than a dozen newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, Yoga Journal, and San Francisco Weekly. Her plays—which include Lotus in the Fire, Popping the Cherry, Mister President, Stranger in a Stranger Land, and Commit Me to Memory—have received readings and/or productions in New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, and Italy. Her poetry has appeared in various journals, and she co-authored the book Indie Girl. She currently writes the column Examined Life for 48 Hills. She earned a BA in English from State University of New York at Albany, and a MA in English and MFA in Creative Writing, both from San Francisco State University. She’s lived and traveled all over the world for exploration, volunteer work, and paid work, and spent a year in Guatemala City on a State Department fellowship teaching journalism. Her work is influenced most by the urban places she’s inhabited, the years she’s spent traveling abroad, a deep love of language, and Eastern philosophy & spirituality. karenmacklin@gmail.com

Alanna McFall (she/her) is a novelist and playwright. Her novel, The Traveling Triple-C Incorporeal Circus, was published by Atthis Arts. She was a company Resident Playwright for two seasons and has been featured in Best of PlayGround 22 and 23. Alanna was the 2019 recipient of the June Anne Baker Prize. akmcfall@gmail.com

Erin Marie Panttaja (she/her) received a Planet Earth New Play Festival commission based on her Best of PlayGround short play Preapocalyptica. The full-length version had several readings around the Bay Area and was a semifinalist for the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center’s National Playwright’s Conference. Her play, If You Have to Go There began as And Yet, a Monday night selection, and was selected for a reading at City Lights. It was a semifinalist for the Bay Area Playwright’s Festival. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild and Theatre Bay Area, and a TBA ATLAS award winner. erin@panttaja.com

Evelyn Jean Pine (she/her, they/them) writes plays that wrestle with moments when life feels so new your hair is electric. She writes about Queen Isabella, the Lumiere brothers, and Bill Gates at 20. The Invisible Project, co-written with Katja Rivera, launched the Latinx Mafia’s Staged Reading series in March 2021. Molecule LitMag just published her quick-fire climate change play, North Pole Bedtime. Her one-woman show, Freeloader in the House of Love, won the “Most Compelling Story” award at the Boulder Fringe. Her latest play is 7 Secrets of Teaching Online. evy@well.com

Geetha Reddy (she/her) received the June Anne Baker Award for her play, Obit. Obit premiered at PlayGround in 2005 and the film version, shot in 2014, was  shown at film festivals nationwide, including the LA Shorts Fest, NYC Indie Fest, and BendFilm Fest. Her PlayGround Alumni Commission play, Safe House, was selected for both the Bay Area Playwrights Festival and Sacramento’s Capital Stage Playwright’s Revolution Festival in 2008, and in 2010 it was staged at SF Playhouse. At Central Works, Geetha and fellow PlayGround Alumnus Aaron Loeb collaborated to create Blastosphere!  Since receiving the June Anne Baker Prize in 2005, Geetha has been awarded three PlayGround Alumni commissions and five Emerging Playwright Awards. Her plays have been part of numerous reading series including the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Just Theatre Lab, Crowded Fire’s Matchbox Series, Shotgun Players Champagne Series, and of course the Best of PlayGround Festival. Recently, in 2019, her play Far, Far Better Things was co-produced by TheatreFirst and Shotgun Players and her play Mahabharata was produced at Oakland Theater Project. Geetha is a member of the Dramatists Guild and was a Resident Playwright at the Playwrights Foundation. geethareddyb@gmail.com

Mandy Rizvi (she/her) has worked at Serendipity School in San Francisco for the past 10 years – a progressive school that teaches children to be dreamers, curious creators, and innovators. mandy@serendipityschool.com

Robin Lynn Rodriguez (she/her) received PlayGround’s Emerging Playwright Award for her short play, Hella Love Oakland, which was  produced at the 2012 PlayGround Festival.  She is working on a commissioned full length version of Hella that will receive a staged reading at this year’s Festival. Her full-length play, Hedge, was a finalist for the 2012 SF Playwrights Foundation Festival and was developed as a staged reading at the SF PlayGround Festival.  She has enjoyed writing for the stage these past years and is also an English teacher and mom of three in her non-theater life. robinlynnrodriguez@gmail.com

Maria Rokas (she/her) lives and works in San Francisco. Her plays have been produced throughout the U.S. in Europe and Australia. Her short plays and monologues have been published by PlayGround, Smith and Kraus and Three Wise Monkeys. mariarokas@gmail.com

Diane Sampson (she/her) is a PlayGround alum whose short plays have been performed as far afield as Seattle, Miami, and London. Full-lengths include Naked and The Greater Good. The Greater Good was a finalist in Memphis, TN’s “Playhouse on the Square New Play Competition” (2018). Diane wrote the book and lyrics for three musicals, two of which –Oh, Progeny! and The Tale of Sleeping Cutie (a PlayGround commission) had well-reviewed SF productions. She co-wrote the narration for the film, Faces of Genocide, the winner of the Award for Excellence in Filmmaking at the Newport Beach Film Festival (2019). She’s currently working on two new musicals. dianehsampson@gmail.com

Amy Sass (she/her) is a storyteller who creates story through plays, installations, visual art and performance experiences. As an arts leader, Amy served as co-founder and artistic director of Ragged Wing Ensemble for 17 years, training ensembles in physical theater, developing the School of Fierce Play, and co-creating The Flight Deck in Downtown Oakland. sasswoman@gmail.com

Martha Soukup (she/her) has received the Nebula Award for science fiction. Her short story collection is The Arbitrary Placement of Walls. Her play, Tent City, was featured in The Potrero Nuevo Project, which was the inaugural production at Potrero Stage. She is a three-time Best of PlayGround finalist, most recently for The Gravedigger’s Wife, featured in the PlayGround Zoom Fest. msoukup@gmail.com

Eteya Trinidad (she/her) is a playwright, stage manager, and theater artist. Her full-length play, La Sirena, was recognized as a finalist for the 2019 Bay Area Playwrights Festival and received a staged reading at Ross Valley Players. She wrote and directed her first play, La Mestiza’s Colors, with the College Players at the University of San Francisco. Since then, her work has been seen at San Francisco Olympians Festival, Amios West, 3Girls Theatre, and Theatre is the Cure, among others. eteyavi@gmail.com

Lauren Yee‘s plays include Cambodian Rock Band (South Coast Rep, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, La Jolla Playhouse, City Theatre, Merrimack Rep) and The Great Leap (Denver Center, Seattle Repertory, Atlantic Theatre, Guthrie Theatre, American Conservatory Theatre, Arts Club, InterAct Theatre, Steppenwolf). Honors include the Doris Duke Artists Award, Steinberg Playwright Award, Whiting Award, Steinberg/ATCA Award, American Academy of Arts and Letters literature award, Horton Foote Prize, Kesselring Prize, Primus Prize, Hodder Fellowship, as well as #1 and #2 plays on the 2017 Kilroys List. She is an alumnus of the New Dramatists, Ma-Yi Writers’ Lab, and Playwrights Realm. TV: Pachinko (Apple), Soundtrack (Netflix). Lauren received her BA from Yale and her MFA from UCSD.  www.laurenyee.com

Gala Artists

Nicole Apostol Bruno (Hella Love Oakland, “Backpack Mom 1”/ Orphy’s Apothecary, “Orphy”) has appeared in Bright Shining Sea (PlayGround), The Crucible (Los Altos Stage Company), Much Ado About Nothing (Marin Shakespeare Company), Peter and the Starcatcher (Hillbarn Theater), Let’s Get Galactic! (YouthAware – New Conservatory Theatre Center). Other Regional Credits: Richard II, The Winter’s Tale, Great Expectations (Oregon Shakespeare Festival). She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Southern Oregon University.

Tessa Corrie (Director, Hella Love Oakland/ Ophy’s Apothecary), she, is a Queer and Latinx theater director based in the Bay Area. Her work is grounded in creating space for marginalized and underrepresented communities and narratives. She is a company member and ambassador at PlayGround SF and a creative associate at Hillbarn Theatre. Her credits include work at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Center REPertory Company, Hillbarn Theatre, Pear Theatre, Shotgun Players, TheatreFirst, The Playwrights’ Center of San Francisco, More Más Marami Arts, Poltergeist Theatre Project, PianoFight, AmiosWest, and Our Digital Stories.

Amy Lizardo (Hella Love Oakland, “Backpack Mom 3″/ Ophy’s Apothecary, “Boy”), she, is a former Bay Area actor and singer. Amy is currently in Ashland, Oregon waiting for live theatre to open its doors again; she was a member of OSF’s 2019 and 2020 season. While in the bay Amy worked with many theatre companies including ACT, Berkeley Rep, Cal Shakes, Theatreworks, SF Shakes and many more. Amy is a new member of the PlayGround Company.

Karen Offereins (Hella Love Oakland, “Backpack Mom 2”/ Ophy’s Apothecary, “Anna”) is a company member of PlayGround and was last seen on stage in Custom Made Theatre’s How to Transcend a Happy Marriage, having previously performed there in The Pain and the Itch and M. Butterfly.  Recent credits include Elevada at Shotgun Players (as well as The Mousetrap, Top Girls, and Our Town), Two Mile Hollow (Ferocious Lotus, where she is also a company member), and Phèdre (Cutting Ball Theater).  Past credits include The Potrero Nuevo Project (PlayGround), The Rules (SF Playhouse), and Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Big Funk, and No Exit (AtmosTheatre).

Sonia Boyd Reavis (Musician) lives in Palm Springs, California, and grew up in Plano, Texas. She studied at the University of Texas, Austin, and holds a M.Ed. from the University of North Texas. She taught in Colorado and Palm Springs, and works for the Palm Springs Unified School District.

Maestro Nunzio Sisto (Musician) began his career as a graduate of the Juilliard School’s Pre-College Division focusing on Bassoon Performance and Composition, going on to complete a BA in Bassoon Performance and Composition from Mannes College, and a Master’s Degree in Education from Touro College. An accomplished musician, teacher and published composer proficient in the performance of the bassoon, flute, saxophone and piano, and capable of instructing stringed, woodwind, brass and percussion instruments, Maestro Nunzio Sisto has dedicated his life to providing high quality music education to schools of all levels and socio-economic status. As founder and music director of the Palm Springs Youth Training Orchestra, Maestro Sisto believes in the life changing effects of young people’s participation in youth organizations, and is committed to providing and reaffirming the study of music through the WHYO’s performances and activities, based on the innovative 24-Part Method, a revolutionary orchestral layout consisting of instruments not usually found in conventional orchestras and is based on 24 specially arranged musical parts, thus enabling students of all levels and that play instruments not found in conventional orchestras to perform to perform a wide variety of musical genres.

About PlayGround

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.