A VERY HITCHCOCK CHRISTMAS, BACK FOR THE THIRD YEAR!
What happens when Christmas gets stolen from Whoville, again?? Can Santa’s niece successfully infiltrate the North Pole to satisfy Interpol? Enjoy these riotous riffs and many more for one weekends only: A VERY HITCHCOCK CHRISTMAS, VOLUME III!, PlayGround’s third annual “twisted” holiday” show, inspired by the iconic films of Alfred Hitchcock. Made up of five short plays, the complete performance will take place live in-person at Potrero Stage in San Francisco and be simulcast nationally on Vimeo Live: December Dec 7-8 at 7:00 p.m. PST. Admission free (suggested donation $10-30). Make Reservations HERE.
“I think A Christmas Carol is getting just a little, can I say it?… tired,” says Artistic Director Jim Kleinmann who oversees PlayGround events in the Bay Area, Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago. “I love Dickens but every year, come December, across the country it’s more of the same. I wanted to develop a holiday show that was a counter-offering to the typical fare while also challenging our 140 playwrights across the country with a concept they’d probably never considered before. Hitchcock and Christmas?! Yes!”
A VERY HITCHCOCK CHRISTMAS was created from submission by playwrights in each of PlayGround’s four playwright pools (SF, LA, NYC, and Chicago) and Best of PlayGround alumni. Over the last two years, A VERY HITCHCOCK CHRISTMAS reached nearly 2,000 audience members, in person and online. The 2024 production includes two audience favorites from previous years (Santa on a Rope by Shoshanna Ruth Green from 2023 and The Sugarplum Trap by Marissa Skudlarek from 2022) and three world premiere short plays: To Catch a Grinch by Daniel Arzola, The Birds is Coming by Jonathan Josephson, and A Murder at Christmas by Stan Stone
Advance reservations are required: visit PlayGround-sf.org/hitchcockchristmas for details.
Admission is free but donations are gratefully accepted. Masks are optional for in-person attendance.
ABOUT THE PLAYS
Santa on a Rope by Shoshanna Ruth Green (Premiered in 2023)
Frillip and Bingles aren’t just ordinary elves with impressionable minds, just ask them. Tonight, they enact Professor Rudolph’s most extreme theory making this a Christmas to remember. Based on Rope.
Shoshanna Ruth Green has done a lot of things and plans to do a lot more. Shoshanna says she’s from Philadelphia, but she grew up in Pittsburgh and her family lives in New Zealand. She is a UCB graduate and current writer on The Pack House Team Corduroy. More info at shoshannaruthgreen.com
To Catch a Grinch by Daniel Arzola (World Premiere)
Whoville’s Christmas has been stolen, again! Can he-of-the crocodile-smile prove his innocence and that his heart really did grow three sizes that fateful day so many years ago? Or will the Grinch go to jail forever as a repeat offender? Based on To Catch a Thief
Daniel Arzola is a Mexican-American playwright born and raised in the Chicagoland area. They frequently work on several productions in regional theaters and is currently working on several new works, including a new play recently selected as a National Playwrights Conference Semifinalist at the O’Neill and a brand new musical that combines American folk music with various genres of Latin music. They also work as a director, frequently working on new play developments.
The Sugarplum Trap by Marissa Skudlarek (Premiered in 2022)
Santa’s niece gets drafted into an elaborate espionage scheme in the North Pole. Based on Notorious.
Marissa Skudlarek writes playscripts and computer scripts from her home in Haight-Ashbury. Her full-length plays include You’ll Not Feel the Drowning (Custom Made Theatre workshop, 2017), Pleiades (No Nude Men, 2014), Juana (Loud & Unladylike Festival, 2016), and Deus ex Machina (Young Playwrights Festival winner, 2006). She was a member of the PlayGround writers’ pool from 2020-2023, and her shorter plays have also been seen at EXIT Theatre, the SF Olympians Festival, and PianoFight. After translating Cocteau’s Orphée and Rostand’s Cyrano, she is currently working on a new adaptation of Victor Hugo’s melodrama Hernani. Keep in touch at marissaskudlarek.com.
The Birds is Coming by Jonathan Josephson (World Premiere)
Tis the holiday season and Sparrow, Crow, and Seagull have gathered for their annual gift exchange. Some of the gifts are nice, and some set the stage for bloody revenge. A “prequel” to The Birds.
Fifty of Jonathan Josephson’s plays have been produced around the world including Actors Theatre of Louisville, Milwaukee Rep, Chance Theater, Alternative Theatre Company (Off-Broadway), the Samuel French OOB Festival (Festival Winner), and Best of PlayGround-LA. A co-founder of Unbound Productions and a creator of Wicked Lit, History Lit, Mystery Lit. BA – UCSD. [jonathanjosephson.com]
A Murder at Christmas by Stan Stone (World Premiere)
Phillip and Brandon spot something unsettling with the cute new boys across the courtyard. Is something unsavory afoot? Or have they simply watched too many Hitchcock films? Based on Rear Window.
Stan Stone is a writer for stage and film. His published book of poetry titled Unlikely Saviors, received rave reviews. Stan also has a short story in the newly published, Thriving: An Anthology. Stan was thrilled to have his play, Freedom chosen as a finalist for Monday Night Playground’s, Best of Playground SF 2023-24.
SIMULCAST
Make your free reservation HERE! Links for online viewing will be sent with your confirmation email and can also be accessed through your PlayGround account. Members can view the production until December 31!
LIVE IN SAN FRANCISCO
Reserve HERE for free in-person tickets! Live performances take place December 7-8.
If you have any questions, please contact the Box Office at boxoffice@PlayGround-sf.org
About PlayGround
PlayGround was founded in 1994 by Jim Kleinmann, Brighde Mullins and Denise Shama, beginning as a professional-academic partnership in residence at San Francisco State University and with initial sponsorship from SFSU’s Creative Writing Program. Early participating artists included Prince Gomolvilas, Garret Jon Groenveld, Daniele Nathanson, Sandra Rodgers, Colman Domingo, Kent Nicholson, Antigone Trimis, Mary Coleman and Rhonnie Washington. The fledgling organization moved to Project Artaud and A Traveling Jewish Theatre’s new 80-seat black box theatre in 1996, at which time Kleinmann took on sole leadership as PlayGround’s founding Artistic Director.
The company was in residence at Berkeley Repertory Theatre from 2003 until the COVID pandemic of 2020 and has also presented at the San Francisco Main Library, Freight & Salvage, Zeum, ACT’s Costume Shop, and Thick House, as well as co-producing with such notable Bay Area theatres as SF Playhouse, Shotgun Players, Impact Theatre, San Jose Stage, and Magic Theatre, among others. PlayGround first brought its work to NYC with the 2008 co-production of Garret Jon Groenveld’s Missives, followed by the 2009 NY International Fringe Festival hit co-production of Aaron Loeb’s Abraham Lincoln’s Big Gay Dance Party, 2013 NY International Fringe Festival co-production of Katie May’s Manic Pixie Dream Girl. PlayGround celebrated its 25th anniversary with a one-night program of original short musicals at NYC’s Theatre Row in 2019.
PlayGround’s first ongoing regional expansion came in 2012 with the launch of PlayGround-LA at West Hollywood’s Zephyr Theatre. In 2018, PlayGround-LA relocated to Hollywood’s Broadwater Theaters (home of Sacred Fools Theater Company), where the company continues to present its Monday Night series. PlayGround expanded to NYC in 2021 and Chicago in 2022, with in-person performances (and simulcasts) beginning in the Spring of 2023, at NYC’s Producers Club and Chicago’s Theater Wit, respectively.
Over its 30 year history, PlayGround has grown into a leading national playwright incubator and theatre community hub, providing unique development opportunities for the Bay Area’s and, more recently, Los Angeles’, New York’s, and Chicago’s best new playwrights through innovative programs such as the monthly Monday Night PlayGround staged reading series, annual PlayGround Festival of New Works, full-length play commissions, playwright residencies and production support through the New Play Production Fund.
To date, PlayGround has developed and staged more than 1,500 original short plays through Monday Night PlayGround and the PlayGround Festival. PlayGround has also commissioned and/or developed several hundred new full-length plays by PlayGround alumni through its Commissioning Initiative, Playwrights Residency and Alumni Programs and, through the innovative New Play Production Fund, has directly facilitated the premiere of 40 full-length plays at theatres of every size, including many that have gone on to NYC and other major theater communities across the country.
In 2017, PlayGround launched Potrero Stage: PlayGround Center for New Plays, a 99-seat state-of-the-art performance venue to serve as a shared community resource for dozens of local companies and hundreds of artists. New programs in residence at Potrero Stage like the Free-Play Festival, Solo Performance Festival, and Innovator Incubator provide opportunities for local and national artists to self-determine and showcase their work in San Francisco at little to no cost.
Over 350 early-career playwrights have gotten their start at PlayGround, including Lauren Yee, Jonathan Spector, Geetha Reddy, and Cleavon Smith, helping to expand and deepen the canon of American 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, O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, and New York International Fringe Festival, among others. PlayGround serves one of the largest theater artist networks in the nation, connecting hundreds of Bay Area, Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York artists in support of a common vision: the development of bold and diverse new voices and new works.
This work has not gone unnoticed. PlayGround has received numerous awards, including: Playwrights Foundation’s Inaugural New Play Champion Award, BATCC’s Paine Knickerbocker Award for ongoing contributions to Bay Area theater, and American Theater Wing’s National Theater Grant. In 2016, Artistic Director Jim Kleinmann was recognized by Theatre Bay Area as one of the Bay Area’s top 40 leaders. Three of PlayGround’s commissioned plays have won the Bay Area Critics Circle award for Best New Play, and three have had subsequent productions in NYC. Four of the past five Will Glickman Award winners for best new play are PlayGround alumni. When other theater companies think of producing new work, PlayGround artists are often their first call. As a result of PlayGround’s strong leadership, planning, and a willingness to take bold risks with high payoff, the new play ecosystem has been utterly transformed by PlayGround.
For more information, visit https://playground-sf.org.
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