PlayGround presents Season 29

A Very Hitchcock Christmas

December 10 & 11, 2022 7pm PT

Live at Potrero Stage + Simulcast & On-Demand

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.

A Stranger on a Holiday Train
by Jeffrey Lo
Directed by Tessa Corrie
Rina.………………….April Ballesteros
Guy…………………………Chris Steele
Mysterious Train Conductor.………………..Leon Goertzen

The Sugarplum Trap
by Marissa Skudlarek
Directed by Emilie Talbot
Jessica………………….Emily Keyishian
De Ville…………………………Nic Sommerfeld
Santa Claus…………………Mark Rafael Truitt
Elf……………………….Lizzie Calogero

The Story of Black Santa
by Cleavon SMith
Directed by Jim Kleinmann
Santa Claus…………………..Cathleen Riddley
Reindeer 1………………….Miyoko Sakatani
Reindeer 2………………Krystle Piamonte

A Window-ful Christmas
by Alexis Standridge
Directed by Katja Rivera
James………………….……J Jha
Grace……………….Elena Wright
Nick…………………Tony Ortega
Cop………………….Louel Senores
Lieutenant………………….Patrick Russell

Christmas at Manderley
by Eteya Trinidad
Directed by Molly Noble
Mr. Maxim De Winter…………Patrick Russell
Mrs. Danvers…………….Gwen Loeb
Ms. June Evans………..Gisela Feied

North by North Pole
by Maury Zeff
Directed by Tracy Ward
Niles Goodfellow…………………….Christian Wilburn
Nutmeg Piffenpuff………………Nicole Apostol Bruno
Papa Elf/Rudolph………………..Louis Parnell
Macguffin……………………Louel Senores
Mrs. Claus………………….Karen Offereins

Stage Manager: Anthony Lopez
Lighting Designer: Brittany Mellerson
Sound Designer: James Goode
Costume Designer: Chris Steele

This live stream is produced under a SAG-AFTRA New Media Agreement.

PlayGround is a member of Theatre Bay Area and Theatre Communications Group,
and an Associate Member of the National New Play Network (NNPN).

Biographies

PLAYWRIGHTS

JEFFREY LO (A Stranger on a Holiday Train, inspired by “Strangers on a Train”), he/him, is a Filipino-American playwright and director based in the Bay Area. He is the recipient of the Leigh Weimers Emerging Artist Award, the Emerging Artist Laureate by Arts Council Silicon Valley and Theatre Bay Area Director’s TITAN Award. Selected directing credits include The Language Archive and The Santaland Diaries at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Hold These Truths at San Francisco Playhouse, Vietgone and The Great Leap at Capital Stage, A Doll’s House, Part 2 and Eurydice at Palo Alto Players (TBA Awards finalist for Best Direction), Peter and the Starcatcher and Noises Off at Hillbarn Theatre, The Grapes of Wrath, The Crucible and Yellow Face at Los Altos Stage Company. As a playwright, his plays have been produced and workshopped at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, The BindleStiff Studio, City Lights Theatre Company and Stanford University. His play Writing Fragments Home was a finalist for the Bay Area Playwright’s Conference and a semi-finalist for the O’Neill Playwright’s Conference. Jeffrey has also worked with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, The Asian American International Film Festival, San Jose Repertory and is a company member of Ferocious Lotus Theatre Company and SF Playground. In addition to his work in theatre he works as an educator and advocate for issues of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and has served as a grant panelist for the Zellerbach Family Foundation, Silicon Valley Creates and Theatre Bay Area. He is the Director Community Partnerships and Casting Director at the Tony Award Winning TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, a graduate of the Multicultural Arts Leadership Institute and a proud alumnus of the UC Irvine Drama Department. Jeffrey is also a founding member of OUR DIGITAL STORIES, for more info www.OurDigitalStories.org.

MARISSA SKUDLAREK‘s(The Sugarplum Trap, inspired by “Notorious”), she/her, full-length plays include You’ll Not Feel the Drowning (Custom Made Theatre workshop, 2017), Pleiades (No Nude Men, 2014), Juana, or The Greater Glory (Loud & Unladylike Festival, 2016), Deus ex Machina (Young Playwrights Festival National Competition winner, 2006), and The Rose of Youth (Vassar College, 2008). Her shorter plays have been commissioned and staged by EXIT Theatre, the San Francisco Olympians Festival, PianoFight, and more. Her translations from French include Cocteau’s Orphée for San Francisco Theater Pub and Rostand’s Cyrano for Cutting Ball (postponed due to COVID). Keep in touch at marissaskudlarek.com.

CLEAVON SMITH (The Story of Black Santa, inspired by “Vertigo”), he/him, is a PlayGround alumnus and past Resident Playwright. His new play, The Incrementalist, premiered at Aurora Theatre Company last Spring, following the 2020 premiere of The Flats, co-written with Lauren Gunderson and Jonathan Spector. As Playwright in Residence at Berkeley’s TheatreFIRST (T1) for three years, he wrote and produced six new works. T1’s production of his critically acclaimed full-length work, The Last Sermon of Sister Imani was nominated for a 2018 Theatre Bay Area (TBA) Best Production award, and his short play Just One Day was included in T1’s TBA “Best Anthology” award-winning production Between Us. Additionally, Cleavon has had a multitude of short plays performed by theaters in Ann Arbor, Berkeley, Los Angeles, Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose. Cleavon lives in Oakland and teaches English at Berkeley City College. Upcoming work includes a podcast series about the relationship between spiritual leader Howard Thurman and Martin Luther King, Jr. as well as an immersive theater project based on Bop City, a restaurant and jazz club located in San Francisco’s Fillmore District and decimated by the city’s failed redevelopment program of the 1950s.

ALEXIS STANRIDGE (A Window-ful Christmas inspired by “Rear Window”), she/her, is a recent graduate of Santa Clara University, where she studied Playwriting. She spends her time exploring queer theatre spaces in the Bay Area, and working with others to produce new works by upcoming young artists. When she’s not writing, Alexis works as a Coordinator for Santa Clara University, and enjoys being a dungeon master for Dungeons and Dragons games.

ETEYA TRINIDAD (Christmas at Manderley, inspired by “Rebecca”), she/her, is a playwright, stage manager, and theater artist. She is a resident playwright at PlayGround and a member of the 2021 LezWritesBTQ Cohort at 3 Girls Theatre. Her writing has been recognized in the 2021 Best of PlayGround Festival with the June Anne Baker Prize, and as a finalist for the 2019 Bay Area Playwrights Festival. Her work has also been seen at Berklee College of Music, SF Olympians Festival, Ross Valley Players, and Amios West, among others. www.eteyatrinidad.com

MAURY ZEFF (North by North Pole, inspired by “North by Northwest”), he/him, work has been performed around the US and in Europe, and published in American Fiction, Crab Orchard Review, Southern California Review, and elsewhere. His plays have appeared in the 2014 and 2017 Best of PlayGround festivals and won four PlayGround audience awards. He has received playwriting commissions and fellowships from PlayGround, SF Olympians, and the SF Writers Grotto, where he works and teaches. He won the 2021 Clark-Gross Award in the Novel and was nominated for a 2020 Pushcart Prize in fiction. Maury earned an MFA in writing from the University of San Francisco.

ACTORS

NICOLE APOSTOL BRUNO (North by North Pole, “Nutmeg Piffenpuff”)

LIZZIE CALOGERO (The Sugarplum Trap, “Elf”), she/her, was born in Tehran, raised in England, and has been a Bay Area actor for 25 years or so. Most recently she has appeared in the San Francisco Mime Troupe’s summer shows and radio plays, and will be in their holiday play Red Carol, a workshop co-produced with Cutting Ball Theatre.

GISELA FEIED (Christmas at Maderley, “Ms. June Evans”), she/they, graduated from PCPA in 2019 where they had the pleasure to be in the ensemble for the Crucible, play Tootles in Peter Pan, and Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Most recently, they toured Breaking Through as part of the PCPA Fall Outreach Program along the central coast. Currently, they are working as a Teaching Artist bringing mental health awareness and tools for mental wellness virtually to high schools across Northern California.

LEON GOERTZEN (A Stranger on a Holiday Train, “Mysterious Train Conductor”), he/him, is very happy to return to Playground, as he first joined the Playground fun in 2003. He is a founder and company member of Ferocious Lotus Theatre Company, where he has performed as an actor in Rooted, Carnal, Crane, and the One Act Comedy Festival. He has worked as an actor in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles with East West Players, Berkeley Rep, Will and Company, Magic Theatre, Alcazar Theatre, Asian American Theater Company, San Francisco Mime Troupe, Road Theatre Company, Aurora Theater, Bay Area Playwrights’ Festival, and New Conservatory Theater. Graduate of UNCSA.

J JHA (A Window-ful Christmas, “James”), all pronouns, is a gender non-conforming South Asian asylee, who is re-imagining the world from trans centers of gravity. In November 2019, they presented the world premiere of Mahâbhârata, a solo-telling of the great Indian epic, adapted by Geetha Reddy, a South Asian-American playwright, where the re-telling intentionally presents the non-cis gendered male perspective. Coming up in June 2023, Mahâbhârata at Z -Space, San Francisco! J, along with Circo Zero, performed Queer Migrants, a collaborative self-created/curated piece of street-story-telling on the steps of the US Customs and immigration Office, Sansom Street, San Francisco, CA in 2017 and 2018.

EMILY KEYISHIAN (The Sugarplum Trap, “Jessica”), she/her, is a Bay Area actor originally from the NJ/NYC area. She has performed on both coasts in theater and film. In the Bay Area she has been seen at Marin Theater Co, Golden Thread, Dragon Theater, Perspective Theatre Co, Custom Made Theater, Role Players Ensemble, Town Hall Theater, Eugene O’Neill Foundation, Left Coast. She is *always* thrilled to be a part of Playground.

GWEN LOEB (Christmas at Manderley, “Mrs. Danvers”), she/her, has been a company member with PlayGround for 22 years and is an avid believer in new works. She has originated numerous roles for local and national playwrights, including Maybelle in COW PIE BINGO by Larissa Fasthorse (Alter Theater), and Zetta in DOG ACT by Liz Duffy Adams (Bay Area Playwrights Festival). Gwen is excited to join her PlayGround family for some TWISTED holiday fun!

KAREN OFFEREINS (North by North Pole, “Mrs. Claus”), she/her, is a company member of PlayGround and was last seen on stage in Ferocious Lotus’ EVOLUTION. Recent credits include Custom Made Theatre’s How to Transcend a Happy Marriage, having previously performed there in The Pain and the Itch and M. Butterfly, 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).

TONY ORTEGA (A Window-ful Christmas, “Nick”), He/Him/El, is a father, actor and writer who has lived and worked in the Bay Area for over a decade. His artistic journey began at TeatroVision in San Jose, and since has worked with companies such as The San Francisco Playhouse (The Paper dreams of Harry Chin) African American Shakespeare Co. (Richard II) Zac & Siah, or Jesus in a body bag (The Custom Made Theatre co) SFBATCO (La Posarela.) San Francisco Youth Theatre (Afterlife), Alter Theatre (Ghosts of Bogota) Mexican American Conservatory Theatre (A Solid Home) La Lengua (Adios Robinson) Coastal Repertory Theatre (Native Gardens, Death of A Salesman) Half Moon Bay Shakespeare (Romeo & Juliet) Dragon Productions (Take Me Out) and Bay Area Drama Company ( State of Denial ). Tony is proud to have founded City Street Artists with his artistic peers where they strive in supporting the creation of new performance works. He is part of PlayGrounds innovator incubator and is extremely thankful for the opportunity to create in his artistic community. As a new father, it is important to him to build the cultural landscape he hopes his son can enjoy in the future.

LOUIS PARNELL (North by North Pole, “Papa Elf/Rudolph”), he/him, has been an active actor and director in Bay Theater for the last 50 years. He has worked with most of the larger houses including American Conservatory Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, CenterREP, Magic Theatre and TheatreWorks as well as numerous smaller theatres. He works most often with the SF Playhouse where he last appeared in their production of FOLLIES this past summer. He has also appeared in many film, television and commercial roles and is a proud member of AEA and SAG/AFTRA.

KRYSTLE PIAMONTE (The Story of Black Santa, “Reindeer 2”), she/her, is excited to join PlayGround’s inaugural Twisted Holiday Show! Her theatre credits include work at Z Space, SF Playhouse, Ferocious Lotus, Magic Theatre, TheatreWorks, TheatreFirst, Bindlestiff Studio, and 59E59 in collaboration with Artistic Stamp. Screen credits include the award-winning short films “Bound 4 Heaven” and “Median”. She is a 2x Theatre Bay Area Award Finalist for Outstanding Performance in a Principal Role in a Play and was named an MVP of Bay Area Theatre by KQED. Krystle is a Co-Founder/Co-Artistic Director of The Chikahan Company and a company member of PlayGround. www.krystlepiamonte.com | IG: @xLe

CATHLEEN RIDLEY (The Story of Black Santa, “Santa Claus”), she/her, began her career at the Community Playhouse in Des Moines, Iowa, playing Jiminy Cricket in Pinnochio at the ripe old age of 8. Since then, she has become a multiple award-winning San Francisco Bay Area (and beyond) actor. Favorite roles include Nina in The Incrementalist at The Aurora Theatre, Mrs. Price in Tree at SF Playhouse, Lena in brownsville song (b side for tray) at Shotgun Players, Paulina in The Winter’s Tale at Cal Shakes, and every role in Hamlet (seriously). She is a Juilliard alumna, a certified ASL Interpreter and has an MA from UPenn. Black Lives Matter.

PATRICK RUSSELL (Christmas at Manderley, “Mr. Maxim De Winter” and A Window-ful Christmas, “Lieutenant”), he/him, has has performed at theaters across the Bay Area including ACT, TheatreWorks, Cal Shakes, Aurora Theatre, SF Playhouse, Magic Theater, Shotgun Players, and Marin Shakespeare. He is the co-founder of The Actors Space actor training program in SF and teaches acting and movement at UC Berkeley, where he will next be directing Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice. He is a graduate of ACT’s MFA program and a company member of Playground.

MIYOKO SAKATANI (The Story of Black Santa, “Reindeer 1”), she/her, is a Bay Area actor~singer who is thrilled to be working with PlayGround. She has performed with Berkeley Rep, Cutting Ball, SF Playhouse, TheatreWorks, and the American Conservatory Theater (2023 Season). Miyoko performed her solo piece about her family’s immigration and internment at the Marsh Theater. Films include the award winning HBO/Samuel Goldwyn Film, East Side Sush (IMDb/Miyoko Sakatani). As founding director of Playland Productions, she has produced short films, plays and co-directed Silent City by Dan Wilson with an ethnically diverse hearing and deaf cast signing in ASL with closed captions. She performs regularly for residential care facilities with a Bay Area ukulele band.

LOUEL SENORES (North by North Pole, “Macguffin” and A Window-ful Christmas, “Cop”), he/him, is hyped to be able to play with PlayGround once again! And in person! Woo! Recent performance credits include: “Dream Hou$e” and “The Act of Care.” Recent SM credits include: “Balikbayan Box” and “Water by the Spoonful.” For more info, check out LouelSenores.com

NIC SOMMERFELD (The Sugarplum Trap, “De Ville”), they/them, is an San Francisco based actor and playwright. They have acted in plays and musicals with companies all around the Bay Area, including Marin Theatre Company, the California Shakespeare Theater, Berkeley Playhouse, FaultLine Theatre, San Francisco Playhouse, Berkeley Rep, and The San Francisco Shakespeare Festival. They have also acted in and worked as a Trans consultant on developmental readings with NCTC, UCSF, and Magic Theatre. When not writing or in shows, they perform as their drag king persona, Chester Vanderbox.

CHRIS STEELE (A Stranger on a Holiday Train, “Guy”), they/she, is a multidisciplinary performance artist, playwright, and designer. A recent inductee to the PlayGround acting company, they are well-known as a trans activist and as polyamorous drag poltergeist Polly Amber Ross. She has performed across the Bay Area and beyond with a focus on classical adaptation, immersive theatre, new works, and highlighting Queer & Trans through history especially with their theatre collective Poltergeist Theatre Project. Find Chris on instagram @pollyamberross and @chrissteelecreates.

MARK RAFAEL TRUITT (The Sugarplum Trap, “Santa Claus”), he/him, has appeared in Titanic, Star Trek Voyager, Chance, and The Practice among other television and film appearances. He has appeared with the Magic theatre, Goldenthread productions, and has been a member of Playground here in the Bay area for over 20 years. He teaches at Cal, USF, ACT, and the Academy of Art University, and is author of the book “Telling Stories a Grand Unifying Theory of Acting Techniques.”

CHRISTIAN WILBURN (North by North Pole, “Niles Goodfellow”), he/him, is a Bay Area actor, who graduated with BA in Theater and Dance from Santa Clara University. Professionally, he’s performed at Monday Night Playground, Playground Zoomfest and PianoFight. He has also done workshop readings as a part of Potrero Stage, Marin Theatre Company, and Berkeley Rep.

ELENA WRIGHT (A Window-ful Christmas, “Grace”), she/they, is a bay area actor, teacher, fight/intimacy choreographer, and Playground company member. Previous credits include August: Osage County (San Jose Stage), The Language Archive, Frost/Nixon, and Silent Sky (Theatreworks), Pericles, Shakespeare’s Will, Much Ado About Nothing, Three Musketeers, Othello (BATCC award best actress), 12th Night, As You Like It, Comedy of Errors, The Liar, The Spanish Tragedy, and Richard III (Marin Shakespeare), Red Velvet (SF Playhouse), Betrayal, A Doll’s House, In the Next Room, and The Scene (Capital Stage), The Verona Project (California Shakespeare Theatre), Venus in Fur (Pacific Repertory), The Winter’s Tale (Seattle Shakespeare). MFA University of Washington, BS Northeastern University.

DIRECTORS

TESSA CORRIE (A Stranger on a Holiday Train), she/her, s 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, casting associate, and this year’s Women Leaders Directing Fellow at PlayGround SF. Her credits include work at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Center REPertory Company, Palo Alto Players, 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.

JIM KLEINMANN (The Story of Black Santa Claus; 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-four 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.

MOLLIE NOBLE (Christmas at Manderley), she/her, is always thrilled to return to work with her PlayGround family. A Bay Area born actor, director and teacher, she has worked in New York, Boston, Chicago, London and almost literally in her own backyard under the redwoods with Porchlight Theatre Company. She teaches and directs at College of Marin. You can learn more about her at www.mollynoble.com.

KATJA RIVERA (A Window-ful Christmas) she/her, studied theater at LACC Theatre Academy and Drama Studio London at Berkeley. Bay Area acting credits include: Shotgun Players, Magic Theatre, Theatre Rhinoceros, Center Rep. Directing credits include Shotgun Players,Douglas Morrison, CustomMade Theatre, RPE (Danville), SF Playground and TheatreFIRST. She is a proud member of Shotgun Players, SF Playground and Latinx Mafia, as well as a very proud Abuela of Leo and Eleanor! (Do you want to see some pictures?)

EMILIE TALBOT (The Sugarplum Trap), she/they, is a Bay Area based actor, director, teacher, and voice artist. A longtime PlayGround company member, she has acted in and directed numerous Monday Night Playgrounds, currently serves on the Board, and directed HEDGE for the 2017 New Works Festival. She has appeared on stages across the country, in a whole slew of commercials, industrials, radio dramas, and video games and a smattering of independent films. One of which, SONDER, is currently showing at the SF IndieFest. www.emilietalbot.com

TRACY WARD (North by North Pole), she/her, is a Freelance Director based in the Bay Area. Recent: Fun Home at 42nd Street Moon, and Disbelief and Succession: The Medieval Edition at Playground, World Premiere of The Lady Scribblers at CMT. Regional Premieres include: The Cake at NCTC, Actually at Aurora Theatre Company; When We Were Young and Unafraid at CMT SF; Bright Shining Sea at Playground; The Thrush and the Woodpecker at CMT, The Dragon Play, and What Every Girl Should Know at Impact Theatre. She is a proud company member of PlayGround. www.tracyward.org, and an Associate Member of The Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers Union.

PRODUCTION & STAFF

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.

PlayGround Contributors

PlayGround is deeply grateful for the generous contributions of the many individuals, foundations, gifts of $125 or more committed between October 1, 2021 & October 10, 2022.

GOVERNMENT, CORPORATE, & FOUNDATION DONORS

Alameda County Arts Commission • Amazon • American Rescue Plan Act & CARES Act • Art Space Development Corporation • Berkeley Civic Arts • The Bernard Osher Foundation • Bill Graham Supporting Foundation of the Jewish Community Federation & Endowment Fund • California Arts Council • California Nonprofit Performing Arts Grant Program • Creative Capacity Fund • First Republic Bank • The Fleishhacker Foundation • Goldman Sachs • Google • Grants For The Arts • Koret Foundation • Lenore & Howard Klein Foundation • The Leo J. & Celia Carlin Fund • Negley Flinn Charitable Foundation • NIAC • Nvidia • Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation • Planet Earth Arts • The Shubert Foundation • The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation • Zellerbach Family Foundation

INDIVIDUAL SUPPORTERS

SEASON SPONSORS ($5000+)

William Bivins, Emilie T. & Gordon C. Brooks, Jerome Joseph Gentes & Michael David Bourque, Lara Gilman & Jim Kleinmann, Peggy Haas, David Steele, Anonymous

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS ($2500–$4,999)

John H. Gilman, Regina S. Guggenheim

PRODUCERS CIRCLE ($1000-$2499)

Sidney Glass & Eleanor Clement Glass, In Memory of M. David MacCallum, Jr., Rebecca Martinez, Nitin, Arthur & Toni Rembe Rock, Marian Scheuer Sofaer & Abraham D. Sofaer, Anonymous (3)

PLAYWRIGHTS CIRCLE ($500-$999)

Thomas Patrick Broyhill, David Goldman, Jeff Gregory, Regina S. Guggenheim, Linda Kremer, Lisa A. Mammel, Lisa Morse, Nvidia, Nancy & Carty Spencer, J.B. Strasser, Susannah Wise & Scott Lebus, Anonymous (3)

PATRON ($250-$499)

Dr. Elaine Baskin & Kenneth R. Krechmer, Lily L Chow, Ruben & Keli Grijalva, Vicki Hamilton, Roxy Jones, Ray and Carla Kaliski, Annie Stuart, Lisa R. Taylor, Maury Zeff, Anonymous (3)

ASSOCIATE MEMBER ($125-$249)

Maura C. Berkelhamer, Dr. Katherine Ardis Blenko, Frieda de Lackner, Jessica Forbess, Mr. Eric Garcia, Sarah Gasser, Tom Goetzl, Gina Harris, Abbe S. Kalos & Kitt Saginor, Jennifer King, Douglas & Mary Ann Le Blanc, Gregg Le Blanc, Trynne Miller & David Prince, Everett & Julia Moore, Louis Parnell, Dr. Alan Pearl, Ms. Madeline Daly Puccioni, Mike Rosenthal, Lisa Gaye Thompson, Jeffrey Trescott, Liam Vincent, Mr. Darryl Wilburn, Janine & Darryl Wilburn, Robin L. Wimsatt, Kelli Wong, Anonymous (3)

To contribute to PlayGround, visit https://playground-sf.org/contribute or contact PlayGround Associate Director of Development Lana Richards at lana@playground-sf.org or by phone at (415) 992-6677.

Become a PlayGround contributor!

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PlayGround Company

PLAYGROUND WRITERS COMPANY

Monique Hafen Adams, Barbara Anderson, Nicole Bruno, Madeleine Butler, Allie Costa+, Jediah Craig, Cherielyn Ferguson, Ipsheeta Furtado, Bailey Jordan Garcia+, Lauren Gorski,+ Aaron Higareda+, Sam Hurwitt, Tejahra Jacobs, Lisa Kang, Ruth Kirschner, Anne Yumi Kobori+, Steve Koppman, Jennifer Le Blanc+, Kristy Lin Billuni, Justin Lopez+, David MacFadden-Elliott, Daniel Martinez, Alanna McFall+, Bacilio Mendez II, Matthew Morishige, Vicky Pham, Bridgette Portman, Alexis Roblan, Jessica Rowe+, Anthony Sampson Semandiris, David Schweidel, Tony Sciullo, Marissa Skudlarek, Alexis Standridge, Max Tachis, Lisa Thompson, Eteya Trinidad, Michael Tuton, Kaz Valtchev, Daysha Veronica+, Michael Waterson, Christian Wilburn+, Maggie Wilson+, 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, Millie Brooks, Julia Brothers, Nicole Apostol Bruno, Lizzie Calogero, Ron Campbell, Joy Carlin, Nancy Carlin, Tessa Corrie, David Cramer, Will Dao, Anne Darragh, Dodds Delzell, Livia Gomes Demarchi, Carolyn Doyle, Nora el Samahy, Rebecca Ennals, Gisela Feied, Britney Frazier, Michael French, Claire Ganem, Sarah Gasser, Norman Gee, Douglas B. Giorgis, Amy Glazer, Cindy Goldfield, BW Gonzalez, Gabriel Grilli, Christian Haines, Rosie Hallett, Eric Fraisher Hayes, Brian Herndon, Monica Ho, Laura Humphrey, J Jha, Colin Johnson, Jennifer King, Dean Koya, Danielle Levin, Amy Lizardo, Jeffrey Lo, Gwen Loeb, George Maguire, Melanie Marshall, Alicia Mason, Leontyne Mbele-Mbong, Julia McNeal, Bacilio Mendez II, Sam Misner, Brady Morales-Woolery, Lisa Morse, Khary L. Moye, Molly Noble, Joseph Patrick O’Malley, Karen Offereins, Annete Oliveira, Soren Oliver, Ely Sonny Orquiza, Melissa Ortiz, Doyle Ott, June Palladino, Carla Pantoja, Louis Parnell,​​ Jed Parsario, Michael Phillis, Krystle Piamonte, Rebecca Pingree, Stephanie Prentice, Ezra Reaves, Virginia Reed, Cathleen Riddley, Katja Rivera, Adrian Roberts, Stacy Ross, Adam Roy, Katie Rubin, Patrick Russell, Lindsey Marie Schmeltzer, Louel Senores, Robert Sicular, 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, Aaron Wilton, Elena Wright

PLAYGROUND AMBASSADORS

Jomar Tagatac (Co-Chair) , Aaron Wilton (Co-Chair) , Aldo Billingslea, Tessa Corrie, Livia Demarchi, Britney Frazier, Claire Ganem, Cindy Goldfield, Rosie Hallett, Jeffrey Lo, Gwen Loeb, Brady Morales-Woolery, Karen Offereins, Ely Sonny Orquiza

PLAYGROUND STAFF

Jim Kleinmann, Co-Founder & Artistic Director 
Norman Gee, Associate Producer 
Jed Parsario, Associate Producer 
Stephanie Prentice, Associate Producer 
Katja Rivera, Associate Producer 
Jacque Bugler, Production Manager 
Brittany Mellerson, Resident Designer 
Lana Richards, Associate Director of Development 
Sarah Gasser, Resident Stage Manager 
Emlyn Doolittle, 2022 Producing Fellow / 2022-23 Directing Apprentice 
Savannah Greene, 2022-23 Producing Fellow 
Justin P. Lopez, 2022-23 Producing Fellow 
Bacilio Mendez II, 2022 Producing Fellow 
Tanvi Agrawal, 2022-23 Directing Apprentice
Jenna Stein-Corman, 2022-23 Directing Apprentice

PLAYGROUND BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Stephanie Prentice, Chair
James A. Kleinmann, President
Rondrell McCormick, VP-Communications
Emilie Talbot, VP-Development
Nitin, Treasurer
Katie May, Secretary
Regina Guggenheim, Chair Emeritus
Diana Burbano
Philippa Kelly
Lisa Mammel
Rebecca Martinez
David Steele

www.PlayGround-sf.org
3286 Adeline St #8
Berkeley, CA 94703-2485
info@playground-sf.org
(415) 992-6677