Company in the News September 2023

See what PlayGround Writers, Company Members and Alumni are up to this September!

Ben Chau-Chiu is one of the understudies for SF Shakes’ Free Shakespeare in the Park production of Cymbeline, directed by fellow company member Maryssa Wanlass! He has a planned performance on September 9th for another company member Brian Herndon‘s track of Musician #2! It’ll be a 2 p.m. performance in McLaren Park in SF, and it’s free! The show runs about 100 minutes long with no intermission. Cymbeline is performing in SF until Sep 10, then moves to Cal Shakes in Orinda, where it will close on Sep 24th. Come join us in the park and bring a whole picnic! Tickets available here.

Rudy Guerrero is appearing in CITIZEN by Greg Sarris, presented by Word for Word at Z Below, from October 18 to November 12. 

Mark Sherstinsky‘s short play THE SOUND OF INVASION will be part of LA’s Towne Street Theatre’s Virtual Play Fest on September 8th. Watch the play here.

Miyoko Sakatani is co-executive producer and featured actor in a short film “Distressed” which will have its debut screening at CINEMA DIVERSE: The Palm Springs LGBTQ+ Film Festival in September.

Mikee Loria is appearing in WOLF PLAY this September-October at Shotgun Players. Tickets here!

Cherielyn Ferguson‘s 10-minute play Lit Crit is part of the Tapas Festival which begins on September 15 and runs on weekends through October 8 at Pegasus Theater of Sonoma. Monster Box Theatre of Jackson, Michigan is also presenting Lit Crit and another short play, Beach House, during the Jackson Arts Festival, running from September 7 – 10. Check it out!

Michael Tuton is appearing in The Engine of our Disruption premiering at Central Works this fall. In November Network Effects will be presenting a staged reading of his full-length play Dawn’s Early Light, set in the Global Climate Model Project, where a breakthrough forces the question: What moral obligation are scientists under to publish their findings?

Rachel Bublitz‘s play FUNNY, LIKE AN ABORTION, originally developed at PlayGround, is getting a World Premiere at Mile Square Theatre in Hoboken, New Jersey, and a Regional Premiere at Cleveland Public Theatre in this coming 2023/24 season. She also has two plays being published; THE SUMMER I HOWLED will be available with YouthPLAYS and BLOOD & SEQUINS will be available with Brooklyn Publishers. More information here!

Khalia Davis has joined the creative team of Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical at A.C.T. as their Assistant Director. Production goes into previews starting August 25th and runs until October 1st. Tickets and info can be found here.

Kimberly Ridgeway is directing The Birds at Altarena Playhouse (Alameda, CA), August 11 – September 10, 2023, information here. Kimberly is also directing Misery at Palo Alto Players (Palo Alto, CA), January 19 – February 4, 2024, additional information here and Unpacking In P’Town at New Conservatory Theatre Center (San Francisco, CA), March 1 – 31, 2024, check it out here!

Louis Parnell is the Associate Director of A CHORUS LINE at the San Francisco Playhouse. It opens June 28 and plays through Sept 9. Tickets and more information available here.

Jonathan Spector‘s THIS MUCH I KNOW will have its UK premiere at London’s Hampstead Theater in December and EUREKA DAY will have its German-language premiere at Austria’s National Theater (Burgtheater) in Vienna, opening in September and running in rep for 10 months.

Barbara Anderson‘s short play “Sorry” will be presented by Pegasus this fall.

Elizabeth Flanagan‘s play Meth was a semifinalist in the 46th Bay Area Playwrights Festival.

Lisa Morse just finished performing in the newly minted one-woman show by Joe Christiano, “Mrs. Winchester, or, A Gun in the First Act” over at the Ashby Stage.

Tracy Ward will be directing Larissa Fasthorse’s Thanksgiving Play at Whitman College in Sept/Oct.

Maury Zeff‘s comedy MERCHANT OF STRATFORD, which explores the theory that Shakespeare was a criminal as well as a playwright, will receive a staged reading at Renaissance Theatre in Ohio on September 22. More information can be found here. 

New Writers Pool member, Richard Perez, has been hired as the new Artistic Director of Town Hall Theatre in Lafayette, CA.

Krystle Piamonte voices Grace Han and other delightful characters in the radio play, THE FOREVER WAVE, written and directed by Nicole Gluckstern. Inspired by “Under Milk Wood” by Dylan Thomas, THE FOREVER WAVE reconceptualizes Thomas’ play for a climate-ravaged near-future, a drowned Bay Area circa 2070. After a wonderfully received run in Bay Area radio, this story will now make its way to the digital fringe festival circuit, with its first stop at the upcoming Philadelphia Fringe Festival, aka #PhillyFringe, from September 4-24. She will also appear in the short film MEDIAN by Matthew Riutta, which will be featured in Cinemama’s Reel Queer Flix on Wednesday, September 6 at 7 pm at the Grand Lake Theatre in Oakland, CA. The event is a free public screening of queer films from the Bay Area, celebrating Pride week in Oakland with guest MC Michelle Meow.

Rebecca Ennals is keeping busy this Fall with a brand-new gig as the Lecturer in Stage Management for UC Berkeley, while also continuing to work as the Community Connections Liaison for A.C.T. She’s also looking forward to stage managing A Christmas Carol in its final year of this version at A.C.T.

Molly Noble appears for a moment in a gem of film “Fremont” now playing at The Roxie and the Rafael (as well as at IFC in NYC and Nuarts in LA) Participating in “Fremont” reminded her why we do what we do. She is also directing “A Doll’s House” at the College of Marin this fall. Take a look at Molly’s website for more info. 

Michael Barrett Austin recently appeared in ‘Chinglish’ at SF Playhouse, and is looking forward to returning to ‘A Christmas Carol’ at Center Rep this December. Check out tickets here. 

Ross Peter Nelson‘s production company, Raven’s Feather, is presenting Christian Durso’s play, “Shiner”, September 21-October 1. Purchase tickets here! 

Our very own Innovator Incubator cohort member Analog Theatre is putting on their last Mask Monday of their 2022-23 Season! Join company members Jed Parsario and Rebecca Pingree along with the phenom Playground staple Elissa Beth Stebbins as they host their FREE one-of-a-kind, (un)repeatable, work-in-progress variety show! When: September 25th, Doors and Beers at 7 pm, Show at 7:30 pm. Where: Standard Deviant Brewing, 280 14th St., SF Tickets: FREE!