PLAYGROUND FREE-PLAY FESTIVAL

July 31 – August 23, 2026
Live at Potrero Stage + Simulcast

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.

2026 Free-Play Festival Productions

(in)credibility: a new curriculum by The Forum Collective
By Melina Cohen-Bramwell
Wed, Aug 19, 8PM; Sun, Aug 23, 12PM

Down to the “Fifty-Four”
by Bill Savage
Directed by Jim Kleinmann
Sat, Aug 8, 6PM; Sun, Aug 9, 12PM; Sat, Aug 15, 2PM

Dreams of Home
By Kim Reed
Fri, July 31, 8PM; Sat, Aug 1, 6PM; Sun, Aug 2, 2PM

Fork’s Amazing Day
By Jove Tripp-Thompson
Fri, Aug 14, 6PM; Sat, Aug 15, 8PM, Sun, Aug 16th, 12PM

From Dusk to Dawn
By Ely Sonny Orquiza, Jeanie Ngo, & Evert “Eve” Gandarosa
Mon, Aug 17, 6PM; Thurs, Aug 20, 8PM; Sat, Aug 22, 2PM

Goddess DA From The Planet Yuronit
by Melinda Lopez
Mon, Aug 10, 6PM; Thurs, Aug 13, 8PM, Sun, Aug 16, 6PM

Hair Loss Is Real: A Love Story
By Ryan Serrao
Fri, Aug 7, 8PM; Sat, Aug 8, 2PM

Improv Playhouse of San Francisco
Fri, Aug 21, 8PM; Sat, Aug 22, 6PM; Sun, Aug 23, 6PM

Melina’s Not Good Enough For Monday
By Melina Cohen-Bramwell
Sat, Aug 1, 2PM; Sun, Aug 2, 8PM; Thurs, Aug 6, 8PM

My Dead Uncle’s Porn Collection
By Barbara Brady
Sun, Aug 9, 6PM; Sat, Aug 22, 12PM; Sun, Aug 23, 4PM

Next Time
By Sean P. Breen
Sun, Aug 9, 4PM; Mon, Aug 10, 8PM; Sat, Aug 15, 12PM

Saffron Confessions
By Michelle Moghtader
Fri, July 31, 6pm; Sat, August 1, 4pm; Sunday, August 2, 12pm

Stories of Resilience
By Stephanie Liss
Music by RebbeSoul
Directed by Jim Kleinmann
Thurs, Aug 20, 6PM; Sat, Aug 22, 8PM; Sun, Aug 23, 2PM

The Big Woo-Hoo!
By Kyle Melgarejo
Sat, Aug 1, 12PM; Sun, Aug 2, 4PM; Mon, Aug 3, 6PM

The Last Wife-Seller of Yorkshire
By Homeira Elder
Thurs, Aug 13, 6PM; Sun, Aug 16, 4PM; Mon, Aug 17, 8PM

Therapist Zero
By Brian Leonard
Sat, Aug 1, 8PM; Sun, Aug 2, 6PM; Mon, Aug 3, 8PM

Three Tall-ish Tales:
Ethel & Joe at the Empire State by Linda Ayres-Frederick,
Revenge of the Q.A.I. by Stan Stone,
Road Trip by Jan Probst
Fri, Aug 7, 6PM; Sat, Aug 8, 8PM; Sun, Aug 9, 2PM

Visions Of An Innovator: Letters From The Plantation
By Brittany Mellerson
Fri, Aug 21, 6PM; Sat, Aug 22, 4PM; Sun, Aug 23, 8PM

Waterfall
By Lisa Scola Prosek
Fri, Aug 14, 8PM; Sat, Aug 15, 4PM; Sun, Aug 16, 8PM

Worth Playing For: A Survival Fantasy
By Colin O’Neill
Sat, Aug 8, 12PM; Sat, Aug 15, 6PM; Sun, Aug 16, 2PM

 These live streams are produced under a SAG-AFTRA New Media Agreement.

PlayGround is a member of Theatre Bay Area, Theatre Communications Group, the League of Chicago Theatre, A.R.T./New York, and a Partner Organization of the National New Play Network (NNPN).

Biographies

LINDA AYRES-FREDERICK (Playwright, Three Tall-ish Tales: Ethel & Joe at the Empire State),  the Phoenix Theatre’s Artistic Director since 1985, has enjoyed a diverse career as a theatre professional in Bay Area theatres as well as NYC, Edinburgh, France and Alaska. A member of AEA/AFTRA-SAG, SFBA Theatre Critics Circle (VP), Monday Night Playwrights and the Dramatists Guild, Linda is twice a Shubert Playwriting Fellow with productions, performances and publications worldwide including Best of SF Fringe 2010 & 2011 (for her play AFIELD) and Best Play of Marin Fringe 2012 for her solo CANTATA #40 which was later performed at the Marsh SF, O’Hanlon Center for the Arts in Mill Valley, The SF Fringe, and The Last Frontier Theatre Conference.

PAIGE BOURNE (Actor, Joanie of the U.P.) is a SAG-AFTRA actor, writer, and improviser. Originally a trained theatre actor, Paige has worked with Marin Shakespeare Company, Children’s Theatre of Madison, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Forward Theatre, and The Constructivists. She is a graduate of the Conservatory at Second City and is currently a member of the sketch comedy group Communal Beverage. Paige has done on camera work for television, commercials, and indie films. She has been seen on Chicago PD, Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, and the recent horror-comedy Kombucha.

BARBARA BRADY (My Dead Uncle’s Porn Collection). Following a career in business communication, intermingled with part-time professional singing and performance art, Brady took David Ford’s “Creating and Performing Your Own Work” class at the Marsh Theater in San Francisco. Her first 20-minute monologue grew into a solo show, Father Daughter & Holy Toast. , which she’s performed at theater festivals across the country, earning laudatory reviews. “Impressive… this is a woman worth leaning in and listening to,” said the Orlando Weekly. Her new show, MY DEAD UNCLE’S PORN COLLECTION, also created in collaboration with Ford, has been praised as “nuanced and perceptive… brilliantly written and brutally and honestly performed.” Now, Barbara thinks of herself as a writer, performer and visual artist. She’s auntriarch of a sprawling extended family, who are kind enough to let her tell their stories on stage.

SEAN BREEN (Writer/Composer, Next Time), he/him, has been active in a wide variety of music fields including music theater, 10-minute plays, choral compositions, and pop/rock. Sean lives in San Francisco.

MELINA COHEN-BRAMWELL (Playwright, Melina’s Not Good Enough For Monday), he/him, is a writer and lifelong San Francisco Bay Area resident, who also happens to be a biracial, gender-queer, spoonie. His play PLEASE DON’T SLOW ME DOWN premiered at Little Boxes and Space 1308 in 2025. His play, ONE OF THE GOOD ONES, was developed at Theatre Battery and PlayGround SF. His play AL’S CULT premiered at PlayGround SF’s 2025 Free Play Festival. He is a proud SFBATCO Creators Lab cohort member and TBA grant recipient. Buy his book, “Bar Fights with Sad Kids”, available from Finishing Line Press and his book Nevada, available from Gnashing Teeth Press.

AUSTIN DE RUBIRA (Director/Producer, (in)credibility), they/them is a multidisciplinary artist, performer and musician / music producer. With a background in youth arts and a Masters in Education, they work as a high school teacher in drama, history, and multimedia. Dedicated to community-informed education practices at any level, they work with several Bay Area-based bands, and have work showcased in local publications like KQED.

DEANNA DRISCOLL (Director, Saffron Confessions), has worked as a professional actor and theater educator for the past 20 years. She was most recently seen at San Diego’s Cygnet Theatre in the role of Sharon in the world premiere of the play SHARON by Keiko Green. Previous to that some of DeAnna’s favorite roles include: Paige in HIR, Beatrice in the play THE EFFECT OF GAMMA RAYS ON MAN IN THE MOON MARIGOLDS (for which she won her second S.D. Critics Circle Award for Best Female Lead), Margarie in HAND TO GOD and more.

HOMEIRA ELDER (Playwright, The Last Wife-Seller of Yorkshire), is an Iranian-American playwright who has written several plays and has had 4 staged readings of her plays since 2022: THE LEGEND OF MELUSINA, A ROOM OF ONE’S OWN, AT VILLA DIODOTI, and SCHAUSPIEL. Her short play SOMETHING GRAND was performed at PCSF’s 2024 Short Play Showcase at Fort Mason. She has also published several short stories. When not teaching at Chabot College, you can probably find her in a cafe in Berkeley writing.

EVERT GANDAROSA (Actor, From Dusk till Dawn), he/him, is a California-based actor from the Philippines whose lived experience as a gay Muslim Filipino immigrant served as the loose inspiration for the AFI short film Zenaida, in which he also appears. He has appeared in the short film The Cost of Pandesal as Augustine Bulan, in commercials for Talkspace and Remitly Philippines, and is known for his role in the vertical series Flash Marriage at 40: My Second Chance. On stage, Eve has portrayed Jorriel in The Love Edition’s 2025 production of Down the Aisle, Queerine in QAF’s 2023 production of Queerine: An Origin Story, Gene in Gates of Peter, and Juror No. 5 in San Leandro Players’ production of 12 Angry Jurors. Before moving to California in 2010, he appeared in Philippine television series including Ina, Kasusuklaman Ba Kita (GMA-7) and Maging Sino Ka Man 2 (ABS-CBN). His theater work in the Philippines includes Victor Frankenstein in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (Filipino translation) and Estragon in Waiting for Godot (Filipino translation) with Tanghalang Ateneo, and Count Bellievre in Maria Stuart with Dulaang UP.

JJ GATESMAN (Director/Playwright, Joanie of the U.P.), he/him, is a Chicago theater director, fight choreographer, and clown. An MFA and graduate of the Actor’s Gymnasium pro circus track, JJ infuses his direction with a kinetic physicality and pacing. He has recently directed for Artistic Home (Cut to the Chase 2025), Playground Chicago, Elsinore Theater Ensemble (Hand to God), and the Milwaukee Entertainment Group (The Beauty of Psyche, Spike Heels). He is excited to support a festival that promotes new American stories.

HANNAH GOULD (Actor/Playwright/Producer, Divorced: The Musical), she/they, is a theater educator, writer, and performance artist based in Santa Cruz, CA. While she has written and performed several one-person shows, this is her first musical. Gianni Staiano is an alumnus of Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA, and holds a Bachelor of Music degree with an emphasis in Jazz Studies from San Diego State University. Throughout his life he has studied classical, jazz, funk, rock, pop, folk and latin styles extensively. He has also studied traditional West African music, traveling to Burkina Faso to study with the Koné family, who are renowned griots in the Malinké tradition. As a performer Gianni has played some of the largest and most prestigious music festivals in the world including the Montreux Jazz Festival, Reggae on the River and most recently the Monterey Jazz Festival in 2013.

JORDAN I. GUINGAO (Playwright, The Big Woo-Hoo!) is a screenwriter, poet, and theater artist based out of the San Francisco Bay Area. His writing is deeply rooted in themes of grief, mysticism, community, forbidden love, and his love for the Philippines—he spent time working in education and immersing himself in its cultural and mythological landscape. He earned his MFA in Screenwriting from the USC School of Cinematic Arts and previously studied at the University of San Francisco and Ateneo de Manila University. His work often seeks mysticism in kinship, exploring the ways in which personal and collective histories shape our identities. He writes because he is drawn to the fragile spaces between memory and myth, where language becomes a form of devotion—a way to grasp what is lost, to honor what remains.

NEIL HARKINS (The Last Wife-Seller of Yorkshire), he/him, is a indie theater-maker in the Bay Area, who has been involved in multiple productions at Potrero Stage covering such roles as producer, director, writer, stage manager, and actor. These performances were part of the PlayGround Incubator program (representing Oakland Public Theater as primary assistant to Artistic Director Norman Gee), and PlayGround’s first Comedy Festival (with Off-Topic Improv). He has also produced events for Playwright’s Center of San Francisco at BATS Theater in Fort Mason, Actor’s Ensemble of Berkeley at LaVal’s Subterranean Theater, and performed an original work in Crowded Fire Theater’s 2025 Solo Performance Showcase.

RYAN HARTLEY (Director, Fork’s Amazing Day) is a theater director and actor. He is also the founder of New Cosmopolitan Ensemble. New York directing credits include: City Rats (New York Theater Festival), Edgar & Annabel (NCE). California directing credits include: GUMMY WORM (Hollywood Fringe Festival), several classic musicals for various youth theater organizations. New York acting credits: Roland in Constellations, Miller in Edgar & Annabel (both NCE). A graduate of Pepperdine University, Ryan has received further training from SITI Company, the Yale Summer Session directing intensive, and the Juilliard Extension. Ryan has an ongoing interest in neurocomplex-affirming foundational training for actors.

JIM KLEINMANN (Director Down to the 54 and Stories of Resilience) 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-eight 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.

GEOFFREY LEE (Pianist, Waterfall), is a pianist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has been an accompanist at the San Francisco Ballet School since 2019 and is the ballet pianist for the San Francisco Opera since 2022 having worked on shows including MONKEY KING (2025), PARSIFAL (2025), DREAMS OF THE RED CHAMBER(2022). Other projects include being the pianist-conductor for Mark Foehringer’s NUTCRACKER SWEETS, celeste and keyboard player for the Napa Valley Regional Dance Company Nutcracker, and accompanist for Lamplighters Theatre’s new commission By Georges! Geoffrey Lee received his M.M. in piano performance Spring 2020 after studying with Sharon Mann at the SF Conservatory of Music and Geoffrey completed his undergraduate education at Harvard University in 2014.

BRIAN LEONARD (Playwright/Actor, Therapist Zero), he/him, is a writer, performer, and storyteller whose career spans stand-up comedy, television, theater, and animation. A veteran of the stand-up circuit in the 1980s and 1990s, Brian appeared on numerous TV comedy shows, earning praise as “…one of San Francisco’s most intelligent and funniest comedians” (San Jose Mercury News). As an actor, he’s appeared in films like Bottle Shock and Bee Season, TV shows including Nash Bridges, and regional theater productions from San Francisco Shakespeare and TheaterWorks, among others. His writing credits include writing and directing for Ellen DeGeneres, Jason Sudeikis, and Mindy Kaling; writing BBC Radio’s The Treatment, and story consulting for Pixar Animation. He’s also had an animated series optioned by NBC/Universal. Brian’s work has been honored with a Silver Hugo from the Chicago International Film Festival, and his writing for a UK campaign to de-stigmatize fertility issues was recognized by the Webby Awards. With a background in both performance and writing, Brian brings humor, heart, and sharp storytelling to the stage in Therapist Zero, his first solo show.

STEPHANIE LISS (Stories of Resilience), co-founder of The American Jewish Theatre whose mission is to bring little known, rarely told, stories of Jews, to the world. Based on true stories, these plays serve as a mirror into the lives, and souls, of Jews. Our target audience is global, because the plays we are developing and producing are all global in scope. Our vision for this theatre is to reach out, not only to Jews, but to ALL people. The works of The American Jewish Theatre are all a deep dive into our world, and what it is like to be a Jew – and what it isn’t. It is a view of the non-Jewish world, and its effect on Jews – how we live, and how we survive. Our vision is for people to look deep inside, examining their attitudes toward and perceptions of Jews and Jewish history.

MELINDA LOPEZ (Goddess DA From The Planet Yuronit), August 2024 marked the premiere of the solo show *Goddess DA From The Planet Yuronit*, a production supported by original musical tracks and the evocative graphic artistry of Berkeley High School classmate Geoffrey Geiger. While the initial performance was met with warm praise from colleagues, it served only as the foundation for a much larger vision. In 2026, Goddess DA returns to the planet Yuronit with an expanded, immersive experience. Building upon the success of the original solo work, this re-emergence features an ensemble of interplanetary musician messengers. This 60-minute, four-act spectacle weaves together a diverse tapestry of musical genres, including musical theater, neo-soul, jazz, rock, EDM, Latin-samba, Brazilian, reggae, and ballads.

KYLE “KAL” MELGAREJO (Director/Producer, The Big Woo-Hoo!), he/him, is ecstatic about the opportunity to submit to the Free-Play Festival as a producer. After receiving his B.A. in theatre arts (performance emphasis) with minors in cinema and education from San Francisco State University, he is now a multi-hyphenate artist based in the Bay Area. As a young Filipino-American artist, Kal hopes to utilize his experiences to uplift and highlight marginalized communities through accessible, innovative, and transformative art within the film, television, and theater industries.

BRITTANY MELLERSON (Actor/Producer, Visions of an Innovator: Journal Entries 5-8), she/they, is a multi hyphenate Designer/Director with a focus in sharing Black stories and cathartic experiences. They are currently in residency with PlayGround SF for Design and Technical Direction, while also cultivating an extensive concentration in Lighting/Sound Design and Intimacy Coordination as a freelance professional and consultant. When they are not bringing scripts to life on stage, Brittany is steadily curating their own visions, acting as the Director and Visual Designer/Consultant of published content, archival footage, and live performances for their own entertainment collective, VIP. IG: br00klynmonroe

MICHELLE MOGHTADER (Playwright/Actor, Saffron Confessions), is a writer, comedian, and performer based in San Francisco. She was formerly a journalist covering Iran and the Middle East. Later, she co-founded an international project centered on live, cross-cultural conversations. She currently performs stand-up and improv in the Bay Area. Her work is character-driven and explores diaspora, identity, and the politics inside family life with warmth and humor.

JEANIE NGO (Playwright, From Dusk till Dawn) she/her, is a San Francisco writer whose plays have been produced in QAF VI and VII at Bindlestiff Studio, the Shotgun Festival and Spring Fringe Festival at SFSU, SF Olympians Festivals VII, VIII, and X at Exit Theatre, and Pint Sized, Music/Scene, Mixtape, and ShortLived VII at PianoFight. She has also written “MÓN QUÀ YÊU THƯƠNG,” an Asia Entertainment Christmas special. Her short stories have been published in the literary magazines Transfer 109 and Quiet Lightning, and her poetry has been featured at the Abrams Claghorn Gallery and published in the Scottish broadside barbara.

A 2023 YBCA 100 Honoree, inaugural Cali Catalyst awardee, and two-time Theatre Bay Area Cash Grant recipient,

COLIN O’NEILL (Actor/Playwright/Director, Worth Playing For: A Survival Fantasy), he/him, is a San Francisco-based performer, director, and writer whose work is driven by a single persistent question: who gets to tell a story, and what happens to the people whose stories get told for them? Colin’s training includes studies at Berkeley Rep School of Theatre, storytelling work with Joyful Raven, vocal training with Jack Wilkins, and writing classes through the San Francisco Writers Salon. A former middle school teacher and proud member of Songbird City Choir, he has spent much of his life helping others find their voice, both on stage and off. A lifelong reality television fan, Colin has long been fascinated by how the stories we consume shape our understanding of ourselves and each other, and what it costs when entertainment and personal narrative collide. Worth Playing For: A Survival Fantasy marks Colin’s playwriting debut.

ELY SONNY ORQUIZA (Director, From Dusk till Dawn), he/him, is a multidisciplinary Queer Filipino theatre director, dramaturg, arts educator, and advocate based in the unceded territory of the Ramaytush Ohlone People, colonially known as the San Francisco Bay Area. Orquiza believes deeply in the power of equity and representation in storytelling to bridge our differences and bring us closer together. Through theater and the performing arts, he explores the Asian diaspora, the Asian American experience, ancestral memory, and the complex politics of Queerness on the American stage. He champions new works by Black, Indigenous, and Artists of Color, lifts up untold folklore, and advocates for stories that center the voices and lives of People from the Global Majority. @TheOrquiza

TIM ORR (Improv Playhouse of San Francisco), he/him, has improvised since 1988 with many San Francisco-based groups, including BATS Improv, Rafe Chase’s groundbreaking longform troupe Improv Theatre, the renowned True Fiction Magazine, and with the acclaimed troupe 3 For All. In 2009, he founded a new improv group, the Improv Playhouse of San Francisco. He has appeared in numerous plays in the San Francisco Bay Area, and received critical acclaim for his leading roles in the improvised feature films, Suckerfish and Security. With Stephen Kearin, Tim co-wrote, and originated the role of Dirk Manly in, An Evening with Dirk & Blaine.

JAN PROBST (Playwright, Three Tall-ish Tales: Road Trip) is a storyteller, who found her creative home in theatre and film. After stepping onto the stage as a young actor with indie political theater, she later found her footing as a playwright, from solo stage work to production and publication. Jan has often explored aging and femininity in her work, giving older women characters center stage. Her work has been seen on stages around the San Francisco Bay Area, across the continental U.S. and in the great state of Alaska, and heard on the popular radio show Wild Rose Moon Radio Hour. Her plays are published by Next Stage Press, and have been included in the annual Smith & Kraus anthology of ten-minute plays. Jan is also an improv artist, and as a longtime member of the award-winning improv film company Barewitness Films, she has helped create many short narrative films, working both sides of the camera. She also keeps her acting chops in shape with her work as a standardized or simulated patient, helping educate the next generation of medical professionals in valuable communication skills. Jan is a proud member of Honor Roll!, International Centre for Women Playwrights, Theatre Communications Group and the Dramatists Guild.

JULIUS ERNESTO REA (Director/Producer, (in)credibility), he/they, is a writer, performer, and arts producer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. With a background as a journalist, he obtained a degree in Philosophy at San Francisco State University. He co-founded The Forum Collective, a multidisciplinary arts organization that focuses on new journalism, theater and community-focused events. Currently fiscally-sponsored under Playground SF’s Innovator Incubator, the company has received support from the Sam Mazza Foundation, the California Arts Council and Zellerbach Family Foundation.

KIM REED (Director/Playwright/Producer, Dreams of Home), she/her.

BILL SAVAGE (Down to the “Fifty-Four”), he/him, is an accomplished writer and playwright, known for creative storytelling in both the United States and the United Kingdom. His portfolio includes a range of several compelling plays. At the 2025 Free-Play Festival at Potrero Stage in San Francisco, he produced, directed and appeared in his full-length play, “Daddy’s Girl.” He produced and directed his play “Leave it to the Angels” for the 2025 Scranton (Pa.) Fringe Festival in his hometown. He has produced and appeared in several staged presentations of his works in Philadelphia, under the auspices of Dramatists Guild, and his works have also been presented at Open Stage and Theatre Harrisburg in Harrisburg, Pa. He is a regular contributor to festivals in Mount Gretna and Harrisburg, Pa., and his works have been published in anthologies including “A Book of Plays” (Sunbury Press) and “Hello Godot, Volume 10.” (Som). His play “Men of the Empire” was part of Fractured Time Productions “Around the Globe in Eighty Plays” in London in 2020 at the Globe Theatre. His book “To the Mill and Back” is in development for a possible treatment in other media.

KRYSTLE PIAMONTE (Producer, From Dusk till Dawn), she/her, is a San Francisco-based artist. Theatre credits include work at Z Space, SF Playhouse, Magic Theatre, TheatreWorks, Bindlestiff Studio, 59E59 in collaboration with Artistic Stamp, and the radio play, THE FOREVER WAVE by Nicole Gluckstern. 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 SF.

LISA SCOLA PROSEK (Composer/Librettist, Waterfall), she/her, has been composing and producing opera, choral and orchestral music for more than 30 years. BA Music Composition, Princeton University, with Edward Cone, Milton Babbitt. Graduate Music Composition, Conservatorio Luigi Cherubini, Florence, Italy, with Gaetano Giani Luporini. Also with Lukas Foss, New York, NY. Lisa is the recipient of numerous awards, including
the 2014 New York Center for Contemporary Opera Award for The Lariat. Lisa’s operas include: BELFAGOR, TRAP DOOR and DAUGHTER OF THE RED TZAR. “Scola Prosek’s…compelling and enlightening score is a creation marked by shapely vocal set pieces and an alluring melodic vein that probes the drama.” Joshua Kosman, SF Chronicle. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_Scola_Prosek

RYAN SERRAO (Hair Loss Is Real: A Love Story), comedian, actor, and theatrical performer, Ryan combines stand-up comedy with the expressive art of clowning, mime, improvisation, and physical comedy to create a performance unlike anything you’ve seen before. A graduate of the prestigious Meisner Conservatory, Ryan has performed his acclaimed solo shows How I Became a Clown and Hair Loss Is Real at renowned venues including The Marsh in Berkeley. He has also brought his unique comedic style to audiences at Gotham Comedy Club in New York City. Whether he’s delivering hilarious stories, expressive physical comedy, or unexpected moments of audience interaction, Ryan’s performance is creative, energetic, and guaranteed to leave you laughing.

KEN SONKIN (Therapist Zero), is an award-winning actor and director with an extensive career on stages throughout the Bay Area and beyond, including American Conservatory Theater, Berkeley Rep, San Francisco Playhouse, The Magic Theatre, and Z Space. His regional credits include The Denver Center Theatre Company, Grove Shakespeare Festival, and Pacific Resident Theater in Los Angeles. A seasoned performer and director, Ken has collaborated with acclaimed playwrights such as Oliver Goldstick, Brian Thorstenson, and Lynne Kaufman. He has served on the acting faculty at American Conservatory Theater and taught at Northwestern, Stanford, and The National Theatre Conservatory. Ken is currently a professor at the University of San Francisco, where he teaches acting and directing and has helmed productions of Angels in America: Perestroika, Metamorphoses, and Tartuffe. He is a proud member of Actors’ Equity and SAG-AFTRA.

GIANNI STAIANO (Actor/Accompanist. Divorced: The Musical), is an alumnus of Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA, and holds a Bachelor of Music degree with an emphasis in Jazz Studies from San Diego State University. Throughout his life he has studied classical, jazz, funk, rock, pop, folk and latin styles extensively. He has also studied traditional West African music, traveling to Burkina Faso to study with the Koné family, who are renowned griots in the Malinké tradition. As a performer Gianni has played some of the largest and most prestigious music festivals in the world including the Montreux Jazz Festival, Reggae on the River and most recently the Monterey Jazz Festival in 2013.

STAN STONE (Playwright, Three Tall-ish Tales: Revenge of the Q.A.I.) wrote and illustrated comic books as a kid and has been writing ever since. He is a published poet, actor, screenwriter and playwright. His play Trouble The Water was a highlight of last year’s AfroSolo Festival. His solo show, Johnny & Scrap, received raves at The Marsh Theatre, as part of Monday Night Marsh.

JOVE TRIPP-THOMPSON (Playwright/Actor, Fork’s Amazing Day), he/him, is a New York–based playwright and actor whose work blends dark comedy, horror, and satire. A graduate of Southern Utah University with a BFA in Acting, his work includes DEAD DOG DISCO (Max’s House Presents, dir. Cameron King), SUBLETTER, The Immaculate Conception of Black Jesus in Sundown, Alabama (The Chain Theater, dir. Ryan Hartley), and now, FORK’S AMAZING DAY. Jove is also the founder of COWTOW, a theater company dedicated to provocative, individualized work.

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, corporations and government agencies whose contributions make our work possible. This list reflects gifts of $75 or more committed between June 1, 2025 & May 15, 2026.

GOVERNMENT, CORPORATE, & FOUNDATION DONORS

Adobe • Alameda County Arts Commission • Art Space Development Corporation • Berkeley Civic Arts • Berlanti Family Foundation • Bill Graham Supporting Foundation of the Jewish Community Federation & Endowment Fund • California Office of the Small Business Advocate • Fleishhacker Foundation • Grants For The Arts • KFF • Koret Foundation • LA County Arts Commission • Lenore & Howard Klein Foundation • The Leo J. & Celia Carlin Fund • National Endowment of the Arts • Negley Flinn Charitable Foundation • New York State Council on the Arts • News Corp • NIAC • Nvidia • Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation • Ronald Whittier Family Foundation • SF Shines • The Shubert Foundation • State Compensation Insurance Fund

SEASON SPONSORS ($5000+)

Emilie & Gordon Brooks, Daniel Cohn & Lynn Linton,  Keith Goldstein & Donna Warrington, Jim Kleinmann & Lara Gilman, Jackie Kubicka, Craig Moody, Darryl Wilburn

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS ($2500-$4999)

Randy Adams, John Gilman, Regina S. Guggenheim, Kathryn Hecht, Nitin Nitin & Vasugi Kailasam, Christian Wilburn, Janine Wilburn, Anonymous

PRODUCERS CIRCLE ($1000-$2499)

Berlanti Family Foundation, Meriko Borogove, Anne Brady,  Madeleine Butler, Jahnavi Caldwell-Green, Sheila Collins, Elizabeth Dudak, Jessica Forbess, David Goldman, Greg Gorel, Gina & Steve Harris, J. Lynn Jackson, Linda Kremer, Bram McGinnis, Molly Noble & Bob Guilbault, Arthur Rock & Toni Rembe Rock, Jessica June Rowe, Miyoko Sakatani, Diane Sampson, Kurt Taylor, William C. Thompson

PLAYWRIGHTS CIRCLE ($500-$999)

The Leo J. & Celia Carlin Fund, Lydia R. Diamond, Leon Goertzen, Philip Kan Gotanda & Diane Takei, Dana Hall, Paul & Pam Kleinmann, Margery Kreitman, Kathy Roberts & Aaron Loeb, Mark Peters, Kendall Phillips, Jenny Rand, Cindy & Chris Redburn, Mercedes Segesvary, Matt W Wills

PATRON ($250-$499)

Linda Amayo-Hassan, Linda Ayres-Frederick / Phoenix Arts Association Theatre, Summer Broyhill, Ben Cain, Jediah Craig, Clint Fleener, Hechale Productions, Jonathan Josephson, Alex Loddengaard, Alan Maass, Tobi Marcus, Evelyn Jean Pine & Doug Peckler, Bridgette Dutta Portman, Stephanie Prentice, George Rose, John Ruskin, Kathryn Ryan, Kitt Saginor, Kristina Segesvary, Sanjit Sengupta, Mark Sherstinsky, Jerome Solberg, Jon & Susan Sweedler, Mary Lou Torre, Rebecca White, Susannah Wise, Maury Zeff

ASSOCIATE MEMBER ($125-$249)

Sharon Baldwin, Sylvia Blush, Ruth Brayton, Vilma Contreras, Marilyn Cooper, Deepanshu Dutta, Krystyna Finlayson, Nancy Fishman, Patience Haggin, Edward Hong, Karen Levesque, Pam MacKinnon, Sheila McCormick, Jack Needleman, Sitara Nieves, Karen Reaume, Katja Rivera, Stan Stone, Ann Hearn Tobolowsky, Christina Velasco, Donna Young

SUPPORTING MEMBER ($75-$124)

Tanika Baptiste, Barbara Burgel, Laura Domingo, Anirvan Ghosh, Steve Harper, Howard Ho, Lucy & Jarrod Hsu, Sue Inoue, Mark Jacobson, Carl Johnson, Emily Keyishian, Charisse Loriaux, Jonathan Luskin, Linda Marks, Paris McCarthy, Karen Offereins, Wiliam Piedra, John Pinkos, Tipu Purkayastha, Kenn Rabin, Jay Rehak, Shariba Rivers, Anthony Roberts, John Schrom, Gae Shulman, Nancy Smith, Cathy Stonie, Jeremy Wechsler, Tyler Wentworth

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 (833) 992-6677.

Become a PlayGround contributor!

DONATE

PlayGround Writers Pool 2026-27

Linda Ayres-Frederick, Robyn Brooks, Madeleine Butler, Jediah Craig, Garret Groenveld, KT Frances Hartline, Carl Andrew Johnson, Ruth Kirschner, Greg Lam, Justin P. Lopez, Daniel Martinez Jr, Marissa Martinez, Gillian O’Leary, Richard Perez, James Perry, Jan Probst, Richard Raya, Dom Refuerzo, Cathleen Riddley, Kimberly Ridgeway, George Rose, Sophie Ruf, Greg Sigur, Chris Steele, Stan Stone, Lisa Gaye Thompson, Deborah Tarchun, Maury Zeff.

PlayGround Resident Playwrights 2026-27

San Francisco: Monique Adams, Robyn Brooks, Garret Groenveld, KT Frances Hartline**, Vicky Pham, Richard Perez*, Evy Pine, Sophia Ruf, Stan Stone, Maury Zeff.

Los Angeles: Michael P. Adams, Damian Arteaga*, Esther Banegas Gatica**, Rachel Harner, Jonathan Josephson, Mildred Inez Lewis, Cara Sanchez, Baylee Shlichtman; Daysha Veronica, Jennie Webb.

New York: Ash, Tom Bruett, Saiya Floyd, Dana Leslie Goldstein, Bram Hartman, Howard Ho, Wade Lawrence Hollomon, Nina Ki, Uma Incrocci**, Gaurav Mishra, Lyra Nalan.

Chicago: Anne Brady, Betsy Dudak, Dana Hall*, Toby Inoue**, alfonzo kahlil, Alex Kingsley, Bacillio Mendez II, Shail Modi, J.S. Puller, Matt Shultz, Katherine Swan.

* Playwrights under commission for the 2026-27 season
** June Anne Baker Award Winner

PlayGround Company

Linda Amayo-Hassan, Liz Anderson, Michael Asberry, Michael Barrett Austin, Mary Baird, April Ballesteros, Tanika Baptiste, Rolanda D. Bell Aldo Billingslea, Julia Brothers, Lizzie Calogero, Ron Campbell, Nancy Carlin, Joy Carlin*, Ben Chau-Chiu, Zoe Chien, Tessa Corrie, David Cramer, Will Dao, Anne Darragh, Roshni Datta, Natalia Delgado, Dodds Delzell, Carolyn Doyle, Leticia Duarte, Michael French, Claire Ganem, Norman Gee, Douglas B. Giorgis, Linda Giron, Amy Glazer*, Leon Goertzen, Cindy Goldfield, Gabriel Grilli, Rudy Guerrero, Karina Gutierrez, Rosie Hallett, Matthew Hanjoong, Eric Fraisher Hayes, Brian Herndon, J Jha, Jennifer King, Danielle Levin, Jeffrey Lo, Gwen Loeb, George Maguire*, Melanie Marshall, Alicia Mason, Leontyne Mbele-Mbong, Julia McNeal, Brittany Mellerson, Brady Morales-Woolery, Lisa Morse, Khary L. Moye, Molly Noble, Karen Offereins, James Aaron Oh, Annette Oliveira, Soren Oliver*, Ely Sonny Orquiza, Doyle Ott, June Palladino*, Louis Parnell, Jed Parsario, Krystle Piamonte, Rebecca Pingree, Stephanie Prentice, Virginia Reed*, Lana Richards, Cathleen Riddley, Kimberly Ridgeway, Katja Rivera, Stacy Ross*, Katie Rubin, Patrick Russell, Miyoko Sakatani, Louel Senores, Robert Sicular*, Dave Sikula, Jeunee Simon, M. Graham Smith, Ken Sonkin*, Chris Steele, Jenna Stein-Corman, Howard Swain*, Jomar Tagatac, Emilie Talbot, Danielle Thys, Isabel Anne To, Jon Trac, Mark Rafael Truitt, Maryssa Wanlass, Tracy Ward, Christian Wilburn, Wayne Wong, Elena Wright, Hector Zavala.

* Company Member Emeritus

PlayGround Staff

Jim Kleinmann, Co-Founder & Artistic Director 
Lana Richards, Director of Development 
Jonathan Josephson, Director of Marketing & Communications 
Stephanie Prentice, Education Coordinator
Tanika Baptiste, MNP Executive Producer 
Norman Gee, MNP Associate Producer 
Katja Rivera, MNP Associate Producer 
Zoe Chien, MNP Associate Producer & Casting Director 
Brittany Mellerson, Resident Designer & Technical Director 
K’Zhane McGill, Box Office Manager 
Donna Fondjo, 2025-26 Producing Fellow 
Jordan Don, 2025-26 Producing Fellow 
Juliana Morgado Brito, 2025-26 Producing Fellow 
Devin Cunningham, 2025-26 Producing Fellow 

PlayGround Ambassadors

Julia Brothers, Jordan Carlson, Ben Chau-Chiu , Julia Crowley, Sheri Flanders, Claire Ganem, Eric Geller, Monica Ho, Tony Kim, Christine Liao, AJ Lily, Ely Sonny Orquiza, Andrew Perez, Ivan Rivas, Miyoko Sakatani, Braedyn Youngberg

PlayGround Equity Workgroup

Diana Burbano, Victoria Evans Erville, Norman Gee, Jim Kleinmann, Brittany Mellerson, Tiana Randall-Quant, Katja Rivera, M. Graham Smith.

PlayGround Board

Stephanie Prentice, Chair 
James A. Kleinmann, President 
Christian Wilburn, Vice President
Nitin, Treasurer
Ben Cain, Secretary
Regina Guggenheim, Chair Emeritus
Tanvi Agrawal
Linda Amayo-Hassan
Julia Brothers
Howard Ho
Alex Kingsley
Rebecca Martinez
Kendall Phillips
Jessica June Rowe

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