PlayGround presents Season 29

FREE-PLAY FESTIVAL

Aug 26-28, 2022
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.

Programs & Cast Lists

August 26, 2022 7pm PT

Breed or Bust
by Joyful Raven
Directed by Jael Weisman

August 27 & 28, 2022 5pm PT

Tips for Nervous Fliers
By Lana Richards
Directed by Lana Richards

August 28, 2022 2pm PT

Lucía Fuentes
By J. Lynn Jackson
Directed by Katja Rivera
Presented by Miyoko Sakatani & Playland Productions
Jesús, Silver Henro …..Sedrick Cabrera
Gold Henro……………….Ron Munekawa
Red Henro, María…………..May Ramos
Abbess ……………………Miyoko Sakatani
Hernán……………………….Hector Zavala

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

Acknowledgements

Tips for Nervous Fliers: Susan Richards, for calling and making the appointment. And to Josh Marcus, for being the first one to hear it.

Lucía Fuentes: many more than “two walk as one”, including PlayGround, producer Miyoko Sakatani with Playland Productions, director Katja Rivera, LatinxMafia.com, DiscoverShikoku.com, Sean Brecht photography, Masako Iwamoto Vierstraete photography, The Berkeley Play Cafe and Melissa Hillman, Sono Aibe, Valorie and Leopoldo Villela, Ismael Chamu, Carolyn Crane, Maurice Monette and the amazing actors Sedrick Cabrera, Ron Munekawa, May Ramos, Miyoko Sakatani, and Hector Zavala. If inspired to learn more about or act on themes from the play, please consider contacting: The Global Fund for Women, Washington Office on Latin America, Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, and Discover Shikoku.

Biographies

J. LYNN JACKSON (Playwright, Lucía Fuentes), he/him, writes of and for justice, spirit, community, and love while at home in the US and Mexico. In addition to Lucía Fuentes, Jackson’s plays include The Red Sweater, based on Maurice L. Monette’s memoir, Confessions of a Gay Married Priest and Charles Darwin, Her True Story, a play about survival, revolution and lifelong delusions. Jackson is a member of the Dramatists Guild, the Berkeley Play Cafe, and the Playwrights’ Center and is on the Latinx Mafia Leadership Team for PlayGround’s 2022 Innovator Incubator. Jackson’s career has also included work in philanthropy, healthcare, and community service organizations in Chile, Mexico, Cuba and the US. https://pwcenter.org/profile/j-lynn-jackson

JOYFUL RAVEN (Playwright/Performer, Breed or Bust), she/her, whose parents ran a political theater company, grew up on the radical stage where she was forced into political positions and animal leotards long before she was a consenting adult. Due to this unusual childhood, she brings to her work a unique body of experience gained from decades of collaborating with iconic members of the San Francisco Mime Troupe and Dell’ Arte International. Her last solo comedy Tales of a Sexual Tomboy was dubbed  “…one of the funniest shows now on display on Bay Area stages” by the SF Chronicle. Tomboy won Best of the Fringe at the 2016 San Francisco Fringe Festival, was awarded an Encore Performance at the 2017 United Solo Festival in NYC and appeared at the Los Angeles Women’s Theater Festival in 2018. Her additional theatre credits include lead actor and co-author of four plays for Prize of Hope winning company Human Nature and co-founder of the ensemble-driven theatre company Rococo Risqué, winner of SF Weekly Best Theater Ensemble.  Joyful has also appeared as an actor in many projects on stage and film, including Odyssey Works, an immersive theatre project; The Pursuit of Happiness, with Will Smith; and Spring Awakening, directed by Broadway and West End director Stafford Arima. She studied theater at Sarah Lawrence College in NY and holds an MFA in theater from UC Davis. She is a well respected teacher of solo performance and storytelling in the Bay Area where she holds regular classes at the Berkeley Rep School of Theater.

LANA RICHARDS (Playwright/Director/Performer, Tips for Nervous Fliers), she/her, is a director focused on new work development, site specific work, and adaptation. She likes big plays about small things, the tender awkwardness of growing up, and stories that connect people to place. She is a co-founder of The Wickies, and has been in residence at The Dragon’s Egg, Access Theater, and The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center and is an alumna of Connecticut College where she studied theater and environmental studies. Training: SITI Company, The Michael Chekhov Association, Bread and Puppet, Complicite, and the National Theater Institute for Advanced Directing. Recent credits: Grapefruit (an adaptation of the art book by Yoko Ono) at Parallel 45, My Girl (co-developer) at Dixon Place, Arabella at Planet Connections Theater Festivity, Ithaca at The Electric Lodge, and Eurydice (Sarah Ruhl) at Connecticut College. lanarichards.com thewickies.org

SEDRICK CABRERA (“Jesús”/”Silver Henro”, Lucía Fuentes), he/him, is a Latinx actor based in San Francisco. He holds a B.A. in Theatre Arts from San Jose State University, where he trained as a classical actor. His work within the department earned him the “Teatro Award” for contributions towards diverse theatre. Since graduating Sedrick has been a resident artist of El Teatro Campesino, founded by the legendary Chicano playwright Luis Valdez. Through his work, he hopes to bring light to Latinx struggles and help start a dialogue towards potential solutions.

RON MUNEKAWA (“Gold Henro”, Lucía Fuentes), he/him, is pleased to be making his SF Playground debut in Lucia Fuentes. Ron originally got his start in theater through dance and has appeared throughout the BayArea in shows such as 42nd Street, Crazy for You, Damn Yankees and A Chorus Line. Most recent roles include Sam Kimura/Ojii-chan, Allegiance, (Palo Alto Players), Yasuichi Hikeda, Harlem Canary/Tokyo Crow (Montalvo Arts Center); Isamu, You’ll Never Look At Mt. Fuji The Same Again (Playwrights’ Center of San Francisco); the MC, Swingposium (Epic Immersive/San Jose Taiko); and Ojiichan, Jiji’s Box (Rainy Day Artistic Collective).

MAY RAMOS (“Red Henro”/”María”, Lucía Fuentes), they/them, a queer Ilokano artist, has performed as an actor, singer, and dancer with several theatres around the Bay Area. They were last seen in Killing My Lobster’s “Good Grief” and Feinsteins at the Nikko’s “Brat Pack.” You can see them in their upcoming burlesque show with Diva or Die Burlesque and “The Red Shades” at Z Space. Outside of the performing arts, they work in youth advocacy, are an avid reader, and love going on mountain hikes with their pup.

MIYOKO SAKATANI (Producer/”Abbess”, Lucía Fuentes) she/her, is thrilled to be both producer and a cast member of this wonderful play. She is a proud PlayGround alumni and has previously worked with Berkeley Rep, Cutting Ball, SF Playhouse, TheatreWorks, AlphaNYC (off Broadway) and others. Miyoko performed her own solo piece about her family’s immigration and internment at the Marsh Theater. Films include the award winning feature, East Side Sushi (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. Miyoko performs regularly for residential care facilities with a Bay Area ukulele band.

HECTOR ZAVALA (“Hernán”, Lucía Fuentes), he/they, is considered a chameleon in a thousand ways. He mixes his studies in Performative Art, Acting, Dance, Multimedia, Costumes, Set Design and his love for theater to instill his own style of culturalism, carrying with him the weight of the universal struggle to defend one’s own. He has participated in international festivals such as FITLA, (International Latin Theater Festival of Los Angeles.), the Edinburgh Theater Festival and the Ibero-American Art Festival. He has collaborated with greats from the “Chicano” community and is currently on tour with his One Man Show “Seeking the Last Gay Man”.

KATJA RIVERA (Director, Lucía Fuentes), 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 AEA, Shotgun Players, SF Playground and Latinx Mafia.

JAEL WEISMAN (Director, Breed or Bust), he/him, Longtime resident of the Hill, Jael was a member of the SF Mime Troupe in the late 60s early 70s and then was a founding member of The Dell’Arte Company from Blue Lake, Ca. He recently directed Joyful Raven’s Adventures of a Sexual Tomboy. He has worked with Joyful since she was a teenager in her parents’ company, Human Nature, from Humboldt County.

PRODUCTION & STAFF

JENNA STEIN-CORMAN (Stage Manager), she/her, is a Bay Area native, and teaching artist, who is excited to stage manage her first production with PlayGround. She holds a BA from Sarah Lawrence College, where she studied history and social justice, alongside theatre. Jenna currently works as a director and stage manger for youth performers at The Berkeley Playhouse.

JACQUE BUGLER (Production Manager), she/her, has served as PlayGround’s Production Manager and Technical Director since 2019. A theatre design generalist (she was properties designer for Best of PlayGround 25), she is a graduate of University of San Francisco.

JIM KLEINMANN (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-six 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.

PLAYGROUND, California’s leading playwright incubator, provides unique development opportunities for the Bay Area’s, Los Angeles’, New York’s and, now, Chicago’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 300 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 100 new full-length plays by 66 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. In 2017, 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-eight 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, Glickman Awards (including 4 of the past 5 winners), Bay Area Playwrights 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 August 1, 2021 & August 26, 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 • 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, Linda Kremer, Regina S. Guggenheim

PRODUCERS CIRCLE ($1000-$2499)

Sidney Glass & Eleanor Clement Glass, Thalia Dorwick, Keith Goldstein & Donna N. Warrington, In Memory of M. David MacCallum, Jr., Nitin, Arthur & Toni Rembe Rock, Diane Sampson, Sharon Simpson, Marian Scheuer Sofaer & Abraham D. Sofaer, David Cost & Kate Stechschulte, Anonymous (2)

PLAYWRIGHTS CIRCLE ($500-$999)

Thomas Patrick Broyhill, Paulette Donsavage & Deeje Cooley, Richard Dixon, David Goldman, Barbara Goodyear & Stephen Rosenfield, Kathryn A Hecht, Jofish Kaye & Erin Marie Panttaja, Diane Leonard, Gwen Loeb & Doyle Ott, Anne Maxwell, Colette Meunier & Mark van Norman, Cindy & Chris Redburn, Nancy Spencer & Hardy Callcott, Nancy & Carty Spencer, Oren & Justin Stevens, Anonymous (2)

PATRON ($250-$499)

Dr. Elaine Baskin & Kenneth R. Krechmer, Wendy Bear, Karen Catlin, Lily L Chow, Richard Davis – Lowell, Lynda Divito, Michael Fried, Joan & Donald Green, Vicki Hamilton, Gail Hillebrand & Hugh Barroll, Roxy Jones, Ray and Carla Kaliski, Rebecca Martinez, Three Kurtics and a Morse, Tiffany Mualem, Bud & Donna Ogle, Chris Potter & Lisa Mammel, Christopher Reber, Daniel & Chelsea Sinto, Lisa R. Taylor, Liam Vincent, Maury Zeff, Anonymous (4)

ASSOCIATE MEMBER ($125-$249)

Maura C. Berkelhamer, Dr. Katherine Ardis Blenko, Jessica Forbess, Mr. Eric Garcia, Tom Goetzl, Gina Harris, Douglas & Mary Ann Le Blanc, Gregg Le Blanc, Trynne Miller & David Prince, Dr. Alan Pearl, Ms. Madeline Daly Puccioni, Janine & Darryl Wilburn, Robin L. Wimsatt, Kelli Wong, Anonymous (4)

Become a PlayGround contributor!

DONATE

PlayGround Company

PLAYGROUND WRITERS COMPANY

Monique Hafen Adams, Barbara Anderson, Esther Banegas Gatica, 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, Giselle Boustani-Fontenele, Millie Brooks, Julia Brothers, Nicole Apostol Bruno, Lizzie Calogero, Ron Campbell, Joy Carlin, Nancy Carlin, Desdemona Chiang, Tessa Corrie, David Cramer, Will Dao, Anne Darragh, Dodds Delzell, Livia Gomes Demarchi, Carolyn Doyle, Nora el Samahy, Rebecca Ennals, Britney Frazier, Michael French, Claire Ganem, Sarah Gasser, Norman Gee, Douglas B. Giorgis, Amy Glazer, Cindy Goldfield, BW Gonzalez, Christian Haines, Margo Hall, Rosie Hallett, Katherine Hamilton, Daryl Anthony Harper, Eric Fraisher Hayes, Brian Herndon, Monica Ho, Laura Humphrey, J Jha, Colin Johnson, Lyndsy Kail, Dean Koya, Danielle Levin, Amy Lizardo, Jeffrey Lo, Gwen Loeb, George Maguire, Melanie Marshall, Alicia Mason, Leontyne Mbele-Mbong, Julia McNeal, Sam Misner, Brady Morales-Woolery, Lisa Morse, Jasmine Murray, Noble, Joseph Patrick O’Malley, Karen Offereins, Annette Oliveira, Soren Oliver, Ely Sonny Orquiza, Melissa Ortiz, Doyle Ott, June Palladino, Carla Pantoja, Louis Parnell, Jed Parsario, Michael Phillis, Rebecca Pingree, Stephanie Prentice, Ezra Reaves, Virginia Reed, Cathleen Riddley, Katja Rivera, Adrian Roberts, Neiry Rojo, Stacy Ross, Adam Roy, Katie Rubin, Lindsey Marie Schmeltzer, Louel Senores, Robert Sicular, Jeunee Simon, M. Graham Smith, Ken Sonkin, Lauren Spencer, Teddy Spencer, Howard Swain, Jomar Tagatac, Emilie Talbot, Danielle Thys, Isabel Anne To, Jon Tracy, Dane Troy, Mark Rafael Truitt, Liam Vincent, Ian Walker, Maryssa Wanlass, Tracy Ward, Reggie D. White, Aaron Wilton, Elena Wright

PLAYGROUND AMBASSADORS

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

PLAYGROUND STAFF

Jim Kleinmann, Co-Founder & Artistic Director
Annie Stuart, Associate Artistic Director
Norman Gee, Associate Producer
Jed Parsario, Associate Producer
Stephanie Prentice, Associate Producer
Katja Rivera, Associate Producer
Lana Richard, Associate Director of Development
Jacque Bugler, Production Manager
Brittany Mellerson, Resident Designer
Sarah Gasser, Resident Stage Manager & Assistant to the Artistic Director
Daniel Benitez, 2021-22 Producing Fellow
Emlyn Doolittle, 2022 Producing Fellow
Bacilio Mendez II, 2022 Producing Fellow
Caroline Portante, 2021-22 Producing Fellow

PLAYGROUND BOARD OF DIRECTORS

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

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