PlayGround Presents Season 29

MONDAY NIGHT PLAYGROUND

PLANET EARTH ARTS NEW PLAY FESTIVAL
Topic: “GRIEF AND HOPE FOR PLANET EARTH“

March 20, 2023 7pm PT

Live at Freight and Salvage + 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.

Zone C Will Be Lovely
by Jennifer Le Blanc
Directed by Tanvi Agrawal
Wendy…………..Emilie Talbot
Melissa……..Karen Offereins
Doug……………….Khary Moye
Daria…………..Isabel Anne To

The One and Only
by Ruth Kirschner
Directed by Jenna Stein-Corman
Mirai………..Krystle Piamonte
Tom…..……Mark Rafael Truitt

La Tierra del Olvido
by Jediah Craig
Directed by Tanika Baptiste
Doctor…………..Robert Sicular
Maria…………Annette Oliveira
Jaime………….Chachi Delgado
Liz…………………..Liz Anderson

Save the Humans
by Justin P. Lopez
Directed by Lana Richards
Azad…………..….Louel Senores
Ameerah……..…..Roshni Datta
Gunner……………..Louis Parnell

Delta Daze
by Matthew Y. Morishige
Directed by Ely Sonny Orquiza
Ryan…………….Ben Chau-Chiu
Eiji.……………….Leon Goertzen

Fixer-Upper
by Bridgette Dutta Portman
Directed by Adam Sussman
Limnog…………….Elena Wright
Bulp….Michael Barrett Austin
Gozmo.……………………L Duarte

Stage Manager: Dianne Harrison
Sound Designer: James Goode

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

PlayGround is a member of Theatre Bay Area and Theatre Communications Group.

People’s Choice Award

Following tonight’s performance, we invite your participation in this month’s People’s Choice Award. Through the People’s Choice Award, our audience can play a direct impact in furthering the career of a promising new playwright. To vote, make a People’s Choice Award tax-deductible donation on behalf of your favorite play(s)/playwright(s) from the evening. Every donated dollar counts as a vote while directly supporting PlayGround’s award-winning incubator programs.

Cast your vote for your favorite play(s) by making a People’s Choice donation via Zelle (info@playground-sf.org), Venmo (our account ID is @playgroundsf and if they ask for the last four digits of my phone, it’s 8541) or on our website at https://tickets.playground-sf.org/TheatreManager/1/online?donationquick=16 (you can also visit the Monday Night PlayGround page for the People’s Choice donation button). Add a note/memo with your gift to indicate your favorite play(s) or email your selection to boxoffice@playground-sf.org.

At the end of the week, we’ll tally up the top vote-getter and automatic semi-finalist for our season-ending Best of PlayGround. It’s a powerful way of showing your support for new writers and their work, while helping PlayGround continue doing what we do!

Biographies

PLAYWRIGHTS

JEDIAH CRAIG (La Tierra del Olvido), he/him, is an aspiring playwright hoping to one day get it right.

RUTH KIRSCHNER‘s (The One and Only), she/her, plays have been developed at The Last Frontier Theatre Conference, the Women Playwrights Series, and the Marsh Theatre. They’ve been finalists for the National Playwrights Conference, CulturalDC’s Source Festival, and Humana’s Short Play Festival. Her produced plays include Fifteen Notes (EST, N.Y.); (Whippoorwill, Centenary Stage, N.J.); others at West Coast Ensemble; Actor’s Theatre of Santa Rosa; Cutting Ball Theatre; S.F. Fringe (2 Best Play Awards); Phoenix Theater; Marin Fringe (2 Best Play Awards). Winner of 2019’s Susan Glaspell Award for Whippoorwill, Ruth’s recent play The Field was nominated for the 2022 Pulitzer Prize.

JENNIFER LE BLANC (Zone C Will Be Lovely), she/her, is thrilled to be part of Playground. She adapted Jane Austen’s Persuasion which received its world-premiere at San Jose Stage Company and Defoe’s Moll Flanders which received its world-premiere at Pacific Repertory Theatre. She wrote We Made Bread, a one-woman show adapted from interviews, for Perspective Theatre Company (formerly Arabian Shakespeare Festival). Jennifer has contributed short plays to Shotz, Perspective Theatre Company’s New Works Festival, and Our Digital Stories. Jennifer received her BA in English Literature from U.C. Berkeley and her MFA in Acting from the National Theatre Conservatory. She is an associate artist with the Perspective Theatre Company and SPARC. www.jenniferleblanc.com

JUSTIN P. LOPEZ (Save the Humans; Producing Fellow), he/him, is a mixed-race Indigenous, Latino, and Asian actor, singer, writer, and boba–milk–tea enthusiast, who is passionate about new works and loves finding true connection and humanity in each script. As an actor, recent credits include the world premieres of Kiss My Aztec! (Berkeley Repertory Theatre) and Unbreakable by Andrew Lippa (SFGMC). As a writer, Justin’s work has been recognized by the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Ashland New Play Festival, and many organizations around the country, including Teatro Chelsea, Custom Made Theatre Company, and Town Hall Theatre. Find out what else Justin is up to at www.justinplopez.com

MATTHEW Y. MORISHIGE (Delta Daze), he/him, is an actor, musician, and playwright based in the Bay Area. Matthew’s work aims to capture unique perspectives and voices pulled from his own personal experiences. He is energized by collaboration with talented artists across many different disciplines.

BRIDGETTE DUTTA PORTMAN (Fixer-Upper), she/her, is a playwright and novelist based in Fremont, CA. More than two dozen of her plays have been produced locally, nationally, and overseas. She is past president of the Playwrights’ Center of San Francisco and is a board member of the Pear Theatre, a teaching artist with Dragon Theatre, and a member of the Pear Writers’ Guild and Dramatists’ Guild. She has been a finalist for the Bay Area Playwrights’ Festival, the Theatre Bay Area TITAN award, the PlayPenn Conference, the New Dramatists playwrights’ residency, and more. She holds an MFA in creative writing from Spalding University.

ACTORS

LIZ ANDERSON (La Tierra del Olvido, “Liz”), she/her, is an actor and sci-fi filmmaker whose stories feature complex female protagonists. She recently completed a two year residency with SFFILM, and is in development to direct her first feature.

MICHAEL BARRETT AUSTIN (Fixer-Upper, “Bulp”), he/him. In addition to being a member of (and frequent performer with) local companies Just Theater and PlayGround, Michael has worked with Berkeley Repertory Theatre, TheatreWorks, SF Playhouse, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Center Repertory Theatre, San Jose Stage, 42nd Street Moon, Central Works, TheatreFIRST, and many others. Michael has also starred in several independent films, appeared on television series and been featured in many commercials and industrials. He is married to a fantastic woman named Emily and is the father of a clever daughter named Lucille. www.michaelbarrettaustin.com

BEN CHAU-CHIU (Delta Daze, “Ryan”), he/any, is a Bay Area actor, singer, and director. He’s excited to be back with Monday Night PlayGround! Recent acting credits include: Momo, Resolute, Best Christmas Ever, On the Night of the Apocalypse (Monday Night PlayGround SF/NY), Much Ado About Nothing (SF Shakes); Beauty and the Beast (Palo Alto Players); A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder (Lamplighters Music Theatre). He has also worked with A.C.T., Cal Shakes, Berkeley Rep, Livermore Valley Opera, N.C.T.C., Town Hall Theatre, and Bay Area Children’s Theatre.

ROSHNI DATTA (Save the Humans, “Ameerah”), she/her, is a stage/film actress, dancer/choreographer and a radio show host. She has previously acted in various Bay Area theater productions such as Mahabharat, Rumors, Kingdom of Cards, State of Denial, and Rehearsal for Murder. She is a trained classical dancer and has acted in and co-created various short films & music videos. In her free time she enjoys writing poetry and rapping. She is super excited to participate in Monday Night PlayGround.

CHACHI DELGADO (La Tierra del Olvido, “Jaime”), he/him, is super excited to be coming back AGAIN!! His next shows include Into The Woods (Jack) and A Chorus Line (Ritchie). He’s excited to kick off his new year with PlayGround!

L DUARTE (Fixer-Upper, “Gozmo”), they/them, is a Bay Area actor, playwright, activist and teaching artist whose recent projects include: SPARC Science Plays Festival, with Livermore Shakespeare, Cry of Curs with Tabard Theatre, The Review with Theatre Rhinoceros , Particle of Dread with Anton’s Well, Helen! With Theatre of Yugen, Into the Beautiful North & The King of Cuba with Central Works. They have worked with Willows Theatre Co, Berkeley Rep., Crowded Fire, Playwrights Foundation, SF Playground, Bay Area Children’s Theatre and various others. Duarte is a graduate of UCLA, UCSC, and has trained with A.C.T., Shakespeare & Co., & SITI Co. Duarte is a member of Latinx Mafia, In Full Color and Lez Writes. Find a full range of work by Duarte at www.sfcasting.com/leticiaduarte

KHARY MOYE (Zone C Will Be Lovely, “Doug”), he/him, is an actor originally from N.Y and now resides in the Bay Area. He is beyond thrilled to make his PlayGround return and to have live audience members again!! Instagram: kharylmoye

KAREN OFFEREINS (Zone C Will Be Lovely, “Melissa”), she/her, is a company member of PlayGround and was last seen on stage in Quicksand Club Sketch Comedy. Recent credits include EVOLUTION (Ferocious Lotus, where she is also a company member), How to Transcend a Happy Marriage (Custom Made Theatre Company), Elevada (Shotgun Players), and Two Mile Hollow (Ferocious Lotus). Past credits include Phèdre (Cutting Ball Theater), The Potrero Nuevo Project (PlayGround), The Rules (SF Playhouse), The Mousetrap, Top Girls, and Our Town (Shotgun Players), The Pain and the Itch (Custom Made Theatre Company), and Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Big Funk, and No Exit (AtmosTheatre).

ANNETTE OLIVEIRA‘s (La Tierra del Olvido, “Maria”), she/her, theatre roles include quite a few women (and men) of a certain age these days…some wise, some fierce, some losing marbles, many Latina. She has performed at many East Coast and Bay Area theatres. She played Shakespearean roles at Marin’s redwood-ringed Curtain Theatre. She narrates fiction and non-fiction audiobooks for Learning Ally — often bilingually. She was honored to play in Hector Zavala’s 40, Latino, Single and Gay web series. Annette has acted via Zoom for Altarena, Central Works and Contra Costa Civic Theatres, for Fruitlessmoon Theatreworks and, of course, for Playground.

LEON GOERTZEN (Delta Daze, “Eiji”), he/him, has worked at theaters in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles, including East West Players, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Will and Company, Magic Theatre, Asian American Theater Company, San Francisco Mime Troupe, Road Theatre Company, Cutting Ball Theater, Aurora Theater Company, Bay Area Playwright’s Festival, and New Conservatory Theater. Leon is a co-founder and company member of Ferocious Lotus Theatre Company; He is a graduate of the School of Drama at UNC School of the Arts and is a member of Actors’ Equity Association and Screen Actors Guild.

LOUIS PARNELL (Save the Humans, “Gunner”), he/him, has been an active actor and director in Bay Area 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 been seen in many film, television and commercial roles and is a proud member of AEA and SAG/AFTRA.

KRYSTLE PIAMONTE (The One and Only, “Mirai”), she/her, is a Bay Area-based stage and screen actor. 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

LOUEL SENORES (Save the Humans, “Azad”), he/him, is always happy to do a Monday Night PlayGround; It’s literally one of his favorite gigs to do <3 By the time you’re reading this, you’ve already missed Tea Party by Erin Merritt in person, but never fear! There will very likely be a video/movie version available of it and you don’t wanna miss it! After this, Louel probably won’t be in Monday Nights for a while because he’ll be stage managing Yerma for Shotgun Players, but that’s a dang good reason, if he says so himself. LouelSenores.com

ROBERT SICULAR (La Tierra del Olvido, “Doctor”), he/him, has performed a universe of roles in a decades long career that spans the country and the globe. His theater credits are far too numerous to mention, but suffice it to say that, to date, he has over 90 productions of Shakespeare to his credit, dozens of contemporary world premieres, and everything in between. In Film/TV/Online he’s featured in, among others, Josh Kornbluth’s “Love and Taxes”, the sci-fi comedy action-thriller “Never Die Twice”, Bollywood potboiler, “Dil Pardesi Ho Gaya”, and stars as the title character in the podcast, “Dr. Dark Presents”.

EMILIE TALBOT (Zone C Will Be Lovely, “Wendy”; Board of Directors VP-Development), 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. www.emilietalbot.com

ISABEL ANNE TO (Zone C Will Be Lovely, “Daria”), she/her, is an actor, singer, and voiceover artist living and working in the Bay Area. Recent credits include the developmental reading of Chris Steele’s “Sitcom Seagull” (Poltergeist Theatre Project), sketch comedy shows “Freddy Krueger’s Day Off” and “Let’s Do the Sex” ( Killing My Lobster), and “Funny Like an Abortion” with PlayGround. Love and gratitude to JLT.

MARK RAFAEL TRUITT (The One and Only, “Tom”), 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.”

ELENA WRIGHT (Fixer-Upper, “Limnog”), she/they, is a bay area actor, teacher, fight choreographer, and intimacy director. They have been seen onstage at Theatreworks, Marin Shakespeare, SF Playhouse, Capital Stage, California Shakespeare Theatre, B Street Theatre, Pacific Repertory, Seattle Shakespeare, Shotgun Players, Commonwealth Shakespeare, and San Jose Stage among others. Next up, they will be in Silent Sky at SPARC. She is a Playground member. MFA University of Washington BS Northeastern University.

DIRECTORS

TANVI AGRAWAL (Zone C Will Be Lovely; 2022-23 Directing Apprentice) Tanvi Agrawal (they/them) is super excited to be making their Directing debut with PlayGround! They served as a Directing Apprentice for PlayGround this past year, and have previously Assistant Directed at Oakland Theater Project. Tanvi fell in love with Directing in high school but got most of their experience at UC Berkeley, where their favorite projects were 1984 (based on the play by George Orwell), Universal Language (David Ives) and Waiting for Godot (Beckett). When they are not directing Tanvi enjoys performing and traveling!

TANIKA BAPTISTE (La Tierra del Olvido), she/they, is happy to return for her second go at Playground! Tanika works full time as a director, actor, vocalist and costume designer in the Bay Area, San Diego and sometimes NY. Past directorial regional credits include: The Piano Lesson (Sankofa Theatre) Bull in a China Shop, Collective Rage: A Play in 5 Betty’s (Pear Theatre) How Black Mothers Say I Love You, At the Wake of a Dead Drag Queen (Theatre Rhinoceros) Assistant Director, Fight Captain and ASM Pass Over ( Marin Theatre Company) Tanika was most recently awarded Theatre Bay Area’s Arts Leadership Cohort Grant with Theatre Rhinoceros and is 3x SFBATCC nominee for direction, choreography & costume design. She is currently directing Giraffes Can’t Dance with Bay Area Childrens Theatre and will be directing Crumbs from the Table of Joy at Townhall Theatre next month. Love to my family and friends. @tanikabaptiste

ELY SONNY ORQUIZA (Delta Daze), he/him,

LANA RICHARDS (Save the Humans; Associate Director of Development), 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 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: 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.

JENNA STEIN-CORMAN (The One and Only; 2022-23 Directing Apprentice) Jenna grew up immersed in the bay area theatre community. After graduating from Sarah Lawrence College, she has gone on to work as a teaching artist, stage manager, and director in theaters all over the bay. Currently, she works with Town Hall Theatre, The Berkeley Playhouse, and the San Francisco Mime Troupe. She has learned so much from her directing apprenticeship these past few months, and is thrilled to have her PlayGround debut this month!

ADAM SUSSMAN (Fixer-Upper) Adam L Sussman is director specializing in new work, and is thrilled to be directing again at Playground. Recent directing work includes the world premiere of Jeffrey Lo’s “Zac and Siah, or Jesus in a Body Bag” with Custom Made Theater (“[a] funny, irreverent, and insightful take on the Resurrection.” –SF Examiner), the West Coast premiere of Sarah Ruhl’s How to Transcend a Happy Marriage (“One of the top six shows of 2020…The love and mating ritual we all need,” The San Francisco Chronicle) and his radical re-imagining of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice (“The best Shakespeare production I have ever seen.” Austin American Statesman).

PRODUCTION & STAFF

JAMES GOODE (Sound Designer), he/him, is a sound designer, composer, audio engineer, musician, and songwriter based in the Bay Area. He’s collaborated with actors, animators, visual artists, writers, and other musicians and composers on a wide variety of projects, including films, gallery and museum installations, live performances, music videos, podcasts, and radio dramas. Local theater productions he’s done sound design for include The Glass Menagerie, Echoes of US: Now and Always, and Richard II (AASC), As You Like It (SF Playhouse), Native Gardens (Center REP), and Pool of Unknown Wonders: Undertow of the Soul (Oakland Theater Project). https://jamesgoodesound.com

DIANNE HARRISON (Stage Manager), she/her, was born and raised in Sonoma Valley and performed in children’s theatre before shifting to stage management. Some of her past shows include Sonoma Arts Live’s Same Time, Next Year; Santa Rosa Junior College’s Legally Blonde: The Musical and Almost, Maine, which earned a Certificate of Merit from the Kennedy Center’s American College Theater Festival; JoLee Productions’ Bluff, which she also co-directed; and Ross Valley Players’ Silent Sky and Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Jersey Lily. She is thrilled to be a part of Monday Night PlayGround.

LAUREL SCHWEIDEL (Box Office), she/they, is a Bay Area native who loves to teach and perform. She graduated from UC Irvine with a BA in Drama and has taught improvisation, music, and songwriting through Bay Area Children’s Theater, the Willard Metal Shop Theater, and Leap Arts in Education. Laurel also MC’s concerts with Sofar Sound and releases original music under the name Laurel Hannah.

MICHAEL FRIED (Planet Earth Arts Co-Founder & Artistic Director) has worked for more than 40 years as a director, producer, arts educator and transformational non-profit leader in theater, the arts, film/media, education and as a social justice activist. Michael was a founding member and spent thirteen years as the Producing Director of New York’s acclaimed Roundabout Theatre Company. His production of Athol Fugard’s The Blood Knot launched Danny Glover’s powerful career and his production of John Osborne’s Look Back In Anger, with Malcolm McDowell, inaugurated the Showtime on Broadway cable TV series. While building this premier arts institution he produced more than 100 major productions and worked with playwrights Samuel Beckett, Athol Fugard, Arthur Miller, Harold Pinter, John Osborne and Tennessee Williams. Michael also produced the Dance Umbrella at the Roundabout. In 1990 Michael Fried founded Public Interest TV Films. He has produced numerous documentaries on a wide array of subjects and he has served as the Executive Producer for several nationally broadcast PBS films. In 2001, with the support of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, Michael started a pioneering mentoring and training program for gifted ‘disabled’ students and individuals who dreamt of working in film and media. He was the co-founder of California’s first Disability Media Center recognized by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Michael wants to thank Planet Earth Arts Project Coordinator, Rua Necaise and Carol Dweck, David Goldman and the National Center for New Plays at Stanford, for making this year’s New Play Festival possible.

PLANET EARTH ARTS was founded in 2014 by Michael Fried and Vinit Allen, with the support of Founding Curators Cynthia Frisch, Gary Malkin and Neal Rogin, out of our conviction that environmental and racial/social justice are the most urgent issues of our time, and our belief that the arts, in collaboration with the sciences and humanities, must play a leading role in transforming the human presence on our planet from a destructive role to one that is mutually beneficial to the entire community of life. We collaborate with actors, playwrights, directors, photographers, choreographers, dancers, musicians, writers and visual artists. Planet Earth Arts supports them by commissioning, presenting and showcasing their powerful transformative work – confronting and illuminating climate change, mass extinctions, threats to oceans, habitat loss, sea rise and the struggles for environmental justice. That same year we launched the Planet Earth Arts New Play Festival at Berkeley Rep and at Stanford University, in collaboration with PlayGround and the National Center for New Plays at Stanford, to inspire playwrights to create bold new works for the stage that explore issues of planetary sustainability as well as environmental and social justice. For the past nine years Planet Earth Arts has worked with more than 75 playwrights from PlayGround’s Writers Pool in the Bay Area and Los Angeles. The Planet Earth Arts New Play Festival has generated a living library of more than 200 short plays. PlayGround and Planet Earth Arts have co-commissioned 12 new original full-length or one-act plays – several of which have had World Premiere Productions in San Francisco at Potrero Stage: PlayGround Center for New Plays. Each year at least one or two Planet Earth Arts plays have been included in the Best of PlayGround. We are thrilled to resume collaborating with PlayGround on the 2023 Planet Earth Arts New Play Festival and look forward to supporting the new visions and voices of the Chicago and New York Writer Pools.

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-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.

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 January 1, 2022 & January 16, 2023.

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 Humanities • California Nonprofit Performing Arts Grant Program • Creative Capacity Fund • First Republic Bank • The Fleishhacker Foundation • 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, Dan Cohn & Lynn Brinton, Jerome Joseph Gentes & Michael Bourque, Lara Gilman & Jim Kleinmann, Peggy Haas, David Steele

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS ($2500–$4,999)

Meriko Borogove, John H. Gilman, Regina S. Guggenheim, Anonymous

PRODUCERS CIRCLE ($1000-$2499)

Linda Kremer, Rebecca Martinez, Nitin, Arthur & Toni Rembe Rock, Marian Scheuer Sofaer & Abraham D. Sofaer, Anonymous (6)

PLAYWRIGHTS CIRCLE ($500-$999)

Ruth & Robert Brayton, Thomas Patrick Broyhill, Sidney Glass & Eleanor Clement Glass, Kelly & Carlos Delgado, David Goldman, Keith Goldstein & Donna Warrington, Jeff Gregory, Regina S. Guggenheim, Kathryn A Hecht, Lisa A. Mammel, Lisa Morse, Ray Riegert, Maury Zeff, Anonymous

PATRON ($250-$499)

Wendy Bear, Jack Codd, Jean and Norm Reynolds, Maria Ross, Diane Sampson, Jerome Solberg, Annie Stuart, Janine Wilburn, Robin L. Wimsatt, Susannah Wise & Scott Lebus, Anonymous (2)

ASSOCIATE MEMBER ($125-$249)

Sharon Baldwin and Joseph Ganem, Gerhard and Kathleen Bette, Dr. Katherine Ardis Blenko, Frieda de Lackner, Michael Fried, Mr. Eric Garcia, Tom Goetzl, Cindy Goldfield, Mr. Stanley William Hathaway, Gail Hillebrand & Hugh Barroll, Abbe S. Kalos & Kitt Saginor, Jennifer King, Gregg Le Blanc, Jonathan Luskin, Paris McCarthy, Everett & Julia Moore, Louis Parnell, Dr. Alan Pearl, Madeline Daly Puccioni , Jesus Reyes, Emily Brauer Rogers, Mike Rosenthal, Christine Sheppard, Liam Vincent, Bex White, Christian Edward Wilburn, Anonymous

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.

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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 P. 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