PlayGround presents Season 30

MONDAY NIGHT PLAYGROUND

Topic: “RECLAIMING HERSTORY”
March 18th, 2024 7pm PT
Live at Freight & 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.

Monday Night PlayGround Memberships

We are deeply grateful to our 2023-24 Monday Night PlayGround Members, whose direct support helps to underwrite artists fees for the Monday Night series across all four regions: Sam & Naomi Abramovitz, Tanvi Agrawal, Linda Amayo-Hassan, Sharon Baldwin, Jaisey Bates, Tim Bishop, Ms. Linda B Breaux-Smith, Emilie Brooks, Robyn Brooks, Summer Broyhill, Madeleine Butler, Ben Cain, Julie Campbell, Sidney Glass & Eleanor Clement Glass, Joan Cleveland, Ms. Marilyn Berg Cooper, Sandra Cruze, Dodds Delzell, Hillary DeMartino, Sharon Ebehardt, Ann Ehrmann, Ms. Cherielyn Ferguson, Krystyna Finlayson, Sheri Flanders, Conde Freeman, Michael Fried, Dr. Jan Gilman, Lara Gilman, Michael Tonjum & Jan Gilman, Hollis Greenwood, Ruben Grijalva, Regina Guggenheim, Dana Hall, Rachel Harner, Sharlene Hartman, Gail Hillebrand & Hugh Barroll, Lucy Hsu, Brandy T Jones, Ms. Anne M. Krause, Emily Kuroda, Douglas Le Blanc, Ms. Kristy Lin Billuni, Mr. John Lindner, Jonathan Luskin & Leslie Katz, Rhea MacCallum, George Maguire, Brian Markley, Linda Marks, Dr. Sheila McCormick, Bacilio Mendez II, Ms. Cynthia L Morishige, Dan Morley, Molly Noble & Bob Guilbault, Annette Oliveira, Maryl Olivera, Ms. Vicki Oswald, Bridgette Dutta Portman, Mrs. Elizabeth Poston, Madeline Puccioni, Mr. George Rose, Jessica June Rowe, Michelle Ruscetta, John J. Ruskin, Kathryn Ryan, Miyoko Sakatani, Louel Senores, Mark Sherstinsky, Nancy W. Smith, Stan Stone, Cathie Stonie, Mr. Richard Dana Swart, Mary Lou Torre, Kim Tram, Jeffrey Trescott, Michael E Tuton, Dr. Eidell Wasserman, Michael Waterson, Bex White, Christian Wilburn, Janine Wilburn, and Maury Zeff. Thank you!

To learn more about the Monday Night PlayGround membership program, click here.

BECOME A MEMBER TODAY!

The Elaborate Entrance of Delia Bacon
by Jennifer Le Blanc
Directed by Jim Kleinmann
Dr. Fielding……………Eiko Yamamoto
Angela……………………Natalia Delgado
Delia Bacon………………….Marjan Safa

Jocasta Regina
by Bridgette Dutta Portman
Directed by Katja Rivera
Jocasta….Tessa Koning-Martinez
Antigone……………..……Zoe Chien

Freedom
by Stan Stone
Directed by Norman Gee
Eve……………………….Lauren Spencer
Samson.………………..Michael Carroll
Momma Rose……….Cathleen Riddley

Bessie in Medias Res
by Robyn Brooks
Directed by Tanika Baptiste
Bessie Smith …………………………..Chelsea Bearce
Ma Rainey………………………….Jacinta Kaumbulu
Chorus-Line Dancer..Sumayyah Nuriddin-Green

Corazon y Alma
by Richard Perez
Directed by Elio Amadaor
Alma Martinez…..………………L. Duarte
Xiomara Martinez..…April Ballesteros

Welcome to the Club
by Lisa Gaye Thompson
Directed by May Liang
Angie………………Anne Darragh
Evie.………………….Molly Noble
Maxine……….Maryssa Wanlass
Bert………….Mark Rafael Truitt

Stage Manager: Jenna Stein-Corman

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

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

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

ROBYN BROOKS (Bessie in Medias Res), she/her, M.F.A., Creative Writing/Poetry, and M.F.A., Creative Writing/Playwriting, author of the poetry chapbook, “venus in retrograde” (Finishing Line Press, 2015), is a poet, playwright, and director. Her plays have been staged/read at Berkeley Repertory Theatre; Tennessee Women’s Theater Project; Theatre of Yugen; Theatre Rhinoceros; Los Angeles Women’s Theater Project; Potrero Stage; and other venues. She has directed several of her plays. A playwright for SF PlayGround’s Writers Pool 2007-2013 and 2023-2024, Brooks is SF PlayGround’s November 2023 People’s Choice Award winner, and a selected playwright for CIMIENTOS 2024, a play development program for playwrights, through IATI Theater, New York.

JENNIFER LE BLANC (The Elaborate Entrance of Delia Bacon), 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

RICHARD PEREZ (Corazon y Alma), he/him, works nationally as an actor, director and educator with an emphasis on new play development. He is the former Artistic Director of The Bloomington Playwrights Project in Indiana, Associate Artistic Director of Chicago Dramatists and the Co-Artistic Director of Exit Left Theatre in Michigan. His directing credits include: All My Sons, True West, Hurly Burly, The Mercy Swing (New York Fringe Festival) and Nocturnal (Kennedy Center), The Christians, Cry It Out, Roustabout, At the Table, and Human Error. His play Backdraft was recently chosen to be one of “The Seven”, a national ten- minute play festival at Fusion Theatre in New Mexico.

BRIDGETTE DUTA PORTMAN (Jocasta Regina), she/her, is a playwright, teacher, and novelist. More than two dozen of her plays have been produced locally, nationally, and internationally. She received the 2023 June Anne Baker Prize from PlayGround, and has been a finalist for the Bay Area Playwrights’ Festival, the Theatre Bay Area TITAN award, the PlayPenn Conference, the Kentucky Women’s Theatre Conference Prize for Women Writers, the New Dramatists playwrights’ residency, and more. She teaches composition and creative writing at UC Berkeley’s College Writing Programs.

STAN STONE‘s (Freedom), he/him, past work at a SF hospice facility taught him a lot about life and death and love. It was rewarding work but also emotionally exhausting. As a way of self-care, he found solace in writing. Journaling and short stories gave birth to screenwriting, poetry and playwriting. When his mother passed, he wrote and performed a one-man show about it. Life, death and love are a constant thread in the fabric of his imagination.

LISA GAYE THOMPSON (Welcome to the Club), she/her, is thrilled to be in her fifth season writing with Monday Night Playground. This season, Mack & Mimi Encounter Totality and America Chavez: Particle Flyer were staged and won the People’s Choice award. Last year, Three Centimeters Per Second also won that award before going on to a production at Fringe of Marin. Other short plays have also had readings around the Bay. She’s a founding company member, playwright and sometime host of Write Away, an online improvisational playwrighting show.

ACTORS

CHELSEA BEARCE (Bessie in Medias Res, “Bessie Smith”), she/her, is a TBA award winner for “outstanding actor in a principal role” playing Savannah in Bamboozled at Central Works. She is a Benicia native and some of her favorite roles include Risa in Two Trains Running, Ronnette in Little Shop of Horrors and Esther in Intimate Apparel. She is a two time “Lead Actress” Arty Award Winner, an actor and instructor with the SF based sketch comedy group, Killing My Lobster, has performed stand up comedy for over fifteen years all over the country and came in third place in the 45th SF International Comedy Competition. Chelsea is also a contributing playwright for Brooklyn Children’s Theater in New York.

APRIL BELLESTEROS (Corazon y Alma, “Xiomora Martinez”), she/her, is a multi disciplinary theatre maker. She is the Artistic Learning Programs Manager at the California Shakespeare Theater. She has worked with SF Playhouse, Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, SFBATCO and Shotgun Players, to name a few. She earned a BA in Theatre Arts from Cal State University, East Bay and hails from East LA. With every project she does, she hopes to uplift and empower BIPOC voices.

MICHAEL CARROLL (Freedom, “Samson”), he/him, is an actor from Southern California. His training consists of Stella Adler Youth Conservatory in Los Angeles, an Associate Degree from Santa Monica College, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Theater Arts from UC Berkeley. Michael has performed as the Egungun in The Red and Brown Water and Mr.Burns in Mr. Burns a Post-Electric Play at UC Berkeley, and recently portrayed YoungBlood in The Slave Who Loved Caviar at the African American Shakespeare Company.

ZOE CHIEN (Mom Overkill, “Ruby”), she/her, is an actor and arts administrator with a BFA in Theater from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she trained at The Lee Strasberg Theater and Film Institute, Playwrights Horizons Theater School, and the Stonestreet Studios for Television and Film. Zoe is the Associate Director of 3Girls Theatre Company, and is a PlayGround Producing Fellow. She feels lucky to be in this industry in a time when so much art is being made in response to our social and political climate, and is proud to represent her mixed-race (Taiwanese and Italian-American) community. For more, visit zoechien.com.

ANNE DARRAGH (Welcome to the Club, “Angie”), she/her, has been performing new work for over 20 years including world premieres of plays by Neena Beber, Michelle Carter, Anthony Clarvoe, Anne Galjour, Barry Gifford, Rebecca Gilman, Miranda Rose Hall, Denis Johnson, Lynne Kaufman, Tony Kushner, Julie Marie Myatt, Peter Nachtrieb, Edna O’Brien, Amy Sass, Bill Talen, and Brian Thorstenson among others.

NATALIA DELGADO (The Elaborate Entrance of Delia Bacon, “Angela”), she/her, was born and raised in the heart of Los Angeles. She has always been a storyteller, whether she’s on the playground, in the classroom, or recounting her day to a friend, Natalia lights up a room with all the details she can say aloud in one breath. Her love for storytelling is undeniable. Dance and Theatre found Natalia at the tender age of 10 where she starred in Grease: The Musical as Principal Mcgee. Her curiosity blossomed into a lifelong passion. Theatre grew deeper throughout her high school years where she explored the world of theater both on and off stage- a jack of all trades. She studied at UCSC where she focused on Theatre and Education, this was a time for experimentation and taking risks as an artist. She has been featured in several productions both collegiately and professionally such as Mercutio in Romeo & Juliet (2018), premiering the role of Felicia Del Pino in Cristina Garcia’s original play, Dreaming in Cuban (2022), and portrayed a variety of roles in Fran Astorga’s, Exhaustion Arroyo: Dancin’ Trees in the Ravine (2023).

L. DUARTE (Corazon y Alma, “Alma Martinez”), they/them, is an actor, teaching artist, playwright and director. Recent projects include: Citizen with Word for Word – Z Space, House of Desires with Those Women Productions, August: Osage County with San Jose Stage Company, Julius Caesar with PacRep, The Review with Theatre Rhinoceros, Helen! With Theatre of Yugen, Into the Beautiful North & The King of Cuba with CentralWorks. L is a founding member of Latinx Mafia, a Bay Area collective of Latinx Teatristas, working to ensure Latinx stories are valued and accurately represented. Find out more at www.latinxmafia.com. L is a graduate of UCLA, UCSC, and has trained with A.C.T. and Shakespeare & Co.

JACINTA KAUMBULU (Bessie in Medias Res, “Ma Rainey”), she/her, is a Bay Area actor. She is thrilled to be making her debut with Playground. Jacinta can be seen in the staged reading of the play Soulmates by Kimberley Ridgeway in May 2024 at 3GT (3 Girls Theater).

TESSA KONING-MARTINEZ (Jocasta Regina, “Jocasta”), she/her, she/her, is a long-time Bay Area actor who has worked with The Eureka, The Magic, Z-Space, El Teatro Campesino, The New Mexico Rep, Marin Theater Company, San Jose Repertory, S.C.O.T.U.S., 3-Girls, Thick Description and Word for Word among others, and has originated roles in plays by Josefina Lopez, Cherrie Moraga, and Octavio Solis. Most recently she had the great pleasure of directing a reading of her father’s play “The Blood-Red Cafe”. *member Actors’ Equity

MOLLY NOBLE (Welcome to the Club, “Evie”), she/her, is a Bay Area actor, director and teacher. She is always thrilled to be in the room with her PlayGround family. You can learn more about her work at www.mollynoble.com

SUMAYYAH NURIDDIN-GREEN (Bessie in Medias Res, “Chorus-Line Dancer”), she/her, is thrilled to be making her Monday Night PlayGround debut. She was previously seen in the PlayGround Festival premiere of Christian Wilburn’s Starlight. The young artist has been performing since she could speak, training everywhere from locally at American Conservatory Theater in their “Young Conservatory” program to the Debbie Allen Dance Academy in their “Rise” Program in LA. You can usually find her performing at Berkeley Playhouse or at the Garret and/or The Strand with A.C.T. To keep up with Sumayyah and follow her journey, follow her Instagram @allaboutusmayyah

CATHLEEN RIDDLEY (Freedom, “Momma Rose”), she/her, began her career at the Community Playhouse in Des Moines, Iowa playing Jiminy Cricket in Pinnochio at the ripe old age of 8. She is a multiple award-winning actor who has been seen at most local theaters, such as ACT, Cal Shakes, the Aurora Theatre, Center Rep, and Marin Theatre Company, to name a few. Cathleen is an Artistic Associate at Marin Shakes and a company member with Shotgun Players and PlayGround. She is a certified ASL Interpreter, has an MA in Sociology from UPenn, and is passionate about social, language, and disability justice.

MARJAN SAFA (The Elaborate Entrance of Delia Bacon, “Delia Bacon”), she/her, is thrilled to be back on stage at Playground. She was last seen as Puck, Theseus, and Starveling, at San Francisco Shakes’ educational tour. She has previously worked with The Pear Theatre, Contra Costa Civic Theatre, Altarena Playhouse, TheatreFirst, Golden Thread Productions, San Francisco Playhouse, Palo Alto Players, San Francisco Playwrights’ Center, and Multi-Ethnic Theatre. Currently, she is in ongoing classes with Richard Seyd at the Seydways Acting Studios. To learn more about her you can visit her webpage at marjansafa.com

LAUREN SPENCER (Freedom, “Eve”), she/her, has worked at theaters across the Bay Area including ACT, Magic Theatre, Berkeley Rep, Shotgun Players, Marin Theatre Company, and Oakland theater project to name a few. She is a member of Campo Santo and has served as a member of the artist circle at Calshakes.

MARK RAFAEL TRUITT (Prop Fiction, “Principal Wilson”), he/him, has been a professional actor for the past 40 years. His Bay Area appearances include “Ted Kaczinski Killed People with Bombs”, “Schrodinger’s Girlfriend”, and Joe Goode’s “Body Familiar” for the Magic Theatre, and “The Best of Playgrounds 9 ,11 & 27”, “Jihad Jones and the Kalashnikov Babes”, and “ReOrient Festival. He has also appeared regionally at Yale Repertory, American Stage, Wisdom Bridge, and Northlight Theatre, among others. Film and Television credits include “Titanic”, “Pushing Dead”, “Trauma”, “Star Trek Voyager”, “The Practice”, “Babylon 5”, and “Chance”. He has taught at the Academy of Art University for the past 17 years and is also on faculty at the American Conservatory Theatre, the University of San Francisco, and the University of California, Berkeley. His book, “Telling Stories, A Grand Unifying Theory of Acting Techniques”, is published by Smith and Kraus.

MARYSSA WANLASS (Welcome to the Club, “Maxine”), she/they, is a PlayGround company member and local actor, director, and educator, with an emphasis on social justice and classical theatre. She recently directed Cymbeline for the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival. Acting credits include SF Shakes (As You Like It, Hamlet, and Winter’s Tale), CalShakes (As You Like It), San Jose Stage (Persuasion), Livermore Shakespeare Festival (As You Like It, Hamlet, Merry Wives of Windsor), Center REPertory Company (Sweat, Enchanted April, Witness for the Prosecution), Woman’s Will (Much Ado About Nothing, Good Person of Szechuan). They have directed locally for SF Shakes, Utopia Theatre Project, PlayGroundSF, Shotz, and regionally for Advice to the Players. Wanlass’ social justice work includes creativity workshops with unhoused community members (SF Shakes) and improv workshops in California’s correctional system (Red Ladder Theatre).

EIKO YAMAMOTO (The Elaborate Entrance of Delia Bacon, “Dr. Fielding”), she/they, is a multi-hyphenate artist born in Tokyo with roots in Seoul and Hawaii. Recent credits: Cymbeline (San Francisco Shakespeare Festival), Clue, Follies (San Francisco Playhouse), Sleeping Beauty (Presidio Theatre), Into the Woods (Mountain Play), Disenchanted! (3Below), and Steel Magnolias (Sierra Rep). They’ve also worked with Magic Theatre, Playwrights Foundation, Crowded Fire, Z Space, Marin Shakespeare, FaultLine Theater, PianoFight, Company One and The Ground Floor at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Upcoming: Afong Moy in The Chinese Lady (The Pear Theatre), 2024 Bay Area Playwrights Festival (Playwrights Foundation). Graduate of UCLA, member of SAG-AFTRA and Ring of Keys. eiko@eikoyamamoto.com | @eikoyh

DIRECTORS

ELIO AMADOR (Corazon y Alma), he/they, is a cohort artist with AlterTheater. They are excited to be directing for PlayGround for the first time. He has also been seen working around the Bay Area as a teaching artist, actor, and playwright since moving here in 2021. They are grateful for everyone who believes in and supports them.

TANIKA BAPTISTE (Bessie in Medias Res), shey/they, is a SFBATCC winning director, actor, vocalist and costume designer in the Bay Area. Regional credits: Delcina/Moms in Dirty White Teslas Make Me Sad (Magic Theatre) Adenikeh in Nollywood Dreams (San Francisco Playhouse) A Shirelle in Beautiful: Carol King Musical (Woodminster), MC in N¿¿ER LOVERS (Magic Theatre) She/Angie in Is God Is (Oakland Theatre Project) Tessie Tura in Gypsy (Mountain Play/RVP) Swing Beehive (Center REP) SBF 1in Single Black Female (Lorraine Hansberry Theatre) Deloris in Sister Act (Pittsburg Theatre Company) Effie in Dreamgirls (Berkeley Playhouse). Select directorial credits: Crumbs From the Table of Joy (Townhall Theatre) Giraffes Can’t Dance ( Bay Area Children’s Theatre) At the Wake of a Dead Drag Queen (Theatre Rhinoceros) Tanika is a 2023 cohort of Theatre Bay Area’s Arts Leadership with Theatre Rhinoceros and a proud member of AEA and new member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. Love to my family and chosen family. The story is told together!

NORMAN GEE‘s (Freedom), he/him, past year has taken him from performing in Meet John Doe at the San Jose Stage, to a Word For Word production of HOME which toured France, to Much Ado About Nothing in Livermore with SPARC. He is delighted to close out this year with this PlayGround Holiday show before starting the coming year understudying BIG DATA at A.C.T. Norman will round out 2024 directing a new work in August to celebrate the James Baldwin Centennial, more info at www.baldwincentennialproject.com.

JIM KLEINMANN (The Elaborate Entrance of Delia Bacon; Co-Foundewr & Artistic Director), 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.

MAY LIANG (Welcome to the Club), she/her, is a Stage Director and Theater Artist of Color based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has worked with American Conservatory Theater, Bindlestiff Studios, California Shakespeare Theater, Crowded Fire Theater Company, Ferocious Lotus Theater Company, Bay Area Children’s Theatre, Bay Area Playwrights Foundation, Just Theater, Nevada Conservatory Theatre, Oakland Theater Project, San Francisco Playhouse and more. May was a member of the 2017 Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab in New York City and a member of the Director’s cohort for the 2019 Directors Lab Chicago. She was nominated for Outstanding Direction of a Play at the 2018 Theater Bay Area Awards for the premier production of Inside Out and Back Again at Bay Area Children’s Theatre.

KATJA RIVERA (Jocasta Regina), a theater artist/massage therapist/Abuela, originally hails from Los Angeles. She’s a Shotgun Players Company member, and an associate producer for Playground-SF. Recent shows: Yerma (Shotgun) La Vida Lobo (Theater Cultura) and References To Salvador Dali Make Me Hot, (Custom Made Theatre);

PRODUCTION

JENNA STEIN-CORMAN (Stage Manager), she/her, 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 recently stage managed PlayGround’s 2nd annual “twisted” holiday show, A Very Hitchcock Christmas.

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 $125 or more committed between March 1, 2023 & March 18, 2024.

GOVERNMENT, CORPORATE, & FOUNDATION DONORS

Alameda County Arts Commission • Amazon • American Rescue Plan Act & CARES Act • Art Space Development Corporation • Avenue Greenlight • 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 • Disney • Grants For The Arts • KFF • Koret Foundation • LA County Arts Commission • Lenore & Howard Klein Foundation • The Leo J. & Celia Carlin Fund • Negley Flinn Charitable Foundation • NIAC • Nvidia • NYSCA-A.R.T./New York Creative Opportunity Fund • Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation • Planet Earth Arts • Rock Paper Scissors Landscape Inc. • Rye Financial Services • San Francisco Arts Commission • The Shubert Foundation • The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation

SEASON SPONSORS ($5000+)

Emilie T. & Gordon C. Brooks, Daniel E. Cohn & Lynn Brinton, Paul Haahr, Lara Gilman & Jim Kleinmann

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS ($2500+)

John H. Gilman, Carlie Wilmans, Anonymous

PRODUCERS CIRCLE ($1000-$2499)

Randy Adams, Meriko Borogove, David Goldman, Regina S. Guggenheim, Linda Kremer, Eric Craig Moody, Nitin, David Steele, Janine Wilburn, Anonymous (2)

PLAYWRIGHTS CIRCLE ($500-$999)

Steve & Gretchen Debenham, Hillary DeMartino, Keith Goldstein and Donna Warrington, Ms. Kathryn A Hecht, Paul & Pam Kleinmann, Gregg & Jennifer Le Blanc, Kathy Roberts & Aaron Loeb, Dr. Gary W. London, Pam MacKinnon, Danny & Dolores Martinez, Molly Noble and Bob Guilbault, Jeffrey Trescott, Pam & John Walker, Christian Wilburn, Maury Zeff, Anonymous (5)

PATRON ($250-$499)

James & Cassandra Carpenter, Sheila Collins, Kelly & Carlos Delgado, Philippa M Kelly & Paul Dresher, Jonathan Luskin, Dolores Martinez, Chris and Cindy Redburn, Diane Sampson, Jon & Susan Sweedler, Jon Tracy, Anonymous

ASSOCIATE MEMBER ($125-$249)

Mary E. Baird, Ms. Lynda H Barber, Ruth & Robert Brayton, Fair & Levit Family, Anirvan Ghosh, Dana Hall, Tobi Marcus, Michelle Nedboy, Doug Peckler & Evelyn Jean Pine, Kimberly Ridgeway, Mary Ann & Malcolm Rodgers, Kathryn Ryan, Christine Sheppard, Ms. Susan Terris, Mary Lou Torre, Anonymous (2)

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.

DONATE

PLAYGROUND COMPANY

PlayGround Writers Pool 2023-24

Daniel Baxter, Robyn Brooks, Nicole Apostol Bruno, Madeleine Butler, Jediah Craig, Cherielyn Ferguson, Elizabeth Flanagan, Ipsheeta Furtado, KT Frances Hartline, Sam Hurwitt, Tejahra Jacobs, Ruth Kirschner, Steve Koppman, Sarena Kuhn, Greg Lam, Jennifer Le Blanc, Kristy Lin Billuni, Justin P. Lopez, Mikee Loria, Daniel Martinez, Jr, Alanna McFall, Matthew Morishige, Richard Perez, Bridgette Dutta Portman, Xinyuan Pu, Kimberly Ridgeway, George Rose, David Schweidel, Louel Señores, Stan Stone, Lisa Thompson, Mike Tuton, Kaz Valtchev, Michael Waterson, Christian Wilburn, Maury Zeff

PlayGround Resident Playwrights 2023-24

Cass Brayton, Bailey Jordan Garcia, M.J. Kang, Samuel Kelly Fair Levit, Daniel Martinez, Jr., Matthew Y. Morishige, Molly Olis Krost, Evelyn Jean Pine, Bridgette Dutta Portman, Alexis Standridge, Leela Velautham, Jennie Webb

PlayGround Company

Molly Aaronson-Gelb, Angel Adedokun, Patrick Alparone, Linda Amayo-Hassan, Liz Anderson, Rinabeth Apostol, Michael Asberry, Michael Barrett Austin, Mary Baird, April Ballesteros, Tanika Baptiste, Aldo Billingslea, Millie Brooks, Julia Brothers, Nicole Apostol Bruno, Lizzie Calogero, Ron Campbell, Joy Carlin, Nancy Carlin, Ben Chau-Chiu, Tessa Corrie, David Cramer, Will Dao, Anne Darragh, Roshni Datta, Khalia Davis, Natalia Delgado, Dodds Delzell, Livia Gomes Demarchi, Carolyn Doyle, Leticia Duarte, Nora el Samahy, Rebecca Ennals, Gisela Feied, Britney Frazier, Michael French, Claire Ganem, Sarah Gasser, Norman Gee, Douglas B. Giorgis, Linda Giron, Amy Glazer, Cindy Goldfield, BW Gonzalez, Gabriel Grilli, Rudy Guerrero, Rosie Hallett, Katherine Hamilton, Eric Fraisher Hayes, Brian Herndon, Monica Ho, Champagne Hughes, 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, Sam Misner, Brady Morales-Woolery, Lisa Morse, Khary L. Moye, Molly Noble, Karen Offereins, Annette Oliveira, Soren Oliver, Ely Sonny Orquiza, Tony Ortega, Doyle Ott, June Palladino, Carla Pantoja, Louis Parnell, Jed Parsario, Michael Phillis, Krystle Piamonte, Rebecca Pingree, Stephanie Prentice, Ezra Reaves, Virginia Reed, Cathleen Riddley, Kimberly Ridgeway, Katja Rivera, Adrian Roberts, Stacy Ross, Adam Roy, Katie Rubin, Patrick Russell, Miyoko Sakatani, Louel Señores, 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, Christian Wilburn, Elena Wright, Hector Zavala

PlayGround Staff

Jim Kleinmann, Co-Founder & Artistic Director
Jacque Bugler, Production Manager/General Manager
Jonathan Josephson, Director of Marketing & Communications
Lana Richards, Associate Director of Development
Bacilio Mendez II, Executive Producer
Norman Gee, Associate Producer
Katja Rivera, Associate Producer
Tessa Corrie, Casting Associate
Patricia Cotter, Casting Associate
Brittany Mellerson, Resident Designer
Sarah Gasser, Resident Stage Manager
Darius Adamson Jr., 2023-24 Producing Fellow
River Bermudez Sanders, 2023-24 Producing Fellow
Zoe Chien, 2023-24 Producing Fellow
Carmia Imani, 2023-24 Producing Fellow
Julie Lippert-Pasco, 2023-24 Producing Fellow
Xinyuan Pu, 2023-24 Producing Fellow
Christy Spence, 2023-24 Producing Fellow
Emily Zhou, 2023-24 Producing Fellow

PlayGround Ambassadors 2022-23

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 Equity Workgroup

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

PlayGround Board of Directors

Stephanie Prentice, Chair
James A. Kleinmann, President
Emilie Talbot, Vice President
Nitin, Treasurer
Diana Burbano, Secretary
Regina Guggenheim, Chair Emeritus
Tanvi Agrawal
Linda Amayo-Hassan
Hillary DeMartino
Katie May
Bacilio Mendez II
Rebecca Martinez
David Steele
Christian Wilburn

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