PlayGround presents Season 30

MONDAY NIGHT PLAYGROUND

Topic: “The Legacy of the Land We Inhabit”
Presented in partnership with the Association of Ramaytush Ohlone
Sponsored by Avenue Greenlight & California Humanities

November 20, 2023 7pm PT

Live at Potrero Stage + 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:

Sharon Baldwin, Jaisey Bates, Tim Bishop, Ms. Linda B Breaux-Smith, Summer Broyhill, Madeleine Butler, Ben Cain, Julie Campbell, Sidney Glass & Eleanor Clement Glass, Joan Cleveland, Ms. Marilyn Berg Cooper, Ann Ehrmann, Ms. Cherielyn Ferguson, Krystyna Finlayson, Sheri Flanders, Conde Freeman, Dr. Jan Gilman, Michael Tonjum & Jan Gilman, Hollis Greenwood, Dana Hall, Rachel Harner, Gail Hillebrand & Hugh Barroll, Brandy T Jones, Ms. Anne M. Krause, Emily Kuroda, Ms. Kristy Lin Billuni, Mr. John Lindner, Jonathan Luskin & Leslie Katz, Rhea MacCallum, Brian Markley, Linda Marks, Dr. Sheila McCormick, Ms. Cynthia L Morishige, Molly Noble & Bob Guilbault, Annette Oliveira, Ms. Vicki Oswald, Bridgette Dutta Portman, Mrs. Elizabeth Poston, Mr. George Rose, Jessica June Rowe, Michelle Ruscetta, John J. Ruskin, Kathryn Ryan, Miyoko Sakatani, Louel Senores, Mark Sherstinsky, Nancy W. Smith, Stan Stone, Mr. Richard Dana Swart, Kim Tram, Michael E Tuton, Dr. Eidell Wasserman, and Janine Wilburn. Thank you!

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

BECOME A MEMBER TODAY!

Reality Check
by Justin P. Lopez
Directed by Karina Guttierez
Ayvn/Ann…..Katherine Bahena-Benitez
Nvwel/Manuel………..Christian Jimenez
Iluney/DJ Lane……………………L. Duarte
Toquis…………….Tessa Koning-Martinez

Fertile Soil
by Bridgette Dutta Portman
Directed by Jenna Stein-Corman
Leah……………..Krystle Piamonte
Susan…..Tessa Koning-Martinez
Iris………………...April Ballesteros

Indigo Dusk
by Robyn Brooks
Directed by Kimberly Ridgeway
Golden…………….Jeunee Simon
Cousin #1……….Rolanda D. Bell
Cousin #2…………..Rezan Asfaw
Cousin #3…………Alicia Stamps

Mom and Dad’s House
by Sarena Kuhn
Directed by Alan Quismorio
Grant……….Leon Goertzen
Lily..………Karen Offereins
Evie…………………Isabel To

Acknowledgment
by Louel Señores
Directed by Linda Amayo-Hassan
John………………….GG Grilli
Brian.….Mark Rafael Truitt
Sami…………….Thea Franco

Life on Mars
by Sam Hurwitt
Directed by Jim Kleinmann
Marcus….Khary L. Moye
Carla………….L. Duarte
Ted.……………GG Grilli

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 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

ROBYN BROOKS (Indigo Dusk), she/her, M.F.A., author of the poetry chapbook, “venus in retrograde” (Finishing Line Press, 2015), is a poet, playwright, and director. Brooks participated in the playwriting residency PlayGround, in residence at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, from 2007-2013. Her plays have been staged at Berkeley Repertory Theatre; Tennessee Women’s Theater Project; Theatre of Yugen; Theatre Rhinoceros; and Los Angeles Women’s Theater Project. Brooks, a recent graduate from Goddard College, M.F.A. in playwriting, is a model in the internationally renowned Women En Large: Images of Fat Nudes, included in Martin Parr’s photo book collection, in the permanent collection at Tate Modern, London, UK.

SAM HURWITT (Life of Mars), he/him, is a Bay Area arts journalist who writes frequently for the Mercury News, East Bay Times and Marin Independent Journal. He’s been a member of the PlayGround Writers Pool since 2017 and was part of 2019’s Best of PlayGround. His trilogy of full-length plays about Helen, Penelope and Medea, Ellen’s Undone, The Weavers and Kill Your Darlings, had staged readings in the San Francisco Olympians Festival. He’s had shorts produced in PianoFight’s ShortLived and Pint Sized Plays, Awesome Theatre’s (In Search of) The Funniest Play Ever, the San Francisco Fringe Festival, and Stage@Leeds’ Gi60 in the UK.

SARENA KUHN (Mom and Dad’s House), she/her, is a Japanese American writer and transportation engineer living in San Francisco. She received her bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley where she studied civil engineering and creative writing; wrote as an arts and entertainment reporter at The Daily Californian; and produced a staged reading of Hideaki Nagahara’s The Ones Who Leave.

JUSTIN P. LOPEZ (Reality Check), 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

BRIDGETTE DUTTA PORTMAN (Fertile Soil), she/her, is a playwright and novelist. More than two dozen of her plays have been produced locally, nationally, and internationally. She is president of the Pear Theatre board of directors and a member of the Pear Playwrights’ Guild, the PlayGround SF writers pool, and the Dramatists’ Guild. She received the 2023 June Anne Baker Prize from PlayGround and is currently working on a full-length play commission. She teaches composition and creative writing at UC Berkeley.

LOUEL SEÑORES (Acknowledgment), he/him, is a Berkeley-based actor and stage manager. You may have last seen him in Tea Party (One of Our Own), Dream Hou$e (Shotgun Players) or you can come see him in The Engine of our Disruption playing at Central Works now! It’s also possible you didn’t see him stage managing Yerma (Shotgun Players) and Water by the Spoonful (SF Playhouse). He’s a proud company member of PlayGround SF and Berkeley Interactive Theater, which specializes in delivering custom made EDIB workshops for universities and other intact organizations. When he’s not doing theater, Louel is likely to be found managing a frozen yogurt shop, karaoke-ing with strangers online, playing video games, and/or dueling other nerds with foam weapons. LouelSenores.com

ACTORS

REZAN ASFAW (Indigo Dusk, “Cousin #2”), she/her, Recent Staged Readings: “The Slave Who Loved Caviar,” by Ishmael Reed, directed by L. Peter Callender, African American Shakespear Company; “Hyphenated,” by Lilia Houshmand, directed by Amal Bisharat; “Return To Sender,” by Star Finch, directed by Leigh Rondon-Davis; “Pilgrimage, ” by Humaira Ghilzai and Bridgette Dutta Portman, directed by Peter Kuo; “KARA,” by Lisa Marie Rollins, directed by Elizabeth Carter all at Crowded Fire Theatre; “Deadass Part 2,” by Nia Akilah Robinson, directed by Leigh Rondon-Davis, Berkeley Repertory Theatre.

KATHERINE BAHENA-BENITEZ (Reality Check, “Ayvn/Ann”), they/them, is a Queer Mexican-Indigenous Theatre & Film Actor, Dancer, Poet, Playwright, Advocate and more. They are also a Graduate of California State University, Sacramento. In their art, they center BIPOC/LGBTQIA+ stories, lived experiences, joy and voice. They realize how important it is to continue telling our Ancestors stories, so as to say “shine light to our resilience.” They based in California but have recently trained in the East Coast with the National Theatre Institute at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center. They are winner of the Kennedy Center’s Runner-up Irene Ryan acting award (Region 7). They’ve also had the great pleasure of working in many facets of performance with the Sacramento Shakespeare Festival, the Latino Center of Art and Culture, Teatro Espejo, and Lime Arts Production.

APRIL BALLESTEROS (Fertile Soil, “Iris”), she/her, is an actor, director, and stage manager. She is the Associate Artistic Director for Theatre Cultura and Artistic Learning & Development Associate at the California Shakespeare Theater. Her most recent credits, both via Zoom and in-person, include: Corazón of a Latina and Cheer! Story of a Dreamer (Theatre Cultura).

ROLANDA D. BELL (Indigo Dusk, “Cousin #1”), she/her, is an actress, model, singer and storyteller from West Oakland, Calif. She earned acclaim for her performance as Anaia in Aleshea Harris’s Is God Is at Oakland Theater Project. Her feature film debut was in 2018’s Blindspotting, and she has appeared on stage at Berkeley Rep, Aurora Theatre Company, African American Shakespeare Company, and Shotgun Players. Upcoming projects in 2024 will include A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Shotgun Players and Shipping & Handling with Crowded Fire. She is recipient of the 2023 RHE Foundation Artistic Fellowship.

L DUARTE (Reality Check, “Iluney/DJ Lane”; Life on Mars, “Carla”), 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

THEA FRANCO (Acknowledgment, “Sami”), she/her, is a Native & Mexican American actor. This is her Monday Night PlayGround debut. She earned a BA in Theatre Arts from California State University, East Bay and hails from Castro Valley. She’d like to thank her family and friends for their love and support in achieving her dreams!

LEON GOERTZEN (Mom and Dad’s House, “Grant”), he/they, has worked at theaters in northern and southern California, including Capital Stage, East West Players, Ferocious Lotus, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Will and Company, Magic Theatre, Asian American Theater Company, San Francisco Mime Troupe, Road Theatre Company, Cutting Ball Theater, PlayGround, Aurora Theater Company, Bay Area Playwright’s Festival, Inverness Shakespeare and New Conservatory Theater. Film credits include Quitters (with Kieran Culkin and Mira Sorvino) and Beauty and The Blade. Leon 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.

GG GRILLI (Acknowledgment, “John”; Life on Mars, “Ted”), he/him, is an actor, director, writer, producer, filmmaker, and teacher. He’s worked at theaters in the Bay Area, New York City, and around the country for over three decades, and he’s been a PlayGround member since 2007! Locally, he recently appeared as Shakespeare in Something Rotten! with Woodminster Musicals and directed Fuddy Meers at the Lesher Center with his students from Bentley School. He was the Founding Artistic Director of BrickaBrack, a multidisciplinary ensemble company, from 2012 – 2020. GG is currently directing his students in The Drowsy Chaperone. www.gggrilli.com

CHRISTIAN JIMINEZ (Reality Check, “Nvwel/Manuel”), he/him, is an actor, playwright and graduate of the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts Theatre Department. He is a San Francisco native. He was most recently seen in A Midsummer Nights Dream at Sausalito shakes, SF Batcos Sign My Name To Freedom, YPTMTCs Legally Blonde and Z space and Word for words Citizen. He is Represented by JE Talent.

TESSA KONING-MARTINEZ (Fertile Soil, “Susan”; Reality Check, “Toquis”), 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

KHARY L. MOYE (Life on Mars, “Marcus”), he/him, is an actor originally from N.Y. who 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 (Mom and Dad’s House, “Lily”), 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).

KRYSTLE PIAMONTE (Fertile Soil, “Leah”), she/her, in STARLIGHT; Sarah in SEASONAL SWEETS), she/her, is a San Francisco-based actor. Theatre credits include work at Z Space, SF Playhouse, Ferocious Lotus, Magic Theatre, TheatreWorks, TheatreFirst, Bindlestiff Studio, 59E59 in collaboration with Artistic Stamp, and a radio play, THE FOREVER WAVE by Nicole Gluckstern. Screen credits include the award-winning short films BOUND 4 HEAVEN and MEDIAN. She is a 2x Theatre Bay Area Award Finalist for Outstanding Performance in a Principal Role in a Play and was named an MVP of Bay Area Theatre by KQED. Krystle is a Co-Founder/Co-Artistic Director of The Chikahan Company and a company member of PlayGround. www.krystlepiamonte.com

MARK RAFAEL (Acknowledgment, “Brian”), 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, Golden Thread 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.”

JEUNEE SIMON (Indigo Dusk, “Golden”), she/her, is an actor, director, and intimacy choreographer based in the Bay Area. In all of her work, she is dedicated to creating braver spaces where artists can be vulnerable and play. Simon has worked with Aurora Theatre Company, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, American Conservatory Theater, TheatreFIRST and more. Simon is a proud recipient of the 2017 RHE Artistic Fellowship. She is a believer the collaborative nature of original plays and has been honored to be part of the new and emerging work being developed in the Bay Area. She is a graduate of Stanford University’s drama program and has trained with Intimacy Directors and Coordinators and Intimacy Coordinators Of Color. Her family hails from Guyana and immigrated to the US when she was 4 years old.

ALICIA STAMPS (Indigo Dusk, “Cousin #3”), she/her, is currently starring in NCTC’s production of WE ARE CONTINUOUS. She was last seen in Awesome Theatre’s THE JERSEY DEVIL. She is a founding member of SF Shakes’ Resident Teaching Artist Program and has toured in their productions of MACBETH, THE TEMPEST and JULIUS CAESAR. Other credits include SWEAT and INTIMATE APPAREL at the Pear Theatre. She holds a BFA from Cornish College of the Arts. Thank you for supporting live theatre!

ISABEL TO (Mom and Dad’s House, “Evie”), she/her, is an actor, singer, aspiring voice actor, and avid cross-stitcher living on Tamyen Ohlone land also known as San Jose, California. She is thrilled to be reprising her role in this play after performing in its original February MNP debut. Isabel had the honor of being a part of PlayGround’s inaugural Zoom Fest of 2020, performing in staged readings of Victoria Chong Der’s Translations as well as Geetha Reddy’s Safe House. Other past credits include The Song of the Nightingale at Town Hall Theatre Co. and Avenue Q at New Conservatory Theatre Center. www.isabelanneto.com

DIRECTORS

LINDA AMAYO-HASSAN (Acknowledgment), she/her, is a Chicana/Native playwright and is the Artistic Director of Theatre Cultura. Linda is an Equity actor, singer, director and a theatre professor at Chabot College. She is a member of the Pear Playwrights Guild, SameBoat Theatre Collective, Native Writers and had the honor of attending The Kennedy Center Playwriting 2018 Intensive.

KARINA GUTIÉRREZ (Reality Check), she/her, is a Bay Area-based director, dramaturg, and scholar. As a director and dramaturg, Karina has had the pleasure of working with Bay Area Children’s Theatre, BRAVA, Magic Theatre, Crowded Fire, Huntington Theatre, Magic Theatre, PlayGround, Playwright’s Foundation, Shotgun Players, Stanford University, TheatreFirst, Townhall Theatre, UC Berkeley, West Edge Opera, and Word for Word. She is additionally a member of the Latinx Theatre Commons Steering Committee, Theatre Bay Area, and a founding member of the Bay Area Latinx Theatre Alliance Network (BALTAN). Karina received her Ph.D. in Theatre and Performance Studies from Stanford University, where she was awarded the Carl Weber Prize for integration of Creative Practice and Scholarly Research. Her scholarship concentrates on the intersection of politics and performance, specifically how digital interventions, institutionalization efforts, and historical narrative affect the development and sustainability of social and politically engaged performance companies and collectives in the Americas. She is currently a professor of Theatre History and Performance Studies in the Department of Theatre and Dance and Santa Clara University.

JIM KLEINMANN (Life on Mars; 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.

ALAN QUISMORIO (Mom and Dad’s House), he/him/siya, is the Managing Director (and formerly a Co-Artistic Director) of The Chikahan Company, a Filipinx American theatre company based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He served as Artistic Director for the Alchemy Program for Emerging Playwrights at the Jon Sims Center, Asian American Theater Company, and Bindlestiff Studio. His credits include DOOLEY (Alchemy Program & New Conservatory Theatre), THUNDER ABOVE, DEEPS BELOW (Bindlestiff Studio), and A GUIDE FOR THE HOMESICK (Theatre Rhino). As an actor, he recently appeared in Cutting Ball’s production of Aimee Suzara’s THE REAL SAPPHO. He is an alumni of Crowded Fire Theatre.

KIMBERLY RIDGEWAY (Indigo Dusk), she/her, is a Director, Actor, Playwright, and Producer. Kimberly has directed projects locally for SF Playground, Altarena Playhouse, African American Shakespeare Company, Contra Costa Civic Theatre, Dragon Productions Theatre Company, Ubuntu Theatre Project, Bay Area Performing Arts Collective, Bay Area Drama Company, SF Playhouse, Town Hall Theatre, Playwrights Center of San Francisco, Theatre Rhinoceros, 3Girls Theatre and TheatreFirst. She has also directed projects for Three Willows Theatre (TX), National Black Theatre (NY), and Spokane Civic Theatre (WA). Next, Kimberly is directing Misery at Palo Alto Players, opening January 2024.

JENNA STEIN-CORMAN (Fertile Soil, 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 has learned so much from her directing apprenticeship these past few months!

PRODUCTION

ASSOCIATION OF RAMAYTUSH OHLONE (Presenting Partner). The Ramaytush (pronounced rah-my-toosh) are the original peoples of the San Francisco Peninsula. Prior to the arrival of the Spanish, the Ramaytush Ohlone numbered approximately 1,500 to 2,000 persons, but by the end the Mission Period only a few families had survived. Today, only one lineage is known to have produced living descendants in the present. Today, those descendants comprise the membership of the Ramaytush Ohlone peoples and the staff of the Association of Ramaytush Ohlone.

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 November 1, 2022 & November 20, 2023.

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 • 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 • 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, Lara Gilman & Jim Kleinmann

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS ($2500+)

John H. Gilman, Carlie Wilmans, Anonymous (2)

PRODUCERS CIRCLE ($1000-$2499)

Randy Adams, Meriko Borogove, David Goldman, Regina S. Guggenheim, E. Craig Moody, Nitin, David Steele, Anonymous (2)

PLAYWRIGHTS CIRCLE ($500-$999)

Ruth & Robert Brayton, Steve & Gretchen Debenham, Keith Goldstein and Donna Warrington, Jennifer & Sean Jeffries, Paul & Pam Kleinmann, Gregg & Jennifer Le Blanc, Dr. Gary W. London, Pam MacKinnon, Danny & Dolores Martinez, Molly Noble and Bob Guilbault, Pam & John Walker, Janine Wilburn, Maury Zeff, Anonymous (4)

PATRON ($250-$499)

Mary E. Baird, Wendy Bear, Jerome Solberg, Jon & Susan Sweedler, Jon Tracy, Anonymous

ASSOCIATE MEMBER ($125-$249)

Lynda H Barber, Gerhard and Kathleen Bette, Jack Codd, Fair & Levit Family, Eric Garcia, Anirvan Ghosh, Cindy Goldfield, Gina Harris, Gregg Le Blanc, Jonathan Luskin, Lisa A. Mammel, Tobi Marcus, Paris McCarthy, Michelle Nedboy, Doug Peckler & Evelyn Jean Pine , Jesus Reyes, Mary Ann and Malcolm Rodgers, Emily Brauer Rogers, John J. Ruskin, Kathryn Ryan, Diane Sampson, Christine Sheppard, Susan Terris, Bex White, Christian Edward Wilburn, Susannah Wise & Scott Lebus, 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 Senores, 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 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, Christian Wilburn, Elena Wright, Hector Zavala

PlayGround Staff

Jim Kleinmann, Co-Founder & Artistic Director
Jacque Bugler, Production Manager/General Manager
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