PlayGround presents Season 28

MONDAY NIGHT PLAYGROUND

Topic: “REBIRTH“

October 18, 2021 7pm PT

Freight & Salvage + Simulcast

Acknowledging the Legacy of the Land We Inhabit

PlayGround acknowledges that we are on the unceded ancestral homeland of the Ramaytush (RAH-my-toosh) Ohlone (oh-LOW-nee) and Lisjan (lih-SHAH-n) Ohlone, the original inhabitants of the San Francisco Peninsula and East Bay, respectively. As the past and present Indigenous stewards of this land and in accordance with their traditions, the Ramaytush Ohlone and Lisjan have never ceded, lost, nor forgotten their responsibilities as the caretakers of this place, as well as for all peoples who reside in their traditional territory. We recognize the historic injustice of the forcible removal of the Ohlone people from their ancestral lands, and that we benefit from living and working on their traditional homeland. We wish to pay our respects by acknowledging the Ancestors, Elders and Relatives of the Ramaytush and Lisjan Communities and by affirming their sovereign rights as First Peoples. We honor the storytellers of the Ohlone and are grateful for our ability to share and uplift Indigenous stories and those of other historically marginalized communities.

To learn about the legacy of the land you inhabit, visit Native-Land.ca | Our home on native land. To read the complete Land Acknowledgment Policy, click here.

PlayGround’s Anti-Racist Policy

PlayGround recognizes the impact of racial oppression within society and the American Theater and that we have been complicit in White Supremacy culture. Our goal is to co-create safety for our community by identifying and interrupting instances of racism and all forms of oppression when we witness them, through specific actions rooted in the principles of anti-racism and accessibility. In its endeavor to address the implications of our history, PlayGround is committed to its compliance with the following fundamental rights:
● The recognition of inherent dignity and worth of each human being.
● The recognition of equality of all human beings.
● Recognition of rights of ethnic, racial, cultural, linguistic and religious groups.
● Equality and non-discrimination.

PlayGround’s Anti-Racist Policy applies to: all members of the PlayGround community, including employees, independent contractors, volunteers, audience members, donors, and general members of the community.

To read the complete Anti-Racist Policy, click here.

A Modern Restoration
by Jennifer Le Blanc
Directed by Kahlia Davis
Sassette………………………………………………………………Elena Wright
Julia……………………………………………………………………..Gisela Feied
Sir Oldguard of Gatekeep………………………………….Bonnie Akimoto
Sir Reginald Uppencomer……………………….Michael Barrett Austin
Duchess Ex-Manager……………………………………………..Chris Steele

Abigail
by Neiry Rojo
Directed by Molly Noble
Horace………………………………………………………..Michael J. Asberry
Luke………………………………………………………………….Louel Senores
Joey…………………………………………………….Brady Morales-Woolery
The Moderator….………………………………………………..Danielle Thys

Born Again
By Sam Hurwitt
Directed by Katherine Hamilton
Sassette……………………………………………………………..Elena Wright
Barbara………………………………………………………….Karen Offereins
Alice……………………………………………………………………..Lisa Morse
Chalice………………………………………………………..Jasmine Williams
Male OS Voice……………………………………..Brady Morales-Woolery

Beshert
by Madeleine Butler
Directed by Norman Gee
Kimberly……………………………………………..…………Regina Morones
Michael………………………………………………………………Aaron Wilton
Sara…………………………………………………..……….………Liz Anderson

A Well
by Isaac Ontiveros
Directed by Jim Kleinmann
August………………………………………….………………Bacilio Mendez II
Alex………………………………………………….………………Jon Demegillo

Ivan the Terrible Actor
by Christian Wilburn
Directed by Cindy Goldfield
Ivan The Terrible………………………………..………………Louis Parnell
Andy……………………………………………………….……Krystle Piamonte
Taylor…………………………………………………………………Rosie Hallett

Stage Manager: Dianne Harrison

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

PlayGround is a member of Theatre Bay Area and Theatre Communications Group,
and an Associate Member 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

MADELEINE BUTLER (Beshert)’s Monday Night PlayGround productions include A Beautiful Evening, The Story of Our Lives (People’s Choice Award), The River God (Best of PlayGround 2016), and The Last Pirogue. Her short plays have been staged by PCSF, FABUM (Washington, D.C.), and 3 Girls Theatre, including an episode of a collaborative serial radio drama. She is attending the Kennedy Center Playwriting Intensive this month and is separately workshopping a full-length play inspired by a prompt from Monday Night PlayGround.

SAM HURWITT (Born Again) is a Bay Area arts journalist who currently writes for Bay Area News Group and the Marin Independent Journal. Sam has been a member the PlayGround Writers Pool since 2017 and had a short play included in 2019’s Best of PlayGround. His trilogy of full-length plays about Helen of Troy, Penelope and Medea had staged readings in the San Francisco Olympians Festival, and he’s had several shorts produced in PianoFight’s ShortLived and Pint Sized Plays.

JENNIFER LE BLANC (A Modern Restoration) 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 Livermore Shakespeare Festival.

ISAAC ONTIVEROS (A Well) was a member of the San Francisco PlayGround writers pool in 2016 and 2017, with his play Digging Ditches in Fresno selected as Best of PlayGround in 2016. Isaac has spent more than 15 years working for economic, racial, and social justice organizations locally, nationally, and internationally. He is currently an educator at a national healthcare workers union and is a proud resident of Oakland, CA.

CHRISTIAN WILBURN (Ivan the Terrible Actor) is a local educator, playwright, and fiction writer, born and raised in San Francisco. In his two years in the Playground Writer’s Pool he received three Monday Night Playground People’s Choice Awards, two Best of Playground selections, the Inaugural Best of Playground People’s Choice award, and commission for his full-length play Starlight. Starlight is currently in development as a part of the Playground Playwright Residency Program. Christian’s full-length devised play love_stories premiered at Santa Clara University in 2018. Christian also is concluding his MFA in Writing from the University of San Francisco in December.

ACTORS

BONNIE AKIMOTO (A Modern Restoration, “Sir Oldguard of Gatekeep”) has performed extensively with many Bay Area theaters including TheatreFirst, Aurora Theatre Company, Thick Description, San Jose Stage Company, TheatreWorks, California Shakespeare Festival, and Berkeley Rep among others. Outside of the Bay Area she has performed with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Mixed Blood Theatre Company, the Contemporary American Theater Festival, and Ford’s Theatre. She has received the Bay Guardian Goldie Award in Acting, a Dean Goodman Choice Award, and was nominated for a Bay Area Critics’ Circle Award. TV: Nash Bridges; Film: The Pursuit of Happyness; The Embrace; Dope Queens.

LIZ ANDERSON (Beshert, “Sarah”) is an actor, teacher, and filmmaker. Her narrative work includes the award-winning shorts Rapunzel’s Etymology of Zero, The Tolls, and the single-take short, Welcome Back Mr Buzzcock, for Blumhouse’s Crypt TV. A graduate of the NYU Tisch theater program and recipient of the Tisch Studio Award, Anderson has studied with the Atlantic Theater Company, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, and is a member of the studio faculty at American Conservatory Theater and company member with PlayGround.

MICHAEL J. ASBERRY (Abigail, “Horace”) most recently appeared in Pericles with The San Francisco Shakespeare Festival. Other theatre credits include San Francisco Mime Troupe; A.C.T.; Aurora Theatre; Profile Theater; Best of Playground Festival; Center REPertory Company; Sacramento Theatre Company; Capital Stage; Shotgun Players; Z Space; San Francisco Shakespeare Festival; Alter Theater; Artists Repertory Theatre; Lorraine Hansberry Theatre; TheatreWorks; African-American Shakespeare Co. and the 6th Street Playhouse; Asberry also has Film (Free Byrd, San Andreas), Television (Chance, Trauma, Nash Bridges) and Voiceover experience (Pixar Animation, Clorox, Electronic Arts).

MICHAEL BARRETT AUSTIN (A Modern Restoration, “Sir Reginald Uppencomer”), he/him/his. Michael’s recent (pre-pandemic) theatre appearances include As You Like It (SF Shakespeare Festival), Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (42nd Street Moon) and The Elephant Man (Dr. Frederick Treves) at Hillbarn Theatre. He toured the country with The National Theatre for Children and Italy with Shakespeare at Stinson, and has appeared on television, film and in countless commercials. He is a member of TheatreFirst, Just Theater and PlayGround and proud husband of Emily and father to Lucille. www.michaelbarrettaustin.com

JON DEMEGILLO (A Well, “Alex”) is Bay Area based actor and creator. He was seen this past spring in Akaina Ghosh’s Blended Histories as part of Best of PlayGround 25. Having immigrated with his family to the Bay Area at the age 12 from Iloilo, Philippines, he wants to push the Asian/Asian American narrative forward by collaborating in an array of projects that highlight the multifaceted and intricately beautiful stories of his community and his culture. He graduated from University of North Carolina School of the Arts with a BFA in acting.

GISELA FEIED (A Modern Restoration, “Julia”), she/her/they, is very excited to be a part of the season opener at Freight & Salvage! In 2019, she graduated from PCPA where she had the pleasure to be in the ensemble for the Crucible, play Tootles from Peter Pan, and Hermia from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Currently, she is working with Kaiser Permanente Educational Theatre in the Ghosted program bringing mental health awareness and tools for mental wellness virtually to high schools across Northern California. Muchas gracias por esta oportunidad!

ROSIE HALLETT (Ivan the Terrible Actor, “Taylor”) is grateful to be back on stage again! Pre-pandemic, she appeared in Top Girls at ACT and Mother of the Maid at MTC.

BACILIO MENDEZ II (A Well, “August”) is an attorney. … Not your attorney. … He practices Bird Law. He’s very good at it. Bacilio also sometimes acts and writes (with varying degrees of success); he loves semicolons.

BRADY MORALES-WOOLERY (Abigail, “Joey”; Born Again, “Offstage Voice”), he/him/his, is a Bay Area based actor. He is thrilled to finally get the chance to be on stage again after more than a year. And to be sharing the stage with so many talented actors is a dream.

REGINA MORONES (Beshert, “Kimberly”), she/her, is a native Bay Area actor, singer, educator, and a resident artist at the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival. She was last seen in The Winter’s Tale at the California Shakespeare Theater. Bay Area credits include Retablos (Word For Word SF), Utopia (Cutting Ball Theater), As You Like It (San Francisco Shakespeare Festival), and Women Laughing Alone With Salad (Shotgun Players). Morones has a BA in Theatre Arts from Clark Atlanta University and an MFA in Acting from the University of Iowa. www.reginamorones.com

LISA MORSE (Born Again, “Alice”), she/her, has been seen in such Bay Area productions as The Other Place with Symmetry Theatre, Bright Shining Sea and Abominable with Playground, Down a Little Dirt Road with Just Theatre, and regionally in Last Night of Ballyhoo with Missouri Rep and The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe at The Kennedy Center, among others.

KAREN OFFEREINS (Born Again, “Barbara”), she/her, is a company member of PlayGround and was last seen on stage in Custom Made Theatre’s How to Transcend a Happy Marriage, having previously performed there in The Pain and the Itch and M. Butterfly. Recent credits include Elevada at Shotgun Players (as well as The Mousetrap, Top Girls, and Our Town), Two Mile Hollow (Ferocious Lotus, where she is also a company member), and Phèdre (Cutting Ball Theater). Past credits include The Potrero Nuevo Project (PlayGround), The Rules (SF Playhouse), and Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Big Funk, and No Exit (AtmosTheatre).

LOUIS PARNELL (Ivan the Terrible Actor, “Ivan the Terrible”) is a Bay Area actor and director. He works regularly with the San Francisco Playhouse and 3Girls Theatre. He has also worked at A.C.T., Center Rep, The Magic, Marin Theatre Co., TheatreWorks and with many smaller companies. Prior to the pandemic, he was last seen as Herr Schultz in CABARET and will appear in FOLLIES this coming summer (both at the SF Playhouse). He has appeared in many film, television and commercial roles and is a proud member of AEA, SAG-AFTRA and PlayGround.

KRYSTLE PIAMONTE (Ivan the Terrible Actor, “Andy”) is a stage/screen actor who is thrilled to be back on stage with Monday Night PlayGround! Theatre includes: RIPPED (Z Space); KING OF THE YEES and DANCE NATION (SF Playhouse); INSIDE OUT & BACK AGAIN (BACT); and TWO MILE HOLLOW (Ferocious Lotus). Film/TV include: SORRY TO BOTHER YOU, BOUND 4 HEAVEN, and LUMPIA WITH A VENGEANCE. Her pandemic theatre projects included PlayGround Zoom Fest and interactive theatre-by-mail with Artistic Stamp. She is a Co-Founder/Co-Artistic Director of The Chikahan Company, whose inaugural production, THE ACT OF CARE, will premiere during PlayGround’s Innovators Showcase. www.krystlepiamonte.com | IG: @xLe

LOUEL SEÑORES (Abigail, “Luke”), he/him, is ecstatic to be able to get to play with PlayGround again IN PERSON after a year of zoom shenanigans! In addition to this Monday Night PlayGround, Louel is also performing with The Chikahan Company (with PlayGround’s Innovator Incubator) in their first production, “The Act of Care”, which opens on Nov 19th at Potrero Stage. By day, Louel continues to manage As You Wish Frozen Yogurt on Solano Ave, as well as continue his EDI work with Berkeley Interactive Theater. For more info, check out LouelSenores.com

CHRIS STEELE (A Modern Restoration, “Duchess Ex-Manager”) is a queer trans nonbinary performance artist, writer, and activist.  Their work centers on highlighting queer narratives throughout history and combating bigotry and white supremacy. As an actor, they have performed with companies across the Bay including We Players, NCTC, Cutting Ball, SF Shakespeare Festival, and the SF Playwrights Festival. As a writer they premiered adaptations of Miss Julie and Troilus and Cressida with their queer collective: Poltergeist Theatre Project. Chris is a co-founder of Poltergeist Theatre Project: a new queer theater collective, on instagram @poltergeist_theatre_project, and their award-winning drag personas Polly Amber Ross and Peter Pansexual can be found on instagram @pollyandpeter, where they’ve been creating politically subversive video performance art throughout the Covid pandemic.

DANIELLE THYS, (Abigail, “The Moderator”), she/her, is thrilled to be back on an actual stage hugging elbows with her favorite theatre peeps and a real live human audience after an 18 month run of monologues performed live for her birds and dogs.

JASMINE WILLIAMS (Born Again, “Chalice”)

AARON WILTON (Beshert, “Michael”) is elated to be working with PlayGround again where he is part of the acting company. Notable stage productions include George Street Playhouse’s “Inspecting Carol” (with Peter Scolari & Dan Lauria), Aurora Theatre Company’s “John Gabriel Borkman” (with Karen Grassle) and the lead in Hudson Stage Company’s “After All” (with Broadway’s Walter Charles & Susan Pellegrino). Film: Jexi, The Boat Builder. TV: Criminal Minds, Sunset Glory. Video Games: Watch Dogs 2, Godfather 2, Mafia: Definitive Edition, Battlefield: Hardline. Commercials: Taco Bell, Xfinity, Wells Fargo, Blue Shield, Tejava, Charles Schwab, Chase, EA Games, Cisco, Adobe, Pixar.

ELENA WRIGHT (Born Again, “Sassette”) is a bay area actor, fight choreographer, teacher, and director. She has performed with Theatreworks, SF Playhouse, Marin Theatre Company, Marin Shakespeare, Capital Stage, Symmetry Theatre, California Shakespeare Theatre, Shotgun Players, Pacific Repertory Theatre, B Street Theatre, Seattle Shakespeare, Foothill Theatre, and Commonwealth Shakespeare among others. She is a company member of Playground, Symmetry Theatre, and Actors Equity. She holds an MFA in acting from the University of Washington and a BS in theatre from Northeastern University.

DIRECTORS

KHALIA DAVIS (A Modern Restoration) is a multidisciplinary artist recently named Artistic Director of Bay Area Children’s Theatre where she led the premiere of A Kids Play About Racism, creating a new hybrid between live theatrical storytelling and film. Directed and devised other new works with prominent theaters such as Bay Area Children’s Theater, Atlantic Theater Company’s Atlantic for Kids, New York City Children’s Theater, Disney Theatrical Group, The Story Pirates and more. BA in Theater Arts from the University of Southern California www.khaliadavis.com!

NORMAN GEE (Beshert) has acted, directed, and taught within the Bay Area for years. Aiming to create a different kind of Black theatre, he founded Oakland Public Theatre to expand our notions of culture by encompassing the too often invisible presence of the African diaspora—from reimagining plays by Shakespeare and Strindberg to new works and beyond. As a teaching artist, Gee offers that perspective to students throughout the Bay in acting and playwriting. He steps into this new role as a PlayGround associate producer with a desire to continue broadening our community’s experience both onstage and throughout the organization.

CINDY GOLDFIELD (Ivan the Terrible Actor) has been a fixture in the Bay Area for many years. Regional credits include work at A.C.T., CenterREP, San Jose Rep, TheatreWorks, Broadway by the Bay, Marin Theatre Company, N.C.T.C., and 42nd Street Moon. N.Y. credits include D’Arcy Drollinger’s Project: Lohan, and Mr. Irresistible, at La MaMa E.T.C. Goldfield also enjoys a thriving cabaret career, collaborating with Scrumbly Koldewyn (Goldfield & Koldewyn) and David Aaron Brown (One Night Stand.)  In addition to her performing credits, Goldfield has two Theatre Bay Area awards for Best Direction (Trog! and Once.)

KATHERINE HAMILTON (Born Again) is a local director and actress happy to be back in person at Monday Night PlayGround! A former directing apprentice at PlayGround, she is now a member of the SF company. She will be returning to the stage in November at Palo Alto Players as Charlotte in The Revolutionists.

JIM KLEINMANN (A Well; Artistic Director & Co-Founder), he, 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.

MOLLY NOBLE (Abigail) is an actor, director and teacher having acted and directed for Shotgun Players, Cinnabar Theatre, Motion Theatre, Centenary Stage, Main Stage West, Bay Area Playwright’s Festival, Word for Word, West Marin Players, Boston Shakespeare Co. New Dramatists, Ensemble Studio Theatre and The American School London. She is a member of PlayGround, The Bay Area’s leading incubator for new plays.

PRODUCTION & STAFF

ANNIE STUART (Associate Artistic Director) has served as casting director for PlayGround for the past twenty-two seasons and in 2005 was named Associate Director. As a freelance casting director, her other credits include Marin Theatre Company, Center REP, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, San Francisco and Los Angeles Shakespeare Festivals, Brava!, Theatre Rhinoceros, and Z Space, among others. She has taught at San Jose State University, College of Marin, and Marin Theatre Company. For the PlayGround 2021-22 season, Annie will cast more than 300 roles.

LIAM VINCENT (Director of Growth) has been a professional San Francisco-based actor for the past 25 years and a proud PlayGround company member since 1999.  Locally, he has worked  at American Conservatory Theater, Cal Shakes, Marin Theatre Company, Magic Theatre, SF Playhouse, Aurora Theatre Company, TheatreWorks, and San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, among many others.  Regional credits include productions at Huntington Theatre Company, Alliance Theatre, Arizona Theatre Company, Santa Cruz Shakespeare, Pasadena Playhouse, and Portland Center Stage. A regular presence of Bay Area theatre fundraisers and curtain speeches over the years, Liam has served as master of ceremonies and host for Cal Shakes galas and helped plan events for American Conservatory Theater and San Francisco Shakes, among others. Since 2018, he has worked with the public transportation advocacy nonprofit, Seamless Bay Area, to help fuel the organization’s growth and visibility. Most recently, he served as the first creative hire for DriveTime, co-hosting and writing for the interactive trivia app DriveTime (now Drive.fm), and helping grow the company by 500% during his tenure. He was instrumental in helping the company achieve its Series A fundraising goal of $11 million in September 2019. DriveTime won a Webby Award in 2020 for Best Voice App.

DIANNE HARRISON (Stage Manager) has enjoyed stage managing around Sonoma and Marin Counties over the last ten years. Some of her past shows include Sonoma Arts Live’s SAME TIME, NEXT YEAR; Santa Rosa Junior College’s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and ALMOST MAINE, when she earned a Certificate of Merit from the Kennedy Center’s American College Theater Festival in 2015; JoLee Productions’ BLUFF, which she also co-directed; and Ross Valley Players’ (RVP) SILENT SKY, which was listed in the Pacific Sun’s Top Torn Tickets for 2020. Dianne recently joined RVP’s return to live theatre with their 92nd season’s opening of RIPCORD.

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 October 1, 2020 & October 15, 2021.

GOVERNMENT, CORPORATE, & FOUNDATION DONORS

Alameda County Arts Commission • Amazon • Art Space Development Corporation • Berkeley Civic Arts • The Bernard Osher Foundation • Bill Graham Supporting Foundation of the Jewish Community Federation & Endowment Fund • California Arts Council • Creative Capacity Fund • The Fleishhacker Foundation • Goldman Sachs • Google • Grants For The Arts • Koret Foundation • Lenore & Howard Klein Foundation • The Leo J. & Celia Carlin Fund • Negley Flinn Charitable Foundation • NIAC • Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation • Planet Earth Arts • San Francisco Arts Commission • The Shenson Foundation • The Shubert Foundation • Stanford University • The Tournesol Project • Voluntary Arts Contribution Fund • The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation • Zellerbach Family Foundation

INDIVIDUAL SUPPORTERS

SEASON SPONSORS ($5000+)
Donna Ano, Mr. William Bivins, Emilie T. & Gordon C. Brooks, Jerome Joseph Gentes & Michael Bourque, Lara Gilman & Jim Kleinmann, Craig and Kathy Moody, David Steele

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS ($2500–$4,999)
John H. Gilman, Regina S. Guggenheim, Linda Kremer, Diane Sampson, Anonymous (2)

PRODUCERS CIRCLE ($1000-$2499)
Erik Blachford, Karen Chakmakian, Thalia Dorwick, Keith Goldstein & Donna N. Warrington, Tish and Steve Harwood, Mrs. Frannie Pope Hohman, Tracy Brown and Greg Holland, Brady Lea & David Gallagher, Dr. Gary W. London, Karen Mauney-Brodek, Nitin, Ms. Carol Louisa Owens, Arthur Rock & Toni Rembe Rock, Sharon Simpson, Marian Scheuer Sofaer & Abraham D. Sofaer, David Cost and Kate Stechschulte, Anonymous (4)

PLAYWRIGHTS CIRCLE ($500-$999)
Dr. Elaine Baskin & Kenneth R. Krechmer, Sidney Glass & Eleanor Clement Glass, Paulette Donsavage & Deeje Cooley, Mr. Richard Dixon, Michael Fried, Barbara Goodyear & Stephen Rosenfield, Ruben & Keli Grijalva, Ms. Kathryn A Hecht, Gail Hillebrand & Hugh Barroll, Jofish Kaye & Erin Marie Panttaja, Diane Leonard, Gwen Loeb & Doyle Ott, Rebecca Martinez, Anne Maxwell, Colette Meunier & Mark van Norman, Nitin, Cindy & Chris Redburn, Cindy & Chris Redburn, Ray Riegert, Michele & John Ruskin, Nancy Spencer & Hardy Callcott, Oren & Justin Stevens, Mr. Malachy Walsh, Maury Zeff, Anonymous

PATRON ($250-$499)
Sharon Baldwin, Wendy Bear, Cass Brayton, Ruth & Robert Brayton, In memory of Susan Bruett, Karen Catlin, Laurie Cohen, William Cornwell, David Cramer, Ms. Doris Davenport, Mr. Richard Davis – Lowell, Maggie Dewan-Smith, Ms. Lynda Divito, Mr. Mark Andrews, Krystyna Finlayson , Ms. Jessica Forbess, Sarah Gasser, Justin and Oren Stevens, Keith Goldstein, Eileen Grady, Joan & Donald Green, Daryl Anthony Harper, Becky Harris, Margaret & Cory Johnson – UCSF Essential Worker’s Program, Ray and Carla Kaliski, Joanne Kobori, Christopher Lee Kuckenbaker, Jonathan Luskin & Leslie Katz, Michael Lutz, Brittany S Mellerson, Bud & Donna Ogle, Chris Potter & Lisa Mammel, Madeline Daly Puccioni, Matthew Purdon, Christopher Reber, Chris Reber, Kathy J Reynolds, Pauline Roothman, Rolf Saxon, Daniel & Chelsea Sinto, Mr. Cleavon Smith, Ann Stephens & Robert Stephens, Annie Stuart & June Palladino, Jon & Susan Sweedler, Liam Vincent, Ms. Rosalinde Westil, Christian Wilburn, Janine & Darryl Wilburn, Joanne Chow Winship, Anonymous

ASSOCIATE MEMBER ($125-$249)
Ann E. & David S., Mary E. Baird, Julie  Birdsong, Gwen & Karen, Katie Dlesk, Eric Dobson, Krystyna Finlayson, Jessica Forbess, Stephanie & David Haines, Kari Kiernan, Curt Larson, Cecily T. Martin, Trynne Miller & David Prince, Nvidia, Ms. Madeline Daly Puccioni, Carol Pugh, Tipu Purkayastha & Poorva Malhotra, Rebecca Schweitzer, Kurt Taylor & BJ Olsen, Linda Vallee, Ms. Pamela Wetzell, Anonymous (2)

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PLAYGROUND COMPANY

PLAYGROUND WRITERS COMPANY

Linda Amayo-Hassan+, Cass Brayton+, Tom Bruett+, Rachel Bublitz+, Madeleine Butler, Vanessa Cassandras, Reg Clay, Victoria Evans Erville, Jessica Fechtor, Ipsheeta Furtado, Akaina Ghosh, Linda Maria Giron, Garret Jon Groenveld+, Monique Hafen Adams, Sam Hurwitt, Tejahra Jacobs, Lisa Kang, Anne Yumi Kobori, Molly Krost+, Jennifer Le Blanc, Jonathan Luskin+, Christopher Magee, Alanna McFall, Bacilio Mendez II, Isaac Ontiveros+, Conrad Panganiban, Erin Marie Panttaja, Evelyn Jean Pine+, Madeline Puccioni, Neiry Rojo, Kevin Rolston, Annette Roman, Rebecca Schweitzer , Susan Sher, Marissa Skudlarek, Alexis Standridge, Chris Steele, Shruti Tewari, Lisa Gaye Thompson, Eteya Trinidad+, Daysha Veronica+, Madison Wetzell, Christian Wilburn+, Maury Zeff
+ Resident Playwright

PLAYGROUND COMPANY

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

PLAYGROUND AMBASSADORS

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

PLAYGROUND STAFF

Jim Kleinmann, Co-Founder & Artistic Director
Annie Stuart, Associate Artistic Director
Liam Vincent, Director of Growth
Norman Gee, Associate Producer
Jed Parsario, Associate Producer
Stephanie Prentice, Associate Producer
Katja Rivera, Associate Producer
Jacque Bugler, Production Manager
Brittany Mellerson, Resident Designer
Sarah Gasser, Resident Stage Manager & Assistant to the Artistic Director
Lindsey Abbott, 2021-22 Producing Fellow
Daniel Benitez, 2021-22 Producing Fellow
Caroline Portante, 2021-22 Producing Fellow
Wallace Yan, 2021-22 Producing Fellow
Edna Mira Raia, Post Fellow
Lana Richards, Post Fellow
Chris Steele, Post Fellow

PLAYGROUND BOARD OF DIRECTORS

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

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