PlayGround Presents Season 30

MONDAY NIGHT PLAYGROUND

Topic: “Origin Story“

October 16, 2023 7pm PT

Live at Freight and Salvage + Simulcast & On-Demand

Acknowledging the Legacy of the Land We Inhabit

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

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

PlayGround’s Anti-Racist Policy

PlayGround recognizes the impact of racial oppression within society and the American Theater and that we have been complicit in White Supremacy culture. Our goal is to co-create safety for our community by identifying and interrupting instances of racism and all forms of oppression when we witness them, through specific actions rooted in the principles of anti-racism and accessibility. In its endeavor to address the implications of our history, PlayGround is committed to its compliance with the following fundamental rights:

• The recognition of inherent dignity and worth of each human being.
• The recognition of equality of all human beings.
• Recognition of rights of ethnic, racial, cultural, linguistic and religious groups.
• Equality and non-discrimination.

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

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

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, Sidney Glass & Eleanor Clement Glass, Joan Cleveland, Ms. Marilyn Berg Cooper, Ms. Cherielyn Ferguson, Krystyna Finlayson, Dr. Jan Gilman, Michael Tonjum & Jan Gilman, Hollis Greenwood, Rachel Harner, Gail Hillebrand & Hugh Barroll, Ms. Anne M. Krause, Emily Kuroda, Ms. Kristy Lin Billuni, Mr. John Lindner, Jonathan Luskin & Leslie Katz, Rhea MacCallum, Dr. Sheila McCormick, Molly Noble & Bob Guilbault, Ms. Vicki Oswald, Mrs. Elizabeth Poston, Mr. George Rose, Jessica June Rowe, Michelle Ruscetta, John J. Ruskin, Kathryn Ryan, Miyoko Sakatani, Mark Sherstinsky, Nancy W. Smith, Mr. Richard Dana Swart, 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!

Madam Gorgo
by Kimberly Ridgeway
Directed by Jim Kleinmann
Athena……………Roshni Datta
Medusa…..Ryan Nicole Austin
Poseidon……….Ben Chau-Chiu

Where Does a Piece of Paper Come From?
by Xinyuan Pu
Directed by Claire Ganem
Leon………Michael Carroll
Noel……………….Zoe Chien
Tree…..Michael J. Asberry

The Aisle
by Daniel Martinez Jr
Directed by Tessa Corrie
Carmen…….Leticia Duarte
Vicente………Louel Señores
Tyson……….Michael Phillis

Iván y El Justiciero
by Justin P. Lopez
Directed by Katja Rivera
Iván……….Ilan Casian-Issenberg
Papá/Justiciero...Rudy Guerrero
Gabacho…….Daniel Martinez Jr.

America Chavez: Particle Flyer
by Lisa Gaye Thompson
Directed by Soren Oliver
Doc…………………….Dave Sikula
Antonia.……………..Gisela Feied
Mom….Annette Amelia Oliveira

Gothamopolisville and the NGA
by Elizabeth Flanagan
Directed by Adam Sussman
Narrator #1…Karen Offereins
Narrator #2………Mark Rafael
Hero.…………….Lizzie Calogero
Villain…………………Gwen Loeb

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

ELIZABETH FLANAGAN (Gothamopolisville and the NGA), she/her, is back for a third year as a member of the PlayGround Writer’s Company after a brief hiatus. She is also a resident playwright with 3Girls Theatre and previously served on the board of the Playwrights’ Center of San Francisco. Elizabeth’s plays have been produced by: B8 Theatre Company, San Francisco Theater Pub, All Terrain Theater, Awesome Theatre, PianoFight, Playwrights’ Center of San Francisco, and Wily West Productions. Her full-length play, METH, was recently a semi-finalist in the Bay Area Playwrights Festival. You can follow Elizabeth on twitter @writesinpublic

JUSTIN P. LOPEZ (Iván y El Justiciero), 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

DANIEL MARTINEZ JR (The Aisle), he/him, is a writer and actor based in San Jose, CA. This is Daniel’s second season with PlayGround’s writers pool, and the water is still ~warm~. His short play, Changing Inward, was featured in Best of Playground 27 and is currently being adapted into a full length under the People’s Choice Commission. Daniel loves telling stories that bring the funny out of very real situations. This play, The Aisle, is one of his favorite plays that he’s written and he sincerely hopes you enjoy.

XINYUAN PU (Where Does a Piece of Paper Come From?; Producing Fellow), she/her, is excited to make her PlayGround debut. She is a multilingual Chinese playwright who is interested in community-centered, sociopolitical theatre and works with poetry and ethnography. Her plays include 新源, New Spring (Northwestern University), Project HEAL (Spectrum Theatre Company), A Flower Explodes, Dragon in the Bird Country, and Contagion. A recent graduate of Northwestern University, Xinyuan has received multiple research grants to study multiculturalism and human rights issues in China, France, and Morocco. She is currently a producing fellow at PlayGround and an artistic consultant based in San Francisco. To read more about her works: puxinyuan.com.

KIMBERLY RIDGEWAY (Madam Gorgo), she/her, has been working professionally as a director, actor, playwright, and producer in theater for over 25 years. Kim directed projects for many Bay Area Theatre Companies including Altarena Playhouse, Contra Costa Civic Theatre, Dragon Productions Theatre Company, Playwrights Center of San Francisco, San Francisco Playhouse, Theatre Rhinoceros, and TheatreFirst, and Ubuntu Theater Project. Kim will be making her directing debut at Spokane Civic Theatre (Spokane, Washington) in April 2023. She is also a member of the PlayGround Directing Company.

LISA GAYE THOMPSON (America Chavez: Particle Flyer), she/her, is happy to begin her fifth season with Monday Night Playground where her short play Three Centimeters Per Second was staged, winning a People’s Choice award, before being produced last year at Fringe of Marin. Her short plays, including Lucy in the Clouds and Strike Home have also had readings around the Bay. She’s a founding company member, playwright and sometime host of Write Away, a monthly show where playwrights write new plays based on audience suggestions and then perform them.

ACTORS

MICHAEL J. ASBERRY (Where Does a Piece of Paper Come From?, “Tree”), he/him, most recently performed with Elm Shakespeare Company in New Haven, CT. as “Hugh Evans” in The Merry Wives of Windsor. Other theatre credits include Center REP; Aurora Theatre Company; Marin Theatre Company; Cal Shakes; Orlando Shakes (Orlando, FL); Sacramento Theatre Company; San Francisco Shakespeare Festival; San Francisco Mime Troupe, A.C.T.; Theatreworks; 6th Street Playhouse; Lorraine Hansberry Theatre and Shotgun Players. Michael has also appeared in a host of film, television, commercial, voiceover and video game productions. It’s great to be back with the Playground SF crew! Proud member of AEA and SAG-AFTRA.

RYAN NICOLE AUSTIN (Madam Gorgo, “Medusa”), she/her, is a Grammy-nominated polymath who finds her most fulfilling experiences at the intersection of art and activism. Austin has led productions as an actress, director and playwright at theater companies throughout the Bay Area. She is a writer and producer on the developmental teams for the musicals “Curren$y” and “CoFounders” and streaming series “American (G)race.” As a writer and performer, Austin is a two-time alumnus of The Public Theater’s #BARS Workshop led by Rafael Casal and Daveed Diggs. Austin has been featured on TEDx San Francisco and ESPN’s NBA at Christmas with Daveed Diggs and has performed for Google, Sony, LinkedIn, Apple and Barack Obama.

LIZZIE CALOGERO (Gothamopolisville and the NGA, “Hero”), she/her, is an English-American actor based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has performed extensively around the Bay Area, including at Marin Theatre Company, Magic Theatre, San Jose Rep, Center Rep, San Francisco Shakespeare Co, Woman’s Will, and many seasons with the Tony Award-winning San Francisco Mime Troupe, where she is a former Collective Member. www.lizzie.calogero.us

MICHAEL CARROLL (Where Does a Piece of Paper Come From?, “Leon”), 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. He is extremely excited to be a part of SF Playground’s stage reading series, and cannot wait to meet you!

ILAN CASIAN-ISSENBERG (Iván y El Justiciero, “Iván”), he/him, is an actor and singer living in Oakland, he is a senior at Oakland School for the Arts currently in the Vocal Music Department, although he has spent the previous four years in the Musical Theatre Department. Some previous credits include Narrator in Into The Woods at the Mountain Play this past summer. Ilan also has film experience in Gordon Getty’s opera film Goodbye Mr. Chips (as Linford). He thanks his community for nurturing him into the person he is and letting him be as loquito as he wants. Enjoy!

BEN CHAU-CHIU (Madam Gorgo, “Poseidon”), they/them, a Bay Area actor and director. He’s excited to be back as a company member for PlayGround’s 30th season! Recent credits include: Cymbeline, Much Ado About Nothing (SF Shakes); Poor Yella Rednecks, The Headlands (A.C.T.); Delta Daze, Momo, Best Christmas Ever (Monday Night PlayGround SF/NY); She Loves Me (42nd Street Moon); Beauty and the Beast (Palo Alto Players); A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder (Lamplighters Music Theatre). He has also worked with Cal Shakes, Berkeley Rep, Livermore Valley Opera, New Conservatory Theater Center, Town Hall Theatre, and Bay Area Children’s Theatre. benchauchiu.com

ZOE CHIEN (Where Does a Piece of Paper Come From?, “Noel”; Producing Fellow), 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.

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

L DUARTE (The Aisle, “Carmen”), 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

GISELA FEIED (America Chavez: Particle Flyer, “Antonia”), she/they, is thrilled to be diving into a new season at Playground. Most recently they had the pleasure of learning the guitarrón and playing Gabby in PCPA’s American Mariachi. Now they are at Kaiser Permanente Educational Theatre bringing the play Ghosted to local schools and mental health awareness workshops virtually across the country.

RUDY GUERRERO (Iván y El Justiciero, “Papá/Justiciero”), he/him, is honored to be a company member of PlayGround. Other theater credits include performances at 42nd St. Moon, American Conservatory Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Central Works, Foothill Music Theater, Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, Magic Theatre, Marin Shakespeare Company, Marin Theatre Company, San Francisco Playhouse, Theatre Rhinoceros, TheatreWorks, and Word for Word. Mr. Guerrero has a BFA in Musical Theater from the Boston Conservatory and a MFA in Acting from the American Conservatory Theater. He will be seen next in Citizen by Greg Sarris with Word for Word at ZBelow in San Francisco, October 18 – November 12, 2023. rudyguerrero.com

GWEN LOEB (Gothamopolisville and the NGA, “Villain”), she/her, has been a PlayGround company member for 23 years. As an avid believer in new works, Gwen has originated numerous roles — including Maybelle in Cow Pie Bingo by Larissa Fasthorse, and Zetta in Dog Act by Liz Duffy Adams. Some of Gwen’s other favorite roles include: Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest at Livermore Shakespeare; the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet at San Francisco Shakespeare; Columbina in Truffaldino Says No at Shotgun; and Pauline in A Bright New Boise at Aurora Theater. When not fighting for #villainrights, Gwen works to save the world with stories at www.wbistories.org

DANIEL MARTINEZ JR (Iván y El Justiciero, “Gabacho”), he/him, is a writer and actor based in San Jose, CA. This is Daniel’s second season with PlayGround’s writers pool, and the water is still ~warm~. His short play, Changing Inward, was featured in Best of Playground 27 and is currently being adapted into a full length under the People’s Choice Commission. Daniel loves telling stories that bring the funny out of very real situations. This play, The Aisle, is one of his favorite plays that he’s written and he sincerely hopes you enjoy.

KAREN OFFEREINS (Gothamopolisville and the NGA, “Narrator #1”), she/her, is a company member of PlayGround and was last seen on stage in Quicksand Club Sketch Comedy. Recent credits include Evolution (Ferocious Lotus, where she is also a company member), How to Transcend a Happy Marriage (Custom Made Theatre Company), Elevada (Shotgun Players), and Two Mile Hollow (Ferocious Lotus). Past credits include Phèdre (Cutting Ball Theater), The Potrero Nuevo Project (PlayGround), The Rules (SF Playhouse), The Mousetrap, Top Girls, and Our Town (Shotgun Players), The Pain and the Itch (Custom Made Theatre Company), and Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Big Funk, and No Exit (AtmosTheatre).

ANNETTE AMELIA OLIVEIRA‘s (America Chavez: Particle Flyer, “Mom”), she/her, many theatre roles include women (and men) who are wise, fierce, silly, sometimes losing marbles, often Latinx. She’s performed in two Shakespeare plays at Marin’s redwood-ringed Curtain Theatre. She is honored take part in the development team for (trans)formada by Lily Gonzales showing at Crowded Fire and Shotgun Theatres. Annette has recorded a wide range of audiobooks for Penguin-Random House Audio and Learning Ally. Check her out at Audible.com.

MICHAEL PHILLIS (The Aisle, “Tyson”), he/him, is an award-winning writer, director, actor, educator, and drag artist. His written works include Dolls, Patty from HR, Wish We Were Here, The Hand that Rocks the Crawford, and Sqream. He is the co-creator of Baloney, San Francisco’s Gay All-Male Revue. sfbaloney.com

MARK RAFAEL (Gothamopolisville and the NGA, “Narrator #2”), 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.”

LOUEL SEÑORES (The Aisle, “Vicente”), 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

DAVE SIKULA (America Chavez: Particle Flyer, “Doc”), he/him, has been acting and directing in the Bay Area for more than two decades. Favorite roles include Samuel Beckett in Sam and Dede, or My Dinner with Andre the Giant, George Pratt in Kurt Vonnegut’s “Mother Night”, Edna Turnblad in Hairspray, Lawrence Jameson in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, both Dukes in As You Like It, and The Professor in Life Sucks. As a writer, he’s translated all of Anton Chekhov’s major plays (his Uncle Vanya won the BATCC Award for best production in the South Bay), and is finally moving on the minor ones.

DIRECTORS

TESSA CORRIE (Iván y El Justiciero; Casting Associate), she/her, is a Queer and Biracial Latinx theater director based in the Bay Area. Her work is grounded in mainstreaming marginalized and underrepresented narratives. She is a company member and casting associate at PlayGround SF. Her credits include work at Palo Alto Players, Pear Theatre, TheatreFirst, The Playwrights’ Center of San Francisco, More Más Marami Arts, Poltergeist Theatre Project, PianoFight, AmiosWest, and Our Digital Stories.

CLAIRE GANEM (Where Does a Piece of Paper Come From?), she/her, she/her, is a Bay Area based director and teaching artist who has a passion for bringing new works to the stage. She is a current company member and ambassador at PlayGround. In addition to PlayGround, her work has been featured at Magic Theatre, Cutting Ball Theater, Pianofight, and Santa Cruz Shakespeare. Recent credits: ANTIGONE, PRESENTED BY THE GIRLS OF ST. CATHERINE’S by Madhuri Shekar at Town Hall Theatre and MIRROR FACE by Eteya Trinidad at 3Girls Theatre Company. She is a proud graduate of UC Santa Cruz and Nazareth College of Rochester, NY.

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

JIM KLEINMANN (Madam Gorgo; 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.

SOREN OLIVER (America Chavez: Particle Flyer), he/him, has directed for the Aurora Theater, Theatre First, Company Rep in L.A., Central Works Theatre, and the Town Hall Theater, as well as directing a number of plays for the California Shakespeare Theatre educational department. Some of Søren’s more notable directorial credits include Shakespeare’s King John, self-produced in Los Angeles, The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek at the Aurora Theatre, Nathan the Wise with Theatre First, Twelfth Night, The Sly Fox, and Art at the Town Hall Theater.

KATJA RIVERA (The Aisle) she/her, studied theater at LACC Theatre Academy and Drama Studio London at Berkeley. Bay Area acting credits include: Shotgun Players, Magic Theatre, Theatre Rhinoceros, Center Rep. Directing credits include Shotgun Players,Douglas Morrison, CustomMade Theatre, RPE (Danville), SF Playground and TheatreFIRST. She is a proud member of Shotgun Players, SF Playground and Latinx Mafia, as well as a very proud Abuela of Leo and Eleanor!

PRODUCTION & STAFF

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

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, 2022 & October 9, 2023.

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 • California Humanities • California Nonprofit Performing Arts Grant Program • Creative Capacity Fund • The Fleishhacker Foundation • Grants For The Arts • Koret Foundation • Lenore & Howard Klein Foundation • The Leo J. & Celia Carlin Fund • Los Angeles County Arts Commission • Negley Flinn Charitable Foundation • NIAC • Nvidia • Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation • Planet Earth Arts • San Francisco Arts Commission • The Shubert Foundation • The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation • Zellerbach Family Foundation

INDIVIDUAL SUPPORTERS

SEASON SPONSORS ($5000+)

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

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS ($2500–$4,999)

Meriko Borogove, John H. Gilman, Carlie Wilmans, Anonymous

PRODUCERS CIRCLE ($1000-$2499)

Mr. Randy Adams, David Goldman, Eric Craig Moody, Nitin, David Steele, Anonymous (2)

PLAYWRIGHTS CIRCLE ($500-$999)

Ruth & Robert Brayton, Steve & Gretchen Debenham, Keith Goldstein and Donna Warrington, Regina S. Guggenheim, Jennifer & Sean Jeffries, Paul & Pam Kleinmann, Linda Kremer, Gregg & Jennifer Le Blanc, Dr. Gary W. London, Pam MacKinnon, Molly Noble and Bob Guilbault, Pam & John Walker, Janine Wilburn, Mr. Maury Zeff, Anonymous (3)

PATRON ($250-$499)

Mary E. Baird, Wendy Bear, Cindy Gilman Redburn and Chris Redburn, Jerome Solberg, Jon & Susan Sweedler, Jon Tracy, Anonymous

ASSOCIATE MEMBER ($125-$249)

Ms. Lynda H Barber, Gerhard and Kathleen Bette, Jack Codd, Fair & Levit Family, Mr. Eric Garcia, Anirvan Ghosh, Cindy Goldfield, Gina Harris, Mr. Stanley William Hathaway, Abbe S. Kalos & Kitt Saginor, Gregg Le Blanc, Jonathan Luskin, Ms. Lisa A. Mammel, Tobi Marcus, Paris McCarthy, Doug Peckler & Evelyn Jean Pine , Jesus Reyes, Mary Ann and Malcolm Rodgers, Emily Brauer Rogers, Kathryn Ryan, Diane Sampson, Christine Sheppard, Ms. Susan Terris, Bex White, Mr. Christian Edward Wilburn, Susannah Wise & Scott Lebus, Anonymous (2)

To contribute to PlayGround, visit https://playground-la.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