One PlayGround Festival Playbill (May/Jun-2024)
One PlayGround Festival
Multi-day Festival and Conference Celebrating the National PlayGround Community
May 31-June 2, 2024
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.
Welcome Reception
Friday, May 31st 2024 6:30pm
“Recess” Script Reading
Friday, May 31st 2024 7pm
Hosted by Zoe Chien and Carmia Lowe, Producing Fellows
Please join us for food and drinks at Mochica and Blooms after the event!
OPENING PLENARY SESSION
Success Beyond the Incubator
Saturday, June 1st 2024, 10:30 – 11:30AM
Moderated by Jim Kleinmann, Artistic Director
Featuring Mildred Inez Lewis, Howard Ho, Karissa Murrell Myers, Cleavon Smith
DISCUSSION AND WORKSHOP
Directing and Acting for PlayGround
Saturday, June 1st 2024, 11:40AM – 12:50PM
Moderated by Zoe Chien, Producing Fellow
Featuring Isabel Anne To and Spencer Diedrick
LUNCH
12:50-1:40PM
WORKSHOP
Writing for PlayGround
Saturday, June 1st 2024, 1:40 – 2:50PM
Featuring Norman Gee and Christian Wilburn
CLOSING PLENARY SESSION
Casting Best Practices: Bringing PlayGround Plays to Life
Saturday, June 1st, 3-4PM
Featuring Tessa Corrie, Christian Haines, and Melissa Ortiz
BEST OF THE BEST OF PLAYGROUND
Saturday, June 1st, 7PM
Jie Jie
by Howard Ho
Directed by Peter J. Kuo
Jada…………….Zoe Chien
Chris.…………Patrick Russell
Wu…………….Miyoko Sakatani
Bessie in Medias Res
by Robyn Brooks
Directed by Tanika Baptiste
Bessie Smith……………….Leontyne Mbele-Mbong
Ma Rainey…..……Jacinta Kaumbulu
Chorus-Line Dancer…………….Carmia Imani
Mycelium
by Juliet Kang Huneke
Directed by Spencer Diedrick
Reishi………………..Carolyn Doyle
Lingzhi……………………Tony Kim
Viv……………………..Christine Liao
Love Language of Origin
by Michael P. Adams
Directed by Jim Kleinmann
Rashid…………..….Louel Señores
Madison……..………….Isabel To
Dr. Krantz……………………Ron Campbell
Stage Manager: Liam Kirk
This live stream is produced under a SAG-AFTRA New Media Agreement.
PlayGround is a member of Theatre Bay Area and Theatre Communications Group.
Breakfast Social
Sunday June 2nd, 9:30AM
Welcome and PlayGround Kahoot
Sunday June 2nd, 10AM
Hosted by the PlayGround Producing Fellows
All-Company Meeting
Sunday June 2nd, 11AM
Facilitated by Jim Kleinmann, Artistic Director
Closing Reception
Sunday June 2nd, 12:30PM
Biographies
PANELISTS/FACILITATORS
TESSA CORRIE (Panelist, “Casting Best Practices: Bringing PlayGround Plays to Life”), she/her, is a Queer, Latinx, and Neurodivergent Theater Director homegrown from the Bay Area. She specializes in new play development that amplifies underrepresented narratives. She is a company member and casting associate at PlayGround SF. Her credits include work at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Palo Alto Players, The Pear Theatre, Cutting Ball Theatre, The Playwrights’ Center of San Francisco, Left Coast Theatre Company, More Más Marami Arts, and Poltergeist Theatre Project.
SPENCER RYAN DIEDRICK (Workshop Leader, “Directing and Acting for PlayGround”), he/him is thrilled to return for One PlayGround’s Best of the Best, having directed Tomato Tattoo at last year’s conference. Chicago directing credits include The Hatmaker’s Wife (Theatre EVOLVE), The Delivery (Inclusive Playwrights Project/Trap Door), THEM (Broken Nose), Fragmented (Our Perspective), Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins (Strawdog), Black Cat Lost (Red Tape), Desire, Desire, Desire (Eclipse), Future of Helium Uncertain (American Blues), and Sweet Sixteen Extravanganza!!! (Blue Goose Ensemble). Regional: Once, Lewiston / Clarkston (GhostLight Theatre – Benton Harbor, MI). Spencer is a proud company member of Playground-Chicago, and is eternally thankful for his friends, family and community.
NORMAN GEE‘s (Workshop Leader, “Writing for PlayGround”) past year has taken him from performing in Meet John Doe at the San Jose Stage, to a Word For Word production of HOME which toured France, to Much Ado About Nothing in Livermore with SPARC. He is delighted to start the coming year understudying BIG DATA at A.C.T. Norman will round out 2024 directing a new work in August to celebrate the James Baldwin Centennial.
CHRISTIAN HAINES (Panelist, “Casting Best Practices: Bringing PlayGround Plays to Life”), he/him, loves PlayGround! Past PG shows include Sapience, Anna Considers Mars, Value Over Replacement and tons of Monday Nights. Other credits include Straight White Men (MTC) Reginald and Ruckus, The Moonrisers (Moonrisers), Operation Ajax (Little Fish ), Jihad Jones (Perspective) Death of a Salesman, This is Our Youth (ATSF) and a bunch more. He holds an MFA from the National Theatre Conservatory and loves his wife, Melissa.
HOWARD HO (Panelist, “Success Beyond the Incubator”), he/him, is a playwright/composer. His play RESET was produced by Moving Arts and was an O’Neill Finalist. Other works include VARIOUS EMPORIA (O’Neill Finalist), WHERE I’M FROM (Samuel French OOB Finalist), END OF THE LINE (Samuel French OOB Finalist), BEETHOVEN’S THIRD (Samuel French OOB Finalist), and PARITY (Pan Asian Rep’s NuWorks). He has over 120,000 subscribers on Youtube (youtube.com/HowardHoMusic) and is recognized by Lin-Manuel Miranda for his musical analyses. He has sound designed 50+ productions, earning Ovation Award and SF Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle nominations. He holds degrees from UCLA and USC. Instagram: @howardwho
MILDRED INEZ LEWIS (Panelist, “Success Beyond the Incubator”), she/her Mildred is published with Broadway Play Publishing, Applause Books, NextStage, Smith & Kraus and literary magazines including Breathe Fire, Extinction Rebellion, Page and Screen, Torch and others. Her poems have been included in several anthologies. Her plays have been produced in the United States, United Kingdom, and France. She’s currently completing commissions for Lifeline Theatre (Chicago) and the Lucille Lortel and looking forward to being in residence at Space RYDER. WE JUMP BROOM which began at PlayGround will be produced by Towne Street Theatre this summer.
KARISSA MURRELL MYERS (Panelist, “Success Beyond the Incubator”), she/her, is a Chicago-based Filipino American theatre maker. An O’Neill finalist, her work has been developed and/or produced at Goodman Theatre, Strawdog Theatre, Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, A Red Orchid Theatre, Renaissance Theaterworks, American Blues Theatre, The Gift Theatre, Silk Road Rising, Boise Contemporary Theatre, Oregon Contemporary Theatre, City Theatre, Broken Nose Theatre, and Bramble Theatre Company, where she serves as Artistic Director and Co-Founder. “Outstanding New Work” Jeff Awards nomination for her play On the Greenbelt. MFA from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, graduate of The School at Steppenwolf. Member of SAG-AFTRA and The Dramatist Guild. www.kmurrellmyers.com
MELISSA ORTIZ (Panelist, “Casting Best Practices: Bringing PlayGround Plays to Life”), she/her, is a PlayGround and ShotzSF company member. Favorite roles: Yazmin in Water by the Spoonful, Anna in Anna Considers Mars, and Masha in The Seagull. She received her MFA from the National Theater Conservatory and studies at John Rosenfeld Studio where she’s also a TA. She sends thanks to her family, friends, and husband for their love and support.
CLEAVON SMITH (Panelist, “Success Beyond the Incubator”), he/him, Cleavon Smith’s past productions include Aurora Theatre Company’s The Incrementalist and The Flats (co-written with Lauren Gunderson and Jonathon Spector) as well as TheatreFIRST’s productions of The Last Sermon of Sister Imani and Vs. Cleavon wrote the script for the San Francisco immersive show, The Fillmore Eclipse, and is currently Smith is completing an adaptation of a bestselling book into a one-person play. He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and Mills College as well as a former National Endowment of the Humanities fellow and was a 2023-24 Folger Institute Fellow with the Folger Shakespeare Library.
ISABEL ANNE TO (Workshop Leader, “Directing and Acting for PlayGround”), she/her, is an actor, singer, and proud PlayGround company member based in the SF Bay Area. She last performed in the PlayGround festival staged reading for The Passing Storm, and has appeared in PlayGround SF festival productions (Starlight and Funny, Like an Abortion). Isabel also collaborates frequently with sketch comedy company Killing My Lobster, and was last seen in The Skin We’re In. Other selected credits: Tea Party (One Of Our Own Theater), The Jersey Devil Play (Awesome Theatre), and Avenue Q (New Conservatory Theatre Center). Offstage, Isabel enjoys cross-stitching, jigsaw puzzles, and baking. www.isabelanneto.com
CHRISTIAN WILBURN (Workshop Leader, “Writing for PlayGround”), he/him, is a San Francisco-based writer whose work blends the deeply personal and the fantastical. Christian has taught creative writing and storytelling for organizations around the Bay Area. Including, The San Francisco Opera, San Francisco Mime Troupe, Ruth Asawa School of the Arts and more. Over the past five years Christian has been an active PlayGround member, frequently contributing to PlayGround programming with his acting and writing. He’s been featured in Monday Night PlayGround, Best of PlayGround, and the PlayGround Festival of New Works.
PLAYWRIGHTS
MICHAEL P. ADAMS (Love Language of Origin), he/him, is an award-winning writer from the greater Los Angeles area. His plays have been produced in New York (Atlantic Theater Company), Los Angeles, Albuquerque (Fusion Theatre Company), Memphis, Spokane, and Tucson, among others. Michael has been a member of the Playground-LA writers’ pool since 2019. He is a graduate of the MFA program at San Jose State University.
ROBYN BROOKS (Bessie in Medias Res), she/her, M.F.A., Creative Writing/Poetry, and M.F.A., Creative Writing/Playwriting, author of the poetry chapbook, “venus in retrograde” (Finishing Line Press, 2015), is a poet, playwright, and director. Her plays have been staged/read at Berkeley Repertory Theatre; Tennessee Women’s Theater Project; Theatre of Yugen; Theatre Rhinoceros; Los Angeles Women’s Theater Project; and Potrero Stage. A playwright for SF PlayGround’s Writers Pool 2007-2013 and 2023-2024, she is SF PlayGround’s November 2023 People’s Choice Award winner, and a selected playwright for Best of PlayGround ’24. Her full-length play was selected for CIMIENTOS 2024, a play development program through IATI Theater, New York.
HOWARD HO (Jie Jie), he/him, is a playwright/composer. His play RESET was produced by Moving Arts and was an O’Neill Finalist. Other works include VARIOUS EMPORIA (O’Neill Finalist), WHERE I’M FROM (Samuel French OOB Finalist), END OF THE LINE (Samuel French OOB Finalist), BEETHOVEN’S THIRD (Samuel French OOB Finalist), and PARITY (Pan Asian Rep’s NuWorks). He has over 120,000 subscribers on Youtube (youtube.com/HowardHoMusic) and is recognized by Lin-Manuel Miranda for his musical analyses. He has sound designed 50+ productions, earning Ovation Award and SF Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle nominations. He holds degrees from UCLA and USC. Instagram: @howardwho
JULIET KANG HUNEKE (Mycelium), she/they, is a playwright and performer who is passionate about theatre that is larger than life! Juliet graduated from Northwestern University in 2022. Recently, she was awarded the ReImagine: New Plays in TYA grant to develop her new play for young audiences, HANNAH AND HALMONI SAVE THE WORLD!. This January, HOME FOR THE SUMMER, a new musical co-written with Juliet’s dear collaborators Bennett Petersen and Brandon Acosta, was workshopped at Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre. Other writing credits include: ECHO’S INFERNO (workshop, The Understudy), MECHANICALS (production, Impostors Theater Co Footholds Vol. 4), CENTERVILLE NEW JERSEY HAS A PROBLEM WITH TROUT (production, Vertigo Productions), HOME FOR THE SUMMER (workshop, American Music Theatre Project), and THE WILD (workshop, Jewish Theatre Ensemble). https://www.julietkanghuneke.com/
ACTORS
RON CAMPBELL (Love Language of Origin, “Dr. Krantz”), he/him, actor, poet and comic book artist Ron Campbell lives in Emeryville, California. Besides having toured the world with Cirque du Soleil, performed in over 150 theatre productions in the US and abroad, Ron teaches Japanese Swordsmanship at College of Marin.
ZOE CHIEN (Jie Jie, “Jada”), 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.
CAROLYN DOYLE (Mycelium, “Reishi”), she/hers, is thrilled to be working again with PlayGround, having just returned from 15 months on the road with the Broadway National Tour of “Les Miserables.” Carolyn has acted locally with Marin Theatre Co., San Jose Rep’s Red Ladder, Theatre Rhinoceros, Eastenders Repertory, The Western Stage, Shotgun Players, California Shakespeare Theatre, SF Shakespeare Festival, Rough & Tumble and Boxcar Theatre (BATCC nomination). As a solo performer, her Confessions of a Refrigerator Mother enjoyed a highly successful run at The Marsh. Film and television credits include Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion and an ABC pilot titled Metropolis.
CARMIA IMANI (Bessie in Medias Res, “Chorus-Line Dancer”), she/her, is a Chicago-based actor and producer. Her regional credits include: brother sister cyborg space (u/s) (Raven Theatre), Skeleton Crew, Death of a Salesman (The Black Rep), and Much Ado About Nothing (u/s) (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company). Carmia has participated in new work readings and workshops with Pocket Theatre VR, The Artistic Home, Obsidian Theatre Festival, and PlayGround-Chicago where she is also a Producing Fellow and Company Member. She is a proud graduate of Ball State University where she holds a BFA in Acting. @carmiamani
JACINTA KAUMBULU (Bessie in Medias Res, “Ma Rainey”), she/her, is a Bay Area actor. She is thrilled to be performing as Ma Rainey in Bessie in Medias Rest by Robyn Brooks for the Best of the Best Playground Festival. She has worked with theater companies such as Brava, Crowded Fire, and the Playwrights Foundation to name a few. Jacinta loves the art of doing truthfully, and playing strong character roles
TONY KIM (Mycelium, “Lingzhi”), he/him, is very excited to be a part of the show! Tech Engineer turned performer 😀
CHRISTINE LIAO (Mycelium, “Viv”), she/they, is a Los Angeles based actor who started her artistic journey as a dancer. Her best known role thus far is as the restaurant clerk in the comedy sketch, The ABC Who Can’t Read Chinese. She also played Waverly Jong in Sierra Madre Playhouse’s Joy Luck Club. You can now find her in Fine China on HBO platforms and the video game Life is Strange: True Colors. Her short film, A Dire Strait, is screening June 1st in Houston at HAAPI Film Festival.
LEONTYNE MBELE-MBONG (Bessie in Medias Res, “Bessie Smith”), she/her, is delighted to return to Playground. Leontyne most recently seen in Pipeline with African-American Shakespeare Company, where she has also appeared as Lady M in Macbeth; the title role in Medea (TBA Award), and Cleopatra in Antony & Cleopatra (TBA Award Finalist). Recent shows: Cyrano and Hurricane Diane at the Aurora; Fefu and her Friends at A.C.T., Lear at CalShakes (BATCC Award). Some favorites: The Half-Life of Marie Curie (TheatreSquared, Fayetteville, AK); Watch on the Rhine (Berkeley Rep/Guthrie Theatre), Bull in a China Shop, Temple, and Breakfast with Mugabe (Aurora Theatre). Proud founding member of the Actors’ Reading Collective, and Associate Artist at Marin Shakespeare Company. www.leontynembele-mbong.com
PATRICK RUSSELL (Jie Jie, “Chris”), he/him, has performed at several theaters across the Bay Area including A.C.T., TheatreWorks, SF Playhouse, Cal Shakes, Aurora Theatre, Marin Shakespeare, Shotgun Players, and Magic Theater, among others. As a director, he recently directed Stupid F***ing Bird and She Kills Monsters at SF State. He is a lecturer of acting and movement for actors at UC Berkeley and teaches at ACT. He is also a proud Playground company member and proud member of SAG-AGTRA and Actors’ Equity.
MIYOKO SAKATANI (Jie Jie, “Wu”), she/her, is a SAG-AFTRA-e actor, singer, writer, producer and proud SF PlayGround company member and thrilled to be performing in the Best of the Best PlayGround ‘24! She has worked on screen, web series, commercials and many Bay Area community and regional theatre stages over many years including writing and performing her own solo show about her family’s immigration and internment. Film credits include the award winning Samuel Goldwyn film “East Side Sushi” (IMDb.com) As founding director of Playland Productions, Miyoko has produced and co-directed stage plays and various films. Endless love and deep gratitude to Richard, Shanti and dear friends.
LOUEL SEÑORES (Love Language of Origin, “Rashid”), 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
ISABEL ANNE TO (Love Language of Origin, “Madison”), she/her, is an actor, singer, and proud PlayGround company member based in the SF Bay Area. She last performed in the PlayGround festival staged reading for The Passing Storm, and has appeared in PlayGround SF festival productions (Starlight and Funny, Like an Abortion). Isabel also collaborates frequently with sketch comedy company Killing My Lobster, and was last seen in The Skin We’re In. Other selected credits: Tea Party (One Of Our Own Theater), The Jersey Devil Play (Awesome Theatre), and Avenue Q (New Conservatory Theatre Center). Offstage, Isabel enjoys cross-stitching, jigsaw puzzles, and baking. www.isabelanneto.com
DIRECTORS
TANIKA BAPTISTE (Bessie in Medias Res), she/they, is a SFBATCC winning director, actor, vocalist and costume designer in the Bay Area and thrilled to make her Best of the Best directorial debut! Select directorial credits: Crumbs From the Table of Joy (Townhall Theatre) Giraffes Can’t Dance (Bay Area Children’s Theatre) At the Wake of a Dead Drag Queen (Theatre Rhinoceros)
SPENCER RYAN DIEDRICK (Mycelium), he/him, is thrilled to return for One PlayGround’s Best of the Best, having directed Tomato Tattoo at last year’s conference. Chicago directing credits include The Hatmaker’s Wife (Theatre EVOLVE), The Delivery (Inclusive Playwrights Project/Trap Door), THEM (Broken Nose), Fragmented (Our Perspective), Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins (Strawdog), Black Cat Lost (Red Tape), Desire, Desire, Desire (Eclipse), Future of Helium Uncertain (American Blues), and Sweet Sixteen Extravanganza!!! (Blue Goose Ensemble). Regional: Once, Lewiston / Clarkston (GhostLight Theatre – Benton Harbor, MI). Spencer is a proud company member of Playground-Chicago, and is eternally thankful for his friends, family and community.
PETER J. KUO (Jie Jie), he/him is a theatre director, producer, writer, and educator focusing on raising the visibility of marginalized communities. Born and raised in Southern California, he currently resides in San Francisco where he is the Director of the Conservatory at American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.), where he serves on the Staff EDI Committee. Recently directing Madhuri Shekar’s In Love and Warcraft entirely on Zoom, he is a huge proponent for Live Video Theatre and its ability to be accessible to all. He earned his MFA in Directing at The New School for Drama in New York City. Named as one of TCG’s Rising Leaders of Color in the Round 3 cohort, he is also a co-founder of Artists at Play, an Asian American theatre collective that produces Los Angeles premieres of works for Asian Americans.
JIM KLEINMANN (Love Language of Origin), 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.
PRODUCTION & STAFF
JAMES GOODE (Sound Designer), he/him, is a sound designer, composer, audio engineer, musician, and songwriter based in the Bay Area. He’s collaborated with actors, animators, visual artists, writers, and other musicians and composers on a wide variety of projects, including films, gallery and museum installations, live performances, music videos, podcasts, and radio dramas. Local theater productions he’s done sound design for include The Glass Menagerie, Echoes of US: Now and Always, and Richard II (AASC), As You Like It (SF Playhouse), Native Gardens (Center REP), and Pool of Unknown Wonders: Undertow of the Soul (Oakland Theater Project). https://jamesgoodesound.com
LIAM KIRK (Stage Manager), he/him, recent projects include Brown vs. Board of Education (Asst. Director/Stage Manager, Altarena Playhouse), The Crucible (Production Assistant, Oakland Theater Project), and Teatro Jornalero (Stage Manager, Oakland Theater Project).
JIM KLEINMANN (Artistic Director & Co-Founder), he/him, co-founded PlayGround in 1994, along with playwright Brighde Mullins and director Denise Shama, and has served as Artistic Director since 1996. For PlayGround, he has provided artistic and administrative leadership for the past twenty-four seasons, developing PlayGround’s unique array of new playwright and new play incubator programs, including Monday Night PlayGround, the PlayGround Festival of New Works, the full-length play Commissioning Initiative, the New Play Production Fund, Potrero Stage: PlayGround Center for New Plays, and most recently the Innovator Incubator. For PlayGround, he has directed more than one hundred short and full-length plays, including works by Garret Jon Groenveld, Aaron Loeb, Geetha Reddy, Lauren Yee, Katie May, and many others. Recent directing and dramaturgy credits include David Steele’s Vignettes on Love and Ruben Grijalva’s Value Over Replacement. He is a veteran arts administrator with more than thirty years of experience, including stints leading Traveling Jewish Theatre, Smuin Ballet and Berkeley Symphony, and received his MFA from the Yale School of Drama.
DARIUS ADAMSON (Producing Fellow), he/him, is a multi-disciplinary artist with experience in acting, writing, directing, producing, and design. Darius has proven himself as a creative leader through his work at Tisch, where he trained at Playwrights Horizons Downtown Theatre School and Stonestreet Studios. Darius produced a variety of projects for film and stage— most notably an original play that he wrote, directed, performed in, and produced titled “A Very Special Episode.” Outside of creative work produced at Tisch, Darius served as the president of The Collective, a large student organization that fosters community amongst Black artists across the university. In 2022, Darius was one of eight interns selected to be a part of Black Theatre United’s marketing internship program, where he spent the summer working as an intern at Serino/Coyne. Darius is very inspired by this current moment of multidisciplinary artists finding and activating the power of their voices to tell a wide range of stories, especially stories about communities and people that have historically gone underrepresented. Darius is proud to be a part of this cultural shift and looks forward to contributing his own work to this movement.
ZOE CHIEN (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.
JULIE LIPPERT-PASCO (Producing Fellow), is excited for the opportunity to be a part of the Playground Producer Fellowship. She originally hails from Maryland where she has been performing since she was a child. Julie is a classically trained vocalist and moved to LA to pursue her love of performing. Since moving to LA, she has been fortunate to have worked on stage, in television, and in film. She has also produced children’s theater and music nights while volunteering for children’s summer camps. Theater is her passion. She’s looking forward to expanding her producing skills in order to create inclusive, expansive, and engaging theater.
CARMIA IMANI (Producing Fellow), she/her, is a Chicago-based theatre artist who is committed to advocating for historically underrepresented groups and the ever-growing need for accessibility and inclusion in the theatre industry. She is a graduate of Ball State University where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre with a concentration in Acting and a minor in New Works for the Stage. She now serves as an Alumni Ambassador where she provides education and mentorship to prospective and current students of color. Carmia has produced several staged readings, a one-person show, and a short film. Her poetry film about police brutality and racism, “AmeriKKKa,” won Best Film at the Hoosier Films Annual Festival in 2021. She is passionate about embracing discomfort, advocating for radical change, and integrating anti-racist theatre practices into her artistry and work.
XINYUAN PU (Producing Fellow), she/her, is a multicultural Chinese artist, writer, and educator interested in sociopolitical performances and fostering community through storytelling. Credits include What Is Your Favorite Fruit? (The Pear Theatre), Where Does A Piece of Paper Come From (PlayGround), 新源, New Spring (Northwestern University), Project HEAL (Spectrum Theatre Company), and A Flower Explodes. She is a Theatre Bay Area Fall 2023 Ca$h Create Grant Awardee. A graduate of Northwestern University, Xinyuan has received multiple research grants to study multiculturalism and human rights issues in China, France, and Morocco. She will pursue an M.A. in East Asian Studies at Stanford University in the fall. Read more about her works: puxinyuan.com
RIVER BERMUDEZ SANDERS (Producing Fellow), they/them,is a multi-disciplinary Bay Area theatre artist with credits at companies around the Bay Area including SF Playhouse, SFBATCO, Cutting Ball, Ray of Light, Palo Alto Players, Children’s Fairy Land, the Oakland Theatre Project, SPARC, Townhall Theatre, NCTC, and Theatre Rhinoceros. This summer they canbe seen in the ensemble of San Francisco Playhouse’s Evita. This coming May they will be directing four short new plays for the Pear Theatre’s Pear Slices Series. They are deeply invested in creating theatre that openly challenges white supremacy culture in content and process.
CHRISTY SPENCE (Producing Fellow), she/they, has been so honored to work with PlayGround for the last year! When she is not working for PlayGround you can find her in the Box Office for A.C.T., hanging out with her friends, or having a staring contest with her cat.
EMILY ZHOU (Producing Fellow),she/they, is a dramaturg, playwright, and arts administrator originally from the DMV. Current Producing Fellow at PlayGround and Artistic/Literary Fellow at Playwrights Horizons. Former Berkeley Repertory Theatre Company Management Fellow, Kennedy Center TYA Intern, Shakespeare Theatre Company Literary Apprentice, Playwrights Foundation BAPF Artistic Intern. John Cauble National Finalist, The Vivian Play; Gary Garrison Regional Finalist, You Are A Pirate.
PLAYGROUND, California’s leading playwright incubator, provides unique development opportunities for the Bay Area’s, Los Angeles’ and now New York’s best new playwrights, including the monthly Monday Night PlayGround staged reading series, annual PlayGround Festival of New Works, full-length play commissions and support for the production of new plays by local playwrights through the New Play Production Fund. To date, PlayGround has supported over 250 early career playwrights, developing and staging more than 1000 of their original short plays through the Monday Night PlayGround staged reading series and the PlayGround Festival. PlayGround has also commissioned 90 new full-length plays by 60 of these writers through its Commissioning Initiative and, through the innovative New Play Production Fund, has directly facilitated the premiere of 34 plays at theatres of every size, including three that have gone on to NYC and other major theater communities. Most recently, PlayGround renovated and relaunched the former Thick House Theater in San Francisco’s Potrero Hill as Potrero Stage, a state-of-the-art center for new plays, home to PlayGround’s expanding artistic programs and some of the Bay Area’s most distinguished new play developers and producers. Over the past twenty-four years, PlayGround has served to identify some of the most important new local voices for the theatre. PlayGround’s alumni have gone on to win local, national, and international honors for their short and full-length work, including recognition at the Humana Festival, O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, The Lark’s Playwrights’ Week, New York International Fringe Festival, and others. PlayGround received the 2009 Paine Knickerbocker Award for outstanding contributions to Bay Area theatre, 3 BATCC Awards for Best Original Script for PlayGround commissions, a 2014 National Theatre Company Grant from the American Theatre Wing (founder of the Tony Awards®), and a 2016 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award. Visit https://PlayGround-sf.org for more information.
POTRERO STAGE is a 99-seat state-of-the-art performance space located in the heart of San Francisco’s Potrero Hill neighborhood, operated by PlayGround, and serving as home to some of the Bay Area’s leading new play developers and producers, including PlayGround, Crowded Fire, Golden Thread, and Playwrights Foundation, among others. While the venue is closed during the COVID pandemic, Potrero Stage will highlight the best in online programming by PlayGround, Potrero Stage resident companies, and other Potrero Stage producers. For more information, visit https://potrerostage.org.
PLAYGROUND CONTRIBUTORS
PlayGround is deeply grateful for the generous contributions of the many individuals, foundations, corporations and government agencies whose contributions make our work possible. This list reflects gifts of $125 or more committed between March 1, 2023 & March 18, 2024.
GOVERNMENT, CORPORATE, & FOUNDATION DONORS
Alameda County Arts Commission • Amazon • American Rescue Plan Act & CARES Act • Art Space Development Corporation • Avenue Greenlight • Berkeley Civic Arts • The Bernard Osher Foundation • Bill Graham Supporting Foundation of the Jewish Community Federation & Endowment Fund • California Arts Council • California Humanities • California Nonprofit Performing Arts Grant Program • Creative Capacity Fund • Disney • Grants For The Arts • KFF • Koret Foundation • LA County Arts Commission • Lenore & Howard Klein Foundation • The Leo J. & Celia Carlin Fund • Negley Flinn Charitable Foundation • NIAC • Nvidia • NYSCA-A.R.T./New York Creative Opportunity Fund • Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation • Planet Earth Arts • Rock Paper Scissors Landscape Inc. • Rye Financial Services • San Francisco Arts Commission • The Shubert Foundation • The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation
SEASON SPONSORS ($5000+)
Emilie T. & Gordon C. Brooks, Daniel E. Cohn & Lynn Brinton, Paul Haahr, Lara Gilman & Jim Kleinmann
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS ($2500+)
John H. Gilman, Carlie Wilmans, Anonymous
PRODUCERS CIRCLE ($1000-$2499)
Randy Adams, Meriko Borogove, David Goldman, Regina S. Guggenheim, Linda Kremer, Eric Craig Moody, Nitin, David Steele, Janine Wilburn, Anonymous (2)
PLAYWRIGHTS CIRCLE ($500-$999)
Steve & Gretchen Debenham, Hillary DeMartino, Keith Goldstein and Donna Warrington, Ms. Kathryn A Hecht, Paul & Pam Kleinmann, Gregg & Jennifer Le Blanc, Kathy Roberts & Aaron Loeb, Dr. Gary W. London, Pam MacKinnon, Danny & Dolores Martinez, Molly Noble and Bob Guilbault, Jeffrey Trescott, Pam & John Walker, Christian Wilburn, Maury Zeff, Anonymous (5)
PATRON ($250-$499)
James & Cassandra Carpenter, Sheila Collins, Kelly & Carlos Delgado, Philippa M Kelly & Paul Dresher, Jonathan Luskin, Dolores Martinez, Chris and Cindy Redburn, Diane Sampson, Jon & Susan Sweedler, Jon Tracy, Anonymous
ASSOCIATE MEMBER ($125-$249)
Mary E. Baird, Ms. Lynda H Barber, Ruth & Robert Brayton, Fair & Levit Family, Anirvan Ghosh, Dana Hall, Tobi Marcus, Michelle Nedboy, Doug Peckler & Evelyn Jean Pine, Kimberly Ridgeway, Mary Ann & Malcolm Rodgers, Kathryn Ryan, Christine Sheppard, Ms. Susan Terris, Mary Lou Torre, Anonymous (2)
To contribute to PlayGround, visit https://playground-sf.org/contribute or contact PlayGround Associate Director of Development Lana Richards at lana@playground-sf.org or by phone at (415) 992-6677.
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, Zoe Chien, 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, 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, Dave Sikula, 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, Wayne Wong, Elena Wright, Hector Zavala
PLAYGROUND AMBASSADORS
Julia Brothers, Jordan Carlson, Ben Chau-Chiu, Julia Crowley, Sheri Flanders, Claire Ganem, Eric Geller, Monica Ho, Tony Kim, Christine Liao, AJ Lily, Ely Sonny Orquiza, Andrew Perez, Ivan Rivas, Miyoko Sakatani, Braedyn Youngberg
PLAYGROUND STAFF
Jim Kleinmann, Co-Founder & Artistic Director
Jacque Bugler, Production Manager/General Manager
Lana Richards, Associate Director of Development
Jonathan Josephson, Director of Marketing & Communications
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 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
Rebecca Martinez
Katie May
Bacilio Mendez II
David Steele
Christian Wilburn
David Steele
www.PlayGround-sf.org
3286 Adeline St #8
Berkeley, CA 94703-2485
info@playground-sf.org
(415) 992-6677