Perfect

PlayGround Zoom Fest
PERFECT by Jonathan Luskin (a Zoom Premiere Presentation)
Directed by M. Graham Smith
May 15 & May 16 7pm PT via Zoom Live Stream
On-Demand Registration available through June 13
Admission-Free (donations gratefully accepted)

TICKETS PLAYBILL PLAYWRIGHT INTERVIEW READ THE PRESS RELEASE

NOTE: Zoom access information will be distributed on the day of the performance. If you haven’t received your Zoom link at least one hour before the performance, email boxoffice@playground-sf.org. On-Demand access is available through May 30 for all pre-registered guests. For extended on-demand access, purchase a Potrero Stagers membership.

Originally developed by PlayGround and further developed through Laguna Playhouse and UC Davis’ Catalyst: A Theatre Think Tank, Jonathan Luskin’s Perfect is a dive into the brave new world of genetic engineering. Three interwoven stories, six actors, and ten characters explore the boundless desire for flawless children and the impossibility of objectively defining what that means. A cell biologist and her brilliant, wheelchair-using son discover their research is being used to indiscriminately clean disabilities from the human genome. An athlete, genetically engineered for speed and strength, is driven by his father to be a star, despite his disinterest in athletics. And a young couple, paralyzed by the uncertainty that comes with natural conception, turns to an app to design the “perfect” child.

Jonathan Luskin is a playwright whose recent work focuses on ethical issues in computer animation, medicine and science, and a founder of Flying Moose Pictures, a video production company serving the performing arts. Directed by M. Graham Smith, Perfect features Danny Gomez as “Garry”, Julia McNeal as “Charlie/ALISA”, Jordan Covington as “Chase”, Stephanie Prentice as “Morgan/Danny”, Aaron Wilton as “Mark/Sonny”, and Elena Wright as “Madeleine/Jeanine”. Perfect is presented with support from producing partner Catalyst: a Theatre Think Tank and plays opening weekend of the Festival, Saturday the 15th and Sunday the 16th of May at 7pm PST.

POST-PERFORMANCE PANEL DISCUSSIONS

Saturday, May 15
Marcy Darnovsky, PhD, Executive Director, Center for Genetics and Society
Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, Professor Emerita of English and Bioethics at Emory University
Lea Witkowsky, PhD, Policy Analyst, Innovative Genomics Institute, UC Berkeley
Jonathan Luskin, moderator

Sunday, May 16
Jonathan Luskin, Playwright
M. Graham Smith, Director
Evelyn Jean Pine, moderator