PlayGround Company in the News Feb-2018

Lauren Yee  is a finalist for the prestigious Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for Female Playwrights for her play THE GREAT LEAP, which is slated for performance at the Denver Center,  Seattle Rep, and The Atlantic Theatre company later this year.  The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, established in 1978, is given annually to recognize women who have written works of outstanding quality for the English-speaking theatre.  The prize will be awarded in February or March.  

If you missed TheatreFirst production of Lauren Gunderson and Geetha Reddy’s play HELA, about Henrietta Lacks (a black woman whose cells led to scientific breakthroughs after her death), Women of Words is giving the drama a second local production, directed by Terrence Ivory. 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, Feb. 8-10; 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 11. $5-$22. Campbell Theater, 636 Ward St., Martinez. https://womenofwords.brownpapertickets.com

TheatreFIRST will present BETWEEN US, seven solo plays split into 2 separate events that run in rep.  It features works by Jeffrey Lo, Katie May, Cleavon Smith, and Jon Tracy.  Between Us opens February 18 and runs through March 10 at then Live Oak Theatre in Berkeley.  http://theatrefirst.com/between-us/

Erin Marie Panttaja’s play PREAPOCALYPTICA has been chosen by Custom Made Theatre for its Undiscovered Works program. Preapocalyptica was originally developed from a Monday Night PlayGround short play in into a full length play in association with Planet Earth Arts New Play Festival Commission in 2015. It will have readings March 18 and September 30 at the Custom Made Theatre, directed by Rem Myers.  

Jonathan Luskin will be at York University in Toronto in February at a workshop for his playground commissioned play, ECCE HOMO. The play incorporates live motion capture animation and the workshop will focus on building, animating, and integrating that media into the live performance.  ECCO HOMO will also be produced by the University of the Pacific April 13-21 at the Long Theatre in Stockton CA.

Christopher Belen Aguilar’s play STAND: A PLAY TO HELP BREAK THE STIGMA OF MENTAL ILLNESS is being presented in a workshop format at The Filipino Well Being Training Summit Conference in Downtown LA on Saturday, February 24, 2018 @ 2:30p. To register for this event, please visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/filipino-well-being-training-summit-tickets-41880032304

Marsha Robert’s short play, HELICOPTER, will be performed at the Phoenix Stage Company’s One Act Festival in Oakville, Connecticut March 1-3. https://www.phoenixstagecompany.org/2018-one-act-play-festival.html

Andrew Joseph Perez is currently in rehearsals for Macbeth at Sacramento Theatre Company playing Malcolm and choreographing the fights.  http://www.sactheatre.org/shows/macbeth/

Madeline Puccioni‘s TALE OF SETSUMI AND HER BELOVED NOBU will be one of the dark delights in PlayLand Production’s magical mystery show, GRATEFUL DEADLY, which opens March 8 at The Exit.  Other PlayGround playwrights spinning their tales in this carnival of the underworld are Jerome Joseph Gentes, Leslie Zephyr, Laylah Muran de Assereto.   Pay What You May tickets are available, so get them now, before they  sell out.  Expect ghosts.  https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3208157.   

Rachel Bublitz’s short play PEPE LE PEW was selected for Spokane Stage Left’s Fast & Furious Festival taking place the first weekend in February in Spokane, Washington.

Alex Moggridge  will be playing Sherlock Holmes in BASKERVILLE: A SHERLOCK HOLMES MYSTERY at the Long Wharf Theatre in Feb/March. Info here.