PlayGround Company in the News July 2020

Read on to learn more about PlayGround Company Member and Alumni recent news, current happenings, and upcoming events!

Same Boat Theater Collective, the Bay Area’s first environmental justice theater company and a participant in the inaugural PlayGround Innovator Incubator, presents their debut production, the world premiere of THE EMERYVILLE HORROR: A TALE OF ENVIRONMENTAL VENGEANCE in a full livestream immersive production, July 10-12.  Written by Bay Area playwrights Linda Amayo-Hassan, Lynn Aylward (lead writer), Lisa Kang (lead writer), Ellen Koivisto and Bridgette Dutta Portman, THE EMERYVILLE HOPRROR turns the constraints of Zoom into a creative advantage. The cast comes together from three continents and five time zones, and performances will be simultaneously streaming around the globe. At each of the two performances, the audience will devise an ending to the story for the actors to improvise. Just as we face the daily life challenges of COVID 19, nobody knows how it will end! For tickets and more information, visit https://www.sameboattheater.org/.

 Cindy Goldfield and her partner, Willi Nordby, have opened a new business out of their home in response to the loss of work from the quarantine shutdown.  MARTHA AVENUE Home Cooked Meals has been creating all sorts of delicious food and delivering to the greater Bay Area, for the last three months. You can get in on the goodness at their website:  www.marthaavenuefood.com

Daryl Anthony Harper has been busy updating his Voice Over demo as well as upgrading his home studio to broadcast quality with an “ear” on securing representation and VO work in other markets besides San Francisco. Under the “Shelter In Place” orders, Daryl has managed to stay busy with an On Camera “remote” booking opportunity for a training video for Oracle. The equipment was delivered, set up and remotely controlled from the home offices of Friday Films, Inc, while Daryl handled the equipment placement, etc., up while acting in the spot from his home studio apartment! Daryl is currently co-producing a video project in support of the “Black Lives Movement”, called the “Everyday People Project” in order to give voice to, educate, and hopefully lift up society. 

Ellen Koivisto is journaling the epidemic by writing a 150-word play per day.  Read any day you’d like, from March 20 to today, at A Covid Diary on NPX

George Maguire is doing a zoom reading of the film MAGNOLIA.

Julia Brothers is happily and healthfully sweating in New York City, pondering life and looking to be a better person, citizen and friend.  She is also writing a one character play and sometimes loving the experience. 

Katie Rubin is continuing to produce live-streamed stand up comedy shows in which she is  attempting to grow publicly, address the wildness of this moment, and challenge us all into some laughter.  Her online writing classes continue to expand- you’re invited!  Got questions?  katierubin.com/classes (We start again July 8)  And my healing classes and sessions keep me light, happy, and grateful every day.  In need of more peace, freedom, ease, and flow?  katierubin.com/energyhealing. 

Lizzie Calogero is in the San Francisco Mime Troupe’s fabulous radio series TALES OF THE REVOLUTIUON, streaming here, or on a radio station near you!”

Madeline Puccioni is busy revising the book of FINDING MEDUSA (Jeff Dunn, music and lyrics; Madeline Puccioni, book and lyrics) for a second reading with NEXT STAGES on August 2nd.  Her ZOOMBIES will come back from the dead for Towne Street Theatre’s COVID CABARET in July, and her COOLEY’S REEL will be zooming for Banta Productions in August.  She’s sheltering in place, hoping all will be well, and all manner of things will be well.  Soon. 

Mary Baird has been meeting regularly with her improv group either on zoom or in a social distance situation.  She has also connected with her Linklater community discussing racism and encouraging more people of color to be one Designated Linkkater Voice Teachers. Mary continue to develop AN EVENING WITH ELLEN CLARK SARGENT that will be honoring the 100th year of the 19th Amendment. 

Michael Barrett Austin had a great time being a part of PlayGround’s ‘Zoomfest,’ and is looking forward to his first real live acting job (with lots of safety precautions in place!) since before quarantine – playing prisoner Joseph Cretzer in a recreation of the Battle of Alcatraz for the Reelz Network.

Rachel Bublitz is thrilled to have won the Shubert Fendrich Memorial Playwriting Contest for her full-length play CHEERLEADERS VS. ALIENS  from Pioneer Drama Service. Additionally her play MY BODY was named a finalist for the Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival, if selected it will be published in an anthology later this year. She currently has two works about to start rehearsal as radio plays, PRESENTING: SUPER CAT & REPTILE ROBOT IN THE TREMENDOUS TICKLE TROUBLE with Plan-B Theatre, and BURST with CalTech. Rachel is looking forward to taking a week off at the end of the month to relax in the woods with her family. 

Rob Dario is stationed in suburban North Bay, noting the increasing virtual world, and chronicling the diminishing actual world, for whomever may be interested.

Ron Campbell started Six Foot Theatre  and is teaching Going Solo for Berkeley Rep.  Ron is also playing Vladimir in ZOOMING for GODOT.  

Sarah Gasser will be going to the Adirondacks for the first time in 15 years this month. 

Steven Westdahl will be relocating to Portland next month. 

Tom Bruett has a play included in Episode 3 of La Jolla Playhouse and Blindspot Collective’s podcast series Walks of Life.  You can listen to the play here. 

Trevor Allen has two upcoming productions of his play, THE CREATURE at Dragon Theatre in Redwood City and also at Pendragon Theatre in New York. These will be streaming now, due to the pandemic. He is currently posting to his  #49MilePlay project, adding more new “mile” monologues each week. His podcast of Working for the Mouse launched and has four episodes. He will also be podcasting a couple of his plays: LOLITA ROADTRIP, Featuring James Carpenter, Stacy Ross and Chloe Bronzan, and also TENDERS IN THE FOG also featuring James Carpenter, George Maguire and Jessa Brie Moreno. He is now fully recovered from his illness and currently posting about his mad cat, MR MERLIN, working on his Character Chronicles book, creating a new stage play and a script for television… so, yeah.