PlayGround Gala Playbill (Sep-2023)

Welcome to the 2023 One PlayGround Gala! This year’s gala celebrates the national scope of PlayGround’s programming in the Bay Area, Los Angeles, New York City, and Chicago. With the launch of PlayGround-Chicago last year, Monday Night PlayGround—the signature short play program which has run successfully in the Bay Area for 30 years—is now produced in four unique locations by writers and performers in four major theatre hubs.

To celebrate PlayGround’s national presence, and while utilizing PlayGround’s well-honed hybrid model of both in-person and live-streamed performances, the One PlayGround Gala brings together the four companies with gatherings at San Francisco’s Potrero Stage, Los Angeles’ Broadwater Plunge, NYC’s The Producers Club and Chicago’s Theater Wit, as well as guests remoting in from all over the country.

Tonight not only provides us an opportunity to celebrate the impact of our PlayGround Heroes—three individuals/organizations who have made an indelible impact on PlayGround and the field—but also features performances by artists from our growing national family. This cohesion serves as PlayGround’s proof of concept as we continue to create even more opportunities for working artists across the country and establish a national network for this country’s most promising new voices and their artistic collaborators.

Thank you for joining us and being a part of this moment and movement!

Jim Kleinmann
Co-Founder & Artistic Director
PlayGround

Gala Sponsors
Randy Adams/Junkyard Dog Productions
Emilie & Gordon Brooks
David Goldman
Keith Goldstein
Jim Kleinmann & Lara Gilman
E. Craig Moody
Nitin
Nvidia
Molly Noble & Bob Guilbault
David Steele

Gala Chair
Stephanie Prentice

Gala Co-Hosts
David Cramer
Scott Gryder
Wiley Naman Strasser
Rebbekah Vega-Romero
William Warren

San Francisco Gala Caterer
Martha Avenue Home Cooked Meals

PROGRAM

5:30pm PDT / Cocktail Reception

5:50pm / Welcome

Greetings from Board Chair Stephanie Prentice

5:55pm / Honoree

PlayGround Heroes
The Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation & Carlie Wilmans

6:00pm / Dinner

6:45pm / Performance

TOMATO TATTOO
by Rammel Chan
Directed by Jamal Howard
Richard………….David Cramer
Natalie……………Emily Kuroda

6:55pm / Honoree

PlayGround Hero
Lauren Yee

7:00pm / Dessert & Surprise

7:20pm / Honoree

PlayGround Hero
Joy Carlin

7:25pm / Fund-a-Need Auction

Stephanie Prentice, David Cramer, William Warren,
Scott Gryder, Rebbekah Vega-Romero, Wiley Naman Strasser
Auctioneers

7:40pm / Closing Toast

Led by Stephanie Prentice, Board Chair

Sarah Gasser
Zoom Stage Manager

Jenna Stein-Corman
Potrero Stage Technical Staff

Aeron Macintyre
Broadwater Plunge Technical Staff

Miranda Hernandez
Theater Wit Technical Staff

Fund-a-Need Auction

We’re excited to announce that this year’s Fund-a-Need auction will directly support the more than 700 artists who will participate in the 2023-24 Monday Night PlayGround staged reading series — in the SF Bay Area, Los Angeles, NYC and Chicago — helping to uplift new voices for the American Theatre, particularly those historically excluded.

Our goal: to raise $25,000 on September 18 in support of artist compensation for one year of Monday Night PlayGround in four theatre hubs. To achieve this goal, we are reaching out to the PlayGround community for tax-deductible donations at varying levels: $100, $250, $500, $1000, $2500, and $5000. Gala attendees can bid at multiple levels and naming opportunities are available for pledges starting at $5,000 per year. Bids can also be made via Venmo (@playgroundsf), Zelle (info@playground-sf.org), PayPal (info@playground-sf.org) or by texting your bid to (415) 992-6677 (be sure to provide your full name).

Estimated Value: Priceless
Starting Bid: $1,000

PlayGround Heroes

The Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation operates in honor of the unwavering commitment to the Bay Area embodied by its namesake, Phyllis Canon Wattis. Her vision helped shape the arts community in San Francisco to be one of daring and cutting edge endeavors. Mrs. Wattis’ granddaughter, Carlie Wilmans, has helmed the board of directors alongside her mother and Phyllis’ daughter, Carol Casey, who also sits on the board. Their dedication to honoring Phyllis’ support for the arts remains as strong today as ever. The foundation is committed to preserving the creative spirit of the Bay Area by supporting local working artists and the organizations that help to promote and sustain their artistic practice.The Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation has played a key role in PlayGround’s growth and development, serving as one of the initial funders of PlayGround’s commissioning program, its innovative New Play Production program (through which PlayGround facilitated more than a dozen world premieres by PlayGround playwright alumni in partnership with theatres across the Bay Area), and providing critical sustaining support over the past four years during the COVID pandemic and post-pandemic periods through the foundation’s Legacy Grants program.

Lauren Yee’s Cambodian Rock Band premiered at South Coast Repertory, subsequent productions at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, La Jolla Playhouse, City Theatre, Merrimack Rep, Signature Theatre, Victory Gardens, and Jungle Theater/Theater Mu. Her play The Great Leap has been produced at the Denver Center, Steppenwolf, Seattle Repertory, Atlantic Theater, Guthrie Theater, American Conservatory Theater, Arts Club, InterAct Theatre, Portland Center Stage, and Asolo Rep. Honors include the Doris Duke Artists Award, Whiting Award, Steinberg/ATCA Award, American Academy of Arts and Letters Literature Award, June Anne Baker Prize, Horton Foote Prize, Kesselring Prize, Primus Prize, a Hodder Fellowship at Princeton, and the #1 and #2 plays on the 2017 Kilroys List. She’s a Residency 5 playwright at Signature Theatre, New Dramatists member, Ma-Yi Writers Lab member, and Playwrights Realm alumni playwright. She was featured in the PlayGround Writers Pool in 2007 and in Best of PlayGround in 2008. Current commissions include Arena Stage/Second Stage, Geffen Playhouse, Signature Theatre, South Coast Repertory. TV credits: Pachinko (Apple), Soundtrack (Netflix), Interior Chinatown (Hulu), Billions (Showtime), The Sterling Affairs (FX). She has developed pilots for Netflix and Apple. BA: Yale. MFA: UCSD. laurenyee.com

Joy Carlin is an actor, director and teacher at A.C.T. since 1969 (she served as its Associate Artistic Director from 1987 – 1992). From 1981-1984, she was an Actor and Resident Director at Berkeley Rep and served as its Interim Artistic Director from 1983-1984. She most recently acted in Marin Theatre Company’s MARJORIE PRIME and THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE and has directed at most Bay Area Theatres. She has been a PlayGround company member as an actor and director for the past 20 years. Over her long career, she has directed 53 plays and acted in 57. She can be seen on screen as The Lady On The Plane in Woody Allen’s BLUE JASMINE. Joy’s many honors include 18 Bay Area Critics’ Circle awards for acting and directing, and the Barbara Bladen Porter award for continued excellence in acting and directing.

Gala Artists

DAVID CRAMER (Tomato Tattoo, “Richard”), he/him, has a BFA from The University of New Mexico, studied at the Royal Academy of Art in London, HB Studios in NYC and Harvey Lembeck’s Comedy Improv workshop in L.A. Film and television roles include The Waltons, M*A*S*H, Nash Bridges and The Last Words, among others. Stage credits include Marin Theater Company, Magic Theatre, Word for Word and Shotgun Players. He has been a PlayGround Company member since 2009.

EMILY KURODA (Tomato Tattoo, “Natalie”), she/her, is proud to be a member of PlayGround! Emily has worked at Theatreworks (Language Archives, Calligraphy), New York Theatre Workshop (Endlings), Pan Asian(Brothers Paranormal), American Repertory Theater(Endlings), Page 73(Today is My Birthday), Actors Theater of Louisville(we, the invisibles), Huntington Theater(Tiger Style, Woman Warrior), Artists at Play(Two Mile Hollow), South Coast Rep(Fast Company, Ballad of Yachiyo and Our Town), Alliance(Tiger Style), East West Players, Kirk Douglas, Mark Taper Forum, Public Theater, La Jolla Playhouse, Seattle Rep, Singapore Repertory, Berkeley Repertory, The Doolittle, LATC, Zephyr, LA Women’s Shakespeare Company, and the Los Angeles Shakespeare Festival. Recent TV:  The Good Doctor, Resident, Drop Dead Diva, Gilmore Girls. Recent Films : Take the 10, Party Boat, Red and Sensei.   Awards: – Dramalogue  Ikebana, The Maids, Minamata, The Golden Gate, and Visitors from Nagasaki – LA Commendation (About Love) – Garland Straight As a Line.  Entertainment Today (Winter People).

RAMMEL CHAN (Playwright, Tomato Tattoo), he/him, is a writer and actor based in Chicago. His short plays have premiered at the Gift Theater and his fiction has appeared in Asimov’s, Riksha, Empyrean Literary Magazine and the Tiger Moth Review. In 2023, his full-length play “House of the Deaf” will be read as part of the Gift Theater’s In The Work series. As an actor, he has performed at Steppenwolf, Goodman Theater, Second City, Writers Theatre, Lookingglass and the late Victory Gardens, among others. On screen credits include The Red Line, Crisis, Patriot and the indie comedy feature I Used To Go Here.

JAMAL HOWARD (Director, Tomato Tattoo), he/him, is a Chicago-based director and choreographer. He is the co-artistic director of New American Folk Theatre and an associate company member with TUTA Theatre. Howard recently choreographed Masks Off for Goodman Theatre’s 2021/22 Playwrights Unit. Select directing and choreography credits include The Great Khan (Redtwist Theatre); tick, tick…Boom! (Boho Theatre); The Apple Tree (Porchlight Music Theatre); 8-Track: The Sounds of the 70s, Songs for A New World (Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre); R.E.S.P.E.C.T. (Right Angle Entertainment/National Tour); Corduroy, The Wiz, Magic Tree House (Emerald City Theatre); Dirty Girl, Scraps, Dark of the Moon (New American Folk Theatre) and The Mole Hill Stories (Madison Children’s Theatre). Howard served as the associate artistic director of Emerald City Theatre and has worked with Filament Theatre, First Floor Theater, After School Matters, Mudlark Theater, Artemisia Theatre and CircEsteem.

About PlayGround

Founded in 1994 by Jim Kleinmann, Brighde Mullins and Denise Shama, PlayGround has grown into one of this nation’s leading playwright incubators and theatre community hubs, with a core commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, helping to uplift and center artists from historically underrepresented communities. Over three decades, PlayGround has supported more than 300 early-career playwrights, developing and staging over 1,500 of their original short plays through PlayGround’s signature programs, Monday Night PlayGround and the PlayGround Festival of New Works. PlayGround has also commissioned 100 new full-length plays by 60 of these writers through its Commissioning Initiative and has directly facilitated the premiere of 36 of those works through its innovative New Play Production Fund. Over the past 29 years, PlayGround has developed a unique model for identifying and nurturing some of this country’s best new writers, while helping them to build a significant body of original work and lasting connections with the artistic collaborators they need to know to ensure their success. PlayGround expanded to Los Angeles in 2012, to NYC in 2021, and to Chicago in 2022.

In 2015, PlayGround signed a long-term lease to operate the former Thick House Theater (San Francisco), where PlayGround has produced its festival since 2008. Following a successful $300,000 renovation, PlayGround reopened the theatre in February 2017 as Potrero Stage: PlayGround Center for New Plays. In addition to supporting PlayGround’s expanding new play programs (including the PlayGround Solo Performance Festival launched in 2018, as well as Free-Play Festival and “Twisted” Holiday Show, both launched in 2022), the theatre serves as home for some of the Bay Area’s leading new play developers and producers. In 2019, PlayGround launched the Innovator Incubator, fostering theatrical innovation and next generation innovative theatre companies. The program culminates in the annual Innovators Showcase, which takes place each November, featuring over half-a-dozen new works, from developmental readings to full premieres, by the year’s Innovator Incubator cohort. PlayGround has fostered 13 new companies through this program.

Following the closure of theaters due to the pandemic in 2020, PlayGround was one of the first theatres in the country to shift all of its programming online, with the launch of the PlayGround Zoom Fest and a unique partnership with the performers union, SAG-AFTRA. With the return of in-person performance, PlayGround recommitted to radical accessibility with admission-free programming and online simulcast and on-demand streaming of all performances.

PlayGround’s alumni have gone on to win local, national, and international honors for their short and full-length work, including recognition at the Steinberg Awards, Glickman Awards (including 6 of the last 10), Humana Festival, O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, 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.

In addition to its company of playwrights, PlayGround maintains a company of leading local directors, actors, designers and technicians whose work is regularly seen on the top professional stages in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago and at regional theatres across the country. PlayGround has actively positioned itself as a hub, bringing together hundreds of individuals and organizations representing the best in local theatre. For more information about PlayGround, visit https://playground-sf.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 August 1, 2022 & September 18, 2023.

GOVERNMENT, CORPORATE, & FOUNDATION DONORS
Alameda County Arts Commission • Amazon • American Rescue Plan Act & CARES Act • 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 Nonprofit Performing Arts Program • Creative Capacity Fund • Grants For The Arts • Koret Foundation • Lenore & Howard Klein Foundation • The Leo J. and Celia Carlin Fund • 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

SEASON SPONSORS ($5000+)
William Bivins, Emilie T. & Gordon C. Brooks, Jerome Joseph Gentes & Michael David Bourque, Lara Gilman & Jim Kleinmann, Peggy Haas, David Steele, Anonymous

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS ($2500-$4999)
John H. Gilman, Linda Kremer, Regina S. Guggenheim

PRODUCERS CIRCLE ($1000-$2499)
Sidney Glass & Eleanor Clement Glass, Thalia Dorwick, Keith Goldstein & Donna N. Warrington, In Memory of M. David MacCallum, Jr., Nitin, Arthur & Toni Rembe Rock, Diane Sampson, Sharon Simpson, Marian Scheuer Sofaer & Abraham D. Sofaer, David Cost & Kate Stechschulte, Anonymous (2)

PLAYWRIGHTS CIRCLE ($500-$999)
Thomas Patrick Broyhill, Paulette Donsavage & Deeje Cooley, Richard Dixon, David Goldman, Barbara Goodyear & Stephen Rosenfield, Kathryn A Hecht, Jofish Kaye & Erin Marie Panttaja, Diane Leonard, Gwen Loeb & Doyle Ott, Anne Maxwell, Colette Meunier & Mark van Norman, Cindy & Chris Redburn, Nancy Spencer & Hardy Callcott, Nancy & Carty Spencer, Oren & Justin Stevens, Anonymous (2)

PATRON ($250-$499)
Dr. Elaine Baskin & Kenneth R. Krechmer, Wendy Bear, Karen Catlin, Lily L Chow, Richard Davis – Lowell, Lynda Divito, Michael Fried, Joan & Donald Green, Vicki Hamilton, Gail Hillebrand & Hugh Barroll, Roxy Jones, Ray and Carla Kaliski, Rebecca Martinez, Three Kurtics and a Morse, Tiffany Mualem, Bud & Donna Ogle, Chris Potter & Lisa Mammel, Christopher Reber, Daniel & Chelsea Sinto, Lisa R. Taylor, Liam Vincent, Maury Zeff, Anonymous (4)

ASSOCIATE MEMBER ($125-$249)
Maura C. Berkelhamer, Dr. Katherine Ardis Blenko, Jessica Forbess, Mr. Eric Garcia, Tom Goetzl, Gina Harris, Douglas & Mary Ann Le Blanc, Gregg Le Blanc, Trynne Miller & David Prince, Dr. Alan Pearl, Ms. Madeline Daly Puccioni, Janine & Darryl Wilburn, Robin L. Wimsatt, Kelli Wong, Anonymous (4)

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 Board

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

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

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, Joseph Patrick O’Malley, 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, Lindsey Marie Schmeltzer, 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, Aaron Wilton, 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-LA Writers Pool 2023-24

Michael P. Adams+, Tamadhur Al-Aqueel, Damian Alejandro Arteaga, Esther Banegas Gatica+, Jaisey Bates, Evan Baughfman+, Emily Bauer Rogers+, Summer Broyhill, Allie Costa+, Joe Luis Cedillo, Sandra Cruze, Stacy Davies, Adi Eshman, Lauren Gorski+, Grant Gottschall, Shoshanna Green, Rachel Harner, Briggs Hatton+, Susan C. Hunter, M.J. Kang+, Michael B. Kaplan+, Mildred Inez Lewis+, Rhea MacCallum+, Scott Mullen+, Peter Pasco, Lina Patel, Margo Wade Rofé, Jessica June Rowe+, Cara Sanchez, Baylee Schlichtman, Mark Sherstinsky+, Ayesha Siddiqui+, Maria D. Smith, Adrian Thomas, Evelyn Wu-Coffey, Carolina Pilar Xique
+ Past Best of PlayGround playwright.

PlayGround-LA Company Members

Jahnavi Alyssa, Jerome Beck, Josef Bette, Sylvia Cervantes Blush, Summer Broyhill, Ben Cain, Hugo Carbajal, Jordan Carlson, Jordan Covington, Tom Dang, Frieda de Lackner, Hillary DeMartino, Carolyn Deskin, Rogelio Douglas III, Angel Dumapias, Eliza Frakes, Eric Geller, Danny Gomez, Cassie Grilley, Christian Haines, Julio Hanson, Matthew Henerson, Mark Jacobson, Alejandra Jaime, Alexia Jasmene, Kurt Kanazawa, Stephanie T. Keefer, Tony Kim, Emily Kuroda, Christopher Gary Lawson, Jully Lee, Christine Liao, Lea Madda, Jackie Marriott, Gabi Mayorga, Paris McCarthy, Rondrell McCormick, Sherry Michaels, Krystal Mosley, Rachel Berney Needleman, Melissa Ortiz, Andrew Perez, Tansu Philip, Gary Poux, Tiana Randall-Quant, Maiya Reaves, Jesus Reyes, Ivan Rivas, Debba Rofheart, Tahmus Rounds, Mae Ruling, Collette Rutherford, Anthony Rutowicz, Richard Ruyle, Janet Song, Angela Sonner, Lamar Usher, Carla Vega, William Warren, Charlotte Williams, Jonathan Wray

PlayGround-LA Staff

Jim Kleinmann, Co-Founder & Artistic Director 
Paris McCarthy, Associate Artistic Director 
Christian Haines, Co-Executive Producer 
Melissa Ortiz, Co-Executive Producer 
Sylvia Cervantes Blush, Associate Producer 
Tiana Randall-Quant, Associate Producer 

PlayGround-NY Writers Pool 2023-24

Claire Abramovitz, Anthony Anello, Todd Cerveris, Sean Dunnington, Barry Eitel, Madi Fabber, Bailey Jordan Garcia, Dana Leslie Goldstein, Lori Goodman, Melinda Gros, Patience Haggin, Michael Hagins, Bram Hartman, Stanley W. Hathaway, Howard Ho, Wade Lawrence Hollomon, Uma Incrocci, Avery Ingvarson, Rachel Leighson, Bailey C. Lewis, Bryson Lima, Alex Moggridge, Danielle E. Moore, Lyra Nalan, Vicky Pham, Leah Plante-Wiener, Colby Poston, Erin Proctor, Jacob Marx Rice, Rachael Richman, Katie Ryan, Marcus Scott, Matt Sievers, Gaven D. Trinidad, Rebbekah Vega-Romero, SMJ

PlayGround-NY Company

Jen Anaya, Sergio Mauritz Ang, Rebecca Aparicio, Julia Brothers, Nathaniel Claridad, Sheila Collins, Julia Crowley, Sarah Guilbault, Neal Gupta, Noor Hamdi, SouJee Han, Mary Hodges, Tyler Kent, Nikhaar Kishnani, Kalina Ko, Nico Krell, Austin Ku, Jully Lee, MeeWha Lee, Timothy H. Lee, AJ Lily, Ana Margineanu, Alex Moggridge, Norm Muñoz, Wiley Naman Strasser, Graceson Nunez, Attilio Rigotti, Abigail Rosen, Betsy Rosen, Alex Shafer, Nick  Sholley, Olivia Songer, Illana Stein, Rebecca White, Rebbekah Vega-Romero

PlayGround-NY Staff

Jim Kleinmann, Co-Founder & Artistic Director 
Abigail Rosen, Executive Producer 
Nathaniel Claridad, Associate Producer 
Kalina Ko, Associate Producer 
Bailey Jordan Garcia, Casting Associate 
Sarah Gasser, Resident Stage Manager 
Darius Adamson Jr., 2023-24 Producing Fellow 
Emily Zhou, 2023-24 Producing Fellow 

PlayGround-Chicago Writers Pool 2023-24

Maria Arreola, Daniel Arzola, Kirsten Baity, Zach Barr, Melda Beaty, Gabriella Bonamici, McKennzie Boyd, Julie Campbell, Ruben Carrazana, Rachel DuBose, Niv Elbaz, Connor Ermir Bradshaw, Kym Fraher, Dana Hall, Carmia Imani, Toby Inoue, Exal Iraheta, Tanuja Devi Jagernauth, Alfonzo Kahlil, Juliet Kang Huneke, Kerri Killeen, Gaby Labotka, Samuel Kelly Fair Levit, Juliana  Liscio , Adelina Marinello, Ian Minh, Shail Modi, Marnie Monogue, J.S. Puller, Mariana Reyes Daza, Emma Rund, Matt Schutz, Katherine Swan, Dan Taube

PlayGround-Chicago Company

Brian Balcom, Devin Christor, Spencer Ryan Diedrick, Sheri Flanders, Ashley Graham, Scott Gryder, Charlotte Harris, Hannah Lynn Kato, Benjamin Kelly, Alka Nayyar, Leanna Oliveira, Dakota Pariset, Karla Rennhofer, Brooke-Erin Smith, Yiwen Wu, Braedyn Youngberg, Jordan Zelvin

PlayGround-Chicago Staff

Jim Kleinmann, Co-Founder & Artistic Director 
Devin Christor, Executive Producer 
Leanna Oliveira, Associate Producer 
Brooke Smith, Associate Producer 
Maria Arreola, Casting Associate 
Carmia Imani, 2023-24 Producing Fellow