PlayGround & Poltergeist present Limited Run of GASLIT: A Trans Drag Parody!
PlayGround and Poltergeist Theatre Project announce a limited run of GASLIT: A Trans Drag Parody co-created by Chris Steele and Sean Owens, March 9-10 at Potrero Stage and simulcast, following its sold-out run at Cutting Ball Theater this month. Admission is free (donations gratefully accepted and directly support the artists). For more information or to reserve in-person or online tickets, visit https://tickets.playground-sf.org/TheatreManager/1/online?event=334.
Bella isn’t feeling quite herself– is she being poisoned? Tortured? Slowly driven mad? There’s nothing like a night of parlor games to take one’s mind off such unpleasantries– and you’re all invited to play! A whimsical series of games helps Bella tell the story of her rather delicate state, until the return of her imperious Husband, and the astonishing appearance of an Inspector, who’s positively brimming with talk of manipulation and murder. Perhaps it’s better to sip one’s tea and slip into a quiet reverie, after all.
Gaslit, a Trans Drag Parody, is an intentionally queer, trans, and feminist takedown of an accidentally impactful theatre classic: Angel Street. This full-length solo performance was developed at Berekely Rep Underground, and features drag lip sync, storytelling parlour games, murderous intrigue, and edible soap.
Chris Steele (“Bella Manlihands” / Co-Creator), they/she, is a queer trans nonbinary performance artist, writer, and activist. Their work centers on highlighting queer narratives throughout history and combating bigotry and white supremacy. As an actor, she has performed with companies across the Bay including We Players, NCTC, Cutting Ball, SF Shakespeare Festival, and SF Playwrights Festival. As a writer they premiered adaptations of Miss Julie, Troilus and Cressida, and Dracula with queer collective Poltergeist Theatre Project; had short plays produced by The Pear, PlayGround, and Cutting Ball; debuted their solo drag show The Bride with PlayGround Solofest; and were commissioned by Custom Made to adapt The Tempest. Her award-winning drag persona Polly Amber Ross can be found on IG @pollyamberross.
Sean Owens (Co-Creator), they/them, has been dubbed “SF’s Best Comic Playwright” and “The Captain of Theatrical Camp” by the SF Weekly. Sean has been writing and performing for 35 years, with over 50 short and full-length plays both here in the Bay Area and abroad. Their solo musical, “GIRLESQUE” has delighted audiences in the Bay Area, New York and Canada. Sean has been twice recognized by the Bay Area Theatre Critics’ Circle Awards– first, for the noir parody, “THE BIG DRAG” for Best Original Script, and again for their portrayal of Oscar Wilde with Shotgun Players in Berkeley. They also inaugurated the role of the Viscountess Marlene in Liz Duffy Adams’ off-Broadway premiere of “WET.” As a freelance writer, Sean has created the SFMoMA’s first trans non-binary family tour narrator, Dr. Tantamount Thrash, for “Art Goggles.” They are also the Artistic Director for the MD24: The Moby Dick 24 Hour Marathon, at the SF Maritime Museum. They work as a writer, teacher and director for the sketch comedy group Killing My Lobster, and occasionally host an immersive nightclub experience called FANCYPANTS: A Trans-Temporal Evening for the Gender Playful. They are currently directing the official remiere of Toby Moore’s ATOMIC COMIC.
About Poltergeist Theatre Project
Poltergeist Theatre Project is a queer arts collective exploring immersive art through world premier adaptations of problematic classic stories. Founded in 2019, they continue to champion Trans, Femme, and BIPOC artists by empowering them to tell their own stories on their own terms. With a dedication to creating art that “follows you home”, they innovate with immersive theatrical and digital experiences that are thematically tectonic and empathically exercising. Their mission to reclaim Queer narratives through performance processes that dismantle toxic cultural norms, viscerally immerse audiences, and celebrate the innovation and liberation of Queer folks continues with each debut performance. Find them on Facebook and Instagram to stay up to date with all upcoming projects.
About PlayGround
Founded in 1994 by Jim Kleinmann, Brighde Mullins and Denise Shama, PlayGround has grown into the Bay Area’s leading playwright incubator and theatre community hub, with a deep commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, helping to uplift and center artists from historically underrepresented communities. Over the past 28 years, PlayGround has supported more than 300 early-career playwrights, developing and staging over 1,000 of their original short plays through PlayGround’s signature programs, Monday Night PlayGround and the PlayGround Festival of New Works. PlayGround has also commissioned 94 new full-length plays by 60 of these writers through its Commissioning Initiative and has directly facilitated the premiere of 34 of those works through its innovative New Play Production Fund. Over the past 28 years, PlayGround has developed a unique model for identifying and nurturing the Bay Area’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 and to NYC in 2021, and is launching PlayGround-Chicago this fall.
In 2015, PlayGround signed a long-term lease to operate the former Thick House Theater, where PlayGround has produced its festival since 2008. Following a successful $300,000 renovation which included new theatrical lighting, seating, signage, and upgrades to the lobby, box office and restrooms, 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), the theatre serves as home for some of the Bay Area’s other leading new play developers and producers, including Crowded Fire, Golden Thread, and Playwrights Foundation, as well as up-and-coming companies such as Ferocious Lotus and Bread & Butter Theatre, among others. 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/December, featuring over half-a-dozen new works, from developmental readings to full premieres, by the year’s Innovator Incubator cohort.
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 has recommitted to radical accessibility with admission-free programming and online simulcast and on-demand streaming of all performances. PlayGround’s radical accessibility initiative is sponsored in part by First Republic Bank.
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, 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 Bay Area directors, actors, designers and technicians whose work is regularly seen on the Bay Area’s top professional stages. PlayGround has actively positioned itself as a hub, bringing together hundreds of individuals and organizations representing the best in Bay Area theatre. For more information about PlayGround, visit https://playground-sf.org.
WHAT: PlayGround and Poltergeist Theatre Project present a limited run of GASLIT: A Trans Drag Parody by Chris Steele and Sean Owens, following its sold-out run at Cutting Ball Theater.
WHERE: Potrero Stage, 1695 18th St, San Francisco, CA 94107, and simulcast online
WHEN: March 9 & 10, 2023 at 7pm PT
TICKETS: To reserve tickets, visit https://tickets.playground-sf.org/TheatreManager/1/online?event=334. Admission is free (donations gratefully accepted and directly support the artists). Proof of vaccination (including booster) and masks are required for in-person performance at Potrero Stage. Links for online viewing will be sent the day of the performance and can also be accessed through your PlayGround account at https://tickets.playground-sf.org (log in, click “home” for the main menu, then “tickets for upcoming performances”, select the proper show, and choose “watch”). If you have any questions, please contact the Box Office at boxoffice@playground-sf.org. For more information, call (415) 992-6677 or visit https://playground-sf.org.