PlayGround Young Playwrights Project Finalists to Debut in 2021 Zoom Fest!

PlayGround has announced the winners of this year’s Young Playwrights Contest. The venerated playwright incubator will debut the four selected short plays from rising Bay Area young playwrights on May 28th at 7PM PDT as part of their second annual PlayGround Zoom Fest. The four finalists — LATE by Sky Krueger, BETWEEN PIGS AND SHEEP by Finn Liu, HOW AN ICE CREAM TRUCK CAN DAMN YOU TO HELL by Jane Palladino, and BREAD AND CIRCUSES by Anna Vanderford — will each receive a professional reading debut presented together in one evening. Competitively selected from open submissions inspired by the prompt “Justice”, the presentation of the four finalists’ short works is the culmination of the13th Annual Howard & Lenore Klein Foundation Young Playwrights Project, championing bold new playwrights from Bay Area high schools. These timely and insightful plays will be presented live via Zoom to audiences free of charge (advance reservations required). For more information and to reserve tickets, visit https://playground-sf.org/youngplaywrights.

Through the Lenore & Howard Klein Foundation PlayGround Young Playwrights Project, PlayGround and Bay Area high schools partner to enable young writers to find their own expressive voice through the creation, development, and production of short plays. Each year, Bay Area high school students, grades 9-12, are invited to submit short plays inspired by an assigned prompt for consideration in the Young Playwrights Contest. The top four playwrights receive professional public staged readings of their winning short works as part of the PlayGround Festival of New Works, this year presented fully online as the second annual PlayGround Zoom Fest. Through the Young Playwrights Project, PlayGround also offers Bay Area high school students free and significantly discounted student group tickets to its range of new play incubator programs, including Monday Night PlayGround series, PlayGround Solo Performance Festival, PlayGround Festival of New Works, and the PlayGround Innovators Showcase.

ABOUT THE PLAYS

Late by Sky Krueger, directed by Ely Sonny Orquiza
A teenage girl, running late for something she can’t remember and unable to make sense of what’s happening, confronts an irritable passenger on a train that’s showing no signs of stopping.

Between Pigs and Sheeps by Finn Liu, directed by Lana Richards
Willis, a 9-year-old Sheepsquatch, learns about his family’s mortal enemy, the Pigmen, but things become disastrous when he discovers that his closest friend is one of them.

How an Ice Cream Truck Can Damn You to Hell by Jane Palladino, directed by Frieda de Lackner
A dead man’s secrets are revealed when both his pregnant wife and his girlfriend attend his funeral.

Bread and Circuses by Anna Vanderford, directed by Markus Potter
Dorothie Ruthman visits her twin sister Bessie, the star of a traveling circus company, only to discover she is missing. Bessie’s boyfriend may hold a clue to her whereabouts, if only Dorothie can get the answers.

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHTS

Arisa Sky Krueger (she/her, Bread and Circuses) is currently attending the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts. She is in the musical theatre department and is passionate about all forms of writing. Her other hobbies include basketball, mock trial, and songwriting. She lives in San Francisco with her parents and dog, and loves to go on walks with her friends.

Finn Liu (he/him, Between Pigs and Sheep) is a current senior at Galileo Academy of Science and Technology and looking to enter UCLA next year. His hobbies include running, writing, binging YouTube videos, and meditating (sometimes). His proudest accomplishment would be running a half-marathon in freshman year with little experience. He uses writing as a form of self-expression because he can’t sing (no matter how hard he tries) nor can he draw well (at least anything that isn’t abstract), but he can use his writing to clearly express himself to other

Jane Palladino (she/her, How an Ice Cream Truck Can Damn You to Hell) is a 16 year old sophomore at Aragon High School. Funny, energetic and a hard worker, Jane has been in the world of arts (musical theatre, acting, singing, dancing and improv) since the fifth grade and is very passionate about it. She is also a member of the Aragon Improv Team. After her experiences in various musicals and plays, she was inspired to write. Jane would love to thank her family, friends, and teachers for supporting her! She is thrilled to share her play with the world!

Anna Vanderford (she/her, Bread and Circuses) is a senior at Hillsdale High School in San Mateo and is super excited to be a finalist in this playwriting contest! She has been involved in Hillsdale Theatre performances and Dance Ensemble since her Freshman year. This play was written as part of the TheatreWorks Silicon Valley Young Playwrights Project with playwright-in-residence Matthew Keuter. Outside of writing and performing, Anna enjoys hanging out with her friends, buying clothes, and being a part of Advanced Drama class. She wants to thank her family, friends, and Matthew Keuter for their support.

ABOUT PLAYGROUND

PlayGround, the Bay Area’s leading playwright incubator, provides unique development opportunities for the Bay Area’s best new playwrights, including the monthly Monday Night PlayGround staged reading series, annual PlayGround Festival of New Works, full-length play commissions and support for the production of new plays by local playwrights through the New Play Production Fund. To date, PlayGround has supported over 250 local playwrights in the development and staging of more than 950 original short plays and 80 new full-length plays, with 5 more commissions currently in development. PlayGround also operates Potrero Stage, a state-of-the-art 99-seat black box theatre in San Francisco’s Potrero Hill neighborhood, home to some of the Bay Area’s leading new play developers and producers, including PlayGround, Crowded Fire, Golden Thread, and Playwrights Foundation. For more information, visit https://playground-sf.org.

For more information, visit https://playground-sf.org/youngplaywrights or call (415) 992-6677.