Solo Performance Festival

8TH ANNUAL PLAYGROUND SOLO PERFORMANCE FESTIVAL

January 24-February 9, 2025
Potrero Stage & Simulcast
Admission: Free (donations gratefully accepted)

PlayGround has announced the lineup for its eighth annual PlayGround Solo Performance Festival, a curation of the best in Bay Area solo performance, running January 24-February 9, 2025 (Fri-Sun), presented live at San Francisco’s Potrero Stage and simulcast online. The festival of new solo work features 18 double-bill performances by twelve California artists over three weeks, including Diana Brown, Ben Chau-Chiu, Elijah Jalil Paz Fisher, Safiya Fredericks, Jon Gentry, Steve Harper, Ric Iverson, Lucy London, Daniel Martinez Jr., Aaron Pang, Tansu Philip, and Miyoko Sakatani. This year’s festival was competitively selected from open applications, and is a direct extension of PlayGround’s mission and commitment to the discovery of bold new voices for the stage and the development of innovative and timely original content. Tickets are free with donations gratefully accepted.

Performances by date:

Friday, January 24, 2025, 7pm
Safiya Fredericks in THE BIRTHDAY GIRL!
Jon Gentry in BLACK BASTARD

Saturday, January 25, 2025, 4pm
Elijah Jalil Paz Fisher in THE SKIBIDI M’FIN BIBIDI EXPERIENCE
Safiya Fredericks in THE BIRTHDAY GIRL!

Saturday, January 25, 2025, 7pm
Jon Gentry in BLACK BASTARD
Ric Iverson in PERIOD. NEW PARAGRAPH.

Sunday, January 26, 2025, 1pm
Safiya Fredericks in THE BIRTHDAY GIRL!
Jon Gentry in BLACK BASTARD

Sunday, January 26, 2025, 4pm
Elijah Jalil Paz Fisher in THE SKIBIDI M’FIN BIBIDI EXPERIENCE
Daniel Martinez Jr. in WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Sunday, January 26, 2025, 7pm
Ben Chau-Chiu in LUCKY CHANCES
Aaron Pang in HEREIN LIES THE TRUTH

Friday, January 31, 2025, 7pm
Steve Harper in SNOW (BLACK MAN / WHITE OUT CONDITIONS)
Elijah Jalil Paz Fisher in THE SKIBIDI M’FIN BIBIDI EXPERIENCE

Saturday, February 1, 2025, 4pm
Aaron Pang in HEREIN LIES THE TRUTH
Steve Harper in SNOW (BLACK MAN / WHITE OUT CONDITIONS)

Saturday, February 1, 2025, 7pm
Daniel Martinez in WHAT’S IN A NAME?
Ben Chau-Chiu in LUCKY CHANCES

Sunday, February 2, 2025, 1pm
Steve Harper in SNOW (BLACK MAN / WHITE OUT CONDITIONS)
Daniel Martinez Jr. in WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Sunday, February 2, 2025, 4pm
Miyoko Sakatani in I WASN’T ALWAYS AN ASIAN
Lucy London in GRASPING AT STRAWS

Sunday, February 2, 2025, 7pm
Aaron Pang in HEREIN LIES THE TRUTH
Ric Iverson in PERIOD. NEW PARAGRAPH.

Friday, February 7, 2025, 7pm
Tansu Philip in MOST ACHIEVED PERSON
Diana Brown in VERTIGO-BUT NOT THE MOVIE by Susan L. Jackson

Saturday, February 8, 2025, 4pm
Miyoko Sakatani in I WASN’T ALWAYS AN ASIAN
Tansu Philip in MOST ACHIEVED PERSON

Saturday, February 8, 2025, 7pm
Diana Brown in VERTIGO-BUT NOT THE MOVIE by Susan L. Jackson
Lucy London in GRASPING AT STRAWS

Sunday, February 9, 2025, 1pm
Tansu Philip in MOST ACHIEVED PERSON
Ric Iverson in PERIOD. NEW PARAGRAPH.

Sunday, February 9, 2025, 4pm
Miyoko Sakatani in I WASN’T ALWAYS ASIAN
Diana Brown in VERTIGO-BUT NOT THE MOVIE by Susan L. Jackson

Sunday, February 9, 2025, 7pm
Lucy London in GRASPING AT STRAWS
Ben Chau-Chiu in LUCKY CHANCES

Online viewing is available through PlayGround’s ticketing site, https://tickets.playground-sf.org (after reserving ticket, log in, go to main menu at “home”, select “tickets for upcoming performances”, find your show, and click “watch”). For box office questions, including streaming/on-demand access, email boxoffice@playground-sf.org.

ARTIST BIOS:

Diana Brown (Performer, VERTIGO-BUT NOT THE MOVIE) is excited to be a part of PlayGround’s Solo Fest, and delighted to continue her collaboration with Susan Jackson. She’s appeared in Jackson’s plays TAKEN, WHEN YOU ARE CALLED, IN SITU, BLESSING HER HEART for which she was nominated for a BATCC award. She appeared in San Francisco and New York in the long-running two-hander DEAD CERTAIN. Diana has performed at the Spoleto Festival and the Capital City Fringe and others She’s half of the touring comedy duo BINGEWATCH. A guest artist with Bay Area TheatreSports and a member of the acting pool with Killing My Lobster.

Ben Chau-Chiu (LUCKY CHANCES) is an actor and director based in the Bay Area. They are a company member and ambassador with PlayGround SF, and have directed and performed with both the SF and NY companies. They’ve also been fortunate to work on multiple productions at A.C.T., Cal Shakes, and SF Shakes. As well as working on shows at Shotgun Players, SF Playhouse, 42nd Street Moon, and Berkeley Rep. benchauchiu.com

Claire Ganem (Director, LUCKY CHANCES) is a Bay Area-based theater director who specializes in new play development. She loves stories that explore feminine rage, queer joy, and the chaos of our rawest deepest emotions. Claire is a current company member and ambassador at PlayGround SF. In addition to PlayGround, her work has been featured at Cutting Ball Theatre. Town Hall Theatre, 3Girls Theatre, Z Below, Pianofight, Left Coast Theatre Company, and Magic Theatre, where she was an artistic direction apprentice during their 2018-2019 season.

Safiya Fredricks (THE BIRTHDAY GIRL!) has been happily navigating the acting world for several years. After studying at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and bumbling around New York, she found her way to a steady career in regional theater. She is the recipient of the Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award for Best Featured Actress for her work in ‘black odyssey’ at CalShakes and was most recently seen in ‘Can I Touch It?’ At Rogue Machine Theatre in Los Angeles. Film/TV credits include Bitter Melon, I’m Charlie Walker, Sorry to Bother You, Book of Boba Fett, and 911.

Elijah Jalil Paz Fisher (THE SKIBIDI M’FIN BIBIDI EXPERIENCE) identifies as a Niggapino, and he is a multidisciplinary performance and recording artist from Richmond, CA. He received his BA in Theater from University of Portland and MFA in Acting from University of Montana. Throughout his work, Elijah expresses himself through songwriting, playwriting, poetry, and choreography. In the Bay, he has worked as an actor with AASC, and with his alma mater, SJND as a teacher/director. As he continues on his journey, Elijah aims to build a massive body of work that highlights the complexity of human existence, especially from his perspective as a Niggapino.

Jon Gentry (BLACK BASTARD) was born and raised in Houston, Texas. He earned his BA in English from Harvard, where he served as President of BlackCAST. He holds an MFA in Acting from the American Conservatory Theater. As a teaching artist, he co-directed “Child Life” with UCSF Children’s Hospital and led acting workshops across the Bay Area. He currently teaches Michael Chekhov Acting Technique at the Los Angeles Performing Arts Conservatory. Regional theater credits include roles in Masao and The Bronze Nightingale, A Christmas Carol, and Romeo and Juliet. Onscreen, he appeared in TEN, Behold a Lady, Meeting Matt Damon and voiced Preston Garvey in Fallout 4, gaining viral fame.

Steve Harper (SNOW (BLACK MAN / WHITE OUT CONDITIONS)) is a playwright and actor. Plays: co-writing Black Lives / Blue Lives (The Theater Project, NJ), Urban Rabbit Chronicles (Georgia Southern University), Princeton Theory, and Almost. TV: Tracker, God Friended Me, and American Crime. Acting: Guthrie, CATF, Cincinnati Playhouse. Education: Yale, A.R.T. Institute at Harvard and Juilliard playwriting program.

Ric Iverson (PERIOD. NEW PARAGRAPH.) can write himself out of any situation. Including stage IV prostate cancer. Hopefully.

Susan L. Jackson (Playwright, VERTIGO-BUT NOT THE MOVIE) received the Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award for Best Original Play. LEAVING SIMONE: Semi-Finalist for the National Playwrights Conference—Eugene O’Neill Center : Staged- read/produced New York City, Bay Area, Eugene O’Neill Foundation, William Inge Festival, Sydney, London. DEATH BE NOT LOUD! –Best of Capital Fringe—Washington Post positive review. Published: Smith and Kraus, (2017-2024) Finalist: Creede Repertory Theatre; Henley Rose Competition for Female Playwrights; Fusion Theatre Company; Centre Stage; 3Girls Theatre Co. Alum-PlayGround; Mid-America Theatre Conference; Last Frontier Theatre Conference; Powerstories: Voices of Women Festival; Sparks Creative Works, Believability: Shiny Unicorns Productions: Part of the SF Young Playwrights Festival with Lauren Yee.

Lucy London (GRASPING AT STRAWS) is a folk musician, performance artist and opera singer from Petaluma, California. She graduated in 2023 with a degree in performance studies from Northwestern University, where she also studied classical voice and environmental policy. She wrote and created her own solo performance Grasping at Straws: Reflections on an Activist Trajectory, which debuted in Spring 2023. She has performed with international folk ensembles in Delhi, India and Greensboro, North Carolina. She also co-composed and sang the leading role in Fox & Beggar Theatre Company’s Spring 2024 production, The Paper Operetta, that will tour in Fall 2025.

Daniel Martinez Jr. (WHAT’S IN A NAME?) is a playwright and actor from San Jose, CA. Daniel has written and performed two solo shows; Me Again and Round Hole. Daniel has written short plays and written his first full length play through the PlayGround Writers Pool. During the day, Daniel teaches at a film school for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Aaron Pang (HEREIN LIES THE TRUTH) is a storyteller, comedian, and writer living in Iowa City, Iowa. Aaron Pang tells uncomfortable, funny, and challenging stories about disability. He is interested in leading audiences to places they’ve never been. Aaron has appeared on The Moth Radio Hour, Proof by America’s Test Kitchen, and Frictions Media. His essays have appeared on Essay Daily and Michigan Quarterly Review. He has performed with The Moth Mainstage, Infinite Dream Festival, Unruly Storyfest, Slant’d Media, and more.

Tansu Philip (MOST ACHIEVED PERSON) is a queer, Indian-American actor/writer based in Los Angeles. Her solo show PARATHA premiered at PlayGround Solo Fest 2023 and has won awards!

Miyoko Sakatani (I WASN’T ALWAYS AN ASIAN) she/her, is a Sag-Aftra-e stage and screen actor, singer, writer, producer and a proud company member of SF PlayGround. Miyoko has performed on many Bay Area regional and community theater stages over many years, including writing and performing her solo piece, which she performed in PlayGround’s 2024 Solofest. Film credits include the award winning Samuel Goldwyn film “East Side Sushi” (IMDb.com/Miyoko Sakatani). As founding director of Playland Productions, Miyoko has produced and co-directed several short films and stage plays. Miyoko is also a member of a Bay Area all Asian ukulele band who performs regularly and gratuitously for residential care facilities.

Cezar Williams (Director, SNOW (BLACK MAN/WHITE OUT CONDITIONS)) is an award-winning director. Credits: Dancing on Eggshells (Billie Holiday Theatre), Till: A Musical (American Theater Group), The October Storm (Hudson Stage), and Mitchelville (Lean Ensemble Theatre). He is the Artistic Director of the Obie Award winning Fire This Time Festival and an NYU graduate.