PlayGround Zoom Fest Playbill

Welcome to the 24th annual PlayGround Festival of New Works, a leading showcase of new plays and new playwrights. This year’s festival is unique — in large part due to the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting theater closures and shelter-in-place orders, but also because this year’s festival marks PlayGround’s 25th anniversary. In connection with the first, we have taken the bold step of moving the entire festival online. And to mark the second, we have added significantly to our festival, with numerous additional play readings and film screenings, showcasing some of the best writers and works developed and premiered in connection with PlayGround from the past twenty-five years. The result is the first-ever PlayGround Zoom Fest, a 25-event 5-week new works festival and 25th anniversary celebration, all live-streamed via Zoom and largely free of charge.

A different type of festival requires a different type of playbill. And so, we present here the PlayGround Zoom Fest digital playbill — featuring programs, cast lists, biographies, staff and board lists, recognition of our supporters, and more — for your edification. Enjoy!

PROGRAMS & CAST LISTS

May 11, 2020 8pm PT

A 25th Anniversary Celebration
Shorts Program A

Cold Calls
by Martha Soukup
Directed by Katherine Kovner
Caller.…………………..…………………….………………Brit Frazier
Audience Member……………………………………..Sean Garahan
House Manager……………………………………..….Robyn Grahn
Premiered at Best of PlayGround (2003).

My Better Half
by Jonathan Spector
Directed by Michael Barakiva
Anna…………………………………..……………………Melissa Ortiz
Dave……………………………………………………Christian Haines
Charles……………………………………………………..Gene Gillette
Marilyn…………………………………………….Stephanie Prentice
Premiered at Best of PlayGround (2013).

La Vida Lobo
by Linda Amayo-Hassan
Directed by Ivan Rivas
Lobo………………………………………..…………………Jed Parsario
Pablo……………………………………………………….Carlos Aguirre
Lola…………………………………………….Livia Gomes Demarchi
Premiered at Best of PlayGround (2019).

Someone
by Genne Murphy
Directed by Craig Willis
Max…………………………………………..………Richard Gallagher
Hannah………………………………………………..Angel Adedokun
Andy……………………………………………….……………Ned Noyes
Premiered at Best of PlayGround (2015).

You Eat What You Kill
by Cleavon Smith
Directed by Darryl Jones
Martha…………………………………………………..Cathleen Ridley
Jamie…………………………………………………….Reggie D. White
James……………………………………………..…….Michael Asberry
Premiered at Best of PlayGround (2012).

My Name Is Yin
by Tom Swift
Directed by Doyle Ott
The Bear……………………..………………………………..Gwen Loeb
The Writer………………..………………………………..Chris Morell
Alf Kjaellstroem…………………………….……..Steven Westdahl
The Husband……………………………………..……Jomar Tagatac
The Wife……………..………………………………..Karen Offereins
The Audience Member…………………………….Talisha Tolliver
Premiered at Best of PlayGround (2004).

Stage Manager – Sarah Gasser

May 15, 2020 8pm PT

A 25th Anniversary Celebration

First Person Shooter
by Aaron Loeb
Directed by Markus Potter
Actor 1 Kerry…………………………………..………Michael Phillis
Actress 1 Tamar/Rachel……………………..Ayelet Firstenberg
Actor 2 Tommy/Billy……………………………Benjamin Ismail
Actor 3 Daniel/Governor/Shadow…………..…Dion Graham
Actress 2 Rose/Consultant/Reporter……….…….Carrie Paff
Actor 4 Wilson/Lee/Anchorman……………….……..Will Dao

Stage Manager – Sarah Gasser

 Originally commissioned and developed by PlayGround.
Premiered at SF Playhouse in a SF Playhouse-PlayGround co-production (2007).

May 16, 2020 8pm PT

A 25th Anniversary Celebration

Safe House
by Geetha Reddy
Directed by Giovanna Sardelli
Em…………………………………………………………….Lisa Morse
Marshall………………………………………………..Patrick Jones
June……………………………………………………………..Isabel To
July……………………………………………………….Louel Senores

Stage Manager – Sarah Gasser

Originally commissioned and developed by PlayGround.
Premiered at SF Playhouse’s Sandbox Series in a SF Playhouse-PlayGround co-production (2010).

May 17, 2020 5pm PT

A 25th Anniversary Celebration

Lolita Roadtrip
by Trevor Allen
Directed by Kent Nicholson
Mr. Paul Drake………………………………………….Rolf Saxon
Mrs. Mary Drake……………………………………….Stacy Ross
Julia…………………………………………………….Chloe Bronzan
Danny……………………………………………..Christian Wilburn

Stage Manager – Sarah Gasser

Originally commissioned and developed by PlayGround.
Premiered at San Jose Stage in a San Jose Stage-PlayGround co-production (2011).

May 18, 2020 8pm PT

A 25th Anniversary Celebration
Shorts Program B

I’d Like to Buy a Vowel
by Cass Brayton
Directed by Ely Sonny Orquiza
Wanda Lust……………………………………..D’Arcy Drollinger
Peter………………………………………………….Reggie D. White
Dustin……………………………………………….Benjamin Ismail
Premiered at Best of PlayGround (2003)

Monarchs in Space
by Nicole Jost
Directed by Margaret E. Hall
Elena Vela…………………………………………..Regina Morones
Monarch 1…………………………………………………….Austin Ku
Monarch 2………………………………………….Rebecca Pingree
Monarch 3…………………………………………………….Cindy Im
Premiered at Best of PlayGround (2017)

Hella Love Oakland
by Robin Lynn Rodriguez
Directed by Raelle Myrick-Hodges
Backpack Mom 1…………………………………………Neiry Rojo
Backpack Mom 2…………………………………Emily Keyishian
Backpack Mom 3………………………………….Chelsea Bearce
Premiered at Best of PlayGround (2012)

Miss Finknagle Succumbs to Chaos
by Kirk Shimano
Directed by Jully Lee
Miss Finknagle……………………………………..Cindy Goldfield
Rumor……………………………………………….Krystle Piamonte
Gossip………………………………………….Rosemarie Kingfisher
Eggbert………………………………………Michael Barrett Austin
Star Flower………………………………………….JennyAn Nelson
Sandra……………………………………………..Stephanie Prentice
Premiered at Best of PlayGround (2012)

Dear Santa
by Nic A. Sommerfeld
Directed by Paris McCarthy
Maddie………………………………………………Angel Adedokun
Catherine………………………………………………..Elena Wright
James……………………………………………………..David Moore
Premiered at Best of PlayGround (2019)

All Thumbs
by Aaron Loeb
Directed by Frieda de Lackner
Narrator………………………………………………..……Stacy Ross
The Miller……………………………………………Joseph O’Malley
Mrs. Miller…………………………………………………Lyndsy Kail
Cavity Creep #1…………………………………………..Sara Moore
Cavity Creep #2/Voice of Thumbelina………Carolyn Doyle
Cavity Creep #3…………………………………………..Dean Koya
Peter Pan………………………………………….Richard Gallagher
Premiered at Best of PlayGround (2009)

Stage Manager – Sarah Gasser

May 22, 2020 8pm PT

A 25th Anniversary Celebration

Abominable
by Katie May
Directed by Peter J. Kuo
Beverly Onion……………………………………………..Lisa Morse
Fate Aldo…………………………………………………….Billingslea
Luck……………………………………………………..Julia Brothers
Female Actor…………………………………………….Lyndsy Kail
Male Actor……………………………………………Jomar Tagatac

Stage Manager – Sarah Gasser

Originally commissioned and developed by PlayGround.
Premiered at the PlayGround Festival of New Works (2016).

May 23, 2020 8pm PT

A 25th Anniversary Celebration

1980 or Why I’m Voting for John Anderson
by Patricia Cotter
Directed by M. Graham Smith
Kathleen Haag……………………………………………Ash Malloy
Brenda Quealy…………………………………….Martha Brigham
Robin Ridge……………………………………………Makena Miller
Will Moore………………………………………………Michael Curry

Stage Manager – Sarah Gasser

Originally commissioned and developed by PlayGround.
Premiered by Jackalope Theatre Company at the Broadway Armory Park, Chicago (2017).

May 24, 2020 5pm PT

A 25th Anniversary Celebration

Anna Considers Mars
by Ruben Grijalva
Directed by Kent Nicholson
Anna Aguirre…………………………………………..Melissa Ortiz
Renata Aguirre………………………………………..Wilma Bonet
Malcom Phillips………………………………….Christian Haines
Carson………………………………………………………..Rolf Saxon
Shelly, etc.…………………………………………………Katie Rubin
Darryl, etc.……………………………………………..Aaron Wilton

Stage Manager – Sarah Gasser

Originally co-commissioned and developed by PlayGround and Planet Earth Arts.
Premiered at the PlayGround Festival of New Works (2019).

May 25, 2020 8pm PT

A Festival Developmental Reading

Translations
by Victoria Chong Der
Directed by Desdemona Chiang
Tian………………………………………………………………Amy Hill
Viola……………………………………………………………..Isabel To
Duke……………………………………………………..Jomar Tagatac
Ollie………………………………………………………………Cindy Im
Nio………………………………………………………………..Will Dao
Daniel…………………………………………………Reggie D. White

Stage Manager – Sarah Gasser

Developed as part of the PlayGround Alumni & Playwright Residency Program (2020).

May 29, 2020 8pm PT

A Festival Developmental Reading

Sapience
by Diana Burbano
Directed by Nancy Carlin
Elsa……………………………………………………Lucinda Serrano
Wookie…………………………………………………….Rosie Hallett
AJ…………………………………………………………….Jed Parsario
Miri………………………………………….Livia Gomes Demarchi
Jason…………………………………………….Michael Ray Wisely

Stage Manager – Sarah Gasser

Developed as part of the PlayGround Alumni Program (2019).

May 30, 2020 8pm PT & May 31, 2020 5pm PT

A Festival Premiere Presentation

Disbelief
A Cassandra Story
by Garret Jon Groenveld
Directed by Tracy Ward
Cassandra……………………………………………Nora el Samahy
Apollo……………………………….…………..………Michael Torres
Chorus One………………………..……………….Rinabeth Apostol
Chorus Two………………………………………..Christian Wilburn
Chorus Three…………………………………..………..Aaron Wilton

Visual Design – Randy Wong-Westbrooke
Sound Design – Kalon Thibodeaux
Costume Design – Ashley Renee
Lighting Design – Brittany Mellerson
Properties Artisan – Jacque Bugler
Digital Design Consultant – Colin Johnson
Puppet Show Illustrations – Chiara Di Martino
Puppet Show Producer/Editor – Colin Johnson
Stage Manager – Annie Tillis

Originally developed at the PlayGround Festival of New Works (2018).

June 1, 2020 8pm PT

A Festival Developmental Reading

Burst
by Rachel Bublitz
Directed by Estefania Fadul
Sarah Boyd…………………………………………..Lauren English
Jennifer Weaver…………………………………..Karen Offereins
Alexis Lyons………………………………………………..Neiry Rojo

Stage Manager – Edna Mira Raia

Developed as part of the PlayGround Alumni & Playwright Residency Program (2019).

June 5, 2020 8pm PT

A Festival Developmental Reading

The Nesting Instinct
by Tom Bruett
Directed by Jeffrey Lo
Julianna…………………………………………………….Sarita Ocon
Jason……………………………………………………Patrick Russell
Mateo……………………………………………….Bacilio Mendez II
Liam……………………………………………………..Michael Phillis
Daphne………………………………………………Rinabeth Apostol
Duncan………………………………………………….Jomar Tagatac

Stage Manager – Edna Mira Raia

A PlayGround-Planet Earth co-commission.

June 6, 2020 & June 7, 2020 5pm PT

A Festival Premiere Presentation

The Rendering Cycle
by Genevieve Jessee
Directed by Margo Hall
(original development by Lauren Spencer)
Actor 1………………………………………………..Cathleen Riddley
Actor 2……………………………………………..Armando McClain
Actor 3…………………………………………..Champagne Hughes
Actor 4…………………………………………..…….Caitlin Evenson

Visual Design – Colin Johnson
Sound Design – Elton Bradman
Costume Design – Regina Evans
Lighting Design – Brittany Mellerson
Properties Artisan – Jamaica Glenn
Dramaturg & Assistant Director – Leigh Rondon-Davis
Dialect Coach – Oluchi Nwokocha
Stage Manager – Sarah Gasser

Originally commissioned and developed by PlayGround at the PlayGround Festival of New Works (2018).

June 8, 2020 8pm PT

A Zoom Town Hall
“PlayGround & the American Theatre – Past, Present and Future”

Panel One (“Past”)
Aaron Loeb
Geetha Reddy
Lauren Yee
Kent Nicholson (moderator)

Panel Two (“Present”)
Rinabeth Apostol
Ruben Grijalva
Lily Janiak
Annie Stuart (moderator)

Panel Three (“Future”)
Diana Burbano
Jeunee Simon
Christian Wilburn
Chris Steele (moderator)

June 12, 2020 8pm PT

The Howard & Lenore Klein Foundation
12th Annual Young Playwrights Project

Aren’t You Clever
by Katherine Ioffe
(Design Tech High School ’22)
Directed by Gabrieal Griego
Leonardo Sol………………………………………………..Rolf Saxon
Icarus Moon……………………………………………Louel Senores
Chessmaster……………………………………………….Chris Steele

If Only We Were Humen
by Tiffany Liu
(Cupertino High School ’21)
Directed by Claire Ganem
Oriana……………………………………………Leigh Rondon Davis
Orlando……………………………………………………….Dean Koya

American Dinner
by Leela Kiyawat
(Oakland School for the Arts ’21)
Directed by Neiry Rojo
Arya……………………………………………………………….Maaz Ali
Mohana…………………………………………………….Radhika Rao
Satish…………………………………………………………………..J Jha
Rohan………………………………………………………….Akash Patel

Safe Way
by Sarah Schecter
(Oakland School for the Arts ’21)
Directed by Giselle Boustani-Fontenele
Junior………………………………………………..Bacilio Mendez II
Corinne…………………………………………..……….Carolyn Doyle
Angelica………………………………………………..Lucinda Serrano
Elijah……………………………………………………………..Brian Levi

Stage Manager – Sarah Gasser

June 13, 2020 8pm PT & June 14, 2020 5pm PT

A Festival Premiere Presentation

BEST OF PLAYGROUND 24
The 24th Annual Showcase of the Year’s Best New Playwrights & Plays

Agent of Change
by Addie Ulrey
Directed by Jim Kleinmann
Customer……………………………………………….David Cramer
Server…………………………………….Blythe de Oliveira Foster

Christmas Evita
by Tom Bruett
Directed by George Maguire
Edgar…………………………………………………..Rudy Guerrero
George………………………………………………………Joe Higgins

The Gravedigger’s Wife
by Martha Soukup
Directed by Rebecca Ennals
Gravedigger……………………………………….Joseph O’Malley
Wife………………………………………………………..Rosie Hallett

I’m Back
by Christian Wilburn
Directed by Norman Gee
Michael Jordan……………………………………….…..Dane Troy
James Jordan………………………………….….Michael Asberry
The Phantom……………………………..Michael Barrett Austin

The Evocation
by Leela Velautham
Directed by Katja Rivera
Villager/Servant…………………………………Cathleen Riddley
Lady Macbeth……………………………………………..Lisa Morse
Macbeth…………………………………………………..Aaron Wilton

Love, Pray, Eat
by Melissa Keith
Directed by Tessa Corrie
Wanda…………………………………………………….Amy Lizardo
Jackie……………………………………….Livia Gomes Demarchi
Dude 1/Dude 2/Larry…………………………..Douglas Giorgis

Visual Design – Colin Johnson
Sound Design – Chris Sauceda
Costume Design – Marisely Cortes
Lighting Design – Brittany Mellerson
Properties Artisan – Hannah Clague
Stage Manager – Sarah Gasser

BIOGRAPHIES

Tom Bruett (Playwright, The Nesting Instinct and Christmas Evita) is a director and playwright.  His plays have been seen at PianoFight, SF Fringe, PCSF, ReGroup Theatre (LA), Lakeshore Players and Players’ Theatre (NYC) and Best of PlayGround 23. He’s currently under commission at PlayGround.  He was a finalist for the Humana Festival Heideman Award. As a lyricist he was selected for the Johnny Mercer Songwriting Institute through ASCAP and Northwestern. At NCTC he has directed Le Switch, Cardboard Piano, Birds of a Feather and You’ll Catch Flies.

Rachel Bublitz (Playwright, Burst) is a playwright and mom. She received the 2020 Will Glickman Award for Z Space’s world premiere production of her play Ripped. Other plays include Burst (developed with PlayGround, Utah Shakespeare Festival, MACH 33 Festival from Caltech and Pasadena Playhouse, and more), The Night Witches (commissioned and produced by Egyptian YouTheatre, published with Dramatic Publishing), and Let’s Fix Andy (developed at the Wyoming Theater Festival, finalist for the 2018 Bay Area Playwrights Festival). She was awarded the June Anne Baker Prize from PlayGround in 2015. When she isn’t writing, she’s chasing after her two viking-like kids. RachelBublitz.com.

Diana Burbano (Playwright, Sapience), a Colombian immigrant, is a playwright, an Equity actor, and a teaching artist at South Coast Repertory and Breath of Fire Latina Theatre Ensemble. Diana’s play Ghosts of Bogota recently won the Nu Voices festival at Actors Theatre of Charlotte. Ghosts was commissioned and debuted at Alter Theater in the Bay Area in Feb 2020. She was in Center Theatre Group’s 2018-19 Writers Workshop cohort.

Victoria Chong Der (Playwright, Translations) has written for several Bay Area companies, including theaters and game companies. She is a resident playwright of the Playwrights Foundation and PlayGround, received a 2014 PlayGround Fellowship, and has a BA in Creative Writing from Oberlin College. She is deeply grateful to PlayGround for giving her the confidence to make story-telling a full-time gig and who has supported her in her last five full-length plays.

Garret Jon Groenveld (Playwright, Disbelief) is a poet and playwright living in San Francisco, CA with an MFA in Poetry and an MA in Playwriting from San Francisco State University. His plays include Missives, The Hummingbirds, and The Empty Nesters, among others. A PlayGround founding writer and current resident playwright, his work has been produced in the Bay Area, New York, and internationally in connection with the Internationalists Prize. He is a past resident playwright of Playwrights Foundation and proud member of the Dramatists Guild.

Katherine Ioffe (Playwright, Aren’t You Clever?) is a sophomore at Design Tech high school. Never far from a good book, Katherine developed a love of stories and story telling at a young age. She became a published author at seven, co-writing Journal of a Cat, launched her elementary’s school first newspaper, founded and ran two businesses, and presented at the 13th Annual Maker faire. Her animated short film “Mr. Doodle” placed third in a local contest. As a high school freshman she called and convinced the Stanford electrical engineering department to give her a summer internship. A huge science fiction geek, Doctor Who holds a special place in her heart because it inspired her to pursue writing. She recently wrote a “Dalek Who?”, a Doctor Who short story for an upcoming edition of the Cosmic Masque. “Aren’t You Clever?” is Katherine’s first stage play.

Genevieve Jessee (Playwright, The Rendering Cycle) is a playwright based jointly in the Bay Area and Puerto Rico. She received her MFA in Playwriting from Boston University. Her work has been staged at PlayGround, The Source Festival, Atlanta Black Theatre Festival, SF Fringe, Those Women Productions, and the Festival de Marseille, France. She is a semi-finalist for the 2019 O’Neill National Playwrights Conference. She has received commissions from PlayGround and Planet Earth Arts, and is the recipient of a California Arts Council Artists-in-Communities grant for her work on The Rendering Cycle.

Melissa Keith (Playwright, Pray, Eat, Love) is honored to return to the PlayGround Writers Pool and community for the 6th year. Lucky number 6! Besides meeting deadlines at the last possible second, Melissa also acts and directs, and has enjoyed working with Bay Area companies such as SF Shakespeare Festival, NCTC, Killing My Lobster, Shotz, and Awesome Theatre.

Tiffany Liu (Playwright, If Only We Were Humen) is a student at Cupertino High School, an actress in Cupertino Actors’ Theater, and a captain of her school’s comedy improvisation team. Some of her recent roles include Mrs. Peacock from Clue, Jill from Radiant Vermin, and Carly from Ranked, The Musical. At the Lenaea Festival competition in February 2020, she placed Gold in Duo Scenes and Silver in Monologues. She was also chosen as one of eight students to perform her monologue as a command performance for over 1,000 participants from 72 schools at the festival. Tiffany finds theater evocative, comforting, risky, and passionate. If Only We Were Humen is one of her first written plays, and Tiffany is excited to see her work with PlayGround come to life as a new writer and aspiring actress. She thanks her supportive family, best friends, and drama teacher.

Sarah Schecter (Playwright, Safe Way) is a theatre artist, activist, and chef from Oakland. She is a junior at Oakland School for the Arts (OSA) studying Playwriting, and a member of the Teen Core Council at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Her work has been published at the 2018 Heart of Oakland Festival, Still I Rise Films, OSA New Works Festival (’18, ’19) and at the SF Children’s Hospital. Her recent dramaturgy work includes …And Jesus Moonwalks the Mississippi, Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, and The Importance of Being Earnest at OSA and In The Heights and Hairspray at Throckmorton Theatre. Her recent directing work includes The American Dream and Dog Sees God with Bay Area Zeta Players. She is currently working on writing her first book, and is directing The Rabbit Play at Berkeley Rep’s Teen One Acts Festival. She spends her non-theatrical time as treasurer for Bay Area Student Activists, a student-led civic engagement group, and learning and cooking in kitchens around the Bay Area.

Martha Soukup (Playwright, The Gravedigger’s Wife) has won the June Anne Baker Prize from PlayGround and the Nebula Award for science fiction. Her short story collection is The Arbitrary Placement of Walls. Her play, Tent City, was featured in The Potrero Nuevo Project, the inaugural production at Potrero Stage.

Addie Ulrey (Playwright, Agent of Change) is a playwright and ensemble theatre maker trained at Oberlin College, the Moscow Art Theatre, and the Double Edge Theatre. She is a long-time collaborator at Ragged Wing Ensemble in Oakland, and a former fellow with both Cal Shakes and Emerging Arts Professionals SF/Bay Area.

Leela Velautham (Playwright, The Evocation) is a graduate student at UC Berkeley, studying towards a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology. She won the 2011 University of Oxford’s New Writers Festival for her script and production of the play Schroedinger’s Hat. She enjoys negotiating cultural differences between her native U.K and the U.S.

Christian Wilburn (Playwright, I’m Back; Actor, Disbelief) is a San Francisco playwright, author and actor. He graduated Magna Cum Laude in Theatre Arts from Santa Clara University, and is currently pursuing an MFA from the University of San Francisco. Christian is excited to conclude his first year as a member of PlayGround’s writers pool with inclusion of his ten-minute play, I’m Back, in Best of PlayGround 24.