PlayGround-NY presents Season 2

MONDAY NIGHT PLAYGROUND

Topic: “HOLIDAY SPIRIT”
December 26th, 2022 7pm ET
Vimeo Live Simulcast & On Demand

Elf Wanted
by Alexander Perez
Directed by Natalie Glick Shalom
Cringletingle…………Sheila Collins
Thandussil………..…Rami Margron

Christmas Magic
by Jacob Marx Rice
Directed by Abigail Rosen
James………….…Louel Senores
Patrick………..….Hector Zavala

Antlers Anonymous
by Jayne Deely
Directed by Illana Stein
Harry…………………SouJee Han
Andy…Rebbekah Vega-Romero
Norris…………………Alex Shafer
Flem…..……..Anthony Rutowicz

Shelf Life
by Todd Cerveris
Directed by Attilio Rigotti
Vinnie……………..Andrew Sellon
Norm………..……Nick Trengove
Human…….……..Louel Senores
Dog……………..…….Alex Shafer

A Holiday Party
by By Gaven D. Trinidad
Directed by Nico Krell
Skip……………….……Dre Jackson
Don………Wiley Naman Strasser
Ely……….…..Christiano Delgado
Hasan…………..……Noor Hamdi

Best Christmas Ever
by Leela Velautham
Directed by Jully Lee
Max………………..Ben Chau-Chiu
Helen………..MeeWha Alana Lee
Malcolm………….…….Eric Geller
Rachel…….………Sarah Guilbault

Stage Manager – Sarah Gasser
Visual Design Consultant – Colin Johnson

This live stream is produced under a SAG-AFTRA New Media Agreement.

PlayGround is a member of Theatre Bay Area and Theatre Communications Group,
and an Associate Member of the National New Play Network (NNPN).

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD

Following tonight’s performance, we invite your participation in this month’s People’s Choice Award. Through the People’s Choice Award, our audience can play a direct impact in furthering the career of a promising new playwright. To vote, make a People’s Choice Award tax-deductible donation on behalf of your favorite play(s)/playwright(s) from the evening. Every donated dollar counts as a vote while directly supporting PlayGround’s award-winning incubator programs.

Cast your vote for your favorite play(s) by making a People’s Choice donation via Zelle (info@playground-ny.org), Venmo (our account ID is @playgroundsf and if they ask for the last four digits of my phone, it’s 8541) or on our website at https://tickets.playground-sf.org/TheatreManager/1/online?donationquick=168 (you can also visit the Monday Night PlayGround page for the People’s Choice donation button). Add a note/memo with your gift to indicate your favorite play(s) or email your selection to boxoffice@playground-sf.org.

At the end of next week, we’ll tally up the top vote-getter and automatic semi-finalist for our season-ending Best of PlayGround. It’s a powerful way of showing your support for new writers and their work, while helping PlayGround continue doing what we do!

ACKNOWLEDGING THE LEGACY OF THE LAND WE INHABIT

PlayGround-NY acknowledges that we are on the unceded ancestral homeland of the Munsee Lanape, the original inhabitants of the territory colonially known as the five burroughs of New York City. As the past and present Indigenous stewards of this land and in accordance with their traditions, the Munsee Lanape have never ceded, lost, nor forgotten their responsibilities as the caretakers of this place, as well as for all peoples who reside in their traditional territory. We recognize the historic injustice of the forcible removal of the Munsee Lanape people from their ancestral lands, and that we benefit from living and working on their traditional homeland. We wish to pay our respects by acknowledging the Ancestors, Elders and Relatives of the Munsee Lanape Communities and by affirming their sovereign rights as First Peoples. We honor the storytellers of the Lanape and are grateful for our ability to share and uplift Indigenous stories and those of other historically marginalized communities.

To learn about the legacy of the land you inhabit, visit Native-Land.ca | Our home on native land. To read the complete Land Acknowledgment Policy, click here.

PLAYGROUND’S ANTI-RACIST POLICY

PlayGround recognizes the impact of racial oppression within society and the American Theater and that we have been complicit in White Supremacy culture. Our goal is to co-create safety for our community by identifying and interrupting instances of racism and all forms of oppression when we witness them, through specific actions rooted in the principles of anti-racism and accessibility. In its endeavor to address the implications of our history, PlayGround is committed to its compliance with the following fundamental rights:
● The recognition of inherent dignity and worth of each human being.
● The recognition of equality of all human beings.
● Recognition of rights of ethnic, racial, cultural, linguistic and religious groups.
● Equality and non-discrimination.

PlayGround’s Anti-Racist Policy applies to: all members of the PlayGround community, including employees, independent contractors, volunteers, audience members, donors, and general members of the community.

To read the complete Anti-Racist Policy, click here.

THANK YOU TO PLAYGROUND MEMBERS!

We would like to thank PlayGround members for their contribution.

A Monday Night PlayGround membership is a tax-deductible donation and directly supports the more than 400 artists involved in a Monday Night PlayGround season. Members are guaranteed tickets and simulcast access to twenty-four (24) Monday Night PlayGround performances, weekly, October 10, 2022-May 1, 2023, with extended on-demand viewing. Click here to become a member.

BIOGRAPHIES

PLAYWRIGHTS

TODD CERVERIS (Shelf Life), he/him. With 20+ years as an actor, Todd Cerveris has always written ‘in the margins’. Of note: LET ME SPELL IT OUT FOR YOU (Best Storytelling, United Solo Festival 2019), DEACCESSION (Northern Stage New Works Now Festival 2019), IT’S YOUR LIFE (2nd place, Big Bear Lake International Film Festival 2009), BOOTH VARIATIONS co-author (2004 Edinburgh Fringe). His recent work takes place in the porn shop three doors down from the landscaping company where the Trump Campaign had its last press conference before the election was called for Biden; as a result, his Google search history is very strange indeed.

JAYNE DEELY (Antlers Anonymous), they/them, is a latinx queer writer who just completed their MFA in Playwriting at IU Bloomington, with a BA from the Honors College at Fordham University in Lincoln Center. Plays include Stay (semi-finalist, Detroit New Works Festival), Passing (top 40 UCF Pegasus Playlab), 30 Seconds (semi-finalist Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center National Playwrights Conference and BAPF, honorable mention PLAY/write: The Jackie Demaline Regional Collegiate Playwriting Competition, winner Coe College Playwriting Award and BriNK Residency Award at Renaissance Theatreworks), Outraged (winner, John Cauble Award for Outstanding Short Play, Kennedy), Waycross (Kennedy Latinx Playwriting Award, Distinguished Achievement), and most recently, their thesis uncle play (Kennedy Regional Full-length Play Award, BAPF Semi-Finalist, Jane Chambers finalist) in which they also played the role of Niece. Jayne is also a proud member of AEA, and a proud native of Queens, NY.

ALEXANDER PEREZ (Elf Wanted), he/him, is a Cuban-American Playwright/Desk Jockey/Dad making it work in the Big Apple. Since 2015 his plays have seen productions in New York City, London, Chicago, and beyond. Recent productions include God Learn of The Death of Harambe, 2016 (colorized) (Chain Theatre One Act Festival, 2023), Randy’s Dandy Coaster Castle (Egg & Spoon Theatre Collective , 2022), The In-Between (Pelmear Theatre, 2022) Randy’s Dandy Coaster Castle was a 2022 Finalist for the Southeastern Theatre Conference Ready to Publish Award. The Bad in Each Other is a 2023 finalist for the Downtown Urban Arts Festival.

JACOB MARX RICE (Christmas Magic), he/him, plays have been produced and developed at The Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center, The Finborough Theatre in London, Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Flea Theater, The New Ohio, Atlantic Theatre Stage 2, and others. His play Chemistry has premiered in seven cities across three continents, and Jacob’s screenplay adaptation is currently in development with Anonymous Content. Recent prizes include the Jean Kennedy Smith Playwriting Award from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, an Ensemble Studio Theater Sloan Commission, the Faculty Award from the NYU/Tisch Department of Dramatic Writing and the Excellence in Playwriting Award at the New York International Fringe Festival. MFA: NYU.

GAVIN D. TRINIDAD (A Holiday Party), they/he/siya, is a first generation Filipinx American theatremaker from NYC and is currently New York Theatre Workshop’s Community Engagement Associate. His artistic work examines the intersections of race, immigration, queerness, ritual, and community. He’s collaborated with folx in various administrative and artistic positions at places such as The Juilliard Drama Division, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Roundabout Theatre, May-Yi Theater Company, and the Arts Project of Cherry Grove. Theatre Communications Group named him as a member of the 2021 Rising Leaders of Color Cohort. He is an advocate for Mental Health Awareness and Suicide Prevention. https://www.gaventrinidadtheatre.com

LEELA VELAUTHAM (Best Christmas Ever), she/her, originally from the UK, is a post-doctoral researcher studying carbon neutrality targets and decarbonization pathways. She participated in Playground SF’s Playwright Residency Program (2020-21), has been featured in the Best of Playground SF 24 and 25 and the best of Playground NY, is a two-time semi-finalist of the Bay Area Playwrights Festival and won the University of Oxford’s New Writing Festival in 2011 for her play ‘Schroedinger’s Hat’. She is currently a member of the New Perspectives Theatre Company’s 2022 Full-Length Lab.

ACTORS

 BEN CHAU-CHIU (Best Christmas Ever, “Max”), he/him, is a Bay Area actor, singer, and director. He’s excited to work with PlayGround NY for the first time! Recent productions include: On the Night of the Apocolypse (Monday Night PlayGround SF), Beauty and the Beast (Palo Alto Players); Much Ado About Nothing (SF Shakes); A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder (Lamplighters Music Theatre). He has also worked with Cal Shakes, Berkeley Rep, Livermore Valley Opera, N.C.T.C., Plethos Productions, Town Hall Theatre, and Bay Area Children’s Theatre. He holds an M.A. in Theater Arts from U.C. Santa Cruz.

SHEILA COLLINS (Elf Wanted, “Cringletingle”), she/her, has appeared in numerous stage plays, including these iconic roles: Ruth, in A Raisin in the Sun; Emilia, in Othello; (Duke)Duchess of Birmingham, in Henry VIII; Leonato(a) in Much Ado about Nothing; and Grace Farrell in Annie. She’s also appeared in several TV shows: Grey’s Anatomy, Pretty Little Liars and General Hospital, and S.W.A.T., among others, as well as short films, two webseries and a feature film. She is happy to be working with Playground-NY again.

CHRISTIANO DELGADO (A Holiday Party, “Ely”), he/him, is super excited to be returning to the playground! He most recently closed Follies at SF Playhouse, and will be embarking on a journey with The Presidio theatre in their Panto of Sleeping Beauty! Chachi is a native to the Bay and currently resides in Berkeley. He would love to thank you for coming and hopes you enjoy!

ERIC GELLER (Best Christmas Ever, “Malcolm”), he/him. For the last twenty years, Eric’s been a member of “Dancing Squirrels,” a non-profit children’s theater troupe that performs at underserved schools and for ill and abused kids. Eric also performs in the immersive theater realm, including Hollywood Fringe Fest award winners, “Unreal City” and “Vote For Murder.” Eric’s most recognized for hosting an archaeology/exploration series, “Cities of the Underworld,” for The History Channel. Eric’s from St. Louis, attended “Mizzou” and graduated from UC-Irvine.

SARAH GUILBAULT (Best Christmas Ever, “Rachel”), she/they, is a writer and performer living on unceded Lenape land in Harlem. They take inspiration from close friendships, epistolary correspondences, and a healthy dose of buffoonery. Sarah is a proud PlayGround-NY company member.

NOOR HAMDI (A Holiday Party, “Hasan”), he/they, who is proudly queer and Syrian-American, is a New York based actor, teacher, and writer. He’s worked on Broadway, Off-Broadway, locally, regionally, and internationally, as well as in various short films. Noor is always happy to popularize queer and SWANA narratives, and especially the intersection of the two. Website:www.noorhamdi.com

SOUJEE HAN (Antlers Anonymous, “Harry”), they/them, is a NYC born and raised artist. SouJee is a former member of MCC’s Youth Theater Company and holds a BFA in Theatre & Performance from Emerson College (’20). Recently a U.S. Army veteran, they would like to thank PlayGround for this opportunity while they start they officially start their creative journey! Former productions include Love & Information and Sliver of Moonlight (MCC’s Freshplay). IG/Twitter: @soujeexhan

DRE JACKSON (A Holiday Party, “Skip”), he/him, is a television and film actor in Los Angeles. He can be seen in shows like The Politician, Mindhunter and Dollface. Dre also has a background in dance, opera and theater.

MEEWHA ALANA LEE (Best Christmas Ever, “Helen”), she/her, is an actor whose journey began when her son, Alan, a film student left this world. Acting has helped sustain her from the demise of grief. She is a member of AEA and SAG AFTRA. She has appeared in Off-Broadway plays, the award-winning short films, feature films like UMMA, A GREAT DIVIDE and TV shows, AWKWAFINA IS NORA FROM QUEENS, THE CHAIR, and RETREAT. Being an actor gives her the opportunity to tell the stories of immigrants and women, and themes relating to mental illness and racism, all issues she has lived through.

RAMI MARGRON (Elf Wanted, “Thandussil”), they/them, just finished an all queer and trans production of As You Like It at La Jolla Playhouse. Off-Broadway: Angry Young Man (Urban Stages), Love’s Labour’s Lost (Shake and Bake). Regional: Hurricane Diane (The Old Globe and Huntington Theater), Angels in America (Actors Theatre of Louisville), Pride and Prejudice (Long Wharf Theatre), Pericles, Macbeth (Berkeley Repertory Theater), Three Sisters (Two River Theater), The Tempest (Pittsburgh Public Theatre), The Lily’s Revenge (Magic Theater), Lady Windermere’s Fan, Twelfth Night, Comedy of Errors, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (California Shakespeare Theater). TV: “Manifest”, “New Amsterdam”, “For Life”, “FBI”, “Bull”, “High Maintenance”, “Ray Donovan”, “That Damn Michael Che”, “Extrapolations”, “Law and Order”, “Wedding Season” and “Bedlam the Series”

ANTHONY RUTOWICZ (Antlers Anonymous, “Flem”), he/him. Grew up Southern California. Been doing Theatre for some time. Random film/TV gigs/connections along the way. Anthony might be a werewolf in an upcoming Halloween episode of that one firefighter show on ABC. Also playing a bus passenger creep in the upcoming ‘Run Sweetheart Run’, which will screen at ScreamFest 2022 on October 20th and on Amazon on October 28th.

ANDREW SELLON (Shelf Life, “Vinnie”), he/him, is best known on TV as Mr. Penn/The Ventriloquist/Scarface on Gotham. Other Film/TV: Begin Again, The Smurfs, The Blacklist, Divorce, The Good Fight, Halston. Favorite stage roles in NY and regionally: Polonius in Hamlet, The Fool in King Lear, Vanya in Vanya and Sonia…, Bazzard in Drood, Charlie in The Foreigner, Clown in The 39 Steps, and all 35 roles in I Am My Own Wife. Audiobooks: Turncoat, The Kevin Show, Rattle Man. Andrew is on the graduate creative writing faculty at Western Colorado University and University College/DU, teaching performance and playwriting. Next up: Senex in Forum. www.andrewsellon.com

LOUEL SENORES (Christmas Magic, “James”; Shelf Life, “Human”), he/him, is delighted to be joining — all the way from California! — a PlayGround NY Monday Night PlayGround! Oh, the miracles of zoom theater! Louel is an actor, stage manager, and froyo shop manager based in Berkeley, CA. LouelSenores.com

ALEX SHAFER (Antlers Anonymous, “Norris”; Shelf Life, “Dog”), he/him, moved to New York from the SF/Bay Area in 2018. He is so happy to be working with PlayGround again, as they open in NYC. Theatre highlights here in NY are Catapult! at Theatre for a New City, The Cradle Will Rock at Theatre 2020. Some theatre highlights the SF/Bay Area include Colonel McKean in 1776 at ACT, Dan/Jack in Value Over Replacement with Playground, Michael Flaherty in Playboy of the Western World at Cinnabar, Gaev in The Cherry Orchard at Hapgood, and Boolie in Driving Miss Daisy at RVP.

WILEY NAMAN STRASSER (A Holiday Party, “Don”), he/they, is a bicoastal actor, dancer, singer, and musician. Credits include work with The Civilians, Berkeley Rep, Los Angeles Theatre Center, Magic Theater, SF Playhouse, Golden Thread, and Detour Dance, and many more. He has trained internationally with Teatr Zar, Teatro Yuuachkani, and Pig Iron, and received his degree in Theatre from UCLA.

NICK TRENGOVE (Shelf Life, “Norm”), he/him, is a Bay Area-based actor, director, and theater educator. He also worked in the Chicago storefront theater scene and received his MFA in Acting from DePaul University. He most recently performed with NCTC in Aunt Jack and Shotgun Players in A Small Fire.

REBBEKAH VEGA-ROMERO (Antlers Anonymous, “Norris”), she/her/ella, is a performer and scribe, who resides in her native NYC with her black cat, King Arthur Yoda. Rebbekah has graced stages across America: from Massachusetts (Luisa/The Fantasticks/Cape Playhouse) to Colorado (Martha Cratchit/A Christmas Carol/Denver Center) to Washington (Maria/West Side Story/5th Avenue), as well as in many more productions, readings and workshops. Rebbekah holds a BA in English from Boston University and is a YoungArts award-winning writer. Rebbekah’s poetry has been featured by Sixfold and Ars.Poetica; she wrote, starred in, and produced the short film “The Question,” a comedy about #DatingWhileMixed. Rebbekah hopes her work will inspire other mixed-race girls to realize “there’s a place for us.”

HECTOR ZAVALA (Christmas Magic, “Patrick”), he/him/they/them. Professionally trained Actor and dancer, Hector has played roles from Shakespeare to Lorca, working in major international stages, tours, as well as in several recurring roles for Mexican soap operas and feature films. He is a member of SF award-winning Afro Cuban-Brazilian dance company Latin Dance Grooves and has trained with international choreographers: Tomas Guilarte, Gloria Godinez and Alicia Sanchez. Héctor is currently producing his one man show “Seekin’ The Last Gay Man”, a spanish translation of the award nominated “The Last gay man”. He can be seen in the soon to be released feature film “The Queen and the Dead”.

DIRECTORS

NATALIE GLICK SHALOM (Elf Wanted), she/her. Natalie’s directing credits include: Ichundich – Postlude (Wuppertal); Machinal, and Miss Julie (Tel Aviv University); Nothing Serious, The Realm, The Lonely Unicorn, 12 Angry Women, and Bride & Gloom (AlphaNYC); Quarter Life (All Gone Theatre Company); An Impossible Love (The Complete Theatre Company); Echoes (All Gone Theatre Company); The Delirium of Edgar Allan Poe (Bedlam Ensemble); Insurmountable Simplicities (FringeNYC); Plan B: the Musical (Looking Glass Theater).  Natalie is a graduate of Tel Aviv University and Barnard College.

NICO KRELL (A Holiday Party), he/they, is an Uruguayan-born director raised across three continents. He creates theatrical adventures: plays, musicals, operas, performance art, immersive shows, and, once, a gastrotheatical adaptation of Medea. He is a consultant and educator at Princeton University, leading workshops and restructuring the program towards a more holistic, equitable theater culture. His work has been seen at the wild project, Mercury Store, Princeton Summer Theater, the Tank, and Lucid Body House; he has supported projects at Soho Rep., Heartbeat Opera, Opera America, and Berkshire Theatre Group. nicokrell.com

JULLY LEE (Best Christmas Ever), she/her, is making her Broadway/New York debut in KPOP The Musical, currently in previews at Circle in the Square. She is the Artistic Director of Cold Tofu, the nation’s first and longest running Asian American improv company based in Los Angeles, and a Company Member of Playground-NY as a director, performer and associate producer. Select Theatre: The Joy Luck Club (national tour), Aubergine (South Coast Repertory), Hannah and the Dread Gazebo (Fountain Theatre/East West Players). Select TV: “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” “Young Sheldon,” “Jane The Virgin,” “This Is Us,” “The Fosters,” and “Veep.” jullylee.com

ATTILIO A. RIGOTTI (Shelf Life), he/him, is a Chilean theater-maker, video-game designer, and teacher. Along with Orsolya Szánthó, he founded the company GLITCH, creating work that seamlessly combines digital, interactive, and physical mediums with new forms of storytelling. The company’s technology design has been featured in collaborations with Kaki King, MAttilio’s work as a director has been featured at City Lyric Opera, Phoenix Theatre Ensemble, NYU Tisch, Toronto Fringe, and Gamiotics Studios, and has been recognized by the New York Times, Vulture, and American Theatre Magazine. He is a New York Theater Workshop Artist Fellow for 2022-2023, has twice been awarded the O-1 visa for extraordinary artistic achievement in the US, as well as the City Artists Corps Grant by the city of New York.

ABIGAIL ROSEN (Christmas Magic), she/her, is a director and producer, and a company member at Playground-NY. Favorite directing credits include: This is Beauty (Playground-NY), All Shook Up (All Student Theatre), The Taming of the Shrew (Washington University). She also works as a grant writer for People’s Theatre Project in uptown NYC.

ILLANA STEIN (Antlers Anonymous) she/her, NYC-based director. Recent credits: directed and co-wrote Hans & Sophie (World Premiere, Amphibian Stage), A Lost Leonardo (Amphibian Stage), Julius Caesar (Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival Tour). Off-Broadway: Associate Director: Tamburlaine the Great (dir. Michael Boyd), Pericles (dir. Trevor Nunn) at Theatre for a New Audience. Regional credits: Associate Director: Fingersmith (dir. Bill Rauch/A.R.T.) Assisting: OSF, Signature Theatre, Yale Rep, Pearl Theatre, Hangar Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company. Overall Award for Excellence in directing or what she will by Charly Evon Simpson (FringeNYC ‘12), recipient of a Drama League First Stage Residency, member of LCT Directors Lab ’12, and on the board of LPTW. www.illanastein.com

PRODUCTION

JIM KLEINMANN (Artistic Director), he/him, co-founded PlayGround in 1994, along with playwright Brighde Mullins and director Denise Shama, and has served as Artistic Director since 1996. For PlayGround, he has provided artistic and administrative leadership for the past twenty-four seasons, developing PlayGround’s unique array of new playwright and new play incubator programs, including Monday Night PlayGround, the PlayGround Festival of New Works, the full-length play Commissioning Initiative, and more than one hundred short and full-length plays, including works by Garret Jon Groenveld, Aaron Loeb, Geetha Reddy, Lauren Yee, Katie May, and many others. Recent directing and dramaturgy credits include David Steele’s Vignettes on Love and Ruben Grijalva’s Value Over Replacement. He is a veteran arts administrator with more than thirty years of experience, including stints leading Traveling Jewish Theatre, Smuin Ballet and Berkeley Symphony, and received his MFA from the Yale School of Drama.

SARAH GASSER (Stage Manager) joined PlayGround in 2017 and has staged managed for the Monday Night PlayGround series and PlayGround Festival. She stagemanages for companies around the Bay Area, including Brava and Bay Area Children’s Theatre. In her administrative capacities, she assists with PlayGround’s marketing, social media, communications, and website, as well as serving as assistant to the Artistic Director.

PLAYGROUND-NY is the second regional expansion of the celebrated Bay Area playwright incubator and theatre community hub, PlayGround(SF). PlayGround, California’s leading playwright incubator, provides unique development opportunities for the Bay Area’s, Los Angeles’ and now New York’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 early career playwrights, developing and staging more than 1,000 of their original short plays through the Monday Night PlayGround staged reading series and the PlayGround Festival. PlayGround has also commissioned 90 new full-length plays by 60 of these writers through its Commissioning Initiative and, through the innovative New Play Production Fund, has directly facilitated the premiere of 34 plays at theatres of every size, including three that have gone on to NYC and other major theater communities. Most recently, PlayGround renovated and relaunched the former Thick House Theater in San Francisco’s Potrero Hill as Potrero Stage, a state-of-the-art center for new plays, home to PlayGround’s expanding artistic programs and some of the Bay Area’s most distinguished new play developers and producers. Over the past twenty-seven years, PlayGround has served to identify some of the most important new local voices for the theatre. PlayGround’s alumni have gone on to win local, national, and international honors for their short and full-length work, including recognition at the Humana Festival, O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, The Lark’s Playwrights’ Week, 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.

CONTRIBUTORS

PlayGround is deeply grateful for the generous contributions of the many individuals, foundations, gifts of $125 or more committed between October 1, 2021 & October 24, 2022.

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 Grant Program • Creative Capacity Fund • First Republic Bank • The Fleishhacker Foundation • Goldman Sachs • Google • Grants For The Arts • Koret Foundation • Lenore & Howard Klein Foundation • The Leo J. & Celia Carlin Fund • Negley Flinn Charitable Foundation • NIAC • Nvidia • Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation • Planet Earth Arts • The Shubert Foundation • The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation • Zellerbach Family Foundation

INDIVIDUAL SUPPORTERS

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–$4,999)

John H. Gilman, Regina S. Guggenheim

PRODUCERS CIRCLE ($1000-$2499)

Sidney Glass & Eleanor Clement Glass, In Memory of M. David MacCallum, Jr., Rebecca Martinez, Nitin, Arthur & Toni Rembe Rock, Marian Scheuer Sofaer & Abraham D. Sofaer, Anonymous (3)

PLAYWRIGHTS CIRCLE ($500-$999)

Thomas Patrick Broyhill, David Goldman, Jeff Gregory, Regina S. Guggenheim, Linda Kremer, Lisa A. Mammel, Lisa Morse, Nvidia, Nancy & Carty Spencer, J.B. Strasser, Susannah Wise & Scott Lebus, Anonymous (3)

PATRON ($250-$499)

Dr. Elaine Baskin & Kenneth R. Krechmer, Lily L Chow, Ruben & Keli Grijalva, Vicki Hamilton, Roxy Jones, Ray and Carla Kaliski, Annie Stuart, Lisa R. Taylor, Maury Zeff, Anonymous (3)

ASSOCIATE MEMBER ($125-$249)

Maura C. Berkelhamer, Dr. Katherine Ardis Blenko, Frieda de Lackner, Jessica Forbess, Mr. Eric Garcia, Sarah Gasser, Tom Goetzl, Gina Harris, Abbe S. Kalos & Kitt Saginor, Jennifer King, Douglas & Mary Ann Le Blanc, Gregg Le Blanc, Trynne Miller & David Prince, Everett & Julia Moore, Louis Parnell, Dr. Alan Pearl, Ms. Madeline Daly Puccioni, Mike Rosenthal, Lisa Gaye Thompson, Jeffrey Trescott, Liam Vincent, Mr. Darryl Wilburn, Janine & Darryl Wilburn, Robin L. Wimsatt, Kelli Wong, Anonymous (3)

To contribute to PlayGround-NY, visit https://playground-ny.org/contribute or contact PlayGround Associate Director of Development Lana Richards at lana@playground-sf.org or by phone at (415) 992-6677.

PLAYGROUND-NY WRITERS POOL

Sam Affoumado, Momo Akashi, Anthony Anello, Andy Boyd, Christin Cato, Todd Cerveris, Jayne Deely, Josh Drimmer, Barry Eitel, Bailey Elis, Jack Feldstein, Ruth Geye, Dana Leslie Goldstein, Stanley Hathaway, Rachel Herron, David Hilder, Rebecca Kane, Elizabeth Lee, Dani Nelson, Matthew Park, Alexander Perez, Jacob Rice, Rachael Richman, Kathryn Ryan, Natalie Sacks, Louise Schwarz, Marcus Scott, Riley Tollen, Gaven Trinidad, Rebbekah Vega-Romero, Charles Velasquez-Witosky, Leela Velautham, Rhys Washington, Maggie Wilson

PRODUCTION & STAFF

Jim Kleinmann, Co-Founder & Artistic Director
Kalina Ko, Associate Producer
Jully Lee, Associate Producer
Abigail Rosen, Associate Producer
Sarah Gasser, Resident Stage Manager
Kelsey Bray, 2022-23 Directing Apprentice
Laith Zuaiter, 2022-23 Directing Apprentice

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3286 Adeline St #8
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