PlayGround-NY presents Season 2

BEST OF PLAYGROUND-NY GALA

April 24th, 2023 7pm ET
The Producers Club & On-Demand thru May 31

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.

Friendly Skies
by Dana Leslie Goldstein
Directed by Nico Krell
Chrissy…Rebbekah Vega-Romero
Marion…………MeeWha Alana Lee
Pilot………………………..Mark Peters

Human Programming
by Natalie Sacks
Directed by Abigail Rosen
Sam………………….Sarah Guilbault
Zachary……………Alex Moggridge

Best Christmas Ever
by Leela Velautham
Directed by Nathaniel P. Claridad
Max………………………Nick Sholley
Helen..………..………Julia Brothers
Malcolm…………………Alex Shafer
Rachel……………………...Jen Anaya

Carnivores
by Jacob Marx Rice
Directed by Jim Kleinmann
Zeke…………….……Timothy H. Lee
Cheddar……………Sarah Guilbault
Suds…………………………Tyler Kent
Catticus………………..Trinity Mikel

Jung
by Matthew Park
Directed by Sarah Shin
Mija Yang……MeeWha Alana Lee
Julie Williams………….SouJee Han

The Holiday Party
by Gaven D. Trinidad
Directed by Nathaniel Claridad
Skip…………..Sergio Mauritz Ang
Don…………………..George Harris
Ely.…………………………..Austin Ku
Hasan……………..…..Noor Hamdi

Stage Manager – Sarah Gasser
Visual Design Consultant – Colin Johnson

The online simulcast is produced under a SAG-AFTRA New Media Agreement.

PlayGround is a member of Theatre Bay Area and Theatre Communications Group.

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!

THANK YOU TO PLAYGROUND MEMBERS!

We would like to thank our 2022-23 Monday Night PlayGround members for their support: Dr. Elaine Baskin & Kenneth R. Krechmer, Christine Benson, Summer Broyhill, Sidney Glass & Eleanor Clement Glass, Joan Cleveland, Kenneth C. Clews, Paulette Donsavage & Deeje Cooley, Sunny Da Silva, Ann Ehrmann, Victoria Evans Erville, Nieves Feied, Ms. Cherielyn Ferguson, Krystyna Finlayson, Mrs. Mary K. H. Foote, Michael Fried, Lara Gilman, Gail Hillebrand & Hugh Barroll, Roxy Jones, Carol Kearns, Ms. Karen Levesque, Ms. Kristy Lin Billuni, Ms. Vidyut Lingamneni, Jonathan Luskin & Leslie Katz, Dr. Sheila McCormick, Susan McKay, Mr. Scott Mullen, Ms. Vicki Oswald, Michelle Ruscetta, John J. Ruskin, Kathryn Ryan, Mr. Justin David Sikes, Nancy W. Smith, Mary Lou Torre, Lisa A Tromovitch, Andrew Trott, Michael E Tuton, Dr. Eidell Wasserman, Janine Wilburn, Mr. Marvin H Williams

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 live online access to twenty-four (24) Monday Night PlayGround performances, weekly, October 10, 2022-May 1, 2023, with extended on-demand viewing through our Monday Night PlayGround Member Library. Click here to become a member.

BIOGRAPHIES

PLAYWRIGHTS

DANA LESLIE GOLDSTEIN (Friendly Skies), she/her, has won the New England New Play Competition, Harold and Mimi Steinberg Playwriting Prize, Different Voices New Play Award, ACTF New Play Award and numerous development grants. Her work has been seen at Manhattan Theatre Club, Cherry Lane, Culture Project, Women’s Project, York, Theatre80, New Dramatists, Vineyard Playhouse, Brave New World, Ensemble Theatre of Chattanooga (TN), Clamour Theatre (FL), American Stage Company (FL), Left Edge Theatre (CA), Pacific Theatre (Canada), TischAsia (Singapore), Baggage Productions (Australia), Red Brick Theatre (U.K.), NYMF, on Ellis and Liberty Islands, at the UN, etc. Member: BMI, Brave New World, Workshop, PlayGround, Dramatists Guild. www.danalesliegoldstein.com

MATTHEW PARK (Jung), he/they, was born in New York and raised in Seoul, South Korea. His work revolves around the Asian-American experience, and seeks to start dialogues about valorizing whiteness at the expense of heritage. His plays include Lessons (Diverse Voices Playwriting Initiative finalist 2023, Bay Area Playwrights Festival semifinalist 2023), Assimilation (Pipeline PlayLab semifinalist 2021), Plague Year (Red Bull Theater’s Short New Play Festival 2020), and Hurricane Regan. His work has been supported by the Playwrights Realm, New York University and Illinois State University. He assisted Scott Rudin during the Broadway productions of Three Tall Women and To Kill A Mockingbird. He is a member of Playground-NY’s inaugural Writers Pool and has been published by Stage Rights. BFA, NYU Tisch.

JACOB MARX RICE (Carnivores), 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.

NATALIE SACKS (Human Programming), she/her, is a Brooklyn-based playwright specializing in historical and sci-fi theater. Her play, The Young Ladies of the Class of 1902 of Wesleyan University Present, “As You Like It,” is a finalist for American Shakespeare Center’s (indefinitely postponed) 2021 Shakespeare’s New Contemporaries competition. Other plays include Invasive Species (Benchmark Theatre), Hey Sexy: An Environmental Parable (The Bechdel Group), Until We Get It Right (semifinalist, Detroit New Works Festival), Shooting in the Dark (Queen Mary Theatre Company), 50 Meters (The Rude Mechanicals), The Queen of Ireland (Turn to Flesh Productions), Loving Grandma Jean (The Bechdel Group), and Susceptible to Fire (The Dirty Blondes). Natalie is an inaugural member of the Playground-NY Writers Pool.

GAVEN D. TRINIDAD (The Holiday Party), they/he/siya, is a Filipinx American director-dramaturg-playwright. Their work examines the intersections of social justice, race, immigration, queerness, mental health, and community. They have worked as an artist and/or as an administrator at 2nd Stage, The Juilliard Drama Division, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, IAMA Theatre, and National Queer Theater. TCG 2021 Rising Leaders of Color; Orchard Project Greenhouse Lab 22-23; New York Theatre Workshop’s Community Engagement Associate and Leviathan Lab’s dramaturg-in-residence. They live with Bipolar Disorder 1, and they advocate for more empathetic representations and practices in regard to mental health and care on and off-stage. www.gaventrinidadtheatre.com

LEELA VELAUTHAM (Best Christmas Ever), she/her, 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’. A full production of her one-act play “Post-scarcity Possibilities” was staged as part of the 2022 Meganne George Women’s Work Short Play Festival at the New Perspectives Theatre Company. She is currently a member of the New Perspectives Theatre Company’s 2022 Full-Length Lab.

ACTORS

JEN ANAYA (Best Christmas Ever, “Rachel”), they/them, is a queer Indigenous Mexican theater/music/art/ritual space maker, doula, energy healer and baby whisperer born and raised on Yavapaiv Apache, Cocopah and O’odham land. A proud jack of all trades, they’ve performed in rock bands, web series, art installations, plays, operas, films, solo shows, healing rituals and musicals throughout Lenapehoking, Turtle Island and beyond. From La Mama to The Kitchen, Harvard Art Lab to Radio City Music Hall, Greece to Iceland, Jen’s been weaving music, theater, art, movement and healing together whenever possible. They’re a founding member of Constellation Chor, contributor to You Are Here Creations, 2021 FORGE Fellow and certified Reiki and 13th Octave La Ho Chi practitioner. jenanaya.com

SERGIO MAURITZ ANG (The Holiday Party, “Skip”), he/they, is a NYC bred and based Queer creative, actor and teacher originally from Manila Philippines. A former Undocumented Immigrant and DACA Recipient. New York: Colman Domingo’s The Brother[s] (Out of the Box Theatrics), Joker (National Queer Theater), Anna in the Tropics (The Gallery Players), Summertime (Between Two Boroughs) Regional: Song of Me (Stages Houston), Flowers of Hawaii (Chautauqua Theatre Company) From Number to Name (East West Players), Yoga Play, The Skin of Our Teeth, As You Like It, Julius Caesar, Ragtime (PlayMakers Rep), Bruise & Thorn (PlayPenn), Peter and the Starcatcher (Kitchen Theatre Company), Mañanas de Abril y Mayo (Connecticut Free Shakespeare). MFA Candidate: UNC Chapel Hill. BFA Acting: Brooklyn College. Insta: yoizsergyo. www.sergiomauritzang.com

JULIA BROTHERS (Best Christmas Ever, “Helen”), she/they, will be appearing in the world premiere of Russian Troll Farm by Sarah Gancher, directed by Darko Tresnjak at GEVA theater in Rochester, NY. Tickets and info at https://gevatheatre.org/russian-troll-farm/

SARAH GUILBAULT (Human Programming, “Sam”; Carnivores, “Cheddar”), she/they, is an actor and writer living on Lenape land in Harlem. She is a proud company member of Playground NY and has performed with Playground SF, LA, and Chicago. When not performing they write poetry!

NOOR HAMDI (The 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 (Jung, “Julie Williams”), they/them, is a NYC born and raised artist. SouJee is an alum of MCC Theater’s Youth Company and holds a BFA in Theatre & Performance from Emerson College (’20). SouJee is officially starting their artistic career after being discharged from the US Army, is thrilled to be part of this production, and is especially grateful to Playground NY for all the opportunities. Former productions include Love & Information (Emerson College), Sliver of Moonlight (MCC’s Freshplay), and currently in a D&D-inspired interactive theater piece (check it out! https://givencircumstances.carrd.co/). IG/Twitter: @soujeexhan

GEORGE HARRIS (The Holiday Party, “Don”). Youngstown, OH native and AMDA NY alum. Regional: Pippin, Smokey Joe’s Cafe’, Dreamgirls, Holiday Hits Bandstand, Hairspray. TV: “She’s Gotta Have It”(Netflix), “Project Runway” (Lifetime TV).

TYLER KENT (Carnivores, “Suds”), he/him, has been a PlayGround collaborator on both coasts. Credits include Berkeley Rep, The Metropolitan Playhouse, National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, The Old Globe, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Kansas City Rep, Shotgun Players, and others. Tyler is also an audiobook narrator and a regular host at Marie’s Crisis in NY’s West Village. MFA The Old Golbe / USD; BA Whitman College.

AUSTIN KU (The Holiday Party, “Ely”), he/they, is an inaugural company member of PlayGround-NY, and is a Grammy-nominated NYC actor who loves new works. International/Broadway Tour: Chinglish. Off-Broadway: Soft Power (Public Theater, OCR), Pacific Overtures (Classic Stage Company) and more. Regional: StageSceneLA and Dean Goodman Awards; nominations for Barrymore, BroadwayWorld Boston and IRNE Awards. Film/TV: Inventing Anna, The Bubble, Bull, Shades of Blue, the popular quarantine concert Take Me to the World: A Sondheim 90th Birthday Celebration and more. Austin is also an audiobook narrator and food enthusiast. Thanks to the creative team, and my team of CTCo and AWG. Training: Rice University, Boston Conservatory, UC Berkeley and UCB Improv. www.Austin-Ku.com / @secretaustinman.

MEEWHA ALANA LEE (Friendly Skies, “Marion”; Jung, “Mija Yang”), 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.

TIMOTHY H. LEE (Carnivores, “Zeke”), Broadway debut in KPOP! National tour: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Regional: Newsies(Gateway), Mamma Mia!, Shrek the Musical (3DT), Evita(PVPA). Tim is a NYU Steinhardt vocal performance, CSU Fullerton BFA graduate. Endless thanks to DGRW Agency and Tara Rubin Casting. Love Mom and Dad in South Korea. And as always… all the glory to God. Psalm 37:5. IG: @tim_haechanlee

TRINITY MIKEL (Carnivores, “Catticus”), she/her, is thrilled to work with PlayGround-NY in person! She is a proud AMDA New York graduate. Trinity most recently performed in Open Hydrant Theater Company’s production of In The Heights. Trinity is also a member of Tabletop Theatre Troupe, a podcast where you can listen to her and her friends experience the epic highs and lows of Dungeons & Dragons. Shoutout to Trinity’s family, friends, and everyone who has cheered her on so far. IG @pretty.trinee

ALEX MOGGRIDGE (Human Programming, “Zachary”), he/him, is delighted to return to Playground. THEATER Broadway: Betrayal, directed by Mike Nichols and starring Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz; Regional: Metamorphoses, Treasure Island, Three Sisters, Chinglish (Berkeley Repertory Theatre); Eat Your Heart Out, I Will Be Gone, (Actors Theatre of Louisville/Humana Festival); Clybourne Park, It’s a Wonderful Life, Baskerville(Long Wharf Theatre); Three Sisters(Yale Repertory Theatre); Christmas Carol, Beard of Avon (American Conservatory Theater) and others. PLAYWRITING The Boatman (Flint Repertory Theatre), Simon Dawes Becomes a Planet(Access Theatre, New York) FILM/TELEVISION Batman Begins; “The Defenders,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” “Person of Interest,” “Trauma”.

MARK PETERS (Friendly Skies, “Pilot”), he/him, performed last year as The Count in a new translation of Schnitzler’s La Ronde, staged at IRT in Manhattan. He was King Lear in A Fool’s Lear, an original adaptation of Shakespeare’s play at the same theatre. Other NYC and regional roles: DeGuiche — Cyrano with Gabriel Barre at St. Clement’s; Sharky — The Seafarer, Nantucket; Frank — The Country Girl; Vanya — Uncle Vanya; Doc — Come Back, Little Sheba (musical) oppo­site Donna McKechnie (cast album Amazon); Emile — South Pacific; Perón — Evita (three times); Ahab — Moby-Dick (musical – Katsaros-St. Germain), Boston; the revues Side by Side by Sondheim and Berlin to Broadway with Kurt Weill. Mr. Peters is a professional violist and violinist. His credits include numerous camera performances. www.MarkPeters.me

ALEX SHAFER (Best Christmas Ever, “Malcolm”), he/him, moved to New York from the SF/Bay Area in 2018. He is happy to be working with PlayGround again, here in NYC. Theatre highlights in NY include Yehudi in Catapult! at Theatre for a New City, Harry Druggist in 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.

NICK SHOLLEY (Best Christmas Ever, “Max”), he/him, has been playing with Playground since the last millennium, and is happy to have been a part of Playground New York these last two seasons. He cut his theater teeth in the SF Bay Area, working with Shotgun Theater, the Magic, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, SF Shakespeare, Marin Shakespeare, Porchlight Theatre Company, Cinnabar, Left Edge Theatre, and MainStage West, to name a few. He moved with his family to western Massachusetts in July of 2020.

REBBEKAH VEGA-ROMERO (Friendly Skies, “Chrissy”), she/her/ella, is a triracial Latina bruja, 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 is a 2023 Doreen Montalvo Scholarship honoree. 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 is a resident playwright with Playground-NY; she wrote, starred in, and produced the short film “The Question,” a comedy about #DatingWhileMixed. Rebbekah’s solo cabaret show, Ingenuity, recently premiered at Chelsea Table & Stage. Rebbekah hopes her work will inspire other mixed-race girls to share their magic.

DIRECTORS

NATHANIEL P. CLARIDAD (Best Christmas Ever, The Holiday Party), he/him. Directing credits include work at Weathervane Theatre, Southern Rep., Imagination Stage, Two River Theatre, PlayMakers Repertory Company, Out of the Box Theatrics, the One Minute Play Festival, New York Shakespeare Exchange, Peculiar Works Project, and a Drama League Resident in 2019 & 2016. He is also co-founder of Broadway Twisted, an annual event in North Carolina benefitting NCAAN and BC/EFA. Acting credits include Here Lies Love (The Public Theater), Taylor Mac’s 24 Decade History…(St. Ann’s Warehouse), numerous regional/international credits from the Kennedy Center to the Sydney Opera House. Upcoming: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Weathervane Theatre)

JIM KLEINMANN (Carnivores; Co-Founder & 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.

NICO KRELL (Friendly Skies), 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. Upcoming: the North American stage premiere of Haydn’s Orfeo (Toronto). nicokrell.com

ABIGAIL ROSEN (Human Programming, Associate Producer), she/her, is a director, producer, and dramaturg based in Manhattan. She recently had her Off-Broadway associate directing debut with the workshop of RED EYES written by Michael León, produced by Out of the Box Theatrics and Jennifer Campos Productions. She is a staff member for Out of the Box Theatrics, as well as a Company Member and Associate Producer for Playground-NY.

SARAH SHIN (Jung), she/her, is a Schwenksville-raised, Boston-trained, Brooklyn-based Queer Korean American director and theatre artist who creates work that celebrates life and its infinite and abundant possibilities, and unlocks experiences and truths that have been hidden by written history or mainstream culture. Recent Directing Credits: The Chinese Lady (Central Square Theater, Boston Globe Top 10 of 2022 Pick), The Sitayana (Sanguine Theatre Company/Waves of Love) Associate/Assistant Credits: The Wanderers (Roundabout Theatre Company), Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare & Company), The (Diana) Oh Family Concert (Zanni Productions/PBS All Arts), BFA Theatre Arts Boston University www.sarah-shin.com IG: @shinnysarah

PRODUCTION

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 January 1, 2022 & January 16, 2023.

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 Humanities • California Nonprofit Performing Arts Grant Program • Creative Capacity Fund • First Republic Bank • The Fleishhacker Foundation • 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, Dan Cohn & Lynn Brinton, Jerome Joseph Gentes & Michael Bourque, Lara Gilman & Jim Kleinmann, Peggy Haas, David Steele

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS ($2500–$4,999)

Meriko Borogove, John H. Gilman, Regina S. Guggenheim, Anonymous

PRODUCERS CIRCLE ($1000-$2499)

Linda Kremer, Rebecca Martinez, Nitin, Arthur & Toni Rembe Rock, Marian Scheuer Sofaer & Abraham D. Sofaer, Anonymous (6)

PLAYWRIGHTS CIRCLE ($500-$999)

Ruth & Robert Brayton, Thomas Patrick Broyhill, Sidney Glass & Eleanor Clement Glass, Kelly & Carlos Delgado, David Goldman, Keith Goldstein & Donna Warrington, Jeff Gregory, Regina S. Guggenheim, Kathryn A Hecht, Lisa A. Mammel, Lisa Morse, Ray Riegert, Maury Zeff, Anonymous

PATRON ($250-$499)

Wendy Bear, Jack Codd, Jean and Norm Reynolds, Maria Ross, Diane Sampson, Jerome Solberg, Annie Stuart, Janine Wilburn, Robin L. Wimsatt, Susannah Wise & Scott Lebus, Anonymous (2)

ASSOCIATE MEMBER ($125-$249)

Sharon Baldwin and Joseph Ganem, Gerhard and Kathleen Bette, Dr. Katherine Ardis Blenko, Frieda de Lackner, Michael Fried, Mr. Eric Garcia, Tom Goetzl, Cindy Goldfield, Mr. Stanley William Hathaway, Gail Hillebrand & Hugh Barroll, Abbe S. Kalos & Kitt Saginor, Jennifer King, Gregg Le Blanc, Jonathan Luskin, Paris McCarthy, Everett & Julia Moore, Louis Parnell, Dr. Alan Pearl, Madeline Daly Puccioni , Jesus Reyes, Emily Brauer Rogers, Mike Rosenthal, Christine Sheppard, Liam Vincent, Bex White, Christian Edward Wilburn, Anonymous

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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