PLAYGROUND-NY’S 5th SEASON WRITERS POOL, RESIDENT PLAYWRIGHTS, COMMISSIONS ANNOUNCED

Posted by on July 27, 2025

PlayGround, a leading national playwright incubator and theatre community hub, is pleased to share plans for its 32nd anniversary season. The season announcement coincides with the release of the 2025-26 Writers Pools, 112 early-career playwrights in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago, who will participate in PlayGround’s signature incubator program, Monday Night PlayGround, developing more than 600 new short plays this season of which 96 will be staged by the four communities over the course of 16 public events, all performed in-person and simulcast under a first-in-the-nation SAG-AFTRA agreement. PlayGround has also announced the 24 playwright alumni selected for this year’s Resident Playwrights Program, including five playwrights under commission and representing all four regions. The 2025-26 Season will feature more than 100 public performances of new works by PlayGround playwrights, ranging from fringe-style full productions to a Hitchcock-inspired holiday show, and from new solo performance to developmental staged readings and premieres of bold new full-length plays. Taken altogether, PlayGround’s 32nd Season represents the nation’s largest celebration of new playwrights and new works and stands as a true celebration of the vitality and promise of the American Theatre.

Following the conclusion of the Monday Night series, PlayGround presents Best of PlayGround, a celebration of the top new playwrights and works from the season, in Los Angeles (April 6), New York (April 20), Chicago (April 27) and San Francisco (May 23-24).

2025-26 PlayGround-NY Company

PlayGround also recently announced its 2025-26 Company, including the Writers Pool, Resident Playwrights and Artist Company. These 160+ artists will fuel PlayGround’s incubator programs over the next season, fostering the development of more than 150 original short and full-length plays.

The PlayGround-NY 2025-26 Writers Pool includes: Claire Abramovitz, Taylor Blackman, Tré Calhoun, Maisa Chiang, Kyri Colson, Chelyn Cousar, Bailey Jordan Garcia, Dana Leslie Goldstein, Bram Hartman, Stanley Hathaway, Howard Ho, Wade Hollomon, Sio Hornbuckle, Le’Kee Horton, Uma Incrocci, Nathaniel Blake Johnson, Sarena Kuhn, Heather McDonald, D.A. Mindell, Gaurav Mishra, Alex Moggridge, Ayodeji Otuyelu, Annie Raczko, Jacob Marx Rice, Kathryn Ryan, Ash, Camron Wright, Melvin Yen.

2025-26 Resident Playwrights: San Francisco: Monique Adams, Madeleine Butler*, Laura Domingo**, Bridgette Dutta Portman, Daniel Martinez Jr., Christian Wilburn; Los Angeles: Summer Broyhill, Amy Ellenberger, Paris Herbert-Taylor, Jonathan Josephson, Mercedes Segesvary, Baylee Shlichtman*; New York: Saiya Floyd, Howard Ho, Dana Leslie Goldstein, Wade Lawrence Hollomon, Lyra Nalan, Camron Wright*; Chicago: Anne Brady*, Jessie Bond, alfonzo kahlil, Juliet Kang Huneke, Karissa Murrell Myers, Katherine Swan.

* Playwrights under commission for the 2025-26 season
** June Anne Baker Award Winner

In addition, PlayGround is pleased to welcome new and returning members of the PlayGround-NY Artist Company: Kayla Amani, Jen Anaya, Sergio Mauritz Ang, Rebecca Aparicio, Jackson Bradshaw, Julia Brothers, Eva Burgess, Tia Cassmira, Nathaniel Claridad, Sheila Collins, Gracie Connell, Julia Crowley, Sarah Guilbault, Neal Gupta, Noor Hamdi, SouJee Han, Amy Hart Nguyen, Monica Ho, Mary Hodges, Anya Josephs, Tyler Kent, Nikhaar Kishnani, Kalina Ko, Nico Krell, Austin Ku, Willow Lautenberg, Jully Lee, MeeWha Lee, Timothy Lee, AJ Lily, Ana Margineanu, Alex Moggridge, Ed Moreno, Norm Munoz, Graceson Nunez, Attilio Rigotti, Charlique C. Rolle, Abigail Rosen, Betsy Rosen, Paris Ruiz, Alex Shafer, Nick Sholley, Olivia Songer, Illana Stein, James Suarez, Kimberly Van Vo, Rebbekah Vega-Romero, Rebecca White, Laith Zuaiter.

About PlayGround-NY

The mission of PlayGround-NY is to support the development of new local voices for the theatre, with a deep commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Founded in 2021, PlayGround-NY provides unique opportunities for the cultivation and development of early-career local playwrights and partnerships with leading professional directors, actors and theatres. Through the development of original short and full-length plays, PlayGround creates a microcosm of the greater theatre scene, supporting emerging playwrights’ experimentation and risk-taking, while helping them to hone their style and technique.

2025-26 Monday Night PlayGround Season Calendar

Monday Night PlayGround
Round 1: October 13 (LA), October 20 (SF), October 18 (NY), November 5 (Chicago)
Round 2: November 24 (LA), December 1 (SF), December 8 (NY), December 15 (Chicago)
Round 3: January 12 (LA), January 19 (SF), January 26 (NY), February 2 (Chicago)
Round 4: February 23 (LA), March 2 (SF), March 9 (NY), March 16 (Chicago)

Best of PlayGround
April 6, 2026 (LA)
April 20, 2026 (NY)
April 27, 2026 (Chicago)
May 23-24, 2026 (SF)

All programs will be offered both in-person and online this year and are all admission free. Tickets and Monday Night PlayGround memberships go on sale September 1, 2025.

Venue:
Monday Night PlayGround-NY performances
358 W 44th St, New York, NY 10036

For more information, visit playground-ny.org
For information on our sister programs, visit PlayGround-SF, PlayGround-LA and PlayGround-Chicago.

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