Company in the News July 2026

See what PlayGround-NY Writers and Company Members are up to this month including: Claire Abramovitz, Chelyn Cousar, Dana Leslie Goldstein, Wade Lawrence Hollomon, Anya Josephs, Willow Lautenberg, Guarav Mishra, Annie Raczko, Paris Ruize, Natalie Sacks, and Melvin Ningyao Yen !

Claire Abramovitz ‘s new version of Island Full of Monsters, a piece that started at PlayGround, will be premiering at The Chain Theatre Summer One-Act Festival! This work has a FULL PlayGround crew! Written by Claire Abramovitz, directed by Anya Josephs, and starring Willow Lautenberg and Paris Ruiz. Shows are July 24th at 6:30, July 25th at 2pm, and August 1 at 8pm! Use code MONSTER26 for discounted TICKETS !

Chelyn Cousar’s short play Jackson and Midge On The Brooklyn Bridge is being presented among other short plays at the Rogue Theater Festival on Sunday, July 12th. Snag your TICKETS!

Dana Leslie Goldstein’s short play HELLO, originally presented for PlayGroundNY, will be produced by the Old Academy Players in Philadelphia, PA, in their Summer One-Act Bonanza. Get ticket HERE!

Melvin Ningyao Yen’s short play Bodega Cat, originally presented for PlayGround-NY, has now been developed into a 30-minute version and will be presented as part of Chain Theatre’s 2026 Summer One-Act Festival, Program #28. Set in a 24-hour Brooklyn bodega, Bodega Cat follows a late-night clerk, a regular customer, a missing cat, and the small rituals that help people stay with one another through loneliness. Performances will take place at Chain Theatre on July 29, July 31, and August 1. Use code MELVIN26 to get 20% off for TICKETS.

Annie Raczko’s one woman musical comedy, Port Authority Breakdown, has been selected for the 2026 Summer One-Act Festival at the Chain Theatre as part of Program 5. After a late-night improv show, Annie’s car dies on the fifth floor of the Port Authority garage…and so does her sense of control. Armed with 30% iPhone battery, questionable problem-solving skills, and a rotating cast of strangers, she spirals through roadside assistance, family group chats, and her own anxiety, until even the pigeons get involved. A solo musical comedy about being stranded, unraveling, and somehow… putting on a show anyway. Performing July 16th, July 18th, July 21st. Use discount code PORT26 for discounted TICKETS.

Natalie Sacks‘ short play FROGS will be performed in Seattle on Tuesday, July 21 as part of Sound Theatre Company’s ILLUMINATE 2026: Disability Performance in the Spotlight. MORE INFORMATION. 

Gaurav Mishra has been selected as the winner of the 2026 Michael Friedman Award for ‘Beach Songs,’ his indie-pop adaptation of ‘The Tempest’. The award, presented by Pipeline Arts Foundation in association with the estate of Michael Friedman, comes with a grant of $20,000 for further development, as well as a paid residency in Maine in partnership with Drama Club Camp. For more info, you can get in contact with Gaurav on Instagram @enynmusic or follow the show @beachsongstheshow.

Wade Lawrence Hollomon ‘s short play In Your Own Sweet Time, originally written for and performed by PlayGround-NY, was featured at this year’s Nebula Conference in Chicago! The play had a staged reading performed by an all-star cast of sci-fi writers in a panel called “Showcase: Speculative Short Plays”. The reading was directed by Alex Kingsley, head of the new Scriptwriting Committee at the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association.