Company in the News May-2025

See what PlayGround-NY Writers and Company are up to this May!

Dana Leslie Goldstein’s short play HELLO—the non-musical version of her award-winning Hello In There—will be part of Healing Voices at McCarter Theatre in Princeton, NJ. Another short piece, SERIOUS, will be performed at The Breman Museum and Cultural Center in Atlanta, GA, while her full-length play GO DOWN, MOSES joins the prestigious LiveArts’ Water/Works Festival in Charlottesville, VA (Get tix here). And to top it all off, Dana’s musical CHOICE(s)—adapted from her play Daughters of the Sexual Revolution, with music by indie sensation Sarah Donner—will have its first public presentation at the Episcopal Actors Guild.

Danielle E. Moore’s musical Ink & Paint has been selected for a Slough Farm Foundation residency on Martha’s Vineyard, where she’ll dive deep into development this May. Meanwhile, her play Merely Players—first dreamed up for PlayGround-NY “Shakespeare Multiverse” —has caught the attention of two major New Works Series, making Danielle a finalist at both LiveArts’ Waterworks Series and Greenwood Lake Theater’s New Works Series.

Uma Incrocci celebrates a major milestone as co-writer of Hats Off to Love, premiering on the Hallmark Channel on May 3. Filled with heart, humor, and a little bit of magic (in true Hallmark style), the movie marks an exciting leap for Uma, blending sharp writing with feel-good storytelling sure to charm audiences nationwide.

Raise your glasses! Patience Haggin’s sharp and stirring play Death by Negroni will be honored with a reading by Tiger’s Heart Players on May 4. Don’t miss this buzz-worthy new piece by one of PlayGround-NY’s own.

In the newly completed short documentary Pélage X, Sheila Collins portrays Pélagie Amoureux, a once-enslaved woman who lived as a free person in 1800s Missouri—years before the Emancipation Proclamation. The film, premiering to the public in May 2025, is a moving tribute to resilience and overlooked American history.

Kathryn Ryan’s one-act play An Order of Redemption with a Side of Fries—a warm, witty exploration of forgiveness and unexpected connections—has been selected for presentation at the Valdez Theatre Conference in June 2025.

Lyra Nalan’s play The Drought Girl was featured at Purple Crayon Players’ PLAYground 2025 Festival this April, with a reading at the Virginia Wadsworth Wirtz Center.

Nathaniel P. Claridad is currently assisting on the City Center Encores! revival of Wonderful Town, directed by Zhailon Levingston. Hot off the heels of his work on Urinetown with Teddy Bergman—which just earned a Drama League nomination for Best Revival of a Musical—Nathaniel is already looking ahead, with plans to direct The Tempest for Weathervane Theatre this fall.

Catch Alex Shafer as the Jury Foreperson in Daredevil: Born Again, Episode 3. In print news, two of his poems will be featured in the Spring issue of Confetti Magazine. Proof that his range spans screens and pages alike.