PlayGround-NY presents Season 2

MONDAY NIGHT PLAYGROUND

Topic: “ADAPT A CLASSIC FOLKTALE OR MYTH”
February 27th, 2023 7pm ET
Live Watch Party at The Producers Club
plus Vimeo Live Simulcast & On Demand

Three Blind Mikes
by Todd Cerveris
Directed by Aileen Wen McGroddy
Mike……………….……Mark Peters
Mikey..…………………Nick Sholley
Michael..…………………Yuchi Chiu
Mickey..…………………Alex Shafer

The Mermaid’s Proposal
by Matthew Park
Directed by Illana Stein
The Mermaid………..Trinity Mikel
The Prince…………Michael Turner
The Witch……….Nikhaar Kishnani

Prom Golem
by Dana Leslie Goldstein
Directed by Abigail Rosen
Leah……………..……Rebecca White
Sammy………………..…Laith Zuaiter
Herman….Wiley Naman Strasser
Golem………….……Gabby Momah

The Trojan Keg
by Alexander Perez
Directed by Jully Lee
Odie………………………………AJ Lily
AJ………………Sergio Mauritz Ang
Archie….…….Rogelio Douglas III
Hector……………………Alex Shafer

The Great Migration
by Leela Velautham
Directed by Mary E. Hodges
Ian………………..…Andrew Sellon
Mom……..….MeeWha Alana Lee
Son……………..….Timothy H. Lee

Hannah and Greyson
by Kathryn Ryan
Directed by Nico Krell
Hannah………….Sarah Guilbault
Greyson……………….SouJee Han
Witch…………………Sheila Collins

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.

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 (Three Blind Mikes) 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.

DANA LESLIE GOLDSTEIN (Prom Golem), 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 (The Mermaid’s Proposal), he/they, was born in New York and raised in Seoul, South Korea. His work revolves around the Asian-American experience, and investigates the ramifications of living under a scarcity mentality. 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 writing has been supported by the Playwrights Realm, New York University and Illinois State University. He is a member of Playground-NY’s inaugural Writers Pool and has been published by Stage Rights. BFA, NYU Tisch

ALEXANDER PEREZ (The Trojan Keg), he/him, is a Cuban-American Playwright/Cartoonist/Desk Jockey/Dad making it work in the Big Apple. Since 2015 his plays have been performed in NYC, London, Chicago, and beyond! Recent productions include , Randy’s Dandy Coaster Castle (Egg & Spoon Theatre Collective , A.R.T/NY. 2022), The In-Between (Pelmear Theatre, London, UK, 2022). His play Randy’s Dandy Coaster Castle and The Bad in Each Other was a finalist for the 2022 SETC Ready to Publish Award. He is a current member of Playground NY’s 22-23 Writer’s Pool.

KATHRYN RYAN‘s (Hannah and Greyson), she/her, recent productions include: Getting In (LES Play Festival, NYC; Pan Theater, Oakland CA); The End Of The Middle (Round The Bend Theatre, NY); Three Months To The Day (William Inge Festival, Kansas); Wallowich @ Home, Alone (York Theater, NYC); Lilli Marlene (June Havoc Theater, NYC); Sisterhood Is Difficult (HERE Arts, NYC); The Road Not Taken (Neighborhood Playhouse, NYC). A member of the Dramatists Guild, she’s a graduate of NYC High School of Performing Arts and SUNY Purchase. She studied playwriting at Ensemble Studio Theatre, and was a longstanding member of Charles Maryan’s Workshop. She thanks her daughter Michelle, dramaturg on this play.

LEELA VELAUTHAM (The Great Migration), 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

SERGIO ANG (The Trojan Keg; AJ), he/they, is a NYC bred queer creative actor and teacher originally from Manila, Philippines. 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) Select Regional: Song of Me (Stages Houston),From Number to Name (East West Players), Yoga Play, The Skin of our Teeth, I am not Batman, As You Like It, Ragtime (PlayMakers Rep), Flowers of Hawaii (Chautauqua Theatre Company), Bruise & Thorn (PlayPenn), Peter and the Starcatcher (Kitchen Theatre Company), Mañanas de Abril y Mayo (Connecticut Free Shakespeare). TV: The Other Two (HBOMax). MFA: UNC Chapel Hill. BFA Acting: Brooklyn College. Insta: yoizsergyo. www.sergiomauritzang.com

YUCHI CHIU (Three Blind Mikes; Michael) he/him, is a Chicago-based artist and is excited to work with PlayGround NY for the first time! Theater credits include Once (Writers Theatre), Botticelli in the Fire (First Floor Theater), and The Chinese Lady (TimeLine Theatre). Screen credits include Chicago Med (NBC) Dark Matter (Apple TV+, upcoming), BJ’s Mobile Gift Shop (Sundance Film Festival), and numerous local, regional, and national commercials. Endless gratitude to his village and agents at DDO Chicago. Instagram: @yuchidchiu

SHEILA COLLINS (Hannah and Greyson, Witch), 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 Charlotte, in Charlotte’s Web. 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 web series and a feature film. Sheila is always happy to perform in the Playground-NY events.

ROGELIO DOUGLAS III (The Trojan Keg; Archie), he/him, is a Black and Afro-Latino multi-hyphenate artist: actor, spoken-word poet, educator, writer. The Brooklyn, NY native recently earned his M.F.A in Acting from UCLA TFT, and now resides in Los Angeles. RD3 has worked with many theatre ensembles and currently can be seen in a production of Picnic at the Odyssey Theatre (LA). His most recent on-screen credits include: They Listen (Blumhouse Productions), and Space Lightning (Amazon Prime). Additionally, RD3 is an instructor at the Theater of Arts Drama Conservatory – Hollywood. Love. Growth. & Poetry. www.RogelioDouglasiii.com | @RogelioDouglas3

SARAH GUILBAULT (Hannah and Greyson; Hannah), 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!

SOUJEE HAN (Hannah and Greyson; Greyson), 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

NIKHAAR KISHNANI (The Mermaid’s Proposal; The Witch), she/her. Off-Off Broadway: Veil’d at Astoria Performing Arts Center. Regional Theatre: Queen at Geva Theatre Centre, A Doll’s House Part 2 at Actors Theatre Louisville. Film: Shortcomings, Post-Term, Him&Her&Him. Television: Brown Nation, Code Switched, Geeta’s Guide To Moving On, Nepotism. Other Theatre: Twelfth Night at DePaul University, The Women Eat Chocolate at DePaul University, Prospero’s Storm at DePaul University, The Children’s Hour at DePaul University, The Qualms at DePaul University, The Rimers of Eldritch at Rutgers University. Additional Credits: Kishnani received her M.F.A. from The Theatre School at DePaul University. She is on house team, Octopus Queen, at Rubbish Comedy Collective.

TIMOTHY H. LEE (The Great Migration; Son), 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

MEEWHA ALANA LEE (The Great Migration; Mom), 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.

AJ LILY (The Trojan Keg; Odie), he/him. NYC. Actor. Artist. UNCSA Drama BFA. upcoming work: leading role in the horror/comedy film “The Clipboard” with The Second City, Chicago.

TRINITY MIKEL (The Mermaid’s Proposal; The Mermaid), she/her, is thrilled to work with PlayGround-NY and bring new art to life. She is a proud AMDA New York graduate. This March, Trinity will perform in Open Hydrant Theater Company’s production of In The Heights. Trinity is also a member of Tabletop Theatre Troupe, where you can soon watch her and her friends experience the epic highs and lows of D&D. Shoutout to Trinity’s family, friends, and everyone who was cheered her on so far. IG @pretty.trinee.

GABBY MOMAH (Prom Golem; Golem), G/they, is a Black nonbinary trans storyteller raised on the unceded territories of the Tongva and Ohlone peoples. G’s work is rooted in showcasing black trans voices and experiences from both comedic and dramatic lenses. They have also performed in various theater productions including Schoolgirls; Or the African Mean Girls Play, Watch Me (Berkeley Rep), Top Girls (ACT), Cardboard Piano (New Conservatory Theater), They/Them (Those Women), Shipping & Handling (Crowded Fire Theater), FLEX (Bay Area Playwrights Festival), and numerous shows with the sketch comedy group Killing My Lobster and the National Queer Arts Festival. Gabby is a Crowded Fire Resident Artist and has trained at Stanford University, San Francisco Mime Troupe, and The Actors Space. They are also a bomb cook, enjoy expressing their creativity in the kitchen and always down to build community and prism resources through food. They are currently pursuing their MFA in Acting at Brown / Trinity Rep on occupied Narragansett and Wampanoag land.

MARK PETERS (Three Blind Mikes; Mike), 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. Mr. Peters is a professional violist. Numerous camera performances. www.MarkPeters.me

ANDREW SELLON (The Great Migration; Ian), 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. www.andrewsellon.com Instagram/Twitter: @AndrewSellon

ALEX SHAFER (Three Blind Mikes; Mickey, The Trojan Keg; Hector), 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 (Three Blind Mikes; Mikey), he/him, is ten minutes long, in a loop, skiing while there’s snow.

WILEY NAMAN STRASSER (Prom Golem; Herman), 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.

MICHAEL TURNER (The Mermaid’s Proposal; The Prince), he/him, has an MFA from UCSD and over 25 years in the industry in NYC, LA and Texas. He most recently played CS Lewis at Florida Rep but has also been seen at Metropolitan Playhouse in NYC and at regional theatres all over the country. Michael has appeared on Bull, Godfather of Harlem and Rachel Weisz’s new show Dead Ringers. He’s also appeared in many national commercials and his voice is in several video games including Borderlands 2 and 3 as the voice of Zero. www.michaeldturner.com

REBECCA WHITE (Prom Golem; Leah), she/her, is thrilled to be PlayGround-ing! Theater: Hadrian’s Wall (Best Actress, NY Fringe), The Taming (Shaker Bridge), 8 roles + guitar for A Christmas Carol (Merrimack Rep), Awake & Sing! (Aurora), The Exonerated (dir. Bob Balaban), World Premiere of T.I.C. (Magic Theater), & NY premiere of Talking to Terrorists. Film/TV: Homeland (Showtime), Falling Water (USA), Eye Candy (MTV), Person of Interest (CBS), The Waiting Room (dir. Oscar-winner Graham Moore & Ben Epstein), Limit (Golden Honu, Hawaii’s BIFF). Graduate: Brown University & The Shakespeare Lab (Public Theater). She singer-songwrites as Bexarkana. instagram/fb: @bexarkana

LAITH ZUAITER (Prom Golem; Sammy), he/him, is a Brooklyn raised actor/director/writer/producer. He started out acting through The New York Shakespeare festival as a kid and since has been acting, directing, producing and writing films and theatre with his friends and family. He makes films under the label, Friendly Stranger Entertainment, a production company started in 2014 at his high school, the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. He attended the New School for Drama and studied Arab Cinema in Translation at Hunter College. Laith got his start in 2007, when booking a Spike Lee pilot for NBC called, M.O.N.Y and had his on screen debut alongside, Bobby Cannavale. Laith is son of actor/producer, Waleed Zuaiter and Joana B. Zuaiter, who both serve as co founders of Flip Narrative Productions. Laith has appeared in film and television shows such as, A24’s RAMY, Lovesick in the Westbank and Cain and Abel, which was workshopped at the Sundance Directors Lab (2022.) He has also worked immensely behind the scenes, crewing for film and tv such as 20th Century Women, Babylon, Bernstein, and A24’s RAMY.

DIRECTORS

MARY E. HODGES (The Great Migration), she/her, (Director, Actor, Teacher) is a part of the twelve-time Tony nominated, Slave Play Broadway-Golden Theatre team as the Assistant Director to Robert O’Hara, written by Jeremy O. Harris. She was the SDCF Observer for Slave Play when it made its New York premiere at NYTW, where Mr. O’Hara was her mentor. Virtual Directing Credits: The Motherhood Concert: Truth Set to Music; Black Motherhood & Parenting: New Play Festival (What If?…by Cynthia Grace Robinson); Fordham University Drama Department (Water by the Spoonful by Quiara Alegria Hudes); Honor Roll! Presents: Say Their Names (Just Wanna Go Home by Michael angel Johnson); Planet Connections Presents: Lip Service (Washington Montessori by Carmen Lobue); Off Off Broadway: The Davenport Theatre- Michael Bradford’s (Fathers & Sons); National Black Theatre Institute of Action Arts- Serious Adverse Effects, by Derek McPhatter; Harlem9- 48Hours in…Harlem; New Perspectives Theatre Company- three consecutive Short Play Labs- original work by women directed by women; Queens Theatre: The Park Plays. Mary received a BFA in Acting from VCU and her MFA in Acting from University of Connecticut in Storrs. She is an SDC Associate Member and proud member of SAG-AFTRA & AEA.

NICO KRELL (Hannah and Greyson), 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

JULLY LEE (The Trojan Keg), she/her, is an Ovation-nominated actor and the Artistic Director of Cold Tofu, the nation’s first and longest running Asian American improv company. She has also directed with Playground-SF and Playground-LA and over a dozen theatres in Los Angeles. She made her Broadway/New York debut in KPOP the musical and most recently performed in the radio drama “Sea Longing” with The Parsnip Ship in Brooklyn. TV credits include: “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” “Young Sheldon,” “S.W.A.T.,” “This Is Us,” “Jane the Virgin,” “Henry Danger,” “The Kominsky Method.”

AILEEN WEN MCGRODDY (Three Blind Mikes), she/her, is a Chinese- and Irish-American theatre director. Her work is imaginative, inclusive, and playfully experimental, coming from a robust background in physical theatre and a deep commitment to hospitality. She became a person in New York; a theatre maker in Chicago; and a Master of Fine Arts in Directing at Brown-Trinity in Providence, RI. She is currently a 2050 Fellow at New York Theatre Workshop and the BOLD Resident Director at Northern Stage.

ABIGAIL ROSEN (Prom Golem), 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.

ILLANA STEIN (The Mermaid’s Proposal), she/her, is a NYC-based theater director. Directing credits: Complicity (New Ohio Theatre), Julius Caesar Tour (HVSF), NYU Tisch, Stella Adler, Strasberg, New Gallatin, and LIU Post. Associate/Asst. directing: TFANA, Signature, Pearl, OSF, Yale Rep, A.R.T., Hangar Theater, Cincinnati Playhouse, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company. Recipient of a Drama League First Stage Artist Residency, LCT Directors Lab 2012, Alliance for Jewish Theatre Theatremacher Program Director, Jewish Plays Project Artistic Producer, and on the board of the League of Professional Theatre Women. 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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www.playground-ny.org

c/o PlayGround
3286 Adeline St #8
Berkeley, CA 94703-2485