PlayGround Announces 2024-25 Producing Fellows: 7 Next-Gen Theatre Leaders!

PlayGround has announced the 2024-25 Producing Fellows, a vibrant and diverse class of seven next-gen theatre leaders drawn from across the country and who will work with PlayGround’s artistic staff and national producing teams over the next year in the SF Bay Area, Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago. Fellows gain hands-on experience in the fields of literary management, casting, fundraising, grant writing, theatre management, human resources, contracts, marketing, and communications, with all fellows getting the opportunity to work in each department.

Katie Brown (she/her, NY) is a NYC-Based director/deviser/producer with a B.A. from Pace University; Leon Jones (they/he, NY) is a Creative Producer/Company Manager and is the Associate General Manager for Fatherland, upcoming Off-Broadway; Zoe Lesser (she/her, LA) is a freelance director and producer, working in theater and opera; Carlos Meza (they/them/he, SF) has been an actor with Marin Shakespeare Company for 12 years while also serving as an advocate for social re-narration with AlightJustice; Joey Reyes (they/them, Chicago) has worked with numerous arts organizations across the country and received his Master of Science in Leadership for Creative Enterprises from Northwestern University; Amal Mazen Salem (she/her, Chicago) is a Chicago-based stage manager and production manager with a B.S. from Northwestern University; and Sarah Showich (they/them, LA) is a USC graduate who has worked with The Blank Theatre Company since 2023.

This cohort of up-and-coming producer-artists was curated to reflect the diverse artistic community that PlayGround serves, with a focus on parity and diversity of gender-identity and ethnicity. Together these seven fellows will work part-time with PlayGround under the leadership of Jim Kleinmann (Artistic Director), Lana Richards (Associate Director of Development), Jonathan Josephson (Director of Marketing and Communications), and the full artistic staff to learn and develop their skill set in the process of theatre production, from inception to execution. As part of the company’s ongoing commitment to equity, PlayGround has established a base compensation level of $20 per hour and is continually looking at how to increase support for artists and artist-administrators.

The Producing Fellowship program was launched during the 2019-20 season, just two weeks before California shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. PlayGround maintained its commitment to the new staff members, shifting the entire program online and extending the initial term through July 2021 to help the Fellows weather the challenging economic climate. The inaugural Fellowship class included: Donny Goglio, Edna Mira Raia, Lana Richards, and Chris Steele. Other fellows have included: Zoe Chien, Emily Zhou, Xinyuan Pu, Christy Spence, River Bermudez Sanders, Julie Lippert-Pasco, Carmia Imani, Darius Adamson Jr., Bacilio Mendez II, Savannah Greene, Justin P. Lopez, Emlyn Doolittle, and Caroline Portante.

The 2024-25 Producing Fellows

Katie Brown (she/her) is a director, producer, and theater maker based in NYC, originally from the Bay Area. Katie is a recent graduate from Pace University’s BA Directing Program in the International Performance Ensemble. She is passionate about building and cultivating communities through the performing arts. Katie strives for work that creates space for everyone, particularly for people of color and communities who have historically been pushed to the margins. She emphasizes stories centering music, hope, and identity – especially narratives aligned with her own Asian-American roots. Katie loves devised theater, work that flips the script and alters the “traditional” theatrical experience. She recently produced Be My Baby at Spit&Vigor, co-directed New Shanghai at Pace University, and is currently the sound designer on Dead Air at the SheNYC Festival. Katie works on the Artistic Programming team at the Lincoln Center For the Performing Arts. Katie has previously interned at Jujamcyn Theaters, the Broadway Green Alliance, and Barrington Stage Company. Check out her website at katierbrown.com

Leon Jones (they/he): An award-winning creative producer, artistic administrator, multi-hyphenate, Leon Jones is committed to creating space for other BIPOC/LGBTQIA+ artists on stage and off. Leon began their professional career playing Macduff’s Child in Berkeley Rep’s Macbeth, starring Frances McDormand and Conelth Hill. They have worked with renowned regional companies such as Abingdon Theatre Company (Artistic Associate), California Shakespeare Theatre (Company Member), San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company (Associate Producer), and Marin Shakespeare Company (Education Director). Most recent credits, Pictures From Home (Assistant Company Manager – Broadway debut), Associate Producer for the upcoming Off-Broadway production of Trophy Boys, and Associate General Manager and Company Manager positions for several Off-Broadway productions and a national tour of On Your Feet. www.leonjonesjr.com IG: @theleonjones

Zoe Lesser (she/her) is a director and producer working in theater, opera, and dance. Her work ranges from site-specific, intimate, moments with actors to large-scale, multidisciplinary works. Recent directing credits include Agnes of God (The Morgan-Wixson), The Nether (New Mexico Actors Lab), and The Telephone (Santa Fe Opera, Touring). She has worked as an assistant director with Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Aspen Music Festival, Chicago Opera Theatre, Court Theatre, and The Neo-Futurists. She currently develops new musicals with Soloway Brothers Industries and is on Dance Faculty at The Colburn School. She is a co-founder of The Exodus Ensemble, an immersive theater company in Santa Fe, NM, where created, stage managed, and performed in several immersive experiences that still run today.

 

Carlos Meza (they/them/he) has been acting for 12 years with Marin Shakespeare Company. They have also co-directed original pieces with the players for Returned Citizens Theater Troupe. They have also written, choreographed, and performed with Artistic Ensemble using devised theater techniques. They have built sets and created set designs for many of Artistic Ensemble. They are into social justice work. Volunteering in prison with Alight Justice they wrote a curriculum to educate the population about the LGBTQIA+ community to stop violence against the community and build allyship and empathy.

Joey Reyes (they/them) is a queer and Latine artistic producer, administrator, and consultant originally from Southern California. Now based in Chicago, they work closely with various arts and cultural institutions across the United States to produce work that addresses anti-racism within the institution and its surrounding community. Independently, they are the Creator and Host of the Mx It Up podcast – a show dedicated to uplifting LGBTQ+ creatives of the global majority who work across arts, culture, and entertainment. Since 2020, Joey has collaborated with Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, CT, and performance artist Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi to produce the annual Black Trans Women at the Center Virtual New Play Festival, the only program of its kind that specifically commissions Black trans women to write, star in, and direct original works. Previously, they served as the Associate Producer for The Sol Project, a national theatre initiative dedicated to amplifying the voices of Latine playwrights in NYC and beyond, where they produced and co-hosted the podcast SolTalk and interviewed over 30 Latine artists including Daphne Rubin-Vega, Robin de Jesús, and Luis Alfaro. In September 2020, Joey was featured as one of “19 Theater Workers You Should Know” in a special issue of American Theatre Magazine dedicated to highlighting TGNC theatre practitioners. They hold an MS in Leadership for Creative Enterprises from Northwestern University and a BA in Theatre Arts with a minor in Business Administration from Azusa Pacific University.

Amal Mazen Salem (she/her/hers) is a Palestinian-American artist who was born and raised in the southwest side of Chicago and is passionate about making theater accessible, equitable and a way to serve and interact with our communities. After studying theater and entrepreneurship at Northwestern University, she dove into Production Management and Stage Management work with Jackalope Theatre, A Red Orchid Theatre, and, currently, Bramble Theatre and The Story Theatre. She was most recently seen in Pocket Theatre’s A Bit Taury and Recess and in Men on Boats at Northwestern University. She was also in a radio drama, The Last Days of Three Killers, and educational film, Semple’s Words. When she isn’t on stage, you can still find her at the theater as the Operations Coordinator at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Otherwise, you can go on a shopping adventure with her for books or paint supplies. Amal is so honored to grow with and be a part of the PlayGround Fellowship!

Sarah Showich (they/them) is a LA-based director and producer for the stage and screen. Sarah is a recent graduate of the University of Southern California, where they graduated with a B.A. in Theater and a minor in Entertainment Industry. Recent credits include being an Associate Producer for Eight Ball Theatre’s Twelfth Night, and as an Associate Producer of the 31st Annual Young Playwrights Festival with the Blank Theater. Entering the industry, they are especially excited about developing new works, having recently workshopped a staged reading of Under Gods by Tim Parker as an Assistant Director with Rally Cat Theatre and Assistant Directing the world premiere of Somewhere Someone is Traveling Furiously Towards You by Marilyn Schotland on the University of Southern California School of Dramatic Arts main stage. They are super excited to work with PlayGround this upcoming year as a 2024-2025 Producing Fellow!

About PlayGround

PlayGround was founded in 1994 by Jim Kleinmann, Brighde Mullins and Denise Shama, beginning as a professional-academic partnership in residence at San Francisco State University and with initial sponsorship from SFSU’s Creative Writing Program. Early participating artists included Prince Gomolvilas, Garret Jon Groenveld, Daniele Nathanson, Sandra Rodgers, Colman Domingo, Kent Nicholson, Antigone Trimis, Mary Coleman and Rhonnie Washington. The fledgling organization moved to Project Artaud and A Traveling Jewish Theatre’s new 80-seat black box theatre in 1996, at which time Kleinmann took on sole leadership as PlayGround’s founding Artistic Director.

The company was in residence at Berkeley Repertory Theatre from 2003 until the COVID pandemic of 2020 and has also presented at the San Francisco Main Library, Freight & Salvage, Zeum, ACT’s Costume Shop, and Thick House, as well as co-producing with such notable Bay Area theatres as SF Playhouse, Shotgun Players, Impact Theatre, San Jose Stage, and Magic Theatre, among others. PlayGround first brought its work to NYC with the 2008 co-production of Garret Jon Groenveld’s Missives, followed by the 2009 NY International Fringe Festival hit co-production of Aaron Loeb’s Abraham Lincoln’s Big Gay Dance Party, 2013 NY International Fringe Festival co-production of Katie May’s Manic Pixie Dream Girl. PlayGround celebrated its 25th anniversary with a one-night program of original short musicals at NYC’s Theatre Row in 2019.

PlayGround’s first ongoing regional expansion came in 2012 with the launch of PlayGround-LA at West Hollywood’s Zephyr Theatre. In 2018, PlayGround-LA relocated to Hollywood’s Broadwater Theaters (home of Sacred Fools Theater Company), where the company continues to present its Monday Night series. PlayGround expanded to NYC in 2021 and Chicago in 2022, with in-person performances (and simulcasts) beginning in the Spring of 2023, at NYC’s Producers Club and Chicago’s Theater Wit, respectively.

Over its 30 year history, PlayGround has grown into a leading national playwright incubator and theatre community hub, providing unique development opportunities for the Bay Area’s and, more recently, Los Angeles’, New York’s, and Chicago’s best new playwrights through innovative programs such as the monthly Monday Night PlayGround staged reading series, annual PlayGround Festival of New Works, full-length play commissions, playwright residencies and production support through the New Play Production Fund.

To date, PlayGround has developed and staged more than 1,500 original short plays through Monday Night PlayGround and the PlayGround Festival. PlayGround has also commissioned and/or developed several hundred new full-length plays by PlayGround alumni through its Commissioning Initiative, Playwrights Residency and Alumni Programs and, through the innovative New Play Production Fund, has directly facilitated the premiere of 40 full-length plays at theatres of every size, including many that have gone on to NYC and other major theater communities across the country.

In 2017, PlayGround launched Potrero Stage: PlayGround Center for New Plays, a 99-seat state-of-the-art performance venue to serve as a shared community resource for dozens of local companies and hundreds of artists. New programs in residence at Potrero Stage like the Free-Play Festival, Solo Performance Festival, and Innovator Incubator provide opportunities for local and national artists to self-determine and showcase their work in San Francisco at little to no cost.

Over 350 early-career playwrights have gotten their start at PlayGround, including Lauren Yee, Jonathan Spector, Geetha Reddy, and Cleavon Smith, helping to expand and deepen the canon of American 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 Steinberg Awards, Glickman Awards, O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, and New York International Fringe Festival, among others. PlayGround serves one of the largest theater artist networks in the nation, connecting hundreds of Bay Area, Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York artists in support of a common vision: the development of bold and diverse new voices and new works.

This work has not gone unnoticed. PlayGround has received numerous awards, including: Playwrights Foundation’s Inaugural New Play Champion Award, BATCC’s Paine Knickerbocker Award for ongoing contributions to Bay Area theater, and American Theater Wing’s National Theater Grant. In 2016, Artistic Director Jim Kleinmann was recognized by Theatre Bay Area as one of the Bay Area’s top 40 leaders. Three of PlayGround’s commissioned plays have won the Bay Area Critics Circle award for Best New Play, and three have had subsequent productions in NYC. Four of the past five Will Glickman Award winners for best new play are PlayGround alumni. When other theater companies think of producing new work, PlayGround artists are often their first call. As a result of PlayGround’s strong leadership, planning, and a willingness to take bold risks with high payoff, the new play ecosystem has been utterly transformed by PlayGround.

For more information, visit https://playground-sf.org.