PlayGround to Celebrate New Playwrights at The 27th Annual PLAYGROUND FESTIVAL OF NEW WORKS in May

PlayGround has announced the full lineup for its 27th annual FESTIVAL OF NEW WORKS, running May 8-28, in-person at Potrero Stage, where the festival has been based since 2008, and simulcast online. A preeminent showcase for the next generation of great playwrights, the PlayGround Festival of New Works has helped launch dozens of the Bay Area's most promising early-career writers, including six of the past ten Will Glickman Award winners recognized for "excellence in playwriting".

This year's festival features more than a dozen new short and full-length plays, from developmental staged readings to premiere presentations, including premieres of Christian Wilburn's STARLIGHT and Lauren Gorski's THE BRAMFORD and PlayGround's short play fest, BEST OF PLAYGROUND 27. The festival will also include staged readings of new full-length works by Jennifer Le Blanc, Akaina Ghosh, Anne Yumi Kobori, and Jacob Marx Rice and as well as short works by the Bay Area's top high school dramatists, and an opening night panel discussion and party with PlayGround's producers and playwrights. All events are simulcast and online content is admission-free (donations gratefully accepted). Festival Sponsorships (starting at $100) include guaranteed reservations for all festival online events with extended on-demand access and in-person priority seating as well as a complimentary Potrero Stage cap and festival poster. Advance reservations required (in-person attendees must be fully vaccinated and wear a KN95 or higher efficiency mask). For more information or to reserve tickets, visit https://playground-sf.org/festival.

PlayGround Festival Schedule (all events at 7pm PDT)

FESTIVAL KICK-OFF & OPENING PANEL
May 8, 2023 @ 7pm PDT

PlayGround kicks off its 27th annual Festival of New Works with a special panel discussion on the state of the field, featuring distinguished playwright alumni.

15th annual YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS PROJECT
May 12, 2023 @ 7pm PDT
https://playground-sf.org/youngplaywrights

An evening of short works by the Bay Area's top high school dramatists, submitted as part of the 15th annual Young Playwrights Contest and inspired by this year's prompt, "Adapt a Classic Folktale or Myth." Submission deadline is April 24.

BEST OF PLAYGROUND 27: The 27th annual short play fest (Festival Premiere)
May 13 & May 14, 2023 @ 7pm PDT
https://playground-sf.org/bestof

Changing Inward by Danny Martinez, Jr., directed by Tanvi Agrawal
Work/Shoot by Matthew Y. Morishige, directed by Jim Kleinmann
The Resolution of Us by Vicky Pham, directed by Karina Gutierrez
Gallows Humor by Bridgette Dutta Portman, directed by Claire Ganem
Boogie Cousins and the 1.8 Seconds that Changed Everything by Michael Tuton directed by Rondrell McCormick
Two Kitchens and a Bowl by Alexis Standridge, directed by Tracy Ward

FESTIVAL STAGED READINGS
May 15, 19, 22, 26, 2023 @ 7pm PDT
https://playground-sf.org/festivalreadings

A Thousand Natural Shocks by Jacob Marx Rice, directed by Jeffrey Lo (May 15)
Character Assassination by Akaina Ghosh, directed by Nikki Meñez (May 19)
Apertures of Love in Times of War by Anne Yumi Kobori, directed by M. Graham Smith (May 22)
Seasonal Sweets by Jennifer Le Blanc, directed by Jennifer King (May 26)

STARLIGHT by Christian Wilburn (Festival Premiere)
Directed by Ely Sonny Orquiza
May 20 & May 21, 2023 @ 7pm PDT
https://playground-sf.org/starlight

A rare autoimmune disorder has forced Sasha to live most of her life in books, and in dreams. However, when a mysterious book called Starlight brings her dreams to life, and potentially gives her a destiny, reality and dreams blend into a story that explores the transcendent mystery of chronic illness.

THE BRAMFORD by Lauren Gorski (Festival Premiere)
Directed by Tessa Corrie
May 27 & May 28, 2023 @ 7pm PDT
https://playground-sf.org/thebramford

Through recreating the iconic horror Rosemary's Baby under the magical roof of the Bramford apartment, neighbors Gloria and Betty unknowingly bring the characters of the novel-Rosemary, Guy, and Satan-to life. With this power, what else in the Bramford might be waiting to come to life?

About the Playwrights

Akaina Ghosh (Festival Reading, Character Assassination), they/them, is a non-binary theater artist. They are thrilled to be sharing Character Assassination (PlayGround's 2022 June Anne Baker Prize Commissioned Play) as part of PlayGround's Festival Reading Series.They've debuted original works at PianoFight, Z-Below, TheatreFIRST, and The Flight Deck. They are a two-time recipient of 3GirlsTheatre's Innovator's Series Grant, and they were a semi-finalist in the National Alliance for Musical Theater's 15-Minute Musical Challenge with selections from their original musical Lilith. They are passionate about reconstructing historically significant narratives through a gender expansive lens and generating new works that center queer voices and perspectives. They are currently pursuing their MFA in Graduate Acting at NYU Tisch. Follow Akaina's work at akainaghosh.com.

Lauren Gorski (Festival Premiere, The Bramford), she/her, has a Master's in Professional Writing with emphasis in Stage and Screen from the University of Southern California. She writes fiction, poetry, screenplays, and stageplays. Her fiction and poetry have been featured in "apt", "Badlands", "Jersey Devil Press", "Underground Voices", and elsewhere. Her plays have been performed for the Hollywood Fringe, PlayGround (including the Best of Festival), PianoFight's ShortLived series, and more. She is a past playwright-in-residence with PlayGround San Francisco. She is also the Comics & Film Editor of Exposition Review, a multi-genre digital literary journal.

Anne Yumi Kobori (Festival Reading, Apertures of Love in Times of War), she/her, is a Japanese-American playwright, actor, producer, director, and teaching artist. As a director, she has worked with Utopia Theatre Project, EnActe Arts, Los Altos Youth Theatre, and SF Shakespeare Festival, where she spent 5 years as Education Program Manager. She has written multiple short plays: for production: THE ART OF SUFFRAGE (Best of PlayGround 25), NEW YEAR, COWARD'S FLAME, GIVE ME THE SKY (MondayNightPlayGround), SIMULATION (Pear Theatre), ROSES IN THE DESERT (Dragon Theatre) and THE DISAPPEARANCE OF BETTY LA ROSE (Neighborhood Stories). Her full-length plays SEEDS and EVERY DAY ALICE, and her adaptation of Chekhov's THE SEAGULL have premiered with Utopia Theatre Project. Currently, Anne is a co-writer for Braided, a play exploring Native American liberation and Japanese American resilience, in development with Theatre of Yugen. Recent projects include Script Co-Conspirator for A.C.T.'s production of Neo Symposium, and the Pear Slices short play festival with Pear Theatre, where she is a Playwrights' Guild member. BA Theatre Arts, summa cumlaude, Santa Clara University. www.anneyumikobori.com.

Jennifer Le Blanc (Festival Reading, Seasonal Sweets), she/her, adapted Jane Austen's Persuasion which received its world-premiere at San Jose Stage Company and Defoe's Moll Flanders which received its world-premiere at Pacific Repertory Theatre. She wrote We Made Bread, a one-woman show adapted from interviews, for Perspective Theatre Company (formerly Arabian Shakespeare Festival). Jennifer has contributed short plays to Shotz, Perspective Theatre Company's New Works Festival, and Our Digital Stories. Jennifer received her BA in English Literature from U.C. Berkeley and her MFA in Acting from The National Theatre Conservatory. She is an associate artist with the Perspective Theatre Company and Livermore Shakespeare Festival.

Danny Martinez, Jr. (BoP27, Changing Inward), he/him, is an actor and playwright from San Jose. This is his first season as a member of Playground's Writers Pool, and the water is nice and ~warm~! Daniel will be debuting his second one man show, Round Hole, as part of Playground's Solo Performance Festival later this month and he hopes you'll consider watching! He loves writing stories that make you laugh and go "aw". For his day job, Daniel teaches screenwriting, acting, and directing to adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities.

Matthew Y. Morishige (BoP27, Work/Shoot), he/him, is an actor, musician, and playwright based in the Bay Area. Matthew's work aims to capture unique perspectives and voices pulled from his own personal experiences. He is energized by collaboration with talented artists across many different disciplines.

Vicky Pham (BoP27, The Resolution of Us), she/her, is a playwright, Bay Area native, and student at Santa Clara University. Through her writing, Vicky wishes to channel her creativity into uplifting voices and raising awareness to issues afflicting the AAPI community. She is the author of plays such as White Christmas and A Seat At The Table, which was selected for a reading under the direction of Tony Award winning actor, BD Wong. Currently, Vicky is a Hackworth Fellow researching the history and ethics of representation of Asian Americans in theatre and film in pursuit of a full-length play (Spring 2023).

Bridgette Dutta Portman (BoP27, Gallows Humor), she/her, is a playwright and novelist based in Fremont, CA. More than two dozen of her plays have been produced locally, nationally, and overseas. She is past president of the Playwrights' Center of San Francisco and is a board member of the Pear Theatre, a teaching artist with Dragon Theatre, and a member of the Pear Writers' Guild and Dramatists' Guild. She has been a finalist for the Bay Area Playwrights' Festival, the Theatre Bay Area TITAN award, the PlayPenn Conference, the New Dramatists playwrights' residency, and more. She holds an MFA in creative writing from Spalding University.

Jacob Marx Rice (Festival Reading, A Thousand Natural Shocks), he/him, has written plays that have been produced and developed at The Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center, The Finborough Theatre in London, Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Flea Theater, The New Ohio, Atlantic Theatre Stage 2, and others. His play Chemistry has premiered in seven cities across three continents, and Jacob's screenplay adaptation is currently in development with Anonymous Content. Recent prizes include the Jean Kennedy Smith Playwriting Award from The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, an Ensemble Studio Theater Sloan Commission, the Faculty Award from the NYU/Tisch Department of Dramatic Writing and the Excellence in Playwriting Award at the New York International Fringe Festival. MFA: NYU.

Alexis Standridge (BoP27, Two Kitchens and a Bowl), she/her, is a recent graduate of Santa Clara University, where she studied Playwriting. She spends her time exploring queer theatre spaces in the Bay Area, and working with others to produce new works by upcoming young artists. When she's not writing, Alexis works as a Coordinator for Santa Clara University, and enjoys being a dungeon master for Dungeons and Dragons games.

Michael Tuton (BoP27, Boogie Cousins and the 1.8 Seconds that Changed Everything), he/him. Mike Tuton's first play won 2nd place in the Playwrights' Center of San Francisco 2021 Playoffs and won the 2022 Act One:One Act festival in NYC. He is a cofounder of the Unofficial Theater Company with four other writers. Mike has created Intellectual Properties for Nike, SFMoMA, Intel, and has won multiple Cannes Lions, but Mike is most proud of being retweeted by Joyce Carol Oates. Mike is unsure what themes tie his plays together, but he likes to explore how minds are changed.

Christian Wilburn (Festival Premiere, Starlight) is a San Francisco based writer whose work blends the deeply personal and the fantastical. Christian has been working with PlayGround frequently over the past three years; being featured in Monday Night PlayGround, Best of PlayGround, and the PlayGround Playwright Residency Program. Christian thanks PlayGround for commissioning this piece based on his short play, Sasha and the Angelier, which won the People's Choice Award for Best of PlayGround 2021. Christian is a graduate of Santa Clara University and holds an MFA in Writing from the University of San Francisco.

About PlayGround

Founded in 1994 by Jim Kleinmann, Brighde Mullins and Denise Shama, PlayGround has grown into the Bay Area's leading playwright incubator and theatre community hub, with a deep commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, helping to uplift and center artists from historically underrepresented communities. Over the past 28 years, PlayGround has supported more than 300 early-career playwrights, developing and staging over 1,000 of their original short plays through PlayGround's signature programs, Monday Night PlayGround and the PlayGround Festival of New Works. PlayGround has also commissioned 90 new full-length plays by 60 of these writers through its Commissioning Initiative and has directly facilitated the premiere of 34 of those works through its innovative New Play Production Fund. Over the past 28 years, PlayGround has developed a unique model for identifying and nurturing the Bay Area's best new writers, while helping them to build a significant body of original work and lasting connections with the artistic collaborators they need to know to ensure their success. PlayGround expanded to Los Angeles in 2012, to NYC in 2021, and launched PlayGround-Chicago last fall.

In 2015, PlayGround signed a long-term lease to operate the former Thick House Theater, where PlayGround has produced its festival since 2008. Following a successful $300,000 renovation which included new theatrical lighting, seating, signage, and upgrades to the lobby, box office and restrooms, PlayGround reopened the theatre in February 2017 as Potrero Stage: PlayGround Center for New Plays. In addition to supporting PlayGround's expanding new play programs (including the PlayGround Solo Performance Festival launched in 2018), the theatre serves as home for some of the Bay Area's other leading new play developers and producers, including Crowded Fire, Golden Thread, and Playwrights Foundation, as well as up-and-coming companies such as Ferocious Lotus and Bread & Butter Theatre, among others. In 2019, PlayGround launched the Innovator Incubator, fostering theatrical innovation and next generation innovative theatre companies. The program culminates in the annual Innovators Showcase, which takes place each November/December, featuring over half-a-dozen new works, from developmental readings to full premieres, by the year's Innovator Incubator cohort.

Following the closure of theaters due to the pandemic in 2020, PlayGround was one of the first theatres in the country to shift all of its programming online, with the launch of the PlayGround Zoom Fest and a unique partnership with the performers union, SAG-AFTRA. With the return of in-person performance, PlayGround has recommitted to radical accessibility with admission-free programming and online simulcast and on-demand streaming of all performances. PlayGround's radical accessibility initiative is sponsored in part by First Republic Bank.

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 (including 6 of the last 10), Humana Festival, O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, 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.

In addition to its company of playwrights, PlayGround maintains a company of leading Bay Area directors, actors, designers and technicians whose work is regularly seen on the Bay Area's top professional stages. PlayGround has actively positioned itself as a hub, bringing together hundreds of individuals and organizations representing the best in Bay Area theatre. For more information about PlayGround, visit https://playground-sf.org.

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