PlayGround-LA Company in the News September-2019

See what PlayGround-LA Writers, Alumni, and Company Members are up to as we prepare to launch Season 8!

Vincent Terrell Durham‘s POLAR BEARS, BLACK BOYS & PRAIRIE FRINGED ORCHIDS, a PlayGround/Planet Earth Arts co-commission based on Vincent’s PlayGround-LA short play, was a 2019 PlayGround Festival of New Works finalist where it received a professional developmental workshop and public staged reading, directed by Rondrell McCormick. The play received a two-week student production as part of Stanford Repertory Theater’s 2019 summer festival, co-presented with Planet Earth Arts and in association with PlayGround.

Also featured among the 2019 PlayGround Festival staged readings were Julianne Jigour‘s PlayGround/Planet Earth Arts co-commission, THREE WOMEN IN A WILDFIRE (based on the PlayGround-LA short of the same name), directed by Paris McCarthy, and Nicki Spencer‘s THE NINETY PERCENT, the inaugural PlayGround-LA People’s Choice Commission (based on her short MERRY CHRISTMAS, RUTH), directed by Norman Gee.

Amanda L. Andrei recently had a reading of WEDDING OF HEART AND CLAW, a short play co-written with Colton O’Connor at Retrograde: An Astrological Play Series on September 8-9 at the Lyric Hyperion Theatre and Cafe, featuring Kathleen Cecchin.  

Diana Burbano is onstage as Amalia in AMERICAN MARIACHI at South Coast Rep. Her new play GARGOYLES will be staged at at Page-to-Stage thanks to Project la Femme.

After spending the summer in Downtown Rep’s interactive production of THE ASSASSINATION OF EDGAR ALLAN POE at the historic Heritage Square, Kathleen Cecchin recently performed in Retrograde’s staged reading festival based on the 12 astrological signs at the Lyric Hyperion on September 8 & 9th.

Allie Costa has a wonderful time playing Margaret in the critically-acclaimed new musical THE BULLY PROBLEM. Her play BOXES ARE MAGIC, which began at PlayGround-LA, was recently produced at BoxFest Detroit. Her play DO I KNOW YOU? was selected for Asphalt Shorts and will be produced by Flush Ink in Ontario, Canada in September.  

Carolyn Deskin just finished up shooting a pilot and is in the midst of writing a film of her own.

Dan Hirsch’s play A SMALL BREACH IN PROTOCOL AT BIG RICK’S ROCKIN’ SKYDIVE ACADEMY (which originated in last October’s PlayGround) was selected as one of the six winning plays in the Samuel French Off-Off-Broadway Festival. It will be published by Samuel French in a best of anthology in the next year! His play the SISYPHI will be part of the Green Reads series at Will Greer’s Theatricum Botanicum in September. 

Starina Johnson’s play, VICE, will be included in  Above the Curve Theatre’s Sticky Floor Stories: A Collection of One-Acts! Starina will be directing Scott Mullen’s play SOULMATES and Dagney Kerr’s play OLD FASHIONED! for the same evening.  

Mark V. Jones had two ten-minute plays selected in 10 FEST on August 17th.  He also has the option of returning with those two selected and the addition of more of his works the 3rd week of November for “A Night with Mark V. Jones.”

Jonathan Josephson’s PHONE FRIEND will be included in Alternative Theatre Company’s Altered Minds, an Off-Broadway Showcase at the American Theatre of Actors in NYC (November 11-December 8, 2019). His short play RUNED will receive it’s fourth production as part of Funny Shorts Live at the Center for the Performing Arts in Bonita Springs (September 13-14, 2019), and his This Hungry Churchyard has been shortlisted for Short+Sweet Hollywood. 

Jully Lee is currently in HANNAH AND THE DREAD GAZEBO at The Fountain Theater, co-presented by East West Players until 9/22 (Monday 8pm shows are PWYC!).  She will be heading to South Coast Repertory to be in AUBERGINE which opens 10/17.

Mildred Inez Lewis’s piece about Cathy Heller is part of the Protest Plays new complilation 45’S 24. Another monologue, THE QUIET ONES, is part of BlackGirlzMagic’s Love Letters to the Black Man.

PlayGround alumnus Alex Moggridge‘s play THE BOATMAN will have a staged reading at Los Angeles’s Antaeus Theatre Company in September.

Scott Mullen spent August writing a new 10-minute play every single day.  His PlayGround-LA play 172 PUSH-UPS is being done in Indiana and in Oxnard, California, while three of his older plays will be featured as part of Sticky Floor Stories at Above the Curve Theatre in North Hollywood.

Christina Wren had a baby boy last month! And she premiered her comedy series, HICKSTERS, at Dances with Films Festival and it is now live on YouTube! The finale will air next week. Info and press is at and episodes are here. 

Jennie Webb‘s new play INTO THE GOBPILE, which was part of Road Theatre’s 10th Annual Summer Playwrights Festival, is receiving further development from the company with a Word at the Road reading on October 14. Her play FOOTPRINT just received a reading at EST/LA in August, and her play SPACE AVAILABLE was recently selected to be part of the Inkwell Theater’s 2019/20 Development LAB

Desiree’ York is premiering a unique work entitled NEXT OF KIN: A DANCE COLLABORATIVE from September 20-29, 2019 with The Wayward Artist Theatre Company.  From a stand-up comedic monologue to dramatic rap, this one of a kind show weaves eleven pieces of varying dance styles with words in a brand new way, including contemporary tap performed only to the rhythm of poetry!