Company in the News September 2023

See what PlayGround-LA Writers, Alumni, and Company Members are up to this September!

Evan Baughfman’s newest horror story, MAN ON PORCH, is featured in “The Monsters Next Door,” an anthology from Critical Blast Publishing. The book is all about monsters living alongside humans… and the conflicts that arise from such cohabitation! Please, check out the book here

Maria D. Smith is Congo Square Theatre’s 2023/24 Next Up Fellowship winner. She will be working to develop a full-length play over the next 10 months that will be featured at the theatre’s Festival On the Square next June. Maria is also a featured artist in The Eitch hosted by Hyphen Reads Books where her work will be published every weekday during the month of September and can be accessed via subscription. Her collection is entitled “Nobody Nobody Me:___: Essays and Thoughts on Being a Black Woman Like Me.”

Mildred Inez Lewis is writing “The Possibilities of Fire” for the Workshop Theatre’s Out of the Hat Festival in New York City.

Mark Jacobson has been cast in the Geffen Playhouse’s production of Samuel Baum’s “The Engagement Party”, opposite Wendie Malick, Jonah Platt and Bella Heathcote. He can also be seen in the film 57 Seconds, opposite Morgan Freeman and Josh Hutcherson, in select theaters and digital on September 29th.

Mark Sherstinsky’s short play “The Sound of Invasion” will be part of LA’s Towne Street Theatre’s Virtual Play Fest on September 8th.

Sandra Cruze’s play “Little Sugar” won Quarterfinalist this year again. Also two of her Ten Minute plays will be performed in LA by some fabulous actors. She has a Web series co-written with Sarah Hunter “We’re Not Dead Yet” that was selected and shown at Marina Del Ray film festival along with numerous wins from international film festivals. She had a play reading at Echo ESTLA,  another reading with ALAP at the Westwood Library, and just wrapped a film “Good Grief”.

Lina Patel is on her 17th week of the WGA strike. Her new play about chosen family and healing from grief, “Belonging” was workshopped in July at East West Players with Alice Tuan and featured Page Leong, Spencer Paez, Chaley Rose, Bill Salyers, Bernard White.

Christina Wren is filling the strike void by developing small, passion projects with her community. She has been producing mini documentaries about local artists and small businesses in Atlanta, plotting a mockumentary about the hilarity of suburban interpersonal dramas, and is about to film “Escape”, a short that she wrote, inspired by her family’s experience fleeing war in the middle of the night. It’s an intimate story about a mother and daughter as they face the impossible reality of having to part ways in order to have any hope of survival.

Allie Costa’s episode of How Do You Juggle offers artistic encouragement, audition advice, and more! Check it out here! Allie’s play “Two Girls” was selected for the Reboot Festival, running September 19th-23rd in London. “Art Imitates Life” was recently performed at the Open Space Arts Summer Playwrights Festival. “We’re Trying” was an A is For finalist, and “How I Knew Her” was a semi-finalist for the Ivoryton Women Playwrights Festival. Learn more  here and here.

Grant Gottschall’s first full-length play “Dog Door” (six dogs struggle to form a pack) will premiere at the McCadden on October 7 and play every weekend that month. Also, his short play (“Machine Learning II”, part of a cycle about AI) will have a staged reading on September 23.

Shoshanna Green is happy to announce “Rent Control” the film she produced for the Los Angeles 48 Hour Film Festival was chosen to proceed to the next round of Audience Favorite! She is also a writer on The Pack’s sketch team Corduroy and a performer for improv team Supernova.

Lauren Gorski will be continuing as Comics and Film Editor for Exposition Review for their ninth issue. Submissions open September 15 – December 15.