Company in the News August 2026
See what PlayGround-LA Writers and Company Members are up to this month including: Allie Costa, Evan Baughfman, Julia Belanova, Kyle Garcia, Matthew Henerson, Mark Jacobson, Jonathan Josephson, MJ Kang, Stephanie T. Keefer, Mildred Inez Lewis, Andy Lowe, Abel Marquez, Andrew Joseph Perez and Mae Ruling!
Jennie Webb‘s play WOUND CARE, a play about mothers and daughters, searching for what will make things right and perhaps healing what you didn’t know was broken, will be presented as part of the 2026 Kayenta New Play Lab August 21 & 22. Directed by Reena Dutt, the readings feature LA actor Lizzy Kimball and culminate a 10-day residency in Southwestern Utah. WOUND CARE was initially drafted while Jennie was a PlayGround Writer-in-Residence. MORE INFO.
Allie Costa appears in the animated film Blooky: The Book Who Wanted to Be Read, which was recently screened at the Cannes Film Festival, Comic-Con, and SIGGRAPH. Catch it at the HollyShorts Film Festival in August! Allie just wrapped a film in which she plays an astute PhD student. Her film Constellations, which she wrote, directed, edited, and appeared in, was selected for the Chatting Over the Fence festival, where it won The One Perfect Frame Award. Her play Remembrance, which began at PlayGround-LA, will have a special one-night-only presentation in London on August 7th. Live a Little runs August 28th through August 30th at HystericalFest in Illinois. Checkpoint will hit the stage August 22nd in New York. Two Girls was recently produced in India, and How I Knew Her was produced in England. For more information on any of these projects, visit http://www.alliecosta.com and http://www.imdb.me/alliecosta
Evan Baughfman’s short play, EVERY SHEEP COUNTS, will be featured in the Bridges & Stages 10-Minute Play Festival August 28 & 29, at New Hazlett Theater, Pittsburgh, PA! What is EVERY SHEEP COUNTS about? “Inside a sleepy person’s mind, sheep jump over a fence… until a literal Nightmare interrupts their routine.” This play originated with a previous PlayGround prompt, “Dreams and Nightmares.” More info about the production can be found at: https://newhazletttheater.org/events/bridges-and-stages-10-minute-play-festival/
Julia Belanova intimacy coordinated the film Inside These Walls, screening in Los Angeles at the Salute Your Shorts Film Festival on Sunday 8/23, This powerful film was produced through AFI’s DWW+ program. MORE INFO.
Kyla Garcia stars in Seasons 1 and 2 of the acclaimed Audible Podcast “The Space Within” as Rosa: a migrant mother on the run who develops supernatural abilities after an alien encounter. She shares all of her scenes with Jessica Chastain and a star-studded cast including Ellen Burstyn, Mandy Patinkin, Michael Shannon, Carmen Ejogo, and Bobby Cannavale. The show recently received a Best Fiction Podcast nomination at the iHeartRadio Podcast Awards. LISTEN HERE.
Matthew Henerson is currently playing Polonius and the gravedigger in HAMLET for the Kingsmen Shakespeare Company in Thousand Oaks. TICKETS HERE. Upcoming work includes THE VISIT at the Pasadena Playhouse TICKETS, and he continues to recur as Special Agent Carl Loughlin on NCIS: ORIGINS.
Mark Jacobson will also appear in The Visit at the Pasadena Playhouse, adapted and directed by Darko Tresnjak. TICKETS.
Jonathan Josephson is thrilled to share that his theatre company Unbound Productions will be back this fall with a new show: Wicked Lit 2026: La Llorona and The Headless Horseman! The event will include his adaptations Las Lloronas and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (from the short story by Washington Irving). Wicked Lit was SoCal’s favorite Halloween theatre event 2009-2018 at Greystone Mansion and Mountain View Mausoleum and Cemetery and will return in a whole new format and venue from October 29-November 2 at Chance Theater. Tickets are on sale now and selling fast! Tickets at wicked-lit.org
MJ Kang will be part of Big Bear Theater Project’s inaugural playwrights lab and her short play will be shared over a series of nights with others at the lab. MORE INFO.
Stephanie T. Keefer is producing and starring in a short film based on a play written by Scott Mullen. Acting alongside Stephanie are PlayGround LA members Anthony Rutowicz and Jully Lee.
Mildred Inez Lewis was a finalist for the Leah Ryan Fund’s Boost commission and the Inkslinger Playwriting Contest (South Eastern Louisiana University). New work is being included in Fuego, a collection from the Breath of Fire Latina Theatre Ensemble.
Andy Lowe and “Chinese Pirate Productions” will be performing August 21 and 22. He will be bringing some of his signature Puppet mayhem to the line up of AJ RAFAEL PRESENTS, CTA, a Cabaret style variety shows featuring Broadway veterans and local stars alike, including Kenton Chen, Joan Almedilla, Leah Lewis, Kay Sibal, Isa Briones and Jon Jon Briones. MORE INFO.
Abel Marquez was selected as a a playwright in Theatre Unleashed’s Summer Blockbusters 10 Minute Play Festival at the Hobgoblin Playhouse in Los Angeles, July 24th/25th. Abel’s play, “Small Gears or A League of their Own 2092: In Space” premiered with seven brand-new 10-minute plays, written and staged in under 24 hours. MORE INFO.
Andrew Joseph Perez (aka Julio Maxwell) is doing his best to stay cool while recording audiobooks in his closet. Catch him next summer in Portland, OR for the Queers and Quills Romance Convention! www.andrewjperez.com
Mae Ruling is rehearsing for the world premiere of “Happy Havens Church of Higher Enlightenment” a dark comedy play at the Hobgoblin Playhouse, opening in September. MORE INFO.