Company in the News November 2023

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

Allie Costa can be heard in Slayers: A Buffyverse Story, a new Buffy the Vampire Slayer audio series produced by Audible featuring several of the show’s original cast members. Listen here! Her play Two Girls was recently produced at the Reboot Festival in London, while Before We Burn, Safe Distance, and Don’t Fear the Reaper were in one-day-only events at The Glitch in London and Plainview had a reading in Norwich. Learn more here.

Lina Patel has been collaborating in the AMMO Theater writers group this summer and they are serving up 6 new plays that are funny as sh*t, heartbreaking, raw, beautiful, and as diverse as Ammo has always been. Come take a peak at these developing new works by her and five other writers! More info here.

Julia Belanova plays Cindy in Five Nights at Freddy’s, now in theaters or streaming on Peacock!

Mildred Inez Lewis won an AGE Legacy Playwright grant. She’s about to start the Orchard Project’s Forward program with her dramatic podcast series Phylicia’s Friendship Bench.

Six of Evan Baughfman’s short plays will be presented at Brickhouse Theatre in North Hollywood for ONE DAY ONLY! On Saturday, November 4th at 2 PM, A NIGHT IN EVAN’S SHORTS—yes, technically, it takes place on an afternoon, but please try to look past that minor detail— will be produced by the talented team at Force of Nature Productions theater company. Get your tickets!

Shoshanna Green will be producing a film for the Los Angeles 48-Hour Horror Comedy Festival in November with A Monday Afternoon Productions @amondayafternoon – she looks forward to being both scary and funny.

Matthew Henerson is currently playing Claudius and the Ghost in HAMLET, Antonio, and Verges in MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, and Junius Brutus in CORIOLANUS at the American Shakespeare Center. In November, he’ll go into rehearsal for Marley in CHRISTMAS CAROL, also at ASC. In January, he begins rehearsals for Tevye in FIDDLER ON THE ROOF at San Diego Musical Theatre. The Shakespeare repertory runs through November 19, CHRISTMAS CAROL opens on November 30 and plays through December 30, and FIDDLER opens on February 9 and runs through March 10.

Tamadhur Al-Aqeel’s full-length play, “Walk Like An Egyptian” is part of Company of Angels’s New Play Festival reading series featuring plays developed in their playwrights’ group. In the play, fugitive artist Miriam Luisa kidnaps two garbage thieves thinking they killed her father, only to discover they are part of a larger conspiracy. November 18th @8pm, in Boyle Heights. Directed by Kila Kitu. Admission is free.

Esther Banegas Gatica has recently joined the Black Voice news Inland Empire digital and print newspaper of 50 years. She encourages the Playground LA family to sign up for their free newsletter with a lot of free resources and news. 

Jennie Webb is thrilled that her full-length play NOT CAKE, an Angeleno play about privilege and class, appropriation and agency, will receive a reading at The Road Theatre on Monday, November 6th at 7:30 pm. Set in 1924 and 1924, focusing on an abortionist who’s worked 100+ years fighting for change, the play has received significant development from LA’s Rogue Artists Ensemble. The reading is directed by Margaret Shigeko Starbuck, featuring directs The Road reading, featuring Blaire Chandler, Adela Paez, Jacqueline Misaye, Renée Torchio MacDonald, Gloria Ines, Cherish Monique Duke & Michelle Gillette.