PlayGround-LA presents Season 9

MONDAY NIGHT PLAYGROUND

Topic: “Lore: Retelling the Myths and Legends of Our People”

February 8th 2021 7pm PT

via Zoom Live Stream

Charming
by Kathleen Cecchin
Directed by Collette Rutherford
Mage……………………………………………………….. Tiana Randall-Quant
Delores………………………………………………………………..Jahnavi Alyssa

Potsticking Point
by Arthur Keng
Directed by Jully Lee
Cameron……………………….……………………………..Anthony Rutowicz
Linda…………………………..………………..………………..Debba Roffheart
Slate………………………………………………….…………..Jordan Covington
Karl……………………………….…………………………………..Zach Kumaishi
Cindy…………………………………….…………………..………..Christine Liao

Possession of the Poet as a Young Man
by Ayesha Siddiqui
Directed by Frieda De Lackner
Jinn One……………………………………………………………Mueen Jahan
Jinn Two………………………………………..………………Christina Wren
Man……………………………………………………….……Roshan Mathews

Underworld
by Nicholas C. Pappas
Directed by Ivan Rivas
Jiibayaabooz……………………………………………………Julio Hanson
Man …………………….………………………….………….William Warren
Hades…………………..………………………………..……Tahmus Rounds

We Jump Broom
by Mildred Inez Lewis
Directed by Rondrell McCormick
Nell………………………………………………….…………….Krystal Mosley
Winny……………………………………………..……….Charlotte Williams

For Mālama ʻĀina and Linda and Kyle from Booger Hole
by Nicki Spencer
Directed by Jim Kleinmann
Ranger Loh……………………………….…..…………………….Carla Vega
Tabitha……………………………………………………………….Mae Ruling

Stage Manager/Sound Designer – Sarah Gasser
Visual Designer – Colin Johnson

BIOGRAPHIES

PLAYWRIGHTS

KATHLEEN CECCHIN (Charming), she/her, is a writer/actor/director originally from Chicago. She has been in PlayGround LA’s writers’ pool since its inception. Her play Pinocchia was published in PlayGround LA’s Best of 2013. As an actor, she has performed with (Chicago) Victory Gardens, The Immediate, Pegasus Players, Latino Chicago, Stage Left, (Los Angeles) The Attic, Spotlight, NEO Ensemble, Write Act and Downtown Rep. She directed at the Celebration, the Ford, The Attic, USC and the Women’s Playwright Outreach Project. See more shenanigans at www.KathleenCecchin.com. 

ARTHUR KENG (Potsticking Point), he/him, is a Los-Angeles based writer and actor. He has had several pieces selected for Monday Night PlayGround and Best of PlayGround-LA. As an actor, he has performed in theatres across the US and has appeared on TV shows such as ‘Silicon Valley’, ‘Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’, and others. Arthur received his MFA from the University of Southern California.

MILDRED INEZ LEWIS (We Jump Broom), she/her, is a member of the Dramatists Guild and the Los Angeles Female Playwrights Initiative. She writes with the playwriting units of Antaeus, Company of Angels, EST-LA and PlayGround LA. Recent productions with Digital Dramatists and Little Black Dress Ink. Upcoming productions with Antaeus, Central Works (Berkeley, CA) and the Minnesota Arts Council. Her short play THE PEACE OF HOME won a L.B. Williams Award from New Circle Repertory which will produce it later this year. Her short science fiction screenplay, RUBY, DATA POINT 083a3, will be shot later this year. 

NICHOLAS C. PAPPAS (Underworld), he/him is a playwright, dramaturge, and director. Plays include: Including Shooter (publisher: Playscripts), The Ballad of 423 and 424 (Heideman Award; Actor’s Theatre of Louisville), Fatty (Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor), and The Dreams in Which I’m Dying (Deborah Aquila Reading Series). Published by Dramatics Magazine and Playscrips. He has directed at San Francisco Playhouse, Moorpark College, SFSU, and others. Dramaturgy: Center Theatre Group, San Francisco Playhouse, Berkeley Rep, South Coast Rep, and TheatreFolk. A graduate of San Francisco State University’s MFA program, he teaches at Moorpark College and is currently in development on several television and film projects.

AYESHA SIDDIQUI (Possession of the Poet as a Young Man), she/her, is a playwright of Pakistani-American descent. Works include: Water Lily (Sundance Institute Playwriting Intensive, 2019) and Baba, Jee (Father, Yes) (Hollywood Fringe Scholarship Winner, 2018). Upcoming: Jaldee/Hurry with The Vagrancy Writers’ Group in May/June 2021.

NICKI SPENCER (For Mālama ʻĀina and Linda and Kyle from Booger Hole), she/her. After receiving a Master’s Degree in Professional Writing from the University of Southern California, Nicki has worked as a Writers’/Showrunner Assistant on several TV Shows including A&E and History Channel’s Knightfall, FOX’s The Gifted and Proven Innocent, and HBO Max’s Golden Globe nominated show The Flight Attendant. In Playground LA, she has had several short plays performed on Monday Nights, three plays in the Best Of Gala, and one full-length play commission.

ACTORS

JAHNAVI ALYSSA (Charming, “Dolores),

JORDAN COVINGTON (Potsticking, “Slate”), he/him, is an actor/singer/dancer who loves to perform. He was born and raised in the Bay Area and will be moving to Los Angeles fairly soon. He hopes to bring his talents here and do more with his craft. He is currently on set filming a movie, and on his off days, he’s in acting class with Casey Lee and the CL Actors Lab. Jordan enjoys his time with Playground and can’t wait to do more with them.

JULIO HANSON (Underground, “Jiibayaabooz”), he, (SAG-AFTRA) is an entertainer and educator in Los Angeles, dedicating years to bridging African-American and Panamanian roots through music, theatre, dance, and languages. Julio has performed with Grammy-recognized artists Toni Braxton, Prince, Kelis, and La Ley to name a few. Julio has appeared in many feature films, stage productions, and television. Julio is a graduate of UCLA, CSUDH, and CSULA and has a Doctorate in Education from Pepperdine University researching the Power of Artistic Activism. Julio is an advisory board member of The Young Shakespeareans and the founder of The Artistic Activist Collective.

MUEEN JAHAN (Possession of the Poet as a Young Man, “Jinn One”),

ZACH KUMAISHI (Potsticking Point, “Karl”), he, is a 2020 graduate of UCLA’s school of theater, film, and television, and can’t wait to participate in his second run of PlayGround’s virtual readings. A bay area native but LA resident, Zach has spent his quarantine hard at work, sitting in front of a variety of screens, doing martial arts in empty rooms of his apartment, and finding the best place in his quarantine bubble to take a nap.        

CHRISTINE LIAO (Potsticking Point, “Cindy”), she, played Waverly Jong in Sierra Madre Playhouse’s Joy Luck Club in Fall 2019. Her best known role thus far is as the waitress/clerk in the comedy sketch, The ABC Who Can’t Read Chinese. You can also find her in Fine China on HBO platforms as part of the HBO APA Visionaries 2020 winners.

ROSHAN MATHEWS (Possession of the Poet as a Young Man, “Man”),

KRYSTAL MOSLEY (We Jump Broom, “Nell”) comes all the way from Chicago, currently residing in LA and is super excited about the production this evening! Some of her credits include: 10 Virgins with Chicago Dramatist, Ruined with Eclipse Theatre and Blood Wedding with Pursuit Productions. She would like to thank the PlayGround-LA cast, friends and family for their continued support!

TIANA RANDALL-QUANT (Charming, “Mage”), she, is a Los Angeles raised actor working to challenge the idea that “LA is not a theatre town”. As always, she is so excited to get to play with and experience the new works of this PlayGround-LA season. Recent credits include “What We Might Do in the Shadows” with New Online Theatre and “Fairyland Foibles” with The Wallis Studio Ensemble, both of which are available for viewing on Youtube. She can also be found making fun comedy content with The 354 Squad on Youtube and Patreon.

DEBBA ROFHEART (Potsticking Point, “Linda”), is an LA-based actor and a proud PlayGround-LA company member, and an Open Fist Theatre Company member. Most recently, she was seen in OFTC’s “The Book of Life,” by Judy Klass, in “Political Popups,” and as Jennet Jourdemayne in 2nd Star to the Right’s production of “The Lady’s Not for Burning.” She  holds a BFA in Theatre Performance, from the University of Florida. Thank you for keeping theatre alive and supporting Zoom theatre!

TAHMUS ROUNDS (Underworld, “Hades”), he, has appeared in many television shows, including “How I Met Your Mother,” “Bones,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Parks and Recreation,” “Criminal Minds” and “911 Lonestar.” Among other theatre credits, he is a former Blue Man in Blue Man Group, performing over 1000 shows in Chicago, Boston and New York. He is excited and honored to be a member of PlayGround-LA.

MAE RULING (For Malama ‘Aina and Linda and Kyle from Booger Hole, “Tabitha”), she, is a proud member of SAG-AFTRA. Mae has appeared in multiple short films as the girl who eventually takes control of her life and in a feature film as a literal dream girl named Gorgeous. Her most recent role was a tenacious reporter in a pilot. Currently, Mae is working on a play about Civil War spies, but she won’t tell you any details just yet. She is thrilled to have the chance to play and grow as a part of the PlayGround-LA company.

CARLA VEGA (For Malama ‘Aina and Linda and Kyle from Booger Hole, “Ranger Loh”) she/her, is a multi-disciplinary performing artist based in Los Angeles, with roots in San Francisco. She has shared her talents live, on stages, on TV and on national & international award-winning films as an actor (SAG-AFTRA), voiceover artist, writer/poet, solo show creator, theatre director & ensemble creator, singer, martial artist/ dancer/ yogi & teaching artist. Carla currently works with PlayGround-LA, Los Angeles Playback Theatre Co., Kaiser Permanente’s CareActors, TeAda Productions, Great Leap, Inc. Carla believes in the power of the arts to heal, touch the heart of our humanity, inspire a deeper connection to our personal stories & ancestries, ignite compassion and create positive social change. All social media: @iamcarlavega

WILLIAM WARREN (Underworld, “Man”), he, is a native of Gary, Indiana. He began his journey at the famed Second City Theater Improvisation Workshop in Chicago, Ill. William who is an actor and vocalist has performed in various musical productions, toured Canada with the Platters and performed as a backup vocalist with recording artist Billy Davis and Marilyn McCoo of The Fifth Dimensions, Stephanie Mills, Deniece Williams and Phillip Bailey of Earth Wind and Fire, among others. William is currently collaborating on a production of Igor Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and recently appeared in August Wilson’s Seven Guitars at The Long Beach Playhouse, the critically acclaimed The Little Foxes at Antaeus Theatre: Towne Street Theatre; IN RESPONSE; THE FERTILE RIVER at Baylor University, and 2019 NAACP Theatre Award nominee PERIPHERY at The Hudson Theatre.

 CHARLOTTE WILLIAMS (We Jump Broom, “Winny”),

CHRISTINA WREN (Possession of the Poet as a Young Man, “Jinn Two”), she, is an NYU alum and has written and produced several indie features and series as well as content for Travel Channel, HGTV, PBS and Discovery Digital. You can soon hear her voice fighting zombies in Netflix’s anime series, “Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas,” directed by Zack Snyder. Currently, she plays a feisty computer programmer in the thriller series, “LA Macabre” on Amazon Prime.

DIRECTORS

FRIEDA DE LACKNER (Possession of the Poet as a Young Man), she, is a director/producer/actor/writer for both film and theatre. Her film, Meeting Matt Damon, began as a play, written by Ron Burch, at PlayGround LA. She co-produced the feature, Hold On, which was released in theaters December 2019 and will be streaming soon. She is delighted to be a company member for Playground LA! Before moving to LA, she worked for over ten years with Kaiser Permanente’s Educational Theatre Programs.

JIM KLEINMANN (For Mālama ʻĀina and Linda and Kyle from Booger Hole), he, co-founded PlayGround in 1994, along with playwright Brighde Mullins and director Denise Shama, and has served as Artistic Director since 1996. For PlayGround, he has provided artistic and administrative leadership for the past twenty-four seasons, developing PlayGround’s unique array of new playwright and new play incubator programs, including Monday Night PlayGround, the PlayGround Festival of New Works, the full-length play Commissioning Initiative, the New Play Production Fund, Potrero Stage: PlayGround Center for New Plays, and most recently the Innovator Incubator.  For PlayGround, he has directed more than one hundred short and full-length plays, including works by Garret Jon Groenveld, Aaron Loeb, Geetha Reddy, Lauren Yee, Katie May, and many others. Recent directing and dramaturgy credits include David Steele’s Vignettes on Love and Ruben Grijalva’s Value Over Replacement. He is a veteran arts administrator with more than thirty years of experience, including stints leading Traveling Jewish Theatre, Smuin Ballet and Berkeley Symphony, and received his MFA from the Yale School of Drama.

JULLY LEE, (Potsticking Point), she, is the artistic director of COLD TOFU, the nation’s first and longest running Asian American improv company, as well as a resident director with PlayGround-LA. She has also directed with PlayGround-SF, Company of Angels, Exposition Review, hereandnow, East West Players, Los Angeles Female Playwrights Initiative (LAFPI), The Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights (ALAP), Playwrights’ Arena, Artists At Play, The Road Theatre, EST-LA, and Center Theatre Group in their Library Readings Series. As an actor, recent TV/film credits include S.W.A.T., Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Veep, The Kominsky Method, This Is Us and Henry Danger. jullylee.com

RONDRELL MCCORMICK (We Jump Broom),

IVAN RIVAS (Underworld),

COLLETTE RUTHERFORD (Charming), she/her, is a director-actor-producer and Artistic Director of Infinite Jest Theatre Company. She has a fondness for working on new plays is thrilled to be back directing for Monday Night Playground. www.ColletteRutherford.com

PRODUCTION

SARAH GASSER (Resident Stage Manager & Sound Designer) joined PlayGround in 2017 and has staged managed for the Monday Night PlayGround series and PlayGround Festival. She stagemanages for companies around the Bay Area, including Brava and Bay Area Children’s Theatre. In her administrative capacities, she assists with PlayGround’s marketing, social media, communications, and website, as well as serving as assistant to the Artistic Director.

COLIN JOHNSON (Visual Designer) is a multi-hyphenate production artist who has sullied the grounds of the Bay Area arts since 2008. His work has been produced or featured at PlayGround, Pianofight, The Circus Center Cabaret, San Diego Comic-Con, Image Comics, Potrero Stage, Pint-Sized Plays, The Olympians Festival, Shotz, Shotgun Players, The Curran, and various theatre, radio and film venues throughout the country. He is the Artistic Director of Awesome Theatre, Chief Creative Officer at Troubleshoot Productions and an Instructor / Director / Designer at Circus Center. He makes movies until he gets too frustrated and makes theatre until he has panic attacks.

PLAYGROUND-LA is the first regional expansion of the celebrated Bay Area playwright incubator and theatre community hub, PlayGround. PlayGround was launched in San Francisco in 1994 by co-founders Jim Kleinmann, Brighde Mullins and Denise Shama. In 1996, Kleinmann became PlayGround’s first Artistic Director. Since its founding, PlayGround has developed and staged over 950 original ten-minute plays by 250 Bay Area and Los Angeles early-career writers and has commissioned/developed more than 80 full-length plays. In the process of staging those works, PlayGround has helped to identify some of the leading emerging writers and, at the same time, has engendered the creation of a true community of theatre artists, bringing together hundreds of local actors, directors and playwrights. Each month, Oct-Mar, PlayGround-LA announces a topic to the thirty-six writers of the PlayGround-LA Writers Pool. Writers have four-and-a-half days to generate their original short plays and the top six are cast with leading local professionals and rehearsed for just 1.5 hours before being presented as script-in-hand staged readings on the second Monday of the month via Zoom live stream. At the end of each season, six of the thirty-six works developed in the Monday night series are selected for a one-night celebration, the Best of PlayGround Gala. The 9th annual Best of PlayGround Gala will take place on Monday, April 12, 2021, via Zoom live stream. PlayGround-LA is a fiscally sponsored project of PlayGround. For more information, visithttp://playground-la.org.

PLAYGROUND-LA CONTRIBUTORS

PlayGround-LA is deeply grateful for the generous contributions of the many individuals whose support makes our playwright incubator programs possible.  The list below reflects gifts made between October 1, 2019 and October 12, 2020.

Patrons ($250 and above)

Ruth & Robert Brayton, Michael Fried/Planet Earth Arts, Les Ostrov, Two Kids with a Camera, Anonymous (3)

Associate Members ($125-$249)

Laverne Agard, Kathleen Cecchin, Dina Fisher, Becky Harris, Mark V. Jones

Supporting Members ($75-$124)

In memory of Dylan Duncan Wright, Michael Borders, Frieda de Lackner, Susan Hunter Eiden, Mr. Jonathan Josephson, Lara Gilman & Jim Kleinmann, Josh Pritchard, Anonymous (2)

Contributing Members ($25-$74)

Daysha’s Big Sister, Miss Erika Agard, Charline Alexandre, Sylvia & Bill Blush, Diane and Steve Ciesinski, Ms. Frieda de Lackner, Angela Edewi, Elayne Heilveil, Ms. Mildred Inez Lewis, Bette Linderman, Anonymous (2)

Friends (Up to $24)

Chase Abrams, Michael Adams, Brandon Baer, Aldo Billingslea, Rachel Borders, Mind Your Own Business, Diana Burbano, Melissa Chalsma, Carolyn Deskin, Rebecca L. Foster, Jun Hee Han, Miss Ariel Jacobson, Julianne Jigour, Ian Kaye, Mrs. Rosette Laursen, Christopher Gary Lawson, Debra Lee, Erika Lewis, Anonymous, Kerri McCanna, Eliza McNitt, Daniel Melling, Laurel Ollstein, Katie Page, Ms. Adrienne Whitney Papp, Vanessa Parish, Tahmus Rounds, Steven Rubio, Richard Ruyle, LA Thomas, Harriet White, Desireé York, Anonymous (3)

Become a PlayGround-LA contributor!

DONATE

PLAYGROUND-LA WRITERS POOL 2020-21

Michael P. Adams, Amanda Andrei, Evan Baughfman, Rachel Borders*, Diana Burbano*, Kathleen Cecchin*, Bridget Connelly, Allie Costa*, Jerome Joseph Gentes*, Briggs Hatton, Elayne Heilveil, Susan C. Hunter, Uma Incrocci, Julianne Jigour*, Starina Johnson*, Mark V. Jones, Jonathan Josephson*, Ian Kaye, Arthur Keng*, Mildred Inez Lewis, Rhea MacCallum*, Eliza McGowan-Stinski, Misao McGregor*, Scott Mullen*, Nicholas C. Pappas*, Emily Brauer Rogers, Jessica June Rowe*, Richard Ruyle, Joe Samaniego, Mercedes Segesvary*, Mark Sherstinsky*, Ayesha Siddiqui, Nicki Spencer*, Charles Velasquez-Witosky, Daysha Veronica*, and Desiree York

      * Best of PlayGround Award recipient

PLAYGROUND-LA COMPANY

Sylvia Cervantes Blush, Jordan Carlson, Frieda de Lackner, Carolyn Deskin, Julio Hanson, Kurt Kanazawa, Stephanie T. Keefer, Christopher Gary Lawson, Jully Lee, Jackie Marriott, Gabi Mayorga, Paris McCarthy, Rondrell McCormick, Krystal Mosley, Tiffany Mualem, Gary Poux, Tiana Randall-Quant, Ivan Rivas, Debba Rofheart, Tahmus Rounds, Mae Ruling, Lamar Usher, Carla Vega, Christina Wren

PRODUCTION & STAFF

James A. Kleinmann
Co-Founder & Artistic Director

Paris McCarthy
Associate Artistic Director

Sarah Gasser
Resident Stage Manager & Sound Designer

Colin Johnson
Resident Visual Designer 

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c/o PlayGround
3286 Adeline St #8
Berkeley, CA 94703-2485