PlayGround-LA presents Season 9

MONDAY NIGHT PLAYGROUND

Topic: “Fearless”

March 8th 2021 7pm PT

via Zoom Live Stream

The Jump
by Rachel Borders
Directed by Frieda de Lackner
Carl………………………………………………………..Rogelio Douglas III
Alex………………………………………………………………..Christine Liao

Jab, Cross, Hook
by Mildred Inez Lewis
Directed by Demetrius Wren
Jenny……………………….……………………………..Christina Wren
Freddie…………………………..………………..…………Julio Hanson

Uncaged
by Evan Baughfman
Directed by Jim Kleinmann
Rodney Fox……………………………………………………Tahmus Rounds
GWS-36…………………….………………………….………..Debba Rofheart

In the Dark
by Jessica June Rowe
Directed by Ciera Eis
Noah………………………………………………….…………….Mark Jacobson
Linda……………………………………………..……………………….Carla Vega

Tightrope
by Scott Mullen
Directed by Ivan Rivas
Alex……………………………….…..…………………….Anthony Rutowicz
Jamie……………………………………………………Tiana Randall-Quant
Bailey…………………………………………………………….Jahnavi Alyssa

The Speck
by Nicki Spencer
Directed by Gabi Mayorga
Rosie……………………………………………………………….Krystal Mosley
Mark……………………………………………………………………..Josef Bette
Speck…………………………………………………………………….Mae Ruling

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

BIOGRAPHIES

PLAYWRIGHTS

RACHEL BORDERS (The Jump), she, has written for FOX’s “Proven Innocent” and DirecTV’s “Rogue.” She was a Writers’ Assistant on NBC’s “Chicago Justice” & CW’s “Life Sentence” and currently works for “In Good Company” under their WBTV overall deal. Originally from Chicago, Rachel attended Brown University and loves hot dogs.

EVAN BAUGHFMAN (Uncaged), he/him, is a middle school teacher and author. Much of his writing success has been as a playwright. He’s had many different plays produced across the globe. A number of his scripts are published by YouthPLAYS, Heuer Publishing, Next Stage Press, and Drama Notebook. He is a theater company member with Force of Nature Productions in Burbank, CA. Evan also writes horror fiction and screenplays. His first collection of short stories, THE EMACIATED MAN AND OTHER TERRIFYING TALES FROM EDGAR ALLAN POE MIDDLE SCHOOL, is available through Thurston Howl Publications. More information is available at amazon.com/author/evanbaughfman

MILDRED INEZ LEWIS (Jab, Cross, Hook), she, writes and directs for theater, radio, film and the digital space. A member of the Dramatists Guild, she writes with the Company of Angels and EST-Los Angeles. She is recently published by Broadway Play Publishing and Next Stage Press. Upcoming play productions from Antaeus, Central Works, Digital Dramatists, and Dragon Egg Productions. Her sci-fi script, “Ruby, Data Point 083a3” is in preproduction.

SCOTT MULLEN (Tightrope), he, is a longtime Hollywood screenplay analyst and screenwriter, a two-time winner of Amazon Studios’ screenwriting contest, whose thrillers THE SUMMONING, IN BROAD DAYLIGHT and BLOOD ON HER BADGE aired on TV One. His short plays have been produced hundreds of times around the world. An evening of his comic plays, A NIGHT OF S.M., recently had a two-week run in Hollywood.

JESSICA JUNE ROWE (In the Dark), she, is an author, playwright, editor, and perpetual daydreamer. She is on the Editorial Board of Exposition Review and has served as both Editor-in-Chief and Fiction Editor. Her writing has been published in multiple journals and appeared on multiple stages around Los Angeles. One of her poems is stamped into a sidewalk in Valencia. She also really loves chai lattes. Find her on Twitter @willwrite4chai.

NICKI SPENCER (The Speck), 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 (Tightrope, Bailey”), she, has sung, danced, acted, fiddled and choreographed on stages across the country. Most recently she was seen in Portland as Reza in Once (Broadway Rose Theatre Company), in Los Angeles reading the lead roles in Seven Bridges Road and Hot Tragic Dead Thing (Living Room Series), and in Salt Lake City playing Qfwfq in The Distance of the Moon (Sackerson Theatre Co.) She also recently produced the first iteration of her dream project, The Secret Player, in which she stars as a badass musician/fighter with a disdain for guns. www.jahnavialyssa.com

JOSEF BETTE (The Speck, “Mark”), he, is originally from Chicago, IL, LA transplant since 2011. He is happy to be part of the PlayGround LA community since 2019 and his film credits include “Chasing the Blues” and “Parked” on Amazon Prime.

ROGELIO DOUGLASS III (The Jump, “Carl”), he, is an actor and spoken-word poet from Brooklyn, NY. He has a BA in Theater (SUNY New Paltz) and an Acting MFA from UCLA Theater, Film & Television — Class of 2020! A few of his most recent credits include — Class of 2020 by Lisa Loomer (Company of Angels), The Displaced by Isaac Gomez (San Diego Rep Theater), Titus Andronicus (Shakespeare by the Sea), and up next Measure for Measure (SBTS). RD3 can also be seen in numerous films and TV roles on NBC, CBS, and HBO. Forever grateful to PlayGround-LA! Love, Light & Black Therapy. www.RogelioDouglasiii.com | @RogelioDouglas3 

CHRISTINE LIAO (The Jump, “Alex”), she, is best known for her role as the restaurant cashier in the comedy sketch, “The ABC Who Can’t Read Chinese.” She also played Waverly Jong in Sierra Madre Playhouse’s Joy Luck Club in the Fall of 2019. You can also find her in Fine China on HBO platforms as part of the HBO APA Visionaries 2020 winners.

JULIO HANSON (Jab, Cross, Hook, “Freddie”), 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.

MARK JACOBSEN (In the Dark, “Noah”), he, is thrilled to tread the digital PlayGround boards again! He just shot NBC’s “This Is Us” last week (airing March 16th), and appeared on “NCIS: LA” in November. Other recent TV: “9-1-1,” “The Resident,” “Speechless,” “How to Get Away…,” “The Rookie,” “Henry Danger.” He can also be heard heckling in NBA2K21, twang-ing in Wasteland 3, and drunk-ing in Genshin Impact, along with French Scooter-ing in the animated series, Kindi Kids. Thanks to Ciera for her wonderful direction, Jessica for her relatable, digestible, powerful words, Carla for carrying the work, Jim for the chance to play and Victoria for everything.

KRYSTAL MOSLEY (The Speck, “Rosie”) 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 (Tightrope, “Jamie”), 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.

TAHMUS ROUNDS (Uncaged, “Rodney Fox”), 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.

DEBBA ROFHEART (Uncaged, “GWS-36”), she, is an LA-based actor, a proud PlayGround-LA company member, and an Open Fist Theatre Company member. You can see her as Judy, in “Evie Rose,” now streaming on Amazon. Recently, in zoom theatre, she was seen in OFTC’s “The Book of Life,” by Judy Klass, 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!

MAE RULING (The Speck, “Speck”), 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.

ANTHONY RUTOWICZ (Tightrope, “Alex”), he, is excited to add the role of ‘Alex’ to his PlayGround résumé. Catch Anthony in the virtual choose-your-own adventure holiday experience entitled “STORAGE RUN” produced in association with ROGUE Artists.

CARLA VEGA (In the Dark, “Linda”) she, is a multi-disciplinary performing artist based in Los Angeles, with roots in San Francisco. 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. Carla is a founding member of PlayGroundLA and is proud to be a part of the company! Latest news and events: linktr.ee/iamcarlavega. Follow her on all social media: @iamcarlavega

CHRISTINA WREN (Jab, Cross, Hook, “Jenny”), she, is a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. She played Carrie Farris in “Man of Steel” and “Batman v Superman,” can currently be seen as J.P. Cutler in “LA Macabre” on Amazon Prime and is a writer/producer creating original content through her company, Two Kids with a Camera. She currently spends most of her days pretending to be dinosaurs with her two little boys.

DIRECTORS

FRIEDA DE LACKNER (The Jump), 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.

CIERA ELIS (In the Dark), she/her, is a director and producer in the Bay Area. She is passionate about directing and developing socio-political new work and exploring space in theater through immersion. She is currently directing “The Lost Ballad of our Mechanical Ancestor…”(Shotgun Players), “Every Brilliant Thing” (St.Mary’s College), and producing Undiscovered Works (Custom Made). She is the Co-Artistic Director of FaultLine Theatre, the New Works Producer of Custom Made Theater, and the Creative Producer of Pint Sized Plays. In her not so free time, she is in the SDCF Observer Class 2019-2021 and is the Manager of Individual Giving at Magic Theatre.

JIM KLEINMANN (Uncaged), 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.

GABI MAYORGA (The Speck), is an actress, teacher, and director. She was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco and grew up in the desert of New Mexico. She graduated with a BFA in Acting from The Theatre School at DePaul University and acted in Chicago theaters such as Steppenwolf Garage and The Goodman. Upon moving to Los Angeles, she acted in commercials, began teaching acting to young students and recently started directing small projects. She is excited to direct The Speck by Nicki Spencer.

IVAN RIVAS (Underworld), he, is a company member of PlayGround L.A. and Rogue Machine Theater. He is also Resident Director at Downtown Repertory / Sierra Madre Shakespeare Festival and a proud alum of University of Southern California and Directors Lab West.

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

Patrons ($250 and above)
Ruth & Robert Brayton, Michael Fried/Planet Earth Arts, Goldman Sachs, Becky Harris, Miss Rhea M. MacCallum, Les Ostrov, Nancy & Carty Spencer, Anonymous (2)

Associate Members ($125-$249)
Laverne Agard, Dr. Elaine Baskin, Frieda de Lackner, Angela Edewi, Dina Fisher, Lara Gilman & Jim Kleinmann, Lizi Watt, Dale Underwood & Kirsti Aho, Anonymous

Supporting Members ($75-$124)
Miss Erika Agard, Elaine Baskin & Ken Krechmer, Karen & Michael Berk, In memory of Dylan Duncan Wright, Kathy Bette, Michael Borders, Kathleen Cecchin, Susan Hunter Eiden, Julianne Jigour, Paris McCarthy, Rob Roy and Kazue McGregor, Tahmus Rounds, Steven Rubio, Demetrius Wren, Anonymous

Contributing Members ($25-$74)
Daysha’s Big Sister, Charline Alexandre, Ms. Frieda de Lackner, Dana and Sumner Fein, Ms. Elaine Sandra Feincalvin, Casee B Francis, Sarah Gasser, Mr. Joshua Gershick, Frances Gillmor, Elayne Heilveil, Ms. Mildred Inez Lewis, Bette Linderman, Eliza McGowan-Stinski, Penny Mikesell, Harrison, Kam O’Horo, Sharon Ridge, Debba Rofheart, Emily Brauer Rogers, Jessica June Rowe, Jennifer Rowland, Collette Rutherford, Bill Simmons, Julianne Spencer Spencer, Anonymous, I’ve Decided I’m Not Going, Ms. Kristina Velasquez Witosky, Anonymous

Friends (Up to $24)
Chase Abrams, Michael Adams, Dr. Leslie Allee, Theresa Amy, Brandon Baer, Aldo Billingslea, Sylvia & Bill Blush, Rena Brewer, Ms. Lisa Bruce, Mind Your Own Business, Steve Budd, Diana Burbano, Hillary Burrelle, Ms. Marytheresa Capriles, Susan Culver, Ralph Damato, Lisa Dutton, Andrew Eiden, Robert Klump, Mrs. Rosette Laursen, Debra Lee, Claire Louge, Mrs. Sara Lowry, Luis Mayorga, Gabi Mayorga, Sherry M, Kerri McCanna, Eliza McNitt, Daniel Melling, Emily Eiden Murphy, Miss Nakasha Norwood, Laurel Ollstein, Doug O’Neill, Lorrie O’Shatz, Ms. Adrienne Whitney Papp, Vanessa Parish, Joshua Pritchard, Jesus Reyes, Mercedes Segesvary, Susan Sher, Sindy Swerdlove, LA Thomas, Lisa Thompson, Desireé York, Jo Yuan, Anonymous

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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