PlayGround-LA Presents The Shakespeare Prequels

Before HAMLET, ROMEO & JULIET and RICHARD III, there were “The Shakespeare Prequels”! PlayGround-LA kicks off the first Monday Night PlayGround of 2020 on Monday, January 13, 8pm at the Broadwater Main Stage with staged readings of six original ten-minute plays, each inspired by and serving as a prequel to a noted work of Shakespeare, and presented in association with The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles and Independent Shakespeare Co. Members of the 2019-20 PlayGround-LA Writers Pool have just four-and-a-half days to generate their original ten-minute plays inspired by this month’s prompt. The top six scripts will each receive an hour-and-a-half rehearsal and a professional script-in-hand staged reading at the Broadwater Main Stage on January 13. PlayGround writers in the Bay Area are working simultaneously on the same prompt and their finalists will be presented at Berkeley Rep’s Peet’s Theatre on January 20. General admission tickets are $15 in advance ($10 for 25-and-unders), $20 at the door, with a limited number of Pay-What-You-Can tickets available starting one hour before curtain. 4-admission flex passes are just $80 and include preferred seating and free exchange privileges. For tickets or more information, visit https://playground-la.org/monday.

The playwrights of the 2019-20 PlayGround-LA Writers Pool are: Michael Adams, Amanda Andrei, Rachel Borders, Diana Burbano*, Kathleen Cecchin*, Allie Costa*, Daysha Edewi, Eric Esquivel, Victoria Goring, John Guerra, Elayne Heilveil, Dan Hirsch*, 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, David Meyers, Scott Mullen, Nicholas Pappas*, Emily Rogers, Jessica June Rowe*, Richard Ruyle, Joe Samaniego, Mercedes Segesvary*, Mark Sherstinsky*, Nicki Spencer*, Elizabeth Szekeresh, and Desirée York (* Best of PlayGround Alumni).

In addition, PlayGround-LA announced earlier this season the inaugural PlayGround-LA Company, a core group of actors, directors and designers whose commitment, participation, and support make PlayGround-LA possible: Sylvia Cervantes Blush, Jordan Carlson, George Coker, Danon Dastugue, 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, Tahmus Rounds, Mae Ruling, Lamar Usher, Carla Vega, and Christina Wren. Together with more than thirty other actors and directors drawn from throughout the greater L.A. theatre community, they help develop and stage the thirty-six original short plays featured in PlayGround-LA’s monthly Monday Night series.

Recent topics have included: “Anthropomorph,” “Trick or Treat,” “Justice,” “Holiday Miracle,” Twist of Fate” and “Borders, Islands & Walls” as part of a now-six-year collaboration with Planet Earth Arts and Stanford University. The top six plays from each month are rehearsed for just one-and-a-half hours each and presented as script-in-hand staged readings at Monday Night PlayGround, now celebrating its eighth year in Los Angeles and twenty-sixth in the Bay Area. Audience members can also experience the thrill of being a producer through the monthly People’s Choice Awards, helping to determine which plays and playwrights go on for consideration in PlayGround’s annual showcase, the Best of PlayGround Gala.

PlayGround-LA is the first regional expansion of the celebrated Bay Area playwright incubator and theatre community hub, PlayGround(SF). 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 75 full-length plays. In the process of staging those works, PlayGround has helped to identify some of California’s 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. PlayGround’s alumni have gone on to win local, national and international honors for their short and full-length work, including recognition at the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, The Lark, Humana Festival, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, and New York International Fringe Festival, among others. Directors and actors participating in PlayGround-LA are among some of the most distinguished theatre professionals, regularly working on leading local stages. PlayGround-LA returns to the Broadwater Main Stage, home of Sacred Fools Theatre Company, for its 8^th season (2019-20). For more information, visit http://playground-la.org.

The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles creates plays and programs that reflect and engage the people, landscape, and history of Los Angeles. By producing world-class Shakespeare-inspired plays, and offering best practices arts education and award-winning arts-based workforce development programs targeting under-served youth and veterans, the Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles demonstrates that high-quality accessible immersive arts engagement builds community and changes lives.

Independent Shakespeare Co. was founded in 1998 by actors sharing a passion for classical works. ISC focused on stripping back the conventions of contemporary theater and discovering efficient, entertaining ways to bring great works to a modern audience. The company brings Los Angeles together through exuberant, surprising productions of classical plays as well as new works, while addressing the inequity of access to the performing arts through free and low-cost programming. ISC creates theater that is dynamic, inclusive and accessible; enriching our community and reaching new theater audiences.