This upcoming Monday, September 16th, join me and members of PlayGround all across the country in celebrating the One PlayGround Gala!

Join us at PlayGround’s hybrid in-person and remote gala to celebrate the expanding national scope of PlayGround’s programming. With Monday Night PlayGround programs and Writers Pools in the Bay Area, Los Angeles, New York, and, new in the fall of 2022, Chicago, the One PlayGround Gala brings together these 4 hubs to celebrate PlayGround’s national presence and impact. The gala will take place at San Francisco’s Potrero Stage, Los Angeles’ Broadwater Plunge, and at satellite locations across the country, with options to participate both in-person and remotely. The evening will feature a four-course gourmet meal, artist testimonials, and performances by artists from San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York, utilizing PlayGround’s well-honed hybrid model of both in-person and live-streamed performance. This special celebration will celebrate and support PlayGround’s efforts to create even more opportunities for working artists across the country and establish a national network for the most promising new voices and their artistic collaborators.

Live Performances will include: THIS IS BEAUTY by Bailey Jordan Garcia (Best of PlayGround-NY), directed by Abigail Rosen, and featuring Sarah Guilbault and Michael Curry; THE INTERVENTION by Ayesha Siddiqui (Best of PlayGround-LA), directed by Ivan Rivas, and featuring Summer Broyhill, Ben Cain, Lea Madda, and Gary Poux; and THEY DUN IT by Alanna McFall (Best of PlayGround), directed by Tessa Corrie, and featuring Bacilio Mendez II, Jed Parsario, Stephanie Prentice, and Maryssa Wanlass. We’ll also have the privilege of honoring two outstanding figures of the PlayGround community: our beloved Annie Stuart, who recently departed her role of Associate Artistic Director after a formidable 25 years of dedication to the company; and the estimable Regina Guggenheim, PlayGround board member since 2006 and Board Chair since 2011, and during whose tenure PlayGround has tripled in size, launching Potrero Stage, PlayGround-LA, PlayGround-NY and now PlayGround-Chicago.