The mission of PlayGround is to support the development of new local voices for the theatre. More than just a play development program, PlayGround focuses on the creation of a true theatre community by nurturing the collaborative process between first-time or early development playwrights and Bay Area professional directors and actors. PlayGround's ongoing activities are: the Monday Night PlayGround, a monthly staged reading series of original ten-minute plays by emerging writers running October through March; the Emerging Playwright Awards, presented to the top emerging writers discovered through the Monday Night PlayGround series; and The Best of PlayGround festival, featuring short plays by the season's Emerging Playwright Award winners, fully produced by a team of professional directors, designers and actors. In addition, PlayGround commissions and develops full-length plays under its various commission programs, including the June Anne Baker Prize, PlayGround Fellowship and Alumni Commissions, designed to recognize PlayGround's most promising playwrights. The June Anne Baker Prize, initiated by John H. Gilman in memory of his late wife, is awarded annually to a female emerging playwright representing a new comedic or political voice for the stage. The prize offers a commission for a new full-length play and a workshop production of the completed script. The PlayGround Fellowship, awarded at the discretion of the PlayGround Board of Directors, similarly recognizes an emerging playwright with a commission and workshop production of the completed script. PlayGround recently launched its Alumni Commissions, providing additional commission opportunities for previously commissioned PlayGround alumni.
In its first twelve years, PlayGround has staged more than 400 original ten-minute plays by 137 early-development writers and today is the leading Bay Area developer of short works for the stage. In the process of staging those works, PlayGround has helped to identify some of the leading emerging writers in our community, bringing together hundreds of Bay Area actors, directors and playwrights. PlayGround has premiered 68 original short works by 42 local writers and has commissioned and developed 8 full-length plays by PlayGround alumni.
PlayGround is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. Contributions to PlayGround are tax-deductible to the extent allowable by law. PlayGround's ongoing programs are made possible in part with funding from Grants for the Arts/San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund, California Arts Council, San Francisco Arts Commission, Fleishhacker Foundation, Negley Flinn Charitable Foundation, Lenore & Howard Klein Foundation, Bernard Osher Foundation, Zellerbach Family Fund, William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, Tournesol Project, and the Dramatists Guild Fund. Additional funding has been provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation and San Francisco Foundation.
Board of Directors
James A. Kleinmann, President
Kari Kiernan, Vice President
Wendy Bear, Treasurer
Susannah Wise, Secretary
Robert Allen
David Eisenbud
K.J. Page
Trynne Miller
Barbara Oliver
Stephen Von RumpLara N. Gilman, emeritus
Deeje Cooley, emeritus
Paulette Donsavage, emeritus
Paul Walsh, emeritusArtistic Director
James A. KleinmannAssociate Director
Annie StuartDramaturg & Education Coordinator
Garret Jon Groenveld