PlayGround-LA 2015-16 Writers Pool Announced!

PlayGround-LA, Los Angeles’s incubator for a new generation of playwrights, is pleased to announce the thirty-six playwrights selected for the PlayGround-LA 2015-16 Writers Pool. Over the course of the upcoming season (PlayGround-LA’s fourth), these writers will generate nearly 150 original short plays, of which 36 will be developed as part of Monday Night PlayGround, a monthly script-in-hand staged reading series. Each month, PlayGround-LA announces a topic and invites members of the Writers Pool to submit original ten-minute plays inspired by the topic and written in just four-and-a-half days. The top six scripts are staged by leading local directors and actors and presented before a live audience on second Mondays, October-March, at the Zephyr Theatre in West Hollywood. The 2015-16 season opens at the Zephyr on Monday, October 19 and continues on November 9, December 14, January 11, February 8 and March 14. Six-admission priority-seating introductory subscriptions are available for $60 (50% off priority admission individual tickets) and individual general admission tickets are $15. For more information and to purchase subscriptions and tickets, visit http://PlayGround-LA.org/Monday.

The PlayGround-LA 2015-16 Writers Pool are:
Megan Breen*, Ron Burch*, Tiffany Cascio*, Kathleen Cecchin*, Allie Costa*, Vincent Terrell Durham*, Jennifer Fawcett, Kate Gibbens, Lauren Gorski, Forrest Hartl*, Elayne Heilveil, Howard Ho, Velina Hasu Houston, Karen Howes, Susan Hunter, Julianne Jigour, Ian Kaye, Arthur Keng, Eric Krueger, Jonathan Kuhn, Aurelio Locsin, Dana Lyman, Jennifer Maisel, Laura McGhee, Tracy Potter, Jordan Rawlins, Carolina Rojas*, Jessica Rowe, Mercedes Segsevary*, Jesse Shao, Mark Sherstinsky*, Nicki Spencer, Ann-Giselle Spiegler, Chelsea Sutton, Jennie Webb*, JP Williams
* Best of PlayGround Award recipient

About PlayGround-LA

The mission of PlayGround-LA is to support the development of significant new local voices for the theatre. PlayGround-LA has developed a unique model for identifying and nurturing the best new writers, helping them to build a significant body of original work, and strongly weaving these artists into the family of local theatre professionals. PlayGround pairs early development playwrights with established, professional actors and directors and fosters the artistic relationships that develop.
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 more than 700 original ten-minute plays by 200 Bay Area early-career writers and has commissioned/developed 55 full-length plays by distinguished PlayGround alumni. 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. For most if not all of the participating writers, PlayGround is the first professional staging their work has received and serves as their introduction into the professional theatre community.

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, Humana Festival, Sundance Festival, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, and New York International Fringe Festival, among others. Directors and actors participating in PlayGround are among some of the most distinguished theatre professionals, regularly working on leading local stages.

For more information, visit http://PlayGround-LA.org or follow PlayGround on Facebook (http://facebook.com/PlayGround.LosAngeles) and Twitter (http://twitter.com/PlayGround_LA).