PlayGround-Chicago Season 2 Writers Pool, Schedule & Auditions!

PlayGround-Chicago, the first Midwest expansion of the celebrated national playwright incubator, is pleased to share plans for its second season, including the Season 2 Writers Pool, 34 early-career Chicago-based playwrights competitively selected from applications received this summer. Over the course of the upcoming 2023-24 season, these writers will generate over 150 original short plays, of which 36 will be developed in-person at Theater Wit and simulcast as part of Monday Night PlayGround, a monthly script-in-hand staged reading series that is at the core of PlayGround’s multi-tiered writer development process. Each month, PlayGround announces a topic and invites members of the yearly 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 this year in-person at Theater Wit and simulcast, beginning on Monday, October 30 and continuing on 1st Mondays, December through April.

PlayGround-Chicago concludes its second season with the annual Best of PlayGround-Chicago, Monday, May 6, 2024, featuring a curated selection with input from audiences and Company members alike of the top six short works from the current season.

PlayGround now operates programs and companies in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, New York City, and – new this year – Chicago. In recognition of PlayGround’s national presence, PlayGround will host an integrated hybrid in-person/online fundraising gala, the One PlayGround Gala, on Monday, September 18 at Theater Wit in Chicago, The Producers Club in NYC, Potrero Stage in San Francisco, and the Broadwater Plunge in Los Angeles, with live performances from this past season’s Best of, testimonials, and a four-course gourmet dinner. All proceeds will support the Monday Night series and artist compensation. 

In addition to PlayGround-Chicago, we are also offering streaming access to this year’s PlayGround (SF), PlayGround-LA and PlayGround-NY seasons, with all events admission-free. Individual tickets for the 2023-24 season as well as Monday Night PlayGround memberships go on sale beginning September 1. For more information, visit https://PlayGround-CH.org/Monday.

2023-24 Writers Pool & Company

PlayGround-Chicago is dedicated to the development of new and revolutionary voices for the stage, and considers long-term development strategies and building multi-year relationships a key part of that process. Yearly submissions for the Writers Pool are open to all local writers, with an intentional eye towards cultivating a continuing class of writers from the year’s prior Pool in balance with recruiting new talent to keep each yearly Pool a dynamic entity representative of the broader Chicago community.

The 2023-24 Writers Pool includes: Maria Arreola, Daniel Arzola, Kirsten Baity, Zach Barr, Melda Beaty, Gabriella Bonamici, McKennzie Boyd, Julie Campbell, Ruben Carrazana, Rachel DuBose, Niv Elbaz, Connor Ermir Bradshaw, Kym Fraher, Dana Hall, Carmia Imani, Toby Inoue, Exal Iraheta, Tanuja Devi Jagernauth, Alfonzo Kahlil, Juliet Kang Huneke, Kerri Killeen, Gaby Labotka, Samuel Kelly Fair Levit, Juliana  Liscio , Adelina Marinello, Ian Minh, Shail Modi, Marnie Monogue, J.S. Puller, Mariana Reyes Daza, Emma Rund, Matt Schutz, Katherine Swan, and Dan Taube.

In addition, PlayGround-Chicago is pleased to welcome the inaugural PlayGround-Chicago Company, a core group of actors, directors, and designers whose commitment, participation, and support make PlayGround-Chicago possible: Brian Balcom, Devin Christor, Spencer Ryan Diedrick, Sheri Flanders, Ashley Graham, Scott Gryder, Charlotte Harris, Hannah Lynn Kato, Benjamin Kelly, Alka Nayyar, Leanna Oliveira, Dakota Pariset, Karla Rennhofer, Brooke-Erin Smith, Yiwen Wu, Braedyn Youngberg, and Jordan Zelvin.

Auditions 

PlayGround-Chicago will be holding open auditions for this season of performances via online video appointment (reservation required) on Sunday, August 27, 11am-2pm CDT. For more information and to schedule an audition slot, visit https://playground-ch.org/audition.

About PlayGround-Chicago

PlayGround-Chicago is the third 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 1,000 original ten-minute plays by more than 300 Bay Area, Los Angeles and New York early-career writers and has commissioned/developed 100 full-length plays by distinguished PlayGround alumni, premiering 34 of these through PlayGround’s innovative New Play Production Fund. In the process of staging those works, PlayGround has helped to identify some of the leading emerging writers and, at the same time, has effectuated 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, Steinberg Awards, The Lark, Humana 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.

2023-24 Season

All performances will take place live in-person at Theater Wit (1229 W Belmont Ave) and simulcast online via Vimeo live stream. To ensure maximum accessibility, admission is free (donations gratefully accepted). Advance reservations are required for online streaming and registered guests can view the program through their PlayGround online account.

One PlayGround Gala

  • September 18, 2023 @ 7:30-10pm CT

Monday Night PlayGround

  • October 30, 2023 @ 7pm CT
  • December 4, 2023 @ 7pm CT
  • January 1, 2024 @ 7pm CT
  • February 5, 2024 @ 7pm CT
  • March 4, 2024 @ 7pm CT
  • April 1, 2024 @ 7pm CT

Best of PlayGround-Chicago

  • May 6, 2024 @ 7PM CT

To reserve tickets, visit https://tickets.playground-sf.org.

For more information, visit https://PlayGround-CH.org or follow PlayGround-Chicago on Facebook (https://facebook.com/PlayGroundCHTheatre), Twitter (https://twitter.com/PlayGroundCH) and Instagram (https://instagram.com/playgroundchtheatre). For information on our sister programs, visit PlayGround, PlayGround-LA and PlayGround-NY.