PlayGround-Chicago presents Season 2

MONDAY NIGHT PLAYGROUND

Topic: “Surviving the Holidays“

January 01, 2024 7pm CT

Vimeo Live Simulcast & On-Demand

Acknowledging the Legacy of the Land We Inhabit

PlayGround-Chicago acknowledges that we are on the unceded ancestral homeland of the people of the Council of Three Fires, including the Ojibwe, Potawatomi and Odawa, the original inhabitants of the Chicago metropolitan area. As the past and present Indigenous stewards of this land and in accordance with their traditions, the Council of Three Fires have never ceded, lost, nor forgotten their responsibilities as the caretakers of this place, as well as for all peoples who reside in their traditional territory. We recognize the historic injustice of the forcible removal of the Ojibwe, Potawatomi and Odawa people from their ancestral lands, and that we benefit from living and working on their traditional homeland. We wish to pay our respects by acknowledging the Ancestors, Elders and Relatives of the Council of Three Fires Communities and by affirming their sovereign rights as First Peoples. We honor the storytellers of the Ojibwe, Potawatomi and Odawa and are grateful for our ability to share and uplift Indigenous stories and those of other historically marginalized communities. In working with artists and audiences from all over the country, PlayGround-Chicago asks that each member of the PlayGround-Chicago community representing a different geographical space respectfully acknowledge the legacy of the land they inhabit.

To learn about the legacy of the land you inhabit, visit Native-Land.ca | Our home on native land. To read the complete Land Acknowledgment Policy, click here.

PlayGround-Chicago’s Anti-Racist Policy

PlayGround recognizes the impact of racial oppression within society and the American Theater and that we have been complicit in White Supremacy culture. Our goal is to co-create safety for our community by identifying and interrupting instances of racism and all forms of oppression when we witness them, through specific actions rooted in the principles of anti-racism and accessibility. In its endeavor to address the implications of our history, PlayGround is committed to its compliance with the following fundamental rights:

• The recognition of inherent dignity and worth of each human being.
• The recognition of equality of all human beings.
• Recognition of rights of ethnic, racial, cultural, linguistic and religious groups.
• Equality and non-discrimination.

PlayGround’s Anti-Racist Policy applies to: all members of the PlayGround community, including employees, independent contractors, volunteers, audience members, donors, and general members of the community.

To read the complete Anti-Racist Policy, click here.

Monday Night PlayGround Memberships

We are deeply grateful to our 2023-24 Monday Night PlayGround Members, whose direct support helps to underwrite artists fees for the Monday Night series across all four regions:

Sharon Baldwin, Jaisey Bates, Tim Bishop, Ms. Linda B Breaux-Smith, Emilie Brooks, Summer Broyhill, Madeleine Butler, Ben Cain, Julie Campbell, Sidney Glass & Eleanor Clement Glass, Joan Cleveland, Ms. Marilyn Berg Cooper, Dodds Delzell, Hillary DeMartino, Sharon Ebehardt, Ann Ehrmann, Ms. Cherielyn Ferguson, Krystyna Finlayson, Sheri Flanders, Conde Freeman, Dr. Jan Gilman, Lara Gilman, Michael Tonjum & Jan Gilman, Hollis Greenwood, Ruben Grijalva, Regina Guggenheim, Dana Hall, Rachel Harner, Gail Hillebrand & Hugh Barroll, Lucy Hsu, Brandy T Jones, Ms. Anne M. Krause, Emily Kuroda, Ms. Kristy Lin Billuni, Mr. John Lindner, Jonathan Luskin & Leslie Katz, Rhea MacCallum, Brian Markley, Linda Marks, Dr. Sheila McCormick, Ms. Cynthia L Morishige, Molly Noble & Bob Guilbault, Annette Oliveira, Maryl Olivera, Ms. Vicki Oswald, Bridgette Dutta Portman, Mrs. Elizabeth Poston, Mr. George Rose, Jessica June Rowe, Michelle Ruscetta, John J. Ruskin, Kathryn Ryan, Miyoko Sakatani, Louel Senores, Mark Sherstinsky, Nancy W. Smith, Stan Stone, Mr. Richard Dana Swart, Kim Tram, Jeffrey Trescott, Michael E Tuton, Dr. Eidell Wasserman, Christian Wilburn, Janine Wilburn and Maury Zeff. Thank you!

To learn more about the Monday Night PlayGround membership program, click here.

BECOME A MEMBER TODAY!

The Annie Special
by Matt Schutz
Directed by Manny Buckley
Reed…………….Austin Ku
Cameron………………………Tony Kim
Annie……………………………..Karla Rennhofer

Reindeer Games
by Gabriella Bonamici
Directed by Jim Kleinmann
Calvin………………Dakota Pariset
Tessa…………………………Maya Schnake
Jules…………………………………Charlotte Harris

Stay Humble
by Ian Michael Minh
Directed by Joel Willison
Boomer……………………Valerie Butler-Newbern
Teen…………………………Rogelio Douglas III

Seeing Red
by Samuel Kelly Fair Levit
Directed by Brooke-Erin Smith
Narrator…………………….Shariba Rivers
Traveler…………………………Krystal Mosley
Son…………………………….AJ Lily

Home for Christmas
by Kirsten Baity
Directed by Myesha-Tiara
Mo.…………………………….Reaux Calcote
Thoughts/Perfect……………..Carmia Imani

A Christmas Moo-racle
by Juliet Kang Huneke
Directed by Spencer Diedrick
Buttercup………………………Krystle Piamonte
Britney……………………………Kaitlyn Gorman
Bessie…………………………………….Ilsa Morales
Santa Claus/Farmer Smith………………….Braedyn Youngberg

Stage Manager: Michelle Levinson

This live stream is produced under a SAG-AFTRA New Media Agreement.

PlayGround is a member of Theatre Bay Area, League of Chicago Theatres, and Theatre Communications Group.

People’s Choice Award

Following tonight’s performance, we invite your participation in this month’s People’s Choice Award. Through the People’s Choice Award, our audience can play a direct impact in furthering the career of a promising new playwright. To vote, make a People’s Choice Award tax-deductible donation on behalf of your favorite play(s)/playwright(s) from the evening. Every donated dollar counts as a vote while directly supporting PlayGround’s award-winning incubator programs.

Cast your vote for your favorite play(s) by making a People’s Choice donation via Zelle (info@playground-sf.org), Venmo (our account ID is @playgroundsf and if they ask for the last four digits of my phone, it’s 8541) or on our website at https://tickets.playground-sf.org/TheatreManager/1/online?donationquick=16 (you can also visit the Monday Night PlayGround page for the People’s Choice donation button). Add a note/memo with your gift to indicate your favorite play(s) or email your selection to boxoffice@playground-sf.org.

At the end of the week, we’ll tally up the top vote-getter and automatic semi-finalist for our season-ending Best of PlayGround. It’s a powerful way of showing your support for new writers and their work, while helping PlayGround continue doing what we do!

Biographies

PLAYWRIGHTS

KIRSTEN BAITY (Home for Christmas), they/them, is a Chicago-based playwright, deviser, and intimacy director. Their work includes Love and Nappiness (Perception Theatre) Forest Friends & the First Day of Spring (Theatre Between Addresses), This Is Normal (Quaranstream Theatre Festival), Rage Isn’t Free: A Participatory Play (Youth Empowerment and Performance Project), and Tonin Town and Minstrelsy 2.0 (Columbia College Chicago). They have devised plays with Goodman Theatre’s Playbuild and Inergen Ensembles, About Face Youth Theatre, For Youth Inquiry, and Free Street Theater. Kirsten is a founding member of Intimacy Coordinators of Color and Green Room Collective alum. For more info, check out kirstenbaity.com

GABRIELLA BONAMICI (Reindeer Games), she/her, is a corporate content manager by day and a theater-maker by night. Her plays have had readings, workshops, and productions in Chicago, Madison (Wisconsin), and Columbus (Ohio). She is a Resident Playwright with Three Cat Productions and is currently in the process of developing a full-length historical drama. She is also pursuing her Certificate in Drama through the Dramatist Guild Institute. Gabriella has a particular passion for bringing horror and magical realism from script to stage.

JULIET KANG HUNEKE (A Christmas Moo-racle), she/her, is a playwright and performer who is passionate about theatre that is larger than life. Juliet graduated from Northwestern University in 2022. Most recently, she was awarded the ReImagine: New Plays in TYA grant to develop her new play for young audiences, HANNAH AND HALMONI SAVE THE WORLD!. This January, HOME FOR THE SUMMER, a new musical co-written with Juliet’s dear collaborators Bennett Petersen and Brandon Acosta, will be workshopped at Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre. Other writing credits include: MYCELIUM (workshop, Playground Chicago), MECHANICALS (production, Impostors Theater Co Footholds Vol. 4), CENTERVILLE NEW JERSEY HAS A PROBLEM WITH TROUT (production, Vertigo Productions), HOME FOR THE SUMMER (workshop, American Music Theatre Project), and THE WILD (workshop, Jewish Theatre Ensemble).

SAMUEL KELLY FAIR LEVIT (Seeing Red), he/him, is a Chicago-based writer. At Bennington College and beyond, he studied under playwrights Gary Graves, Sarah Hammond, Sherry Kramer, and Jackie Sibblies Drury, whose work and teachings continue to influence his practice. His dramatic work has been seen and developed in the Apprentice Showcase at Magic Theatre, Bennington College, and at PlayGround-San Francisco and Chicago. He is an actor and writer for “The Experience Corporation,” an upcoming sci-fi-ish audio series by Readymade Utopia.

IAN MICHAEL MINH (Stay Humble), he/him, is a Chicago-based actor and playwright who loves exploring ways to give underrepresented faces access to telling beloved, familiar stories. Ian is an artistic ensemble member with Midsommer Flight and has appeared on Chicago stages including Lookingglass Theatre, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Writers Theatre, Victory Gardens Theater, Teatro Vista, and Oak Park Festival Theatre. His writing can be found on the New Play Exchange and everything else at ianmichaelminh.com. Ian does what Lavina Jadhwani tells him to, except he’s not getting an iPhone.

MATT SCHUTZ (The Annie Special), he/him, is a playwright and actor currently based in Chicago. His play .PDF Preferred was included in PlayGround-Chicago’s Best of Chicago production. His play With the Weight of her Fate on her Shoulders was a winner of the New South Young Playwrights Contest, was workshopped at the Horizon Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia and earned him a finalist slot for the Dramatist’s Guild Young Playwright Award. He has developed plays with the University of Iowa, Intrinsic Theatre, the Pride Arts Center, and Inkwell Theater.

ACTORS

VALERIE BUTLER-NEWBERN (Stay Humble, “Boomer”), she/her, focuses on commercials, industrials, Indie film and theater. She played Natalie in Tomato Tattoo at Theater Wit for Best of Playground-Chicago’s 2023 Gala. She returns to the Wit for PlayGround-Chicago Season 2. She can be seen in the award winning short films Identity and Bosom. As well as Aspen Dental and Marcum commercials. Valerie started her acting career in 2020 training at Acting Studio Chicago, The Green Room and Vagabond School of the Arts. Valerie continues to train to improve her craft. She is a native Chicagoan, a strong believer in lifelong learning and having fun!

REAUX CALCOTE (Home for Christmas, “Mo”), they/them, is a 24 year old lesbian actor and director from Chicago. They are dedicated to centering Black Queer experiences in their theatre work and spaces. Emphasizing the importance of Black Lesbian stories in the theatre realm. After graduating from Columbia College Chicago they had their first directing debut in 2022. Working on critically acclaimed, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill. Reaux is excited to work with Monday Night PlayGround as Mo on Home for Christmas by Kirsten Baity.

ROGELIO DOUGLAS III (Stay Humble, “Teen”), he/him, is a Black/Afro-Latino multi-hyphenate artist: actor, spoken-word poet, educator. Born and raised in Brooklyn, now resides in LA with an MFA in Acting from UCLA TFT. RD3’s most recent work includes The Talented Tenth (Robey Theatre), The Inheritance (Geffen Playhouse), Picnic (Odyssey Theatre), and Measure for Measure. “They Listen” (Blumhouse), “Space Lightning” (Amazon Prime) and more on NBC, CBS & HBO. Douglas can be heard dubbing English for “Rhythm + Flow France” along with another upcoming Netflix project. He teaches at Theater of Arts Conservatory and UCLA. Proud member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. | @RogelioDouglas3

KAITLYN GORMAN (A Christmas Moo-racle, “Britney”) she/her, is so excited to be apart of another Monday Night Playground! She received her BFA from the University of Connecticut before moving to New York City for many years but is now living in Chicago and loving it. Past credits include Somebody in Everybody, Clytemnestra in Iphigenia and Other Daughters, Perdita in The Winter’s Tale, and Megan in the web series How to Grow Up. Happy Holidays to all!

CHARLOTTE HARRIS (Reindeer Games, “Jules”), she/her, is a local Chicago actor who hails from Houston, TX. Charlotte enjoys kayaking and football when not acting. She would like to thank her best friend Jordan: for always being the Chandler to my Joey.

CARMIA IMANI (Home for Christmas, “Thoughts/Perfect”), she/her, is a Chicago-based actress who is passionate about embracing discomfort, advocating for radical change, and integrating anti-racist theatre practices into her artistry and work. Her regional credits include: Skeleton Crew, Death of a Salesman (The Black Rep) and Much Ado About Nothing (u/s) (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company). Carmia has participated in new work readings and workshops with Pocket Theatre VR, The Artistic Home, Obsidian Theatre Festival, and now PlayGround-Chicago where she is also a Producing Fellow. Carmia is a proud graduate of Ball State University where she received her BFA in Acting with a minor in New Works for the Stage.

TONY KIM (The Annie Special, “Cameron”), he/him, is happy to be celebrating the first performance of 2024 with Playground!!!!!

AUSTIN KU (The Annie Special, “Reed”), he/they, is a Grammy-nominated NYC performer who loves new works. A former member of PlayGround-SF, he is an inaugural company actor of PlayGround-NY and a 2024 directing apprentice. Int’l/Broadway Tour: CHINGLISH. Off-Broadway: SOFT POWER (Public Theater), PACIFIC OVERTURES (Classic Stage Company w/George Takei) and more. Regional: Lots! (StageSceneLA, Dean Goodman Awards; nominated for Barrymore, BroadwayWorld Boston and IRNE Awards). Film/TV: INVENTING ANNA, THE BUBBLE, BULL, SHADES OF BLUE, TAKE ME TO THE WORLD: A SONDHEIM 90TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION and more. Austin is also an audiobook narrator and food enthusiast. www.Austin-Ku.com / @secretaustinman.

AJ LILY (Seeing Red, “Son”), he/him, is an artist/actor in NYC.

ILSA MORALES (A Christmas Moo-racle, “Bessie”), she/her, is an actor and comedian based in Chicago. She is a graduate of the Conservatory Program at The Second City and a performer for Portal Prov! at the Otherworld Theater. When she isn’t performing, you can find her laughing with her co-host on their podcast and YouTube channel, Relatable Nerds.

KRYSTAL MOSLEY (Seeing Red, “Traveler”), she/her, comes all the way from Chicago, currently residing in LA and is super excited about the production this evening! Some of her credits include: 10 Virgins with Chicago Dramatist, Ruined with Eclipse Theatre and Blood Wedding with Pursuit Productions. She would like to thank the PlayGround-LA cast, friends and family for their continued support!

DAKOTA PARISET (Reindeer Games, “Calvin”), he/him, is a Chicago actor from Beaver Crossing, Nebraska, and is STOKED to start his year with PG-Chi! He is a company member of PG-Chicago, BYOT Productions and The Lightbulb Factory, where he also serves as founding artistic director, and is a proud alum of The Artistic Home Meisner Studio.

KRYSTLE PIAMONTE (A Christmas Moo-racle, “Buttercup”), she/her, is a San Francisco-based actor who is thrilled to make her PlayGround-Chicago debut! Theatre credits include work at Z Space, SF Playhouse, Magic Theatre, TheatreWorks, Bindlestiff Studio, 59E59 in collaboration with Artistic Stamp, and the radio play, THE FOREVER WAVE by Nicole Gluckstern. Screen credits include the award-winning short films BOUND 4 HEAVEN and MEDIAN. She is a 2x Theatre Bay Area Award Finalist for Outstanding Performance in a Principal Role in a Play and was named an MVP of Bay Area Theatre by KQED. Krystle is a Co-Founder/Co-Artistic Director of The Chikahan Company and a company member of PlayGround SF. www.krystlepiamonte.com

KARLA RENNHOFER (The Annie Special, “Annie”), she/her, is excited to be working on this project. She’s a company member of PlayGround Chicago and Ubiquitous Players. Recent virtual credits include: Don Pedro in Much Ado About Nothing, Arabella in Line Please, Twink in Dearly Beloved, Mrs. Peters in Trifles, and Mme Pernelle in Tartuffe. www.karla-wren.com

SHARIBA RIVERS (Seeing Red, “Narrator) she/her, is a Chicago-based actor with stage, TV, and audio credits. Her most recent stage appearance was as Jessie (and then as Grace Dunbar in the extension) in THE NACIREMA SOCIETY at Goodman Theatre. You will find her at TimeLine Theatre in NOTES FROM THE FIELD at the end of January. She is represented by Gray Talent Group. www.sharibatheactor.com

MAYA SCHNAKE (Reindeer Games, “Tessa”), she/her, is excited to return to PlayGround-Chicago! She has previously been seen as Melanie u/s in Radial Gradient (Shattered Globe Theatre), Twyla/Roberta in Recitatif (The House Theatre of Chicago) and Belle in A Nantucket Christmas Carol (White Heron Theatre Company), as well as Margot in the upcoming film Year One. She received her Bachelors degree from Northwestern University. Thanks to her family and friends for all their support!

BRAEDYN YOUNGBERG (A Christmas Moo-racle, “Santa Claus/Farmer Smith”), he/him, is thrilled to be joining PlayGround-Chicago in their mission to develop local playwrights! Regional theatre credits include “Don Armado” (Loves Labors Lost), “Roderigo” (Othello), and “Antonio” (Twelfth Night) with Marin Shakespeare Company, “Orlando, et al” (As You Like It) with SF Shakes, “The Monster” (Young Frankenstein) with Spreckels PAC, and “Brad Majors” (The Rocky Horror Show) with Sixth Street Playhouse. Braedyn has trained locally with The Second City and iO Chicago, as well as regionally with Shakespeare & Company.