PlayGround Chicago presents Season 1

MONDAY NIGHT PLAYGROUND

Topic: “Adapt a Classic Folktale or Myth”

March 6, 2023 7pm CT

Simulcast & On-Demand via Vimeo Live

The Truth About Acorns
by Gabriella Bonamici
Directed by Charlique Rolle
Gordon…………………Dakota Pariset
Penny………………………Tansu Philip
Dave……………………….Caleb Gibson
Dr. Lucy……………..Charlotte Harris

The Check In
by Tanuja Devi Jagernauth
Directed by Kamille Dawkins
Chiara.……………………..Chanell Bell
Kris.……………….MeeWha Alana Lee

Echo: An Email Plot
by Sarah Bowden
Directed by Joel Willison
Sarah.………………Nikhaar Kishnani
Executive Director.…Sheila Collins
Scammer.…….Braedyn Youngberg

A Passing Glance
by Ryan Oliveira
Directed by Devin Christor
Man………………………….Yuchi Chiu
Woman…………….Miyoko Sakatani

Goddess of the Drowned
by Karissa Murrell Myers
Directed by Kayla Menz
Ellri.……………………………..Jully Lee
Átta....………………….MiKayla Boyd
Fimm.……...………..Isabel Siragusa
The Old Man.………….Mark Peters

.PDF Preferred
by Matt Schutz
Directed by Jim Kleinmann
Sissy…………..Hannah Lynn Kato
Hrai………………………………..AJ Lily
Bryan………………………Eric Geller

Stage Manager: Sarah Gasser

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

PlayGround is a member of Theatre Bay Area 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!

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.

THANK YOU TO PLAYGROUND MEMBERS!

We would like to thank PlayGround members Dr. Elaine Baskin & Kenneth R. Krechmer, Sidney Glass & Eleanor Clement Glass, Kenneth C. Clews, Paulette Donsavage & Deeje Cooley, Sunny Da Silva, Carole Florian, Ms. Kristy Lin Billuni, Mr. Scott Mullen, Ms. Vicki Oswald, Michelle Ruscetta, Kathryn Ryan, Andrew Trott, and Dr. Eidell Wasserman for their contribution.

A Monday Night PlayGround membership is a tax-deductible donation and directly supports the more than 400 artists involved in a Monday Night PlayGround season. Members are guaranteed tickets and simulcast access to twenty-four (24) Monday Night PlayGround performances, weekly, October 10, 2022-May 1, 2023, with extended on-demand viewing. Click here to become a member.

Biographies

PLAYWRIGHTS

GABRIELLA BONAMICI (The Truth About Acorns), 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.

SARAH BOWDEN (Echo: An Email Plot), she/her, is a hard of hearing playwright and teaching artist, whose plays have been produced in Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Toronto, and Stockholm. Her work has been developed and presented by the Greenhouse Theatre Center, MPAACT, The Arc Theatre, the Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theatre, the Nylon Fusion Theatre, Monkeyman Productions, Southern Illinois University, and Ohio University. Her solo show HELEN KELLER AND ME was produced as part of Chicago’s 2020 Rhinofest and the 2018 Chicago Theatre Marathon. Her full-length LIVELY STONES was produced as part of 20% Theatre Chicago’s ReFocus 20/20 season. Her full-length THE MAGNIFICENT MASKED HEARING AID has been listed as a semi-finalist in several theatre festivals, including the Capital Repertory Next Act! New Play Summit, the Actor’s Theatre of Charlotte’s nuVoices Festival, the Activate Midwest New Play Festival and the Elgin Cultural Commission Page to Stage Program.

TANUJA DEVI JAGERNAUTH (The Check In), she/her, is an Indo-Caribbean playwright and dramaturg who believes in the necessity of creation during times of destruction. In 2016, she shifted career paths from Traditional East Asian Medicine to theatre in hopes of practicing four frameworks for collective liberation and wellness through theatre: self/community care, harm reduction, trauma awareness, and body positivity. Inspired by healing justice and PIC abolition, Tanuja employs comedy, magical realism, the fantastic and the absurd to raise questions around how we heal and fight back against internal and external oppressions and build a prison- and police-free world.

KARISSA MURRELL MYERS (Goddess of the Drowned), she/her, is a Hapa American theatre artist based in Chicago, where she works as an actor, playwright, producer, and casting director. As a playwright, her work has been developed and/or produced at Strawdog Theatre, Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, American Blues Theatre, The Gift Theatre, Silk Road Rising, Our Perspective: Asian American Plays, and Bramble Theatre Company, where she serves as Artistic Director and Co-Founder. Her stage acting credits include working at Court Theatre, Remy Bumppo, Goodman Theatre, The House Theatre of Chicago, and Renaissance Theaterworks. Television work includes Chicago Med, Chicago PD, The Big Leap, Exorcist, and Electric Dreams. She is the resident Casting Director for Strawdog, and works as freelance casting director and consultant for various theatre companies around the US. In 2020, she was featured as one of the American Theatre Magazine’s “Theatre Workers You Should Know” for her work in casting. MFA in Performance from University of Hawaii, BA in Directing and Acting from Boise State University, and proud graduate of The School at Steppenwolf 2019. More at www.kmurrellmyers.com

RYAN OLIVEIRA (A Passing Glance), he/him, is a Brazilian-American playwright, dramaturg, solo performer, and songwriter. Recent productions include Desire in a Tinier House (Pride Films and Plays) and Soccer Player in the Closet (Nothing Without a Company). His work has been developed with The New Coordinates, Broken Nose Theatre, Teatro Vivo, Prop Thtr, and El Semillero. He has been a finalist for the O’Neill Theatre Conference and the New Harmony Project (Take Care, 2020), as well as a finalist for the Disquiet Luso-American Fellowship. MFA: The University of Iowa, 2015; BA: Cornell University, 2008. For more of his work, check out www.ryanoliveira.com.

MATT SCHUTZ (.PDF Preferred), he/him, is a playwright and actor currently based in Chicago. 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

CHANELL BELL (The Check In, “Chiara”), she/her/hers, is an American storyteller and humanitarian. Previous performances include Fireflies (Northlight), She The People (Second City), Crumbs from the Table of Joy (Raven), POWER Book: IV on STARZ network and NEXT on Fox. Recent nominations include the BTAA Ethel Waters Award for her role as Olivia Grace in Fireflies. In addition to performing, Chanell is dedicated to helping young artists fine tune their craft and has spent years teaching storytellers in countries all over the world.

MIKAYLA BOYD (Goddess of the Drowned, “Átta”), she/her is a Chicago-based dancer, actor, writer. She is a junior at the Latin School of Chicago and a Flag Girl on the South Shore Drill Team. Her previous performances include: Voice of Good Hope (City Lit Theatre), American Blues #ENOUGH Showcase 2021, Metamorphoses (Latin School of Chicago), Emma’s Child (City Lit Theatre), Spike Heels (Latin School of Chicago), American Blues #ENOUGH Showcase 2022, American Blues Youth Playwright Showcase ‘21/‘22, On Fred Gray Ave (City Lit Theatre) as well as stage managing the Winter Dance Company Recital and Adv. Acting Company Production of Lawrence and Holloman at her school. She enjoys the arts, studying medicine/indigenous cultures, and plans to attend university in following years.

YUCHI CHIU (A Passing Glance, “Man”), he/him, is a Chicago-based artist and is excited to work with PlayGround Chi for the first time! Theater credits include Once (Writers Theatre), Botticelli in the Fire (First Floor Theater), and The Chinese Lady (TimeLine Theatre). Screen credits include Chicago Med (NBC) work with Apple TV+, BJ’s Mobile Gift Shop (Sundance Film Festival), and numerous local, regional, and national commercials. Endless gratitude to his village and agents at DDO Chicago. Instagram: @yuchidchiu

SHEILA COLLINS (Echo: An Email Plot, “Executive Director”), she/her, has appeared in numerous stage plays, including these iconic roles: Ruth, in A Raisin in the Sun; Emilia, in Othello; (Duke)Duchess of Birmingham, in Henry VIII; Leonato(a) in Much Ado about Nothing; and Charlotte, in Charlotte’s Web. She’s also appeared in several TV shows: Grey’s Anatomy, Pretty Little Liars and General Hospital, and S.W.A.T., among others, as well as short films, two web series and a feature film. Sheila is always happy to perform in the PlayGround events.

ERIC GELLER (.PDF Preferred, “Bryan”), he/him. For the last twenty years, Eric’s been a member of “Dancing Squirrels”, a non-profit, children’s theater troupe that performs at for ill and abused kids. Eric also works in immersive theater, most recently, Hollywood Fringe Fest award winners, “Unreal City” and “Vote For Murder.” Eric’s most recognized for hosting an archaeology/exploration series, “Cities of the Underworld,” for The History Channel. Eric’s from St. Louis, attended “Mizzou” and graduated from UC-Irvine.

CALEB GIBSON (The Truth About Acorns, “Dave”),

CHARLOTTE HARRIS (The Truth About Acorns, “Dr. Lucy”), she/her, is a recent Houston transplant excited to be working with Playground again! Some of Charlotte’s more recent work was seen at Second City’s show “A Spoonful of Cynicism”. When not acting, you can find her kayaking, socializing, or tap dancing! She would like to thank her friends and family for their constant support, and this company for bringing her on for another fantastic show!

HANNAH LYNN KATO (.PDF Preferred, “Sissy”), she/her, is a recent graduate from North Central College, holding degrees in Musical Theatre and Acting. Recent credits include: A Christmas Carol (Drury Lane Theatre), Fishing for the Moon (Northern Sky Theater), Tiny Beautiful Things (North Central College) and a workshop for Mill Girls, a new musical directed by Jess McCleod. Hannah is represented by the wonderful agents at Big Mouth Talent. Thank you so much to everyone at Playground Chicago for this wonderful opportunity! Soli Deo Gloria. hannahkato.com

NIKHAAR KISHNANI (Echo: An Email Plot, “Sarah”), she/her, Off-Off Broadway: Veil’d at Astoria Performing Arts Center. Regional Theatre: Queen at Geva Theatre Centre, A Doll’s House Part 2 at Actors Theatre Louisville. Film: Post-Term, Him&Her&Him. Television: Brown Nation, Code Switched, Geeta’s Guide To Moving On, Nepotism. Other Theatre: Twelfth Night at DePaul University, The Women Eat Chocolate at DePaul University, Prospero’s Storm at DePaul University, The Children’s Hour at DePaul University, The Qualms at DePaul University, The Rimers of Eldritch at Rutgers University. Additional Credits: Kishnani received her M.F.A. from The Theatre School at DePaul University. She is on house team, Octopus Queen, at Rubbish Comedy Collective.

JULLY LEE (Goddess of the Drowned, “Ellri”), she/her, made her Broadway/New York debut in KPOP The Musical at Circle in the Square. She is the Artistic Director of Cold Tofu, the nation’s first and longest running Asian American improv company based in Los Angeles, and a Company Member of Playground-NY as a director, performer and associate producer. Select Theatre: The Joy Luck Club (national tour), Aubergine (South Coast Repertory), Hannah and the Dread Gazebo (Fountain Theatre/East West Players). Select TV: “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” “Young Sheldon,” “Jane The Virgin,” “This Is Us,” “The Fosters,” and “Veep.” jullylee.com

MEEWHA ALANA LEE (The Check In, “Kris”), she/her, is an actor whose journey began when her son, Alan, a film student left this world. Acting has helped sustain her from the demise of grief. She is a member of AEA and SAG AFTRA. She has appeared in Off-Broadway plays, the award-winning short films, feature films like UMMA, A GREAT DIVIDE and TV shows, AWKWAFINA IS NORA FROM QUEENS, THE CHAIR, and RETREAT. Being an actor gives her the opportunity to tell the stories of immigrants and women, and themes relating to mental illness and racism, all issues she has lived through.

AJ LILY (.PDF Preferred, “Hrai”), he/him. NYC. Actor. Artist. UNCSA Drama BFA. upcoming work: leading role in the horror/comedy film “The Clipboard” with The Second City, Chicago.

DAKOTA PARISET (The Truth About Acorns, “Gordon”), he/him, is a Chicago actor and multi-disciplinary artist originally from Beaver Crossing, Nebraska. He’s stoked to be playing at the Playground again! Chicago credits include work with City Lit Theater, Pale Horse Playhouse, Collaboraction, Silk Road Rising, Unheard of Company, BYOT Productions(company member) and The Lightbulb Factory(ensemble/founding AD), and readings with readings for Movies: Live!, Stage Left and Chicago Dramatists. Thanks again to the folks at Playground for the opportunity!

MARK PETERS (Goddess of the Drowned, “The Old Man”), he/him, performed last year as The Count in a new translation of Schnitzler’s La Ronde, staged at IRT in Manhattan. He was King Lear in A Fool’s Lear, an original adaptation of Shakespeare’s play at the same theatre. Other NYC and regional roles: DeGuiche — Cyrano with Gabriel Barre at St. Clement’s; Sharky — The Seafarer, Nantucket; Frank — The Country Girl; Vanya — Uncle Vanya; Doc — Come Back, Little Sheba (musical) oppo­site Donna McKechnie (cast album Amazon); Emile — South Pacific; Perón — Evita (three times); Ahab — Moby-Dick (musical – Katsaros-St. Germain), Boston. Mr. Peters is a professional violist. Numerous camera performances. www.MarkPeters.me

TANSU PHILIP (The Truth About Acorns, “Penny”), she/her, is an Indian-American actress based in Los Angeles. She has a degree in Television from Chapman University and improv and sketch writing training from Upright Citizens Brigade. She has been a member of Playground LA for just over a year, and completed her first solo show Paratha in San Francisco with Playground SF.

MIYOKO SAKATANI (A Passing Glance, “Woman”), she/her, is SAG-AFTRA-E. She has proudly and gratefully worked with PlayGround over many wonderful years. She has worked with A.C.T. Magic Theatre, TheatreWorks, San Francisco Playhouse and the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. She performed her solo piece at the Marsh Theatre regarding her family’s immigration and WWII internment. Film credits include the award winning Samuel Goldwyn film “East Side Sushi.” (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5706042/) As founder of Playland Productions, Miyoko has produced short films, stage plays and co-directed “Silent City” by Dan Wilson with a diverse hearing and deaf cast performing in ASL with closed captions. Endless love and gratitude to Richard, Shanti and dearest friends.

ISABEL SIRAGUSA , she/her, is an actor, producer, and creative consultant based in LA. Selected film credits include starring roles in Capps Crossing (available on Amazon Prime), The Trade, The Ark (San Diego ComiCon International Film Festival), and Pater Mater (premiering in late 2023). Favorite theatre credits include Desdemona in Othello (African American Shakespeare Company), the west coast premiere of Somewhere (Perspective Theatre), and the one-woman show Fragile Decisions (The Marsh). Isabel also recently performed at SF SketchFest with the sketch group Running with Glitter. isabelsiragusa.com

BRAEDYN YOUNGBERG (Echo: An Email Plot, “Scammer”), 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.