November 4th Monday Night Playground-Chicago Playbill
PlayGround Chicago presents Season 3
MONDAY NIGHT PLAYGROUND
“The American Experiment
November 4, 2024 7pm CT
Theater Wit & Simulcast
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 are deeply grateful to our 2024-25 Monday Night PlayGround Members, whose direct support helps to underwrite artists fees for the Monday Night series across all four regions:
Dr. & Mrs. Sam & Naomi Abramovitz, Sharon Baldwin, Tim Bishop, Ms. Linda B Breaux-Smith, Emilie T. & Gordon C. Brooks, John Brown, Summer Broyhill, Madeleine Butler, Ben Cain, Joan Cleveland, Ms. Sheila Collins, Ms. Marilyn Berg Cooper, Logan Varas De Valdes, Krystyna Finlayson, Ms. Elizabeth Groenewegen, Gail Hillebrand & Hugh Barroll, Brandy T Jones, Mr. & Mrs. Douglas Le Blanc, Alice Lehmann, Ms. Kristy Lin Billuni, Linda G Marks, Dr. Sheila McCormick, Dan Morley, Ms. Annette Oliveira, Mr. George Rose, Jessica June Rowe, Michelle Ruscetta, John J. Ruskin, Miyoko Sakatani, Mark Sherstinsky, Nancy W. Smith, Stan Stone, Cathy M Stonie, Kim Tram, Vicki Victoria, Dr. Eidell Wasserman, and Ms. Cindy Womack. Thank you!
To learn more about the Monday Night PlayGround membership program, click here.
Disloyal
by Anne Brady
Directed by Jim Kleinmann
Margaret (Peggy) Shippen………Diana Simonzadeh
Van Der Velde
by alfonzo solomon kahlil
Directed by Awazi Jaafaru
Van Der Velde………….Shariba Rivers
Gaman
by Toby Inoue
Directed by Tyler Struble
Gaman………………….Sabine Wan
Room 504: Winner
by Katherine Swan
Directed by Paige Mesina
Sara……………….Sheri Flanders
Triangle
by Marnie Monogue
Directed by Kendall Phillips
Sadie………………Jordan Zelvin
Tattoo Autopsy
by J.S. Puller
Directed by Spencer Diedrick
Mina…………………..…Ilsa Morales
Stage Manager: Charlie 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, A.R.T./New York and Theatre Communications Group.
Biographies
PLAYWRIGHTS
ANNE BRADY (Disloyal), she/her, is honored to be a first-year Writer’s Pool member! After earning a degree in Creative Writing from Seattle Pacific University, Anne worked as a professional actress and playwright in Seattle before relocating to Chicago in 2012. Her plays have been produced around the West Coast as well as internationally. She studied playwriting with Chicago Dramatists and The Second City, and has authored or co-authored over 20 children’s books. She lives in Bucktown with her incredible husband and two hilarious kids, and has an astonishing amount of Bluey committed to memory.
TOBY INOUE (Gaman), she/her is excited to be part of the PlayGround-Chicago Writers Pool for a second season. Last season, two of her pieces KNOTTY ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS (Dec 2023) and GIBBER (Mar 2024) won People’s Choice Awards. Readings and productions of her short plays include THE GETTING’S GOOD (Surfside Playhouse Readers’ Theater, Sep 2024); COUPLE’S THERAPY, GREEK STYLE (One Night Stand Theater, Jun 2024) and BEST FUNDAY FRIEND (North Park Playwright’s 2023 festival). In December, there will be a staged reading of her full length play KEEP IT LIGHT as part of the Twisted Playfest at Redtwist Theatre in Chicago. https://www.redtwisttheatre.org/twisted-playfest @toby.inoue
alfonzo solomon kahlil (Van Der Velde), they/he, is a poet, playwright, and performance artist, raised on the W(b)estside of Chicago, who believes whatever doesn’t kill you, makes for great art. Dramatist of SCORPIO & THE NEW / NEW TESTAMENT, alfonzo’s art utilizes the polyphony of spoken word and performance as a medium to explore the realm of the profane, the profound, the sacred, and the taboo of the interpersonal. alfonzo holds a BFA in theatre from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and is represented by Stewart Talent. alfonzo was previously seen in Measure of a Man (Perceptions) The Island (Court u/s John), HOLD UP, CANNABITCHES, and CHICAGO FIRE.
MARNIE MONOGUE (Triangle), she/her, s a Chicago playwright originally from rural Wisconsin. She graduated from Grinnell College in 2021 with a BA in English. Her writing and art have appeared in Beaver Magazine and Hidden Peak Review and her plays have been developed by Make/Shift Theatre and performed at West Texas A&M University. As a member of the PlayGround-Chicago Writers Pool for the 2023-24 season, she marked her Chicago debut with a staged reading of her ten-minute play “And Now I Know How Joan of Arc Felt” at Theatre Wit in April 2024. She loves peanut butter M&Ms.
J.S. PULLER (Tattoo Autopsy), she/her, is a playwright and author from the Windy City, Chicago. She has a master’s degree in elementary education and a bachelor’s degree in theatre from Northwestern University. She is an award-winning member of the American Alliance for Theatre and Education and has written about the social-emotional benefits of arts education with the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research. When not writing, she can usually be found in the theatre. She is the author of two novels, CAPTAIN SUPERLATIVE and THE LOST THINGS CLUB, both published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. She also has several published plays, including: WOMEN WHO WEAVE (Playscripts, Inc.), PERSEUS AND MEDUSA – IT’S ALL GREEK TO ME! (Lazybee Scripts), and THE DEATH OF ROBIN HOOD (Stage Rights).
KATHERINE SWAN (Room 504: Winner), she/her, is a playwright who lives in Chicago. Her plays include Some Other Woman Like Me, a finalist for the Henley Rose, and Act V, which was developed at A Red Orchid Theatre’s Incubator Series. Her work has been performed in London, Los Angeles, and New York, and her play Pony was a winner of the Carlow Little Theatre’s 2021-22 International One Act Play Competition in Carlow, Ireland. Her play Bench is included in the Smith & Kraus anthology Best Ten-Minute Plays, 2023. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild and the Chicago based performance collective The Feast.
ACTORS
SHERI FLANDERS (Room 504: Winner, “Sara”), she/her, is a Chicago based writer, comedian, and actor whose work has been featured in many publications including McSweeney’s, The Chicago Sun-Times and The Chicago Reader. She has performed at the Black Women in Comedy Laff Festival in New York City and in many reputable and disreputable establishments in Chicago.
ILSA MORALES (Tattoo Autopsy, “Mina”), she/her, is a Chicago-based comedian and actress. She is a graduate of the Second City Conservatory program and an improv performer for the Otherworld theater. When she isn’t performing on stage you can find her co-hosting her podcast and YouTube channel Relatable Nerds.
SHARIBA RIVERS (Van Der Velde, “Van Der Velde”), she/her, is happy to join PlayGround-Chicago again. Recent credits: Notes from the Field (TimeLine Theatre), The Nacirema Society (Goodman Theatre), Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (Arts Center of Coastal Carolina), and Trouble in Mind (Timeline Theatre)). She was recently featured in “The People Issue” of The Chicago Reader and was listed in Newcity Stage as one of its “Players 2023” for theatre. TV credits include Chicago Med, The Chi, Chicago Fire, Empire, and Chicago PD. Film credits include Smoking Gun!, Okie, and Start Without Me. Shariba is a member of AEA and SAG-AFTRA and is represented by Gray Talent Group. www.sharibatheactor.com
DIANA SIMONZADEH (Disloyal, “Margaret (Peggy) Shippen”), she/her, is thrilled to participate in PlayGround-Chicago’s Monday Night Reading! Theatre credits include: The Corpse Washer at Actors Theatre Louisville’s 43rd Humana Festival of New American Plays; Perfect Mendacity at Asolo Rep; Night Over Erzinga and Scorched at Silk Road Rising; Homebody/Kabul at Steppenwolf Theatre; and Return To Haifa at Next Theater. Film work includes: Necro 101; The Glass House; Qwerty; The Cancer Card; Oops! I’ve Been Driven Mundane; The Reunion; The Origins of Wit and Humor; and Remote Viewing. She is a recipient of an Equity Jeff Award.
SABINE WAN (Gaman, “Gaman”), she/her, is a multilingual actor of Chinese descent, born in France and now based in Chicago. After a career in Cybersecurity, she now embraced her passion for acting full-time. With a background in improv, Meisner, Shakespeare, and on-camera work, she brings diverse skills and experiences to the stage. Sabine has lived in France, China, and the US, and will make her Chicago stage debut in “13 Suits”. She is also a member of FrogProv, a bilingual improv team performing in both French and English
JORDAN ZELVIN (Triangle, “Sadie”) she/her, is a Chicago teaching artist and proud company member of PlayGround Chicago with a love of improv, collaboration, and storytelling. Some of her favorite Chicago credits include THE TALE OF THE WHALE (NTYA), WAKE UP, BROTHER BEAR! (NTYA), ACROSS THE SAND: A PASSOVER THEATRICAL EXPERIENCE (NTYA), HERSHEL AND THE HANUKKAH GOBLINS (Strawdog Theatre Company), FAILURE: A LOVE STORY (Oil Lamp Theater), TREASURE ISLAND (Oil Lamp Theater), CHICAGO WOMEN’S FUNNY FESTIVAL (Stage 773), and various comedy shows at The Second City, The Annoyance Theatre & Bar, and iO Theater where she is a company member of Malarkey Comedy performing in COMEDYSPORTZ, IMPROVISED DCOM, and TWO BIRDS 1 SCONE every Thursday-Saturday. She’s thrilled to be back with PlayGround Chicago and supporting free and accessible theatre.
DIRECTORS
AWAZI JAAFARU (Van Der Velde), they/them, is a Queer Black ENBY, multidisciplinary creative who enjoys using art as a medium for exploration, expression, and storytelling. Their practice is characterized by its transformative curation, and truth-seeking nature. When harnessing these skills their abstract ideas become tangible experiences that others can resonate with. They believe in the community of art and the ways it can provoke social commentary and ignite radical change.
SPENCER RYAN DIEDRICK (Tattoo Autopsy), he/him, is a Chicago-based director, dramaturg, and advocate for original & underappreciated voices. Recent directing credits include THEY BROKE UP (Avalanche Theatre), The Hatmaker’s Wife (Theatre EVOLVE), The Delivery (Inclusive Playwright Project / Trap Door Theater), Black Cat Lost (Red Tape), Desire Desire Desire (Eclipse), and Fragmented (Our Perspective). His work has also been seen at Steep, Shattered Globe, Broken Nose, American Blues, TimeLine, Griffin, Raven, and Emerald City. Regional: Lewiston/Clarkson, Once (The GhostLight Theatre), Mycelium, Tomato Tattoo (PlayGround-San Francisco). He is a proud company member of Playground-Chicago and eternally thankful for friends, family, and community.
JIM KLEINMANN (Disloyal; Artistic Director & Co-Founder), he/him, co-founded PlayGround in 1994, along with playwright Brighde Mullins and director Denise Shama, and has served as Artistic Director since 1996. For PlayGround, he has provided artistic and administrative leadership for the past twenty-four seasons, developing PlayGround’s unique array of new playwright and new play incubator programs, including Monday Night PlayGround, the PlayGround Festival of New Works, the full-length play Commissioning Initiative, the New Play Production Fund, Potrero Stage: PlayGround Center for New Plays, and most recently the Innovator Incubator. For PlayGround, he has directed more than one hundred short and full-length plays, including works by Garret Jon Groenveld, Aaron Loeb, Geetha Reddy, Lauren Yee, Katie May, and many others. Recent directing and dramaturgy credits include David Steele’s Vignettes on Love and Ruben Grijalva’s Value Over Replacement. He is a veteran arts administrator with more than thirty years of experience, including stints leading Traveling Jewish Theatre, Smuin Ballet and Berkeley Symphony, and received his MFA from the Yale School of Drama.
PAIGE MESINA (Room 504: Winner), she/her, is a Chicago-based theatre artist originally from St. Louis, MO. She’s worked with Pocket Theatre VR, Freestreet Theatre, Three Brothers Theatre, Pop Up! Productions, and CIRCA-Pintig Theatre on their inaugural Chicago Filipino American Theatre Festival in 2024. Paige holds her BFA in Theatre Arts from The Theatre School at DePaul University, where she was an assistant director for Is God Is and directed a devised piece, truebird. Instagram: @mesina32
KENDALL PHILLIPS (Triangle), she/they, is a Chicago-based director and playwright. Originally from Houston, they fell in love with the Chicago theatre scene. Currently, they are studying Theatrical Directing at Columbia College Chicago, where their ten minute play “Third Skeleton from the Left” was published in the 2023 Renaissance Anthology. Kendall is a proud member of the PlayGround-Chicago Company and the PlayGround Board of Directors. When she’s not writing or being excited about new work, you can find her at crafting events around the city.
TYLER STRUBLE (Gaman), he/they, is a director, dramaturg and producer rooted in new work development and community arts organizing. Most recently they developed and directed the world premiere of I’m Gonna Marry You Tobey Maguire by Samantha Hurley at Nancy Manocherian’s the cell theatre in New York City which will have its London premiere at Southwark Playhouse in 2024. Before relocating to Chicago, they served as Associate Producer at Kitchen Theatre Company in Ithaca, NY for four years and directed the company’s production of Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them by A. Rey Pamatmat. www.tylerstruble.com
PRODUCTION & STAFF
DEVIN CHRISTOR (Executive Producer) he/him, is a director that focuses on plays that critique hegemonic masculinity. Since receiving his B.A in Drama from the University of North Texas he has traveled the country working for several professional theaters to observe established directors and study the ecology of regional theater in America. Credits include: 1919 (Steppenwolf), Julius Caesar & God of Carnage (Milwaukee Repertory Theater), Into the Side of a Hill (Flint Repertory Theater “New Works Festival”), Freeze Out (Trinity Repertory Company “America Too” Festival), and Oba (Triangle Rainbow Productions “LGBTQ Short Play” Festival), The Gift of the Magi (American Players Theatre), A Raisin in the Sun (Beverly Arts Center).
CHARLIE LEVINSON (Stage Manager), they/she, is excited to be stage managing for Playground Chicago once again! Credits include: Hamlet 50/50 (Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival); The Magic Flute, Emperor of Atlantis, Hansel and Gretel (Northwestern Opera); The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (Theo Ubique); Murder for Two, Oliver!, The Mousetrap, and Private Lives (The Winnipesaukee Playhouse), Three Musketeers, Antigone, The Ghost Tour: Staged Reading, Twelfth Night, and Where Did We Sit On The Bus? (Cleveland Play House); A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Saint Joan, and Shakespeare in Love (Ohio Shakespeare Festival).
PLAYGROUND-CHICAGO is the third regional expansion of the celebrated Bay Area playwright incubator and theatre community hub, PlayGround(SF). PlayGround, California’s leading playwright incubator, provides unique development opportunities for the Bay Area’s, Los Angeles’, New York’s and now Chicago’s best new playwrights, including the monthly Monday Night PlayGround staged reading series, annual PlayGround Festival of New Works, full-length play commissions and support for the production of new plays by local playwrights through the New Play Production Fund. To date, PlayGround has supported over 250 early career playwrights, developing and staging more than 1,000 of their original short plays through the Monday Night PlayGround staged reading series and the PlayGround Festival. PlayGround has also commissioned 90 new full-length plays by 60 of these writers through its Commissioning Initiative and, through the innovative New Play Production Fund, has directly facilitated the premiere of 34 plays at theatres of every size, including three that have gone on to NYC and other major theater communities. Most recently, PlayGround renovated and relaunched the former Thick House Theater in San Francisco’s Potrero Hill as Potrero Stage, a state-of-the-art center for new plays, home to PlayGround’s expanding artistic programs and some of the Bay Area’s most distinguished new play developers and producers. Over the past twenty-seven years, PlayGround has served to identify some of the most important new local voices for the theatre. PlayGround’s alumni have gone on to win local, national, and international honors for their short and full-length work, including recognition at the Humana Festival, O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, The Lark’s Playwrights’ Week, New York International Fringe Festival, and others. PlayGround received the 2009 Paine Knickerbocker Award for outstanding contributions to Bay Area theatre, 3 BATCC Awards for Best Original Script for PlayGround commissions, a 2014 National Theatre Company Grant from the American Theatre Wing (founder of the Tony Awards®), and a 2016 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award.
CONTRIBUTORS
PlayGround is deeply grateful for the generous contributions of the many individuals, foundations, corporations and government agencies whose contributions make our work possible. This list reflects gifts of $125 or more committed between November 1, 2023 & November 4, 2024.
GOVERNMENT, CORPORATE, & FOUNDATION DONORS
Alameda County Arts Commission • Amazon • American Rescue Plan Act & CARES Act • Art Space Development Corporation • Avenue Greenlight • Berkeley Civic Arts • The Bernard Osher Foundation • Bill Graham Supporting Foundation of the Jewish Community Federation & Endowment Fund • California Arts Council • California Humanities • California Nonprofit Performing Arts Grant Program • Creative Capacity Fund • Disney • Grants For The Arts • KFF • Koret Foundation • LA County Arts Commission • Lenore & Howard Klein Foundation • The Leo J. & Celia Carlin Fund • Negley Flinn Charitable Foundation • NIAC • Nvidia • NYSCA-A.R.T./New York Creative Opportunity Fund • Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation • Planet Earth Arts • Rock Paper Scissors Landscape Inc. • Rye Financial Services • San Francisco Arts Commission • The Shubert Foundation • The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation
SEASON SPONSORS ($5000+)
Dan Cohn & Lynn Brinton, Paul Haahr, Lara Gilman & Jim Kleinmann
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS ($2500+)
Emilie T. & Gordon C. Brooks, John H. Gilman, Sam Latham, Anonymous
PRODUCERS CIRCLE ($1000-$2499)
Randy Adams, Meriko Borogove, David Goldman, Keith Goldstein & Donna N. Warrington, Just Play Productions, Linda Kremer, Ronald Whittier Family Foundation, Daniele Nathanson , Nitin, Molly Noble and Bob Guilbault, Arthur & Toni Rembe Rock, John J. Ruskin, Tom Swift, Malachy Walsh and Heather Robison, Janine Wilburn, Anonymous
PLAYWRIGHTS CIRCLE ($500-$999)
Linda Ayres-Frederick, Phoenix Theatre SF, Hillary DeMartino, Paulette Donsavage, Regina S. Guggenheim, Ms. Kathryn A Hecht, Diane Leonard, Kathy Roberts & Aaron Loeb, Dr. Gary W. London, Diane Sampson, Marian Scheuer Sofaer & Abraham D. Sofaer, Jeffrey Trescott, Anonymous
PATRON ($250-$499)
Nina Ball & Jon Tracy, Chris and Cindy Redburn, Jon & Susan Sweedler, Christian Wilburn, Maury Zeff, Anonymous (3)
ASSOCIATE MEMBER ($125-$249)
Sam & Naomi Abramovitz, Mary E. Baird, Ms. Portia F. Bock, Cass Brayton, Sheila Collins, Joyce Dieda, Clint Fleener, Michael Fried, Mrs. Judith Lynn Garcia, Anonymous, Gina Harris, Ms. Sharlene Hartman, Mr. Stanley William Hathaway, Gail Hillebrand & Hugh Barroll, Tanuja Devi Jagernauth, Ms. Mildred Inez Lewis, Anonymous, Paris McCarthy, Kimberly Ridgeway, Ms. Jessica Rofé, Margo Rofé, Carolina Rojas Moretti, Katie Ryan, Louel Senores, Alex M. Shafer, Christine Sheppard, Stan Stone, Lisa Gaye Thompson, Scott Lebus & Susannah Wise
To contribute to PlayGround, visit https://playground-ch.org/contribute or contact PlayGround Associate Director of Development Lana Richards at lana@playground-sf.org or by phone at (415) 992-6677.
PlayGround Company
PLAYGROUND-CHICAGO WRITERS POOL
Daniel Arzola, Kirsten Baity, Zach Barr, Henry Bender, Siah Berlatsky, Kevin Blair, Gabriella Bonamici, Jessie Bond, Anne Brady, Julie Campbell, Donaldson Cardenas, Ana Dalipi, Mikayla De Guzman, Rachel DuBose, Betsy Dudak, Liz Haas, Dana Hall, Toby Inoue, Tanuja Devi Jagernauth, Jerluane Jenkins, alfonzo kahlil, Beth Kander, Juliet Kang Huneke, Alex Kinglsey, Rachel Linton, Alan Maass, Marnie Monogue, Lani Montreal, Dakota Pariset, Mary Parisoe, Andrew Piechota, Jessica Puller, Jay Rehak, Keegon Schuett, Matt, Schutz, Katherine Swan.
PLAYGROUND-CHICAGO COMPANY
Brian Balcom, Devin Christor, Spencer Ryan Diedrick, Sheri Flanders, Ashley Graham, Scott Gryder, Charlotte Harris, Carmia Imani, Hannah Lynn Kato, Benjamin Kelly, Alka Nayyar, Leanna Oliveira, Dakota Pariset, Karla Rennhofer, Brooke-Erin Smith, Yiwen Wu, Braedyn Youngberg, Jordan Zelvin
PLAYGROUND STAFF
Jim Kleinmann, Co-Founder & Artistic Director 
Devin Christor, Executive Producer
Brooke-Erin Smith, Associate Producer
Leanna Oliveira, Associate Producer
Maria Arreola, Casting Associate
Joey Reyes, 2024-25 Producing Fellow
Amal Salem, 2024-25 Producing Fellow
www.PlayGround-sf.org
3286 Adeline St #8
Berkeley, CA 94703-2485
info@playground-sf.org
(415) 992-6677