PLAYGROUND-CHICAGO’S 4th SEASON WRITERS POOL, RESIDENT PLAYWRIGHTS, COMMISSIONS ANNOUNCED

Posted by on July 27, 2025

PlayGround, a leading national playwright incubator and theatre community hub, is pleased to share plans for its 32nd anniversary season. The season announcement coincides with the release of the 2025-26 Writers Pools, 112 early-career playwrights in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago, who will participate in PlayGround’s signature incubator program, Monday Night PlayGround, developing more than 600 new short plays this season of which 96 will be staged by the four communities over the course of 16 public events, all performed in-person and simulcast under a first-in-the-nation SAG-AFTRA agreement. PlayGround has also announced the 24 playwright alumni selected for this year’s Resident Playwrights Program, including five playwrights under commission and representing all four regions. The 2025-26 Season will feature more than 100 public performances of new works by PlayGround playwrights, ranging from fringe-style full productions to a Hitchcock-inspired holiday show, and from new solo performance to developmental staged readings and premieres of bold new full-length plays. Taken altogether, PlayGround’s 32nd Season represents the nation’s largest celebration of new playwrights and new works and stands as a true celebration of the vitality and promise of the American Theatre.

Following the conclusion of the Monday Night series, PlayGround presents Best of PlayGround, a celebration of the top new playwrights and works from the season, in Los Angeles (April 6), New York (April 20), Chicago (April 27) and San Francisco (May 23-24).

2025-26 PlayGround-Chicago Company

PlayGround also recently announced its 2025-26 Company, including the Writers Pool, Resident Playwrights and Artist Company. These 160+ artists will fuel PlayGround’s incubator programs over the next season, fostering the development of more than 150 original short and full-length plays.

The PlayGround-Chicago 2025-26 Writers Pool includes: Daniel Arzola, Siah Berlatsky, Andrea Berting, Jessie Bond, Anne Brady, Rachel Chin, Mikayla De Guzman, Kimberly Dixon-Mays, Betsy Dudak, Liz Haas, Dana Hall, James Hayakawa, Toby Inoue, Arti Ishak, Tanuja Devi Jagernauth, Jerluane Jenkins, Jessica Johnson, alfonzo kahlil, Juliet Kang Huneke, Alex Kingsley, Alan Maass, Sydney MacGilvray, Shail Modi, J.S. Puller, Shannon Pritchard, Jay Rehak, Matt Schutz, Katherine Swan.

2025-26 Resident Playwrights: San Francisco: Monique Adams, Madeleine Butler*, Laura Domingo**, Bridgette Dutta Portman, Daniel Martinez Jr., Christian Wilburn; Los Angeles: Summer Broyhill, Amy Ellenberger, Paris Herbert-Taylor, Jonathan Josephson, Mercedes Segesvary, Baylee Shlichtman*; New York: Saiya Floyd, Howard Ho, Dana Leslie Goldstein, Wade Lawrence Hollomon, Lyra Nalan, Camron Wright*; Chicago: Anne Brady*, Jessie Bond, alfonzo kahlil, Juliet Kang Huneke, Karissa Murrell Myers, Katherine Swan.

* Playwrights under commission for the 2025-26 season
** June Anne Baker Award Winner

In addition, PlayGround is pleased to welcome new and returning members of the PlayGround-Chicago Artist Company: Manny Buckley, Valerie Butler-Newbern, Devin Christor, Andrea Conway-Diaz, Yvette Corrine, Lynda Cortez, Vivian Delgadillo, Spencer Diedrick, Eileen Dixon, Sheri Flanders, Skylar Frishman, Ashley Graham, Scott Gryder, Charlotte Harris, Carmia Imani, Hannah Lynn Kato, Benjamin Kelly, Charlie Levinson, Beau Malone, Kaeli Meno, Paige Mesina, Ilsa Morales, Alka Nayyar, Leanna Oliveira, Dakota Pariset, Kendall Phillips, Shariba Rivers, Diana Simonzadeh, Brooke-Erin Smith, Peter Stielstra, Tyler Struble, William C. Thompson, Kezia Waters, Karla Wren, Braedyn Youngberg, Jordan Zelvin.

About PlayGround-Chicago

The mission of PlayGround-Chicago is to support the development of new local voices for the theatre, with a core commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. PlayGround-Chicago is Chicago’s newest playwright incubator, providing unique opportunities for the cultivation and development of early-career local playwrights and partnerships with leading professional directors, actors and theatres. Through the development of original short and full-length plays, PlayGround creates a microcosm of the greater theatre scene, supporting emerging playwrights’ experimentation and risk-taking, while helping them to hone their style and technique. PlayGround-Chicago is the third regional expansion of the celebrated Bay Area playwright incubator and theatre community hub, PlayGround.

2025-26 Monday Night PlayGround Season Calendar

Monday Night PlayGround
Round 1: October 13 (LA), October 20 (SF), October 18 (NY), November 5 (Chicago)
Round 2: November 24 (LA), December 1 (SF), December 8 (NY), December 15 (Chicago)
Round 3: January 12 (LA), January 19 (SF), January 26 (NY), February 2 (Chicago)
Round 4: February 23 (LA), March 2 (SF), March 9 (NY), March 16 (Chicago)

Best of PlayGround
April 6, 2026 (LA)
April 20, 2026 (NY)
April 27, 2026 (Chicago)
May 23-24, 2026 (SF)

All programs will be offered both in-person and online this year and are all admission free. Tickets and Monday Night PlayGround memberships go on sale September 1, 2025.

Venue:
Monday Night PlayGround-Chicago performances
Theater Wit: 1229 W Belmont Ave, Chicago, IL 60657

For more information, visit playground-ch.org
For information on our sister programs, visit PlayGround-SF, PlayGround-LA and PlayGround-NY.

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