PlayGround

06/17/2026

Announcing the ONE PLAYGROUND GALA (2026)
Celebrating Margo Hall and the June Anne Baker Prize 25th Anniversary
📆September 14, 2026
🎟 playground-sf.org/gala/

PlayGround will honor four theatre luminaries at our annual four-city gala on Monday, September 14th. In conjunction with the 25th anniversary of PlayGround’s June Anne Baker Prize, one of the nation’s longest-running play commissions dedicated to the next generation of promising women/non-binary playwrights, PlayGround will recognize significant theatre artists and producers who have elevated womxn playwrights and stories throughout their careers:

Margo Hall, Lorraine Hansbury Theatre (San Francisco)
Jessica Kubzansky, Boston Court Pasadena (Los Angeles)
Emily Shooltz, Signature Theatre (New York)
Ericka Ratcliff, Chicago Shakespeare Theater (Chicago).

The 2026 June Anne Baker Prize winners are Esther Banegas Gatica (PlayGround-Los Angeles), KT Frances Hartline (PlayGround-SF), Uma Incrocci (PlayGround-NY), and Toby Inoue (PlayGround-CH). The Gala honorary committee includes June Anne Baker Prize alumni Lauren Yee and Geetha Reddy (honorary co-chairs), as well as Rachel Bublitz, Patricia Cotter, Laura Domingo, Brady Lea, Alanna McFall, Erin Marie Panttaja, Evelyn Jean Pine, Bridgette Dutta Portman, and Kimberly Ridgeway.

06/15/2026

TONIGHT! 💜TONIGHT! 💜TONIGHT!
Worldbuilding: Your Secret Weapon with Melissa Hillman
June 15, 2026 @ 6:00 PM, Online via Zoom
Registration $50: playground-sf.org/education/

Think worldbuilding is just for sci-fi and fantasy? Think again. In this engaging masterclass, Melissa Hillman uncovers how worldbuilding can transform your playwriting—strengthening your characters, clarifying your story, and grounding your work in authenticity. Learn how to use worldbuilding intentionally, sidestep common traps, and unlock a powerful tool hiding in plain sight. Taught by dramaturg, educator, and former Artistic Director of Impact Theatre, Melissa brings decades of experience working with playwrights across the Bay Area, along with a PhD in Dramatic Art from UC Berkeley and a deep commitment to thoughtful, inclusive storytelling.

East Bay-born Melissa Hillman has been part of the Bay Area theatre community for most of her life. She was the Artistic Director of Impact Theatre and served for a decade on TBA's Theatre Services Committee. She holds a PhD in Dramatic Art from UC Berkeley, and has taught all over the Bay Area, including Cal, CSU East Bay, and the Berkeley Rep School of Theatre. She writes the blog Bitter Gertrude, and has been published by Methuen, HuffPo, TCG, and many others. As a dramaturg, she's worked for a number of companies and playwrights, most recently as PlayCafe's resident dramaturg. As a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion consultant, she specializes in white allyship, cis allyship, and disability.

06/14/2026

PlayGround invites early-career and aspiring directors resident in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, NYC or Chicago to apply for the one-year Directing Apprenticeship program. The deadline to apply is 11:59pm on June 30, 2026.

Selections will be announced on or before August 1. Directing apprentices will assist professional directors for 3 rounds of the Monday Night PlayGround staged reading series (90 minutes of rehearsal and a brief tech for each round) and will then have their Monday Night PlayGround directing debut in one of the remaining month.

Directing Apprenticeship – Due 6/30; Application Link:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd7TX8zIZoQRGPsFw4e1XtM5YzAv_ntLAQzdLluj5coWc_Fag/viewform

06/13/2026

Announcing the 5th Annual FREE-PLAY FESTIVAL
July 31-August 23, 2026
Potrero Stage & Simulcast
Admission-Free (Suggested Donation $10-$30)
Check out the lineup: playground-sf.org/freeplay/

PlayGround closes out the summer season with the fifth annual FREE-PLAY FESTIVAL! This four-week “fringe style” new works festival features 21 productions and 61 performances by talented theatre artists from across the country including PlayGround artists based in the Bay Area, Los Angeles, New York and Chicago.

06/12/2026

💜This Monday Only:
Worldbuilding: Your Secret Weapon with Melissa Hillman
June 15, 2026 @ 6:00 PM, Online via Zoom
Registration $50: playground-sf.org/education/

Think worldbuilding is just for sci-fi and fantasy? Think again. In this engaging masterclass, Melissa Hillman uncovers how worldbuilding can transform your playwriting—strengthening your characters, clarifying your story, and grounding your work in authenticity. Learn how to use worldbuilding intentionally, sidestep common traps, and unlock a powerful tool hiding in plain sight. Taught by dramaturg, educator, and former Artistic Director of Impact Theatre, Melissa brings decades of experience working with playwrights across the Bay Area, along with a PhD in Dramatic Art from UC Berkeley and a deep commitment to thoughtful, inclusive storytelling.

East Bay-born Melissa Hillman has been part of the Bay Area theatre community for most of her life. She was the Artistic Director of Impact Theatre and served for a decade on TBA's Theatre Services Committee. She holds a PhD in Dramatic Art from UC Berkeley, and has taught all over the Bay Area, including Cal, CSU East Bay, and the Berkeley Rep School of Theatre. She writes the blog Bitter Gertrude, and has been published by Methuen, HuffPo, TCG, and many others. As a dramaturg, she's worked for a number of companies and playwrights, most recently as PlayCafe's resident dramaturg. As a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion consultant, she specializes in white allyship, cis allyship, and disability.

06/11/2026

How to Build a Playwright in Three Acts with Rachel Bublitz
June 30, 2026 @ 6:00 PM, Online via Zoom
Registration: $50: playground-sf.org/education/

In this hands-on masterclass, acclaimed playwright Rachel Bublitz shares exercises, prompts, and creative strategies from her new book How to Build a Playwright in Three Acts, designed to help writers at any stage develop their voice, strengthen their craft, and move their work forward.

Rachel Bublitz is an award winning and internationally produced playwright known for telling stories about women, and creating exciting new work for young performers. Her play Funny, Like An Abortion received a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere by Mile Square Theatre, Cleveland Public Theatre, and The VORTEX. She received the prestigious Will Glickman Award for the best premiere play in the San Francisco Bay Area for her full-length Ripped. Her play The Night Witches has received over fifty productions worldwide. Rachel was recognized as a top emerging female playwright in the Bay Area, receiving the June Anne Baker Prize. Her work has been produced at theaters and schools across the country, as well as Canada, England, Ireland, and Australia. Rachel moved to Salt Lake City in 2016. Since her move she’s been produced by Good Company Theatre (Ripped), and was named the resident playwright of the Egyptian YouTheatre. She has developed her plays with Salt Lake Acting Company (Ripped, Burst, and Let's Fix Andy), Plan-B Theatre (Mommy Dances With The Devil and Tip Top Triangle), The University of Utah (Hear Us Roar), Utah Shakespeare Festival (Burst), as well as multiple commissions from the Egyptian YouTheatre (Cheerleaders VS. Aliens, The Night Witches, and The Summer I Howled).

06/09/2026

Producers! 😈 Feeling Naughty? 🥰 Feeling Nice?

BRING YOUR HOLIDAY SHOW TO POTRERO STAGE!
Applications are now being accepted for PlayGround’s 1st Annual Twisted Holiday Festival. The deadline to submit is July 31, 2026. More info here: playground-sf.org/twistedholiday/

SUBMIT YOUR SHOW!PlayGround’s 1st Annual TWISTED HOLIDAY FESTIVAL...

06/06/2026

Worldbuilding: Your Secret Weapon with Melissa Hillman
June 15, 2026 @ 6:00 PM, Online via Zoom
Registration $50: playground-sf.org/education/

Think worldbuilding is just for sci-fi and fantasy? Think again. In this engaging masterclass, Melissa Hillman uncovers how worldbuilding can transform your playwriting—strengthening your characters, clarifying your story, and grounding your work in authenticity. Learn how to use worldbuilding intentionally, sidestep common traps, and unlock a powerful tool hiding in plain sight. Taught by dramaturg, educator, and former Artistic Director of Impact Theatre, Melissa brings decades of experience working with playwrights across the Bay Area, along with a PhD in Dramatic Art from UC Berkeley and a deep commitment to thoughtful, inclusive storytelling.

East Bay-born Melissa Hillman has been part of the Bay Area theatre community for most of her life. She was the Artistic Director of Impact Theatre and served for a decade on TBA's Theatre Services Committee. She holds a PhD in Dramatic Art from UC Berkeley, and has taught all over the Bay Area, including Cal, CSU East Bay, and the Berkeley Rep School of Theatre. She writes the blog Bitter Gertrude, and has been published by Methuen, HuffPo, TCG, and many others. As a dramaturg, she's worked for a number of companies and playwrights, most recently as PlayCafe's resident dramaturg. As a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion consultant, she specializes in white allyship, cis allyship, and disability.