PlayGround
For General Support
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Amount$60,000
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Program
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Date Awarded11/17/2008
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Term36 Months
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Type of SupportGeneral Support/Organization
Overview
Through a well-honed new-play development process Playground (San Francisco, CA) founded in San Francisco in 1994, links first-time or early development playwrights with established professional actors and directors and generates new work for Bay Area theaters. In a model mirroring the old Hollywood studio system, Playground annually selects thirty-six writers who have never had a play produced by a major theater, to join its "stable" of playwrights. Each month these writers submit ten page ‘playlets’ to a panel that selects six to be presented at staged readings by professional local actors. The best of these playlets are presented in an annual festival, recorded for dissemination through KQED radio’s podcasting program, and brought to the attention of local directors and producers gaining visibility for the emerging writers and, in several instances, resulting in commissions for full-length new plays. Operating on a small budget of $160,000, Playground’s part-time staff leverages relationships with theater artists throughout the Bay Area and, with renewed Hewlett Foundation support, will continue to play an important part in supplying the arts ecosystem with new works of theater and creating opportunities for fresh voices to be heard on stage. (Renewal, $60,000/3; 15% of organization budget)
About the Grantee
Grantee Website
www.playground-sf.org
Address
3286 Adeline Street, Suite 8, Berkeley, CA, 94703-2485, United States
Grants to this Grantee
for general operating support
PlayGround supports the development of new voices for theater through by cultivating the craft and careers of emerging and more experienced theater makers. Each year, the organization engages over 400 local playwrights, directors, actors, and designers. It commissions the creation new theater works, provides performance opportunities for performers and playwrights, incubates new theater productions and organizations, and serves as a fiscal sponsor. The organization serves audiences through free performances at its theater in San Francisco and online streaming, all of which contributes to the Performing Arts Program’s Artists Strategy.
for general operating support
Through a well-honed new-play development process, PlayGround links first-time or rising playwrights with established professional actors and directors to generate new work for Bay Area theaters. PlayGround annually selects thirty-six writers who have never had a play produced by a major theater. They then compete to join PlayGround’s pool of playwrights and be one of six whose short plays are produced at a monthly showcase. The best of these "playlets" are then presented in an annual festival, which brings emerging writers to the attention of local directors and producers and results in commissions for new full-length plays.
