spring 2007 reading series

february 27, 2007

THEODICY
Judy Juanita

Two older black men fall improbably into a river of death, where one, a retired ophthalmologist, questions God and event from black history that touched his life tangentially. Their wives, as in in a parallel universe, babble on about their mundane concerns.

“Counter-Terrorism,” was performed at colleges in Oakland, and L.A., [2002-2003], then featured at Bay Area Playwrights Festival 2004; “Heaven’s Hold,” was produced at Brava! Theatre, S.F. and the 2001 National Black Theater Festival in Winston-Salem; “Samaritan-ism” [2005] and “Famine” [2006] were featured at the 24-hr Women’s Will Playfests at the Julia Morgan Theater in Berkeley; “Knocked Up,” a commedia dell’Arte I co-wrote on the morning-after pill, has toured with the SF Mime Troupe, 1993-2006.


april 17, 2007

EVEN THE GIANTS
Richard McKern

In "Even the Giants" the Clark family attempts to reinvent themselves while coming of age in 1990 suburban Boston.

Richard McKern’s plays include Lights Out (SF Fringe), Big Man and The Love (Kresge Theatre, Cambridge, MA), Twenty One (Wilma Theater, Philadelphia, PA). In his 3rd season with PlayGround, he currently lives in Oakland with his wife, Michelle, and daughter, Kelsa. Richard attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he received Bachelor of Science degrees in Chemical Engineering and Science Journalism, in addition to playing on the MIT Blackjack Team.


april 24, 2007

ANAEOROBIC ASPIRATION
Krista Knight

A control-obsessed aerobics instructor tries to dig up her past and stop her brother from marrying his internet fiancé while simultaneously teaching a step class.

Krista Knight received her BA in English and Theater from Brown University in 2006 and is currently pursuing a master's degree in Performance Studies at NYU. Her play Anaerobic Respiration won the 2005 Southwestern States National Playwriting Contest and was produced last summer in the New York Fringe Festival. Her work has been staged at the Riant Theater in New York, the Panoply Arts Festival in Alabama, the Harvest Theatre in Toledo, the Attic Theatre in Los Angeles, the Pan Theatre in San Francisco and the Bus Barn Theatre in Los Altos. It has been developed at the O'Neill Theater in Connecticut, First Stage in Los Angeles, the Institute of Contemporary Art in London, and the Magic Theatre and the Playwright's Center in San Francisco.


may 8, 2007

SERA
Angela Santillo

A city lies before Vesuvius. When it erupts do you wait for light or run through hell?

Raised in Los Angeles, Angela Santillo now lives in the Bay Area and graduated from Saint Mary’s College with a BA in English and Theatre. As a senior, she wrote and directed a serio-comedy entitled " Red Umbrellas." It was invited to compete in the Kennedy Center’s American College Theatre Festival’s Region Eight’s finals. She currently works for FoolsFURY and is a member of the SF playwriting group Throughline.


may 8, 2007

TABITHA’S DATE WITH GOD
Marilyn Flower

He may be God, but is he Mr. Right?

TBA member, Marilyn Flower's short plays have been produced by ABYDOS, Playwright's and Playground. Her '03 Fringe Festival play, "Out of Breath" is used in the training of Hospice volunteers in the Tampa Bay, Florida area. Her full length play, "The Muse-icality of Chocolate" received a staged reading at PCSF and is now available for full production


may 15, 2007

THE PRIMARY PROBLEM
Jon Brooks

No questions asked.

Jon Brooks was a co-writer of the San Francisco Mime Troupe’s 2006 production Godfellas. His one-act play, November 2001, was produced at last year’s San Francisco Fringe Festival. In 2004, his full-length play, The Button, ran for two weeks at The Bloomington Playwrights Project in Indiana; and his Better Than Hitler was produced for the Bay One-Acts Festival in San Francisco, as well as in Italy.


may 22, 2007

THE LORD’S SONG
Bob Lane

The power of the Queen confronts the conviction of a priest when Elizabeth I is defied by her own handpicked Archbishop of Canterbury.

After seminary and careers as a lawyer and college professor, Bob got involved in theatre, acting in many productions in North Carolina and here in the Bay Area. He began writing plays in 2003, frequently writes about religion, and is currently working on a play about a fundamentalist mother whose son’s life is saved by drugs that only exist because of the AIDS epidemic.


june 19, 2007

THE LITTLE MERMAID IS NOT FOR CHILDREN
Alina Trowbridge

Three women in their forties who lose their mother find that they'd rather do almost anything than grieve. Kali, the Devouring Mother, and all that.

Alina Trowbridge’s 10-minute plays have been performed in Berkeley, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, New York, and New Hampshire. Her full-length, Seismic Surprises Enliven Our Lives, received a staged reading at the Playwrights’ Center in November 2004 and honorable mention in Stage 3’s Festival of New Plays 2005 (Sonora).