Playwrights Foundation Announces Spring Reading Series

Playwrights Foundation's 6th Rough Reading of the season will be Breakout Session (or Frogorse) by Nikkole Salter, directed by Beth Wood on Monday, March 11 at 7:30 PM, Roble Hall, Stanford University; and Tuesday, March 12 at 7:00PM.

The #RoughReadings Series is a monthly series of new works by rising national playwrights. It is in its 12th year thanks to the National Center for New Plays at Stanford University. Come join us to listen to a new work in development, meet the writer, and participate in the creative effort of bringing contemporary theater to life. Like the Playwrights Festival the works are presented by Bay Area professional actors and directors. Two readings are held for each script. The Rough Readings are produced in partnership with National Center for New Plays at Stanford University. All readings are Pay What You Can.

2019 Bay Area Playwrights Festival July 19 to 28 2019

The 42nd Annual Bay Area Playwrights Festival, the premiere festival for new works on the west coast, runs July 19th - 28th returning to the Potrero Stage, 1695 18th St, San Francisco, CA 94107. Over 700 scripts were submitted for this year's festival. The final six talented emerging playwrights from across the country will each have two readings of a new work; presented by the Bay Area's top acting talent. Final playwrights will be announced in April and tickets for the festival will go on sale in May.

The 6th Rough Reading of the season: 3/11 & 12

Breakout Session (or Frogorse) by Nikkole Salter,

Directed by Beth Wood

BREAKOUT SESSION (OR FROGORSE) is a timely play born from extensive interviews with members of the Cleveland Police Department. It takes on racism and snap judgements through the eyes of a trainer while she leads a breakout session during a mandated anti-bias training. The characters explore their animal sides and hold the mirror up to human nature - confronting the implicit bias we all hold inside us.

As a dramatist, Ms. Salter has written 8 full-length plays, been commissioned for full-length work by 6 institutions, been produced on 3 continents in 5 countries, and been published in 12 international publications. Her work has appeared in over 20 Off-Broadway, regional and international theatres, and the Crossroads Theatre production of her play REPAIRING A NATION (directed by Marshall Jones, III) was regionally aired during the second season of the WNET program "Theatre Close-Up"on NYC's channel THIRTEEN, WLIC, NJTV. The National Black Theatre production of her play CARNAVAL was nominated for 7 AUDELCO awards including Best Playwright and Best Production and won for Best Ensemble Performance. Ms. Salter is a 2014 MAP Fund Grant recipient, a Eugene O'Neill Theater Center National Playwrights Conference semi-finalist, USA Fellowship nominee, a two time Playwright's of New York (PoNY) Fellowship nominee, is currently working on commissions from Woolly Mammoth, the National New Play Network/Cleveland Public Theatre, a musical with Neworks Productions, and is in development to write the television adaptation of Claude Brown's New York Times Bestselling novel, Manchild in the Promised Land.

Playwrights Foundation
Spring Rough Reading Series February- May 2019

Bastiano or The Transfiguration of Raffi by Carey Perloff, directed by Tony Taccone

February 11, 7:30pm, Roble Hall, Stanford University

February 12, 7:00pm, Theatre of Yugen, San Francisco

Breakout Sessions (or Frogorse) by Nikkole Salter, directed by Beth Wood

March 11, 7:30pm, Roble Hall, Stanford University

March 12, 7:00pm, Theatre of Yugen, San Francisco

Supreme Leader by Don Nguyen, directed by Ken Savage

April 8, 7:30pm, Roble Hall, Stanford University

April 9, 7:00pm, Theatre of Yugen, San Francisco

The Garbologists by Lyndsay Joelle, directed by Jessica Bird

May 20, 7:30pm, Roble Hall, Stanford University

May 21, 7:00pm, Theatre of Yugen, San Francisco

Playwrights Foundation (PF) was founded in 1976, and is today widely recognized as one of the top play development labs in the U.S. Our artistic purpose is to support and champion contemporary playwrights in the creation of new works to sustain theater as a vital, dynamic art form. PF seeks to identify exceptional emerging artists and give them space and time to explore new theatrical ideas and forms in an environment free from the pressures of the marketplace.

By providing a creative home for largely unknown, exceptional local and national playwrights, and committing to accelerating their careers, PF fulfills an essential need in the cultural ecology of the Bay Area. In so doing, we have earned a national reputation for introducing a truly diverse range of singular, boundary-breaking new voices to the American stage, challenging assumptions about subject matter and artistic complexity. The only development lab of its size and scope on the West Coast, PF is widely recognized for its programmatic excellence. Our programs include the Bay Area Playwrights Festival; the Resident Playwrights Initiative; and the Producing Partnership Initiative, which includes our monthly Rough Readings Series.