SF’s 9th Annual “Solo Fest” 18 Artists, 58 Shows (Jan 16-Feb 8)
Potrero Stage | 1695 18th St, San Francisco, CA
Event Details
PlayGround Announces 9th Annual
SOLO PERFORMANCE FESTIVAL:
Eighteen Dynamite Solo Performers * 58 Performances
January 16th-February 8th, 2026
Live at Potrero Stage & Online Simulcast
SAN FRANCISCO – PlayGround has announced the lineup for its ninth annual PlayGround Solo Performance Festival, a curation of the best in solo performance, running January 16-February 8, 2026 (Thurs-Mon), presented live at San Francisco’s Potrero Stage and simulcast online. The festival of new solo work features 18 solo performers and 58 performances, including work by Linda Ayres-Frederick, Blaire Battle, Diana Brown, Annie Laurie Daniel, Carolyn Doyle, Ketsia Duval, Nicole Galland, Emil Amok Guillermo, Caroline Hawthorne, Ric Iverson, Susan Lily Jackson, Emily M. Keyishian, Joshua Klein, Brian Leonard, Schaeffer Nelson, Miyoko Sakatani, Gabe Seplow, RJ Silva, and Puja Tolton.
This year’s festival was competitively selected from open applications, and is a direct extension of PlayGround’s mission and commitment to the discovery of bold new voices for the stage and the development of innovative and timely original content. Tickets are Admission-Free (Suggested Donation: $10-$30). All donations directly support PlayGround and our guest artists. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit playground-sf.org/solofest.
Schedule of Performances and Show Synopses:
The Retreat written by Nicole Galland, performed by Éowyn Mader, directed by Nancy Carlin
Fri, Jan 16 at 8:30pm, Thurs, Feb 5 at 8:30pm, Sat, Feb 7 at 7pm; Sun, Feb 8 at 2:30pm
Minutes before you begin a 3-day silent mindfulness retreat, a close friend betrays your trust (again!) – and now you’re stuck in the same meditation hall and dining room and corridors with him, unable to confront him in real life while unable to stop confronting him in your head. Will you spend the whole weekend writing a gloriously satisfying f*ck-you letter? Or can the Retreat Support Team’s foul-mouthed Buddhist counselor help you find compassionate nonattachment?
International Party Girl written and performed by Annie Laurie Daniel
Fri, Jan 16 at 7pm; Sat, Jan 17 at 5:30pm; Sun, Jan 18 at 4pm
International Party Girl is a bold dark comedy and immersive theatrical experience that dives into loneliness, club culture, fake friendships, and the isolating search for connection. At its center is IPG, the ultimate party girl, trapped in the smoking section of a nightclub, teetering between the DJ booth and a breakdown. Developed with devised techniques inspired by experimental theater icons Wooster Group and Elevator Repair Service, this high-energy performance takes audiences on a wild ride through IPG’s desires, addictions, and heartbreaks. Equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking, International Party Girl will leave you laughing, crying, and maybe reaching for a drink of your own.
Clara written and performed by Linda Ayres-Frederick
Sat, Jan 17 at 2:30pm, Thurs, Jan 22 at 8:30pm, Sun, Feb 1 at 7pm, Fri, Feb 6 at 8:30pm
Clara invites us into her New Jersey seaside kitchen while making cherry strudel. She shares the secrets for survival she learned while fleeing Ukraine–the land of her birth–to get to South America and finally to the United States in 1919. Inspired by the life of the author’s grandmother, this piece encompasses spoken word, the humor, wisdom and personal heroism familiar to immigrants the world over.
Fated Emergence written and performed by Ketsia Duval
Sat, Jan 17 at 4pm; Sun, Jan 25 at 7pm; Sun, Feb 1 at 8:30pm
Experience life through the eyes of Evian–a Haitian child who finds themself in a new world when their family leaves for America after surviving the 2010 earthquake. Through the lens of metamorphosis, Fated Emergence takes you on the journey of an artist’s tumultuous past as they try to make sense of their present while dreaming of their future. Follow Evie as they traverse through stories of the home they left behind–Ayiti–wrestling with their grief and doubt while nursing their deep-seated desire to be seen and make their way as an artist. A poetic experience, Fated Emergence is filled with stories of grief, humor, and magic for all souls who have ever lost their way back home.
69, Emil Amok: A Real Journalist Stands Up written and performed by Emil Amok Guillermo
Sat, Jan 17 at 7pm; Monday, Jan 26 at 8:30pm; Monday, Feb 2 at 8:30pm; Sat, Feb 7 at 2:30pm
Spoken word, standup comedy, storytelling performance by former NPR host Emil Amok Guillermo about life in the unique FDT year 2025 from an Asian American-Filipino perspective. It’s one man’s search to understand what is going on in a regressive America hurtling toward the “F” word. “Filipino”?
Fagnostic written and performed by Ric Iverson
Sat, Jan 17 at 8:30pm; Monday, Jan 19 at 8:30pm; Sun, Jan 25 at 2:30pm; Sun, Feb 8 at 5:30pm
What do Santa Claus, Jesus Christ, and the Easter Bunny have in common? Spoiler alert: It isn’t science. Coming out as non-binary at 64 years old has left Ric with more questions than answers. Watch as they try to find them in this hilarious romp through biblical text. Oh…and puppets.
The Specimen: A Horror Play written and performed by Schaeffer Nelson
Sun, Jan 18 at 2:30pm; Sat, Jan 24 at 4pm; Thurs, Jan 29 at 8:30pm; Monday, Feb 2 at 7pm
Johnny, a gay paleozoologist, is fired under Trump science budget cuts. Outraged, he makes a life-altering decision and is infected by a strange pathogen. Set entirely in an apartment bathroom, what follows is both a darkly comedic look at obsessive, male ambition and a chilling, new urban legend. Content warning: includes bloody imagery and nudity.
Broken Borders written and performed by Emily M. Keyishian
Sun, Jan 18 at 5:30pm; Sat, Jan 24 at 7pm; Sat, Feb 7 at 8:30pm
Exploring what happens when home is a story instead of a place. This piece is a reckoning with my paternal grandparents’ story: their expulsion during the Armenian Genocide and how that trauma haunted our family growing up in New Jersey and New York City in the ’70s and ’80s. It’s framed within a journey my family took in December 2024 to visit central Turkey and locate the villages they were forced from. My grandfather described it as a kind of utopia, a lost Eden preserved in memory and in his brother’s paintings of the Arkeos Mountain. And then I stood there, the first of us to return. What would be there to see? How do you describe the shell of a paradise to the people who were forced to leave it behind? This production is also about inheriting displacement—being multiethnic, feeling like an outsider everywhere, never finding solid ground. That rootlessness emerges in my art: patterns creating cellular worlds on canvas, and dissolving into character onstage, escaping fixed identity.
Theatrical Monologues: From Shakespeare to Modern adapted and performed by Joshua Klein
Sun, Jan 18 at 7pm; Sun, Jan 25 at 8:30pm; Sun, Feb 1 at 4pm
Enjoy a collection of classical and modern monologues from throughout theatrical history! Spanning themes of dysfunctional family dynamics, social dissent, and spiritual crisis, this whirlwind evening of passionate storytelling is a must-see for lovers of stagecraft.
Possession: Invitation and Exultation written by Christopher Robin Magee, performed by Puja Tolton
Sun, Jan 18 at 8:30pm; Sat, Jan 24 at 2:30pm; Sat, Jan 31 at 7pm
Dr. Emmerince Euclydedes Catherine Ann Gnomen presents (for the first time) her studies in aberrant psycho science to the public. Join her for 3 nights as she demonstrates, using modern scientific methods, her process for communication with the paranormal and extraplanar entities, either once of this world or merely informed by the collective psychosphere. After years of independent study this foremost expert in moderated and governed possession invites you to witness firsthand her methods in this rarefied scientific practice.
A show about self empowerment, body autonomy and reconciling the wounds of our past with how we shape our present. A comedy.
Therapist Zero written and performed by Brian Leonard
Monday, Jan 19 at 7pm; Sun, Jan 25 at 5:30pm; Sat, Jan 31 at 2:30pm
This deeply personal and darkly comic one-man show explores the complexities of parenting a brilliant but emotionally explosive daughter through two decades, 28 therapists, and a mental healthcare system that often felt more confounding than supportive.
The Lost Priest written and performed by Gabe Seplow, directed by Julia Grace Kelley
Thurs, Jan 22 at 7pm; Fri, Jan 23 at 8:30pm; Sat, Jan 24 at 5:30pm
The Lost Priest is a deeply introspective and poetic one-person play written and performed by Gabe Seplow. Born from a place of unease, the piece explores how religion, identity, and ethnicity collide – and sometimes entangle – in ways that are both beautiful and painful.
It follows the contemplative journey of the titled role who navigates his own cultural understanding to find peace and meaning in the fragments of his own experience. Rooted in Jewish traditions and rituals, this liminal performance is a raw meditation on the universal longing for connection.
The iPhone Arias written and performed by Caroline Hawthorne
Fri, Jan 23 at 7pm; Sat, Jan 24 at 8:30pm; Sun, Jan 25 at 4pm
The iPhone Arias is a solo–operatic-musical-comedy about one woman’s chaotic relationship told through her cellphone. Come laugh, cry, and cringe.
Good Grief! Tales of a Persistent Blockhead written and performed by Carolyn Doyle, directed by Kendall Tieck
Monday, Jan 26 at 7pm; Sat, Jan 31 at 8:30pm; Sun, Feb 1 at 5:30pm; Sun, Feb 8 at 4:00pm
Good Grief! Tales of a Persistent Blockhead is a humorous look at childhood of love and loss. An intimate, captivating snapshot of growing up with those well-worn Charlie Brown TV Specials, being raised by an alcoholic mother, dumped by a childhood best friend and discovering, much like Charlie Brown, humor and resilience as a superpower.
You Eat So Well! written and performed by RJ Silva
Thurs, Jan 29 at 7pm; Fri, Jan 30 at 8:30pm; Sat, Jan 31 at 4pm
Join RJ for a meal in his solo storytelling show about his relationships with food – from charting his beginnings as a latchkey kid, moving to America mid-puberty and gay awakenings, and rediscovering a love for food, family, and his culture throughout adulthood. The show explores food as a cultural love language to Filipinos, and how RJ’s immigration story charted a complicated but ultimately fulfilling relationship with his hunger for food and community.
Advanced Sexual Education: A One* Woman** Show written and performed by Blaire Battle
Fri, Jan 30 at 7pm; Sat, Jan 31 at 5:30pm; Sun, Feb 1 at 2:30pm
Blaire’s teaching sex ed now. After all, those who don’t do, teach. At 15, she helped design an inclusive sex ed curriculum with Virginia Planned parenthood. Now she’s back, after transitioning to a woman–and actually having sex. Advanced Sexual Education uses audience interaction, standup, personal anecdotes of her “four puberties”, and that very same curriculum to mine comedy from the least sexy of subjects–talking about sex. Join her for a comedic crash course on sex, gender, and how little we all know about it.
In The Spirit of Gaman: The Mitsuye Endo Story written and performed by Miyoko Sakatani
Fri, Feb 6 at 7pm; Sat, Feb 7 at 4pm; Sun, Feb 8 at 7pm
Gaman is a Japanese term that means to endure the seemingly unbearable with patience, perseverance and dignity. Miyoko created this biographical fiction to honor this often overlooked unsung civil rights hero who sacrificed her own freedom from incarceration to pursue freedom for her entire community. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, FDR issued Executive Order 9066, which authorized the forced evacuation and mass incarceration of around 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry on the West Coast, including Miyoko’s own family. With quiet courage and persistence, Mitsuye Endo’s habeas corpus Supreme Court case challenged the legality of EO 9066 with a landmark ruling that stands as one of the most important civil liberties decisions of World War II. Ex Parte Endo continues to be relevant in today’s political climate where any minority group could be considered dangerous and disloyal and end up in detention camps. Miyoko blends her versatile stage experience, humor and heart as she embodies Mitsuye and other key figures in this poignant journey for social justice.
The Bird Pageant Ladies of Jackson, Mississippi by Diana Brown and Susan Lily Jackson, performed by Diana Brown
Thurs, Feb 5 at 7pm; Sat, Feb 7 at 5:30pm; Sun, Feb 8 at 8:30pm
The Bird Pageant Ladies of Jackson, Mississippi is based on Eudora Welty’s photographs of African-American women dressing up for the Pageant of Birds,1935–Farish Street Baptist Church in Jackson, Mississippi. Maesha (Diana Brown) discovers photos of an ancestral female relative dressed up to go to church–with wings attached, and begins to research the phenomenon. Maesha goes into the history and purpose of the movement, and acts out some of the women as they prepare for the pageant: Pearl, Queenie, Maebel, and Beulah.
Artist Bios:
Emil Amok Guillermo (69, Emil Amok: A Real Journalist Stands Up , Writer/Performer) An award-winning journalist turned comedian, Emil was the first Asian American Filipino to regularly host a national news show (NPR/“All Things Considered”). He turned to solo performance after recalling his interview with Spalding Gray in San Francisco. Since 2016,he has written and performed “Emil Amok: All Pucked Up,” “Emil Amok: A Phool’s Philipino American History,” “Emil Amok; Lost NPR Host,” “Emil Amok: Married to PETA,” “Emil Amok,69: Everything’s Flipped,” and now “69, Emil Amok: Not TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome).” After performing at Playground’s Solofest in 2018, he has appeared in more than a dozen fringe festivals in New York City, Washington,DC, Baltimore, Orlando, San Diego, San Francisco, Fresno, Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Vancouver. As a comic actor, he has been in four plays by Ishmael Reed including two off-off Broadway productions of “The Conductor,” and “The Shine Challenge.” His collected essays, “Amok: Essays from an Asian American Perspective,” won an American Book Award in 2000. Since 2017, he has hosted the PETA Podcast. He currently serves as a poet laureate in San Joaquin County, California. A native San Franciscan, Emil attended Lowell High School and earned his 14th Amendment birthright citizenship at UC Hospital. A member of the Harvard Lampoon, he graduated as class wit.
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Linda Ayres-Frederick (Clara, Writer/Performer) Phoenix Theatre’s Artistic Director since 1985, has enjoyed a rewarding career as an actor, director, producer, critic and playwright. Twice granted the Shubert Playwriting Fellowship, Linda’s plays have received over 20 productions in NYC, San Francisco, Edinburgh, France and Alaska. A 3Girls Theatre playwright in residence,
Vice-President of SF Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle, member of American Theatre Critics Association, the Dramatists Guild, AEA, and AFTRA/SAG, she is a Sarah Lawrence College graduate (Bronxville, NY). A member of PlayGround-SF’s writing pool since 2024, Linda lives in the Mission District with her life partner.
Blaire Battle (Advanced Sexual Education: A One* Woman** Show, Writer/Performer) is an actor, writer and comedian, based out of Los Angeles CA. She is a UCLA graduate with a BA in theater and a certificate in writing for television. She has written for theaters and publications all over the country including Celebration Theater, Playground La, Sapphest NYC, Last Call, LaFNAM’s Musi-Cal, and Fresh Words Magazine. Blaire has also been a Screencraft semi-finalist for her tv pilots with long-time creative partner, Graham C. King. With King, she also co-founded her production company, The Stranger Kind, where she has written and co-written multiple plays and musicals, a weekly space fantasy webcomic, and an upcoming short film. @blaire.battle on ig and @thestrangerkind on all platforms.
Diana Brown (The Bird Pageant Ladies of Jackson, Mississippi, Co-Writer/Performer) is delighted to continue her collaboration with Susan Jackson. She appeared in the 2025 PlayGround Solo Fest in Vertigo; But Not the Movie written by Susan Jackson and Diana Brown. Diana appeared in Jackson’s plays TAKEN, WHEN YOU ARE CALLED, IN SITU, and BLESSING HER HEART for which she was nominated for a BATCC award. She appeared in San Francisco and New York in the long-running, two-hander DEAD CERTAIN. Diana has performed at the Spoleto USA Festival, Capital City Fringe and others She’s half of the touring comedy duo BINGEWATCH, and a guest artist with BATS Improv.
Nancy Carlin (The Retreat, Director) has directed and performed extensively in regional theaters, including the American Conservatory Theater, Cal Shakes, Berkeley Rep, Aurora Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Jewel Theatre, Marin Theatre, TheatreWorks, Shotgun Players, and Shakespeare Santa Cruz. A former longtime company member of A.C.T. and associate artist with Cal Shakes, Carlin is a member of PlayGround. She holds a BA in comparative literature from Brown University and an MFA in acting from A.C.T. Ms. Carlin is a member of AEA, SAG-AFTRA, and SDC. www.nancycarlin.com
Annie Laurie Daniel (International Party Girl, Writer/Performer) is a Los Angeles–based experimental theater artist and poet whose work spans live performance, film, and installation. They earned a BFA in Acting from California Institute of the Arts.Their first solo show Bedwetting premiered in 2024.Their immersive solo work International Party Girl was first produced in New York City by Charlie Chauca and sponsored by Devise Experiment. They have performed and devised original work internationally in Paris, Berlin, and New York City. Music and sound design by Steven James Meidenbauer. Styling by Ian Abernathy. With collaborative support from Jennifer Ayala, Sophia Cleary, Abigail Stanton, and Sarah Shtern.
Carolyn Doyle (Good Grief: Tales of a Persistent Blockhead, Writer/Performer) is an AEA/SAG actor who has performed throughout the Bay Area and is the original and first PlayGround Company Member. As a solo performer, she’s performed at Porchlight, CounterPULSE, EXIT Theatre, and Tell It on Tuesday!, among others. Carolyn’s solo show, Confessions of a Refrigerator Mother enjoyed a highly successful four-week run at The Marsh, playing to sold-out crowds.
Ketsia Duval (Fated Emergence, Writer/Performer) is a queer & trans storyteller in the Bay Area. Growing up in Haiti, under constant civil unrest and a super conservative family, storytelling served primarily as a means of escape for them; a secret place they got to play, ultimately leading to a path of self discovery & queer joy. Storytelling is sacred, a conduit for change, ultimately becoming their priesthood. Their hope is whoever hears their stories walks away with a desire/motivation to enact change, whether within themselves or the community around them.
Nicole Galland (The Retreat, Playwright) is a novelist and former Dramaturg/Literary Manager at Berkeley Rep. Her books includes the NYT-bestselling time-travel romp The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.(with Neal Stephenson). Her 9th novel, the Shakespearean-theatre-themed BOY, came out earlier this year. She most recently co-wrote/directed Last Call, a play about the traditional Irish music scene, in Dublin, Ireland; it will be revived there as part of Tradfest 2026. Her undergraduate degree from Harvard University is in Comparative Religion, with a focus on Buddhism; she had no idea it would ever prove so useful!
Caroline Hawthorne (The iPhone Arias, Writer/Performer) is a multi-disciplinary artist originally from Los Angeles, CA. Her solo work “The Slutty Virgin” premiered at The PlayGround Solo Festival in San Francisco. Her classical compositions have been featured at The Cell Theatre NYC, Off-Brand Opera, and the 24 Hour Play Nationals. She has also performed with Ohio Light Opera, College Light Opera Company, and Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre. Her newest work “The iPhone Arias” has been featured at The Tank, University Settlement, and the Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival. She is now based in New York. As always, love to my family.
Ric Iverson (Fagnostic, Writer/Performer) ended his award-winning trilogy with Period New Paragraph at PlayGround SF Solofest 2025. Favorite roles: Cornelius Hackl in Hello Dolly (starring Leslie Uggams), The Balladeer in the West Coast Premiere of Assassins, Peter Jones Jr. in the World Premiere of Cumberland Blues, Dickon in The Secret Garden, Father Virgil Manly Trott in Nunsense Jamboree (West Coast Premiere), Herman in The Most Happy Fella, Mike Bailey in Sayonara, Will in The Will Rogers Follies, and Jerry Springer in Jerry Springer: The Opera. Fagnostic is performed as a benefit for the Trans Lifeline.
Susan Lily Jackson (The Bird Pageant Ladies of Jackson, Mississippi, Co-Writer) Susan J. Westfall Playwriting Award; Semi-Finalist for the National Playwrights Conference—Eugene
O’Neill Center- THE MONOLOGUE PROJECT-Curator, Dominique Morisseau; Staged- read/produced New York, Bay Area, Columbus Black Theatre Festival, William Inge Festival, internationally. SF PLAYGROUND SOLO —Vertigo: But Not the Movie!– Marsh Monday Night– Published: Smith and Kraus, Finalist: Henley Rose Competition for Female Playwrights; SF Young Playwrights Festival with Lauren Yee and Christopher Chen.
Julia Grace Kelley (The Lost Priest, Writer/Performer), is a performing artist and creative currently based in Chicago, IL. After graduating from Boston Conservatory with a BFA in Musical Theatre and an Emphasis in Directing, Julia worked across the Northeast as an electrician and designer. Julia’s passions lie in collaborative methodologies and the power of movement. She has trained with Co/Motion, Frantic Assembly, and Anne Bogart and was most recently a guest artist at Middle Tennessee State University, acting as the Movement Co-Director.
Emily M. Keyishian (Broken Borders, Writer/Performer) is a Bay Area actor originally from the NJ/NYC area. She has performed in theater and film on both US coasts and in Ireland. She is also a painter. As both Armenian from Turkey and Jewish from what is now Ukraine, has always felt like an outsider everywhere, carrying the stories of her family’s survival and struggle to find homeland and roots. Keeping these stories alive is a political act in a world that wants to continue to silence the voices of those they tried to erase and allows for the exploration of growing despite the loss. Local SF theater actor, trained with Jean Shelton.
Brian Leonard (Therapist Zero, Writer/Performer) is a writer, performer, and storyteller whose first solo show, Therapist Zero, sold out three performances at the San Francisco Fringe Festival and performances at New York’s United Solo Festival. A former stand-up comic once called “one of San Francisco’s most intelligent and funniest comedians” (San Jose Mercury News), Brian has also written for and directed Ellen DeGeneres, Jason Sudeikis, Mindy Kaling, and written for Pixar, and BBC Radio. With humor, heart, and sharp storytelling, Therapist Zero explores parenting, mental health, and resilience, marking Brian’s transition from comedy and screenwriting into solo performance.
Julie Dimas Lockfeld (Clara, Director) was a founding member of the Phoenix Arts Association Theatre where she directed Orpheus Descending, The Ballad of the Sad Café, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Unveiling, The Umbrella Play and performed in numerous roles. More recent directing credits include original works with Opera Unlimited, Piano Fight and at Shelton Theatre: Abundance, The Rainmaker, Savage In Limbo, The Woolgatherers, California Suite and a second acclaimed production of A Streetcar Named Desire. Over the years, Julie has taught acting classes at The Academy of Art University, Mark Monroe Studios and Shelton Studios. She is a graduate of StageGroup Theatre acting program – modeled after the Group Theatre of New York City.”
Éowyn Mader (The Retreat, Performer) has performed with the California Shakespeare Theatre, the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, San Jose Stage Company and Center REP, among many others. She was a co-founder of Signal Theater Company and a company member of Rough and Tumble. She is also an early childhood music educator teaching in preschools and the Music Together program.
Christopher Robin Magee (Possession: Invitation and Exultation (a scientific study), Writer) is the Artistic Director of the Moonrisers. He lived in the Bay for many years but relocated back to Montana where he was from. Maybe one day he will be back, he’s confused and feeling a little lost, he’s wondering if it’s a ubiquitous condition.
Schaeffer Nelson (The Specimen: A Horror Play, Writer/Performer) is an Oakland playwright, performer, and horror writer. His work has been produced and developed at Oakland Theater Project, Ensemble Studio Theater LA, Sandcastle Theater Company, GLAMA, Homo-Centric, The Writer’s Place, Kansas City Fringe Festival, Orinda Community Church and Open Lore Policy, and has been a Bay Area Playwright’s Festival Finalist. His horror play, Mice, was described by LAist as “a taut 70-minute psychological thriller”, with The Los Angeles Times calling Nelson, “an intriguing new voice…who should be heard.”
Miyoko Sakatani (In The Spirit of Gaman: The Mitsuye Endo Story, Writer/Performer) is a SAG-AFTRA-e actor, singer, writer, director, producer and podcaster. As a proud PlayGround-SF company member, she is thrilled to be back for her third solo show at the PlayGround Solo Festival! Her previous shows I’ll Look Up as I Walk, and I Wasn’t Always an Asian, were created, written and performed by Miyoko. As founding director of Playland Productions she has produced several films and theatrical plays. Miyoko is a regular community volunteer and a member of an all Asian ukulele band who performs gratuitously for residential care facilities. Deepest love and gratitude to Richard, Shanti and dearest friends.
Gabe Seplow (The Lost Priest, Writer/Performer), he/him, is a director, writer, actor, designer, and deviser based in Chicago, IL. Holding a BFA in Contemporary Theatre from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Gabe’s journey in the realm of theater has been a rich tapestry of exploration and growth. Gabe has developed a profound passion for what it means to be an artist who curates discovery and aims to fulfill the truth of the story.
RJ Silva (You Eat So Well!, Writer/Performer), he/him, is a writer, and creative producer from Chicago, IL. Writer: Hail Mary/Maria (PlayGround-SF), Not Unusual (PlayGround-Chicago), Eat Cute (Web, The Ampliverse). Performer: Heart Strings (Filament Theatre), Baked! (Theo Ubique). Artistic Director of CIRCA Pintig, Chicago’s Filipino theatre and community arts organization, where he has directed Every Brilliant Thing, and two years of the Chicago Filipino American Theatre Festival. IG @RJ.SLAY
Ken Sonkin (Therapist Zero, Director) is an award-winning actor, director, and company member of PlayGround-SF. He has performed and directed extensively throughout the Bay Area with American Conservatory Theater, Berkeley Rep, San Francisco Playhouse, The Magic Theatre, and Z Space, and regionally with the Denver Center Theatre Company and Pacific Resident Theater in Los Angeles. Ken has collaborated with playwrights including Oliver Goldstick, Brian Thorstenson, and Lynne Kaufman. A longtime educator, he has taught at ACT, Northwestern, and Stanford, and is currently a professor at the University of San Francisco, where he directs and teaches acting and directing.
Kendall Tieck (Good Grief: Tales of a Persistent Blockhead, Director) directed, designed and performed for West Coast theaters including SecondStory Rep in Redmond Washington, and in theatres throughout the Bay Area including Douglass Morrison Theatre, Contra Costa Theatre and Bankhead Theatre in Livermore. Recently, Kendall appeared in David Rintel’s one-hander, Clarence Darrow. Kendall has also worked at the American Conservatory Theatre as Production Supervisor and Production Manager.
Puja Tolton (Possession: Invitation and Exultation (a scientific study), Performer) is a multi-disciplinary theatre artisan based in the Bay Area. She has worked with local theatre companies such as Left Coast Theatre, Awesome Theatre, Three Girls Theatre, Theatre Rhinoceros, and the Moonrisers. Most recently, they self-produced an immersive devised ensemble piece, Strange Organs, with their co-collaborator, LindenJL.
PlayGround, a leading national playwright incubator, provides unique development opportunities for the Bay Area’s, Los Angeles’, New York’s, and Chicago’s best new playwrights, including the monthly Monday Night PlayGround staged reading series, annual PlayGround Festival of New Works, full-length play commissions and support for the production of new plays by local playwrights through the New Play Production Fund. To date, PlayGround has supported over 350 early career playwrights, developing and staging more than 1,500 of their original short plays through the Monday Night PlayGround staged reading series and the PlayGround Festival. PlayGround has also commissioned 100 new full-length plays by 60 of these writers through its Commissioning Initiative and, through the innovative New Play Production Fund, has directly facilitated the premiere of 36 plays at theatres of every size, including three that have gone on to NYC and other major theater communities. Most recently, PlayGround renovated and relaunched the former Thick House Theater in San Francisco’s Potrero Hill as Potrero Stage, a state-of-the-art center for new plays, home to PlayGround’s expanding artistic programs and some of the Bay Area’s most distinguished new play developers and producers. Over the past twenty-seven years, PlayGround has served to identify some of the most important new local voices for the theatre. PlayGround’s alumni have gone on to win local, national, and international honors for their short and full-length work, including recognition at the Steinberg Awards, Glickman Awards (including 6 of the last 10), O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, and New York International Fringe Festival, among others. PlayGround received the 2009 Paine Knickerbocker Award for outstanding contributions to Bay Area theatre, 3 BATCC Awards for Best Original Script for PlayGround commissions, a 2014 National Theatre Company Grant from the American Theatre Wing (founder of the Tony Awards®), and a 2016 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award. Visit https://playground-sf.org for more information.
Potrero Stage is a 99-seat state-of-the-art performance space located in the heart of San Francisco’s Potrero Hill neighborhood, operated by PlayGround and serving as home to some of the Bay Area’s leading new play developers and producers. Originally founded by Thick Description as Thick House in 1999, the theater underwent a significant renovation in 2016 and reopened in 2017 as Potrero Stage: PlayGround Center for New Plays. The venue hosts more than 100 public performances each year for a combined audience of over 6,000, in-person and simulcast. For more information, visit https://potrerostage.org.
CALENDAR EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:
SAN FRANCISCO – PlayGround has announced the lineup for its ninth annual PlayGround Solo Performance Festival, a curation of the best in solo performance, running January 16-February 8, 2026 (Thurs-Mon), presented live at San Francisco’s Potrero Stage and simulcast online. The festival of new solo work features 18 solo performers and 58 performances, including work by Linda Ayres-Frederick, Blaire Battle, Diana Brown, Annie Laurie Daniel, Carolyn Doyle, Ketsia Duval, Nicole Galland, Emil Amok Guillermo, Caroline Hawthorne, Ric Iverson, Susan Jackson, Emily M. Keyishian, Joshua Klein, Brian Leonard, Schaeffer Nelson, Miyoko Sakatani, Gabe Seplow, RJ Silva, and Puja Tolton.
Running time is approx. 50 minutes per performance. The festival represents an extension of PlayGround’s mission and commitment to the discovery of bold new voices for the stage and the first PlayGround offering fully dedicated to solo performance. Tickets are free with donations gratefully accepted, to help support our artists. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit playground-sf.org/solofest or call (415) 992-6677.
WHERE: Potrero Stage & Simulcast (on-demand access for one week)
WHAT & WHEN:
PlayGround Solo Performance Festival – Performance Schedule
Friday, January 16, 2026
7:00pm International Party Girl
8:30pm The Retreat
Saturday, January 17, 2026
2:30pm Clara
4:00pm Emergence
5:30pm International Party Girl
7:00pm 69, Emil Amok: A Real Journalist Stands Up
8:30pm Fagnostic
Sunday, January 18, 2026
2:30pm The Specimen: A Horror Play
4:00pm International Party Girl
5:30pm Broken Borders
7:00pm Theatrical Monologues: From Shakespeare to Modern
8:30pm Possession: Invitation and Exultation
Monday, January 19, 2026
7:00pm Therapist Zero
8:30pm Fagnostic
Thursday, January 22, 2026
7:00pm The Lost Priest
8:30pm Clara
Friday, January 23, 2026
7:00pm The iPhone Arias
8:30pm The Lost Priest
Saturday, January 24, 2026
2:30pm Possession: Invitation and Exultation
4:00pm The Specimen: A Horror Play
5:30pm The Lost Priest
7:00pm Broken Borders
8:30pm The iPhone Arias
Sunday, January 25, 2026
2:30pm Fagnostic
4:00pm The iPhone Arias
5:30pm Therapist Zero
7:00pm Fated Emergence
8:30pm Theatrical Monologues: From Shakespeare to Modern
Monday, January 26, 2026
7:00pm Good Grief: Tales of a Persistent Blockhead
8:30pm 69, Emil Amok: A Real Journalist Stands Up
Thursday, January 29, 2026
7:00pm You Eat So Well
8:30pm The Specimen: A Horror Play
Friday, January 30, 2026
7:00pm Advanced Sexual Education: A One* Woman** Show
8:30pm You Eat So Well
Saturday, January 31, 2026
2:30pm Therapist Zero
4:00pm You Eat So Well
5:30pm Advanced Sexual Education: A One* Woman** Show
7:00pm Possession: Invitation and Exultation
8:30pm Good Grief: Tales of a Persistent Blockhead
Sunday, February 1, 2026
2:30pm Advanced Sexual Education: A One* Woman** Show
4:00pm Theatrical Monologues: From Shakespeare to Modern
5:30pm Good Grief: Tales of a Persistent Blockhead
7:00pm Clara
8:30pm Emergence
Monday, February 2, 2026
7:00pm The Specimen: A Horror Play
8:30pm69, Emil Amok: A Real Journalist Stands Up
Thursday, February 5, 2026
7:00pm The Birdwomen of Jackson, Mississippi
8:30pm The Retreat
Friday, February 6, 2026
7:00pm In The Spirit of Gaman: The Mitsuye Endo Story
8:30pm Clara
Saturday, February 7, 2026
2:30pm69, Emil Amok: A Real Journalist Stands Up
4:00pm In The Spirit of Gaman: The Mitsuye Endo Story
5:30pm The Birdwomen of Jackson, Mississippi
7:00pm The Retreat
8:30pm Broken Borders
Sunday, February 8, 2026
2:30pm The Retreat
4:00pm Good Grief: Tales of a Persistent Blockhead
5:30pm Fagnostic
7:00pm In The Spirit of Gaman: The Mitsuye Endo Story
8:30pm The Birdwomen of Jackson, Mississippi
TICKETS: Admission is free (donations gratefully accepted and directly support the artists). For tickets and more information, visit playground-sf.org/solofest or call (415) 992-6677.
Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.
Cost: FREE*
