The SF Playhouse Announces New World Premieres Program 'The Sandbox'

The SF Playhouse (Bill English, Artistic Director; Susi Damilano, Producing Director) is thrilled to announce a new program for presenting World Premieres in their Second Stage at the SF Playhouse. The program, "The Sandbox" will present a series of bare bones productions of World Premieres. The Sandbox will be led by Jon Tracy, Director of Artistic Development, who will launch the 2010 series with two World Premieres by local playwrights.

The mission of The Sandbox is to promote new works utilizing top-notch directors and actors. The presentations will have limited design elements and will be promoted primarily using online services, thus reducing the costs and risk of each production. By reducing risk, we hope to bridge the gap between "readings" and "main stage" productions and thus provide increased exposure to the new voices in American Theater.

The first presentation, The Safe House, written by Geetha Reddy and originally commissioned by PlayGround, will be directed by Nancy Carlin in a PlayGround co-production. The Safe House opens February 13 through March 6 (previews February 10-12). The cast includes: Cole Alexander Smith, Marissa Keltie, Brian Herndon*, and Amy Resnick* (*appear courtesy of actor's equity).

In The Safe House, we enter the isolation chamber of a stay-at-home mother raising a pair of profoundly different twins, June and July. As her world becomes smaller, she goes to extreme measures to survive the threats of the modern world. When real disaster strikes, will she be ready?

The second presentation, The Apotheosis of Pig Husbandry by William Bivins, will be directed by Bill English and open May 22 through June 12. Casting will be announced.

In The Apotheosis of Pig Husbandry we find a woman in a slip handcuffed to a bed. A bar that only serves one drink. Windows duck-taped to keep out the smell. Welcome to the Lazy Eight Motel, where sex, revenge, social theory and pig farming mix in an explosive cocktail.

Jon Tracy is the Director of Artistic Development at The SF Playhouse where he directed Aaron Loeb's award winning First Person Shooter, Man of La Mancha, Bug, and the upcoming Slasher. He has also worked with such companies as Darkroom Productions (Founder/Former Artistic Director; directed and developed Some Devil Whisper (his adaptation of Titus Andronicus) and The Good News), Shotgun Players (The Farm, currently under commission to write The Salt Plays), Impact Theatre (writer/director of See How We Are), Aurora Theatre (developed Ron Campbell's Sinker), Marin Theatre Company (developed A. Zell Williams' Blood/Money), and Missouri St. Theatre (writer/director of Chatterbox: The Anne Frank Project). Jon is an Affiliate Artist with The Foothill Theatre Company, Marin Shakespeare Festival, Berkeley Playhouse and Alter Theatre Ensemble, and a Company Member of PlayGround. A graduate of Solano College Theatre's Actor Training Program, he is the recipient of the Kennedy Center Meritorious Achievement Award, fifteen North Bay Arty Awards, a Sacramento Elly Award, Bay Area Critics Circle Award and grants from Theatre Bay Area and the National Endowment for the Arts.

PlayGround is the Bay Area's leading playwright incubator. Founded in 1994, PlayGround creates community by nurturing collaboration between early career playwrights and established professional directors and actors. Led by co-founder and Artistic Director Jim Kleinmann, PlayGround has developed more than 500 short plays by 150 Bay Area writers and, since 2002, has commissioned and developed 28 new full-length plays, including Aaron Loeb's First Person Shooter and Abraham Lincoln's Big Gay Dance Party. For more information, visit www.playground-sf.org.

Founded by Bill English and Susi Damilano in 2003, The SF Playhouse is San Francisco's fastest growing and most awarded Theater Company and hailed as a "small delicacy" by SF Weekly, "eclectic" by the San Francisco Bay Guardian and "local theater's best kept secret" by San Francisco Magazine. Located in Union Square, The SF Playhouse offers intimate, professional theatre with top notch actors and world class design. It has received multiple awards for overall productions, acting and design including the SF Weekly Best Theatre Award, Bay Guardian's Best Off-Broadway Theatre Award. The San Francisco Chronicle raved, "One of the most meteoric rises [of the decade] has been that of SF Playhouse, Bill English and Susi Damilano's 7-year-old-start-up that has been attracting more top-notch actors, directors, and scripts every year." The SF Playhouse has become the intimate theatre alternative to the traditional Union Square theatre fare, providing a creative home and inspiring environment where actors, directors, writers, designers, and theatre lovers converge to create works that celebrate the human spirit.
Calendar Information:

What: The Safe House by Geetha Reddy

When: Wed-Sat 8pm, Previews: Feb.10-12 at 8pm; Open: Feb. 13 at 8pm; Close: Mar. 6 8pm

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What: The Apotheosis of Pig Husbandry by William Bivins

When: Wed-Sat 8pm, Previews: May 19-21 8pm; Open: May 22nd 8pm; Close: June 12th.

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Where: Stage 2 at the SF Playhouse, 533 Sutter Street @ Powell, second floor.

Tickets: $20-$40. Call 415-677-9596 for tickets or go to www.sfplayhouse.org