SUBMIT UPDATES
PlayGround Festival of New Works Presents
A THOUSAND NATURAL SHOCKS by Jacob Marx Rice (a Festival Premiere Presentation)
Directed by Tracy Ward
May 18 & May 19 7pm PT
Potrero Stage & Simulcast/On-Demand through May 31
Admission: $0-$50 (donations gratefully accepted) or Festival Sponsorship
A Thousand Natural Shocks follows Kennedy, who is doing okay! Her depression is under control, she’s got a stable job, and her wife adores her. But when the couple decides to make a baby, they must navigate the chaos of IVF, the inevitability of pain, and the Tik-Tok teen crashing on their couch. Taking its title from Hamlet’s famous monologue, the play takes us on a journey through the increasingly fraught trials and tribulations of modern love and life. Featuring. Catherine Castellanos (Doctor), Zoe Chien (Jennifer), Rebecca Pingree (Molly), Jeunee Simon (Kennedy), and Maryssa Wanlass (Laurel).
Jacob Marx Rice has written plays that have been produced and developed at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center, The Finborough Theatre in London, Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Flea Theater, The New Ohio, Atlantic Theatre Stage 2, and others. His play Chemistry has premiered in seven cities across three continents. Recent prizes include the Jean Kennedy Smith Playwriting Award from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, an Ensemble Studio Theater Sloan Commission, and the Faculty Award from the NYU/Tisch Department of Dramatic Writing. MFA: NYU.
PlayGround Festival Sponsors
Become a PlayGround Festival Sponsor with a donation of $100 or more and receive automatic reservations to all festival streaming performances with extended on-demand access through June 30 and access to preferred seating for in-person performances at Potrero Stage. All Festival Sponsors will be acknowledged in the PlayGround Festival digital playbill. Become a sponsor by May 1 and receive streaming/on-demand access to our three regional Best of PlayGrounds (Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago). For more information, click here.
NOTE: Advance reservations are required for online simulcast. Links for online viewing will be sent within one day of the performance and can also be accessed through your PlayGround account at https://tickets.playground-sf.org (log in, click “home” for the main menu, then “tickets for upcoming performances”, select the proper show, and choose “watch”). If you have any questions, please contact the Box Office at boxoffice@playground-sf.org
Discover the full lineup for PLAYGROUND'S 28TH ANNUAL FESTIVAL OF NEW WORKS, featuring premiere presentations and developmental readings by emerging playwrights. Learn about the plays and see how to purchase tickets.
Meet the cast for PlayGround's 28th Festival of New Works Premieres featuring APERTURES OF LOVE IN TIMES OF WAR and A THOUSAND NATURAL SHOCKS.
Casting has been announced for PlayGround’s 28th annual Festival of New Works Premieres: Anne Yumi Kobori’s Apertures of Love in Times of War (May 11-12, 2024) and Jacob Marx Rice’s A Thousand Natural Shocks (May 18-19, 2024).
PlayGround has announced the full lineup for its 27th annual FESTIVAL OF NEW WORKS, running May 8-28, in-person at Potrero Stage, where the festival has been based since 2008, and simulcast online.
Festival Reading: The Passing Storm (5/17/24-5/17/24)
Festival Reading: Crazy Jezebels (5/20/24-5/20/24)
Festival: Best of PlayGround (SF)'24 (5/25/24-5/26/24)
PlayGround is at Potrero Stage - 1695 18th Street, San Francisco, CA 94107, San Francisco, CA.
Festival Reading: Work/Shoot (5/13/24-5/13/24)
Festival Premiere: Apertures of Love in Times of War (5/11/24-5/12/24)
Festival Reading: Rivals of Mars (5/10/24-5/10/24)
PlayGround Festival of New Works Kick-Off (5/7/24-5/7/24)
PlayGround Solo Performance Festival (1/26/24-2/11/24)
Monday Night PlayGround - "The Shakespeare Multiverse" (1/15/24-1/15/24)
A Very Hitchcock Christmas (12/10/23-12/17/23)
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