Applications Now Open For PlayGround's 2026 National Free-Play Theatre Festival

Applications are now being accepted for PlayGround's fifth annual Free-Play Festival, July 31-August 23, at Potrero Stage and simulcast. This four-week “fringe style” new works festival will feature up to 20 productions and 60 performances by talented theatre artists from across the country including PlayGround artists based in the Bay Area, Los Angeles, New York and Chicago.

Past Free-Play Festivals have included productions ranging in subject from improvised protest songs to how to resist an orange predator, and scaled from ensemble plays to one-person shows. PlayGround's Free-Play Festival welcomes applications from seasoned theatre professionals, first-time producers, and all-star performers in every aspect of live performance, direction, and choreography.

Productions will be presented for 3 performances at Potrero Stage (18th Street @ Arkansas), detailed schedule below. For more information or to reserve in-person or online tickets, visit https://playground-sf.org/freeplay.
 

FREE-PLAY APPLICATION GUIDELINES - APPLY HERE

The Free-Play Festival is a four-week non-curated fringe-style new works festival.

– Selected teams/projects will receive three (3) performance slots over the course of the festival;

– Selections will be determined by lottery; up to 15 slots will be guaranteed to PlayGround-affiliated artists and up to 5 slots will be offered to non-PlayGround artists;

– Projects must culminate in the off-book public presentation of a new work;

– Performances in the Free-Play Festival must be between 30-75 minutes with setup/strike of no more than a half-hour on either side;

– Each project will be scheduled a two-hour technical rehearsal;

– Projects must participate in PlayGround's radical accessibility program, including free admission (with PWYC donation option) and online simulcast;

– Projects involving union artists will have the opportunity to be presented under PlayGround's SAG-AFTRA New Media Agreement (deferred) and all performers, regardless of union status, would then be expected to sign a SAG-AFTRA agreement; projects are solely responsible for the terms of artist compensation and for fulfilling those terms;

– Upon selection, projects will be responsible for remitting to PlayGround a $600 facility licensing fee for three performances, due by April 15.

– PlayGround will provide the following: fully-equipped Potrero Stage, Technical Director, House Manager, Board Operator, Streaming Broadcaster, as well as co-marketing, production management consultation (1 hr), and box office services;

–  PlayGround will split box office proceeds 50/50 with producing teams.