Special Events Announced For Bay Area Playwrights Festival

Playwrights Foundation has announced the special events for this summer's 45th Annual Bay Area Playwrights Festival (BAPF), allowing audiences members and theater industry leaders additional opportunities to engage with new theater; connect with the playwrights, directors, and artists participating in 2022 BAPF; and mingle with fellow theater lovers. To complement the thrilling works in BAPF, Playwrights Foundation offers both online and in-person events, including parties, panels, and a Playslam, for the hybrid festival July 29 - August 7, 2022. For more information about BAPF and special events, including links to attend online events, the public may visit playwrightsfoundation.org or call 415-626-2176.

Spotlighting the power of human connection, the 2022 BAPF features ten readings of five new works, including HBO and Shondaland screenwriter/playwright Inda Craig-Galván's A Jumping-Off Point, a taut, biting comedy about a Black female screenwriter facing plagiarism claims from a White male author; award-winning novelist Elana Dykewomon's first play How to Let Your Lover Die, a poetic and silence-shattering exploration of love, caregiving, and illness in a community of lesbian elders; acclaimed Bay Area performer and playwright Denmo Ibrahim's Arab Spring, an intimate drama of luminous personal revolution between siblings; multitalented writer/director/actor Iraisa Ann Reilly's Saturday Mourning Cartoons, a boldly theatrical bilingual family drama about a millennial healthcare worker and three generations of unbreakable bonds; and award-winning director/playwright Sharifa Yasmin's Close to Home, a witty deep dive into resilience, belonging, and the yearning for second chances among a trio of strangers from different cultures set in the American South. Tickets ($5-45) and festival passes ($35-100) to view the readings online and in-person are available to purchase at playwrightsfoundation.org or by calling 415-626-2176.

All patrons attending in-person events or readings for BAPF at Potrero Stage are required to wear a mask and bring proof of vaccination or proof of a negative test result. Audience members will not be granted admittance without one of these. For more details on safety protocols the public may visit https://playwrightsfoundation.org/audience-covid-19-safety/

Bay Area Playwrights Festival is one of the oldest and most successful new play festivals for new works in their early stages. Established in 1976 by acclaimed director Robert Woodruff and now led by Executive Artistic Director Jessica Bird Beza, the festival has built a stellar reputation for uplifting original and distinctive new voices in the theater, investing in the development of their work, and launching storied careers. Among the first writers developed at the inaugural BAPF was the young Sam Shepard. Since then, more than 500 prize-winning, nationally significant playwrights have received their first professional experience at the BAPF. Among the American theater's brightest voices who are alumni of the festival are Pulitzer Prize winners Sam Shepard, Nilo Cruz, Jackie Sibblies Drury, Paula Vogel, and Annie Baker; MacArthur Award winner Anna Deavere Smith; Tony Award winner David Henry Hwang; and acclaimed playwrights Lauren Gunderson, Rajiv Joseph, Katori Hall, Christopher Chen, Lauren Yee, and Marcus Gardley. BAPF's ongoing success in supporting and amplifying exceptional, newly emerging writers and launching their ground-breaking new work is its enduring legacy.

The lineup of special events is as follows:

Opening Night Reception

8pm PDT Friday, July 29

In-person at Potrero Stage

Playwrights Foundation kicks off 2022 Bay Area Playwrights Festival with an intimate outdoor reception with artists, staff, and audience members following the first reading of Denmo Ibrahim's Arab Spring.

Courageous Joy: Finding Play in Dark Times

3:30pm-5pm PDT Sunday, July 31

Online (Livestream) and in-person at Potrero Stage

Playwrights Foundation will host a panel investigating the role of joy and play in navigating the hardest experiences of life. Creative workers from joyous fields like dance and drag join experts who fearlessly tackle the depths of grief in fields like healthcare and hospice in this conversation investigating resilience without erasure, a subject explored by the scripts in 2022 BAPF.

Online Playslam & Industry Weekend Kick Off Party

6pm-7:30pm PDT Monday, August 1

Online (Zoom)

Theater professionals are invited to attend the second weekend of BAPF August 5-7. To usher in Industry Weekend, Playwrights Foundation will host an online gathering, offering theater makers an opportunity to socialize with industry colleagues, BAPF45 artists, and other Playwrights Foundation supporters. Playwrights from the Festival's honorable mentions and members of Playwrights Foundation's Resident Playwrights Initiative will read brief excerpts of their work, and then attendees can mingle with the playwrights in breakout rooms.

2022 Festival Playwright Panel

10-11am PDT Friday, August 5

Online (Zoom)

The five playwrights of 45th Bay Area Playwrights Festival (Inda Craig-Galván, Elana Dykewomon, Denmo Ibrahim, Iraisa Ann Reilly, and Sharifa Yasmin) share insights, discoveries, and deep knowledge about their scripts, their stories, and the writing process in a streaming panel discussion.

The Power of Playwright Connection

3:30pm-5pm PDT Sunday, August 7

Online (Livestream and Zoom) and in-person at Potrero Stage

Embracing this year's theme of the power of human connection, a group of Playwrights Foundation alumni will share lived experiences of how their careers and creative practices are fueled by connection with theater companies, artistic collaborators, and fellow playwrights. Then, Playwrights Foundation will facilitate new artistic connections in a brief mixer.

BAPF45 Garden Party

(for BAPF Passholders and Theater Professionals only)
2:30-4:30pm Sunday, August 7
Outdoors near Potrero Stage

Between festival readings (following the afternoon reading of Elana Dykewomon's How to Let Your Lover Die), Playwrights Foundation will gather BAPF passholders and theater professionals for an afternoon of fun, camaraderie, conversation, appetizers, and drinks in a charming outdoor area reserved for attendees.

Closing Night Reception

8pm PDT Sunday, August 7

In-person at Potrero Stage

Playwrights Foundation closes 2022 Bay Area Playwrights Festival with an outdoor reception with artists, staff, and audience members following the final reading of Inda Craig-Galván's A Jumping-Off Point.

Photo Credit: Lorenz Angelo