TALL TALES Comes to Monday Night PlayGround Readings at Berkeley Repertory Theatre

This season over 75 California Playwrights have been invited by PlayGround to write ten-minute plays in competition for Monday Night PlayGround Readings. In San Francisco and Los Angeles well over 1,000 audience members statewide have seen the winning 26 plays to date. Play topics have included Reap What You Sow, Probable Future Or Possible Future, Home For The Holidays and In The Beginning... This February cycle invites playwrights to write ten-minute plays inspired by "TALL TALES" for Monday Night PlayGround Readings on February 12, 8PM at the Zephyr Theatre in Los Angeles and on February 19, 8PM at Berkeley Repertory Theatre in Berkeley.

"I don't think we necessarily lie. I mean, we make our living by pretending that we're someone else. I don't tell tall tales. I always tell the truth." - Albert Finney.

The TALL TALES topic has been announced for the February rounds of Monday Night PlayGround in Los Angeles and Berkeley. PlayGround writers have four-and-a-half days to generate their original ten-minute plays inspired by the topic. The top six scripts from Los Angeles will receive an hour-and-a-half rehearsal and a professional script-in-hand staged reading at the Zephyr Theatre in Los Angeles on February 12 at 8pm. The top Bay Area scripts will be performed at Berkeley Repertory Theatre on February 19 at 8pm. General admission tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door for both programs. For tickets or more information, visit http://playground-sf.org/monday.

Young Playwrights Contest

"Tall Tales" will also serve as the topic and inspiration for this year's 10th annual Young Playwrights Contest, recognizing the Bay Area's top high school dramatists and their original short work. Students have until April 9 to submit their ten-minute plays based on the topic. Four finalists will receive professional script-in-hand staged readings as part of the PlayGround Festival of New Works this May. In support of this year's Young Playwrights Project, PlayGround is offering free playwriting master classes for interested Bay Area high schools and, new this year, two free student playwriting workshops at the Berkeley-based PlayGround PlaySpace, on February 24 and March 3. For more information on the Young Playwrights Project and Contest, visit http://playground-sf.org/youngplaywrights.

Recent Monday Night PlayGround topics have included: "In the Beginning," "Reap What You Sow," and last month's "Probably Future or Possible Future" (presented in collaboration with Planet Earth Arts). The top six plays from each month are rehearsed for just one-and-a-half hours each and presented as script-in-hand staged readings at Monday Night PlayGround, now celebrating its twenty-fourth year in the Bay Area and sixth in Los Angeles. Audience members can experience the thrill of being a producer through the monthly People's Choice Awards, helping to determine which plays and playwrights go on for consideration in PlayGround's annual showcase, the Best of PlayGround.

The Bay Area writers company:

Lynn Aylward, Kathy Boussina, Madeleine Butler, Karen Catalona, Nara Dahlbacka, Rob Dario, Victoria Chong Der+, Ai Ebashi, Nancy Fishman, Elizabeth Flanagan, Jerome Joseph Gentes+, Akaina Ghosh, Lauren Gorski, Ruben Grijalva+, Garret Jon Groenveld+, Tanya Grove, Karen Hartline, Devony Hof, Sam Hurwitt, Genevieve Jessee+, Melissa Keith+, Kate Keleher, Katie May+, Alanna McFall, Jeanie Ngo, Cheryl Ossola, Ishai Padawer, Lana Palmer, Erin Marie Panttaja+, Ken Prestininzi+, Madeline Puccioni, Marsha Roberts, Annette Roman, Cleavon Smith+, Nic Sommerfeld, Aimee Suzara, Jon Tracy, Mary Weikert, Steven Westdahl, Zoe Young, Maury Zeff+, L.Z. Zephyr, and Ignacio Zulueta+ + Resident Playwrights

The L.A. company playwrights:

Matt Ackels, Nayna Agrawal, Christopher Aguilar, Diana Burbano, Kathleen Cecchin*, Allie Costa*, Meagan Daine, Matt DeNoto, Vincent Terrell Durham*, Elayne Heilveil, Susan C. Hunter, Daniel Hurewitz, Jen Huszcza, Julianne Jigour*, Starina Johnson, Mark V. Jones, Jonathan Josephson, Arthur Keng*, Jonathan Kuhn, Mildred Inez Lewis, Dana Lyman, Rhea MacCallum*, David Meyers, Alison Minami, Scott Mullen, Rosie Narasaki, Nicholas C. Pappas*, Andrew Joseph Perez, Brittny Roberts, Jessica June Rowe*, Richard Ruyle, Joe Samaniego, Mercedes Segesvary*, Mark Sherstinsky*, Nicki Spencer*, and Jennie Webb* * Best of PlayGround Award recipient

PlayGround, the Bay Area's leading playwright incubator, provides unique development opportunities for the Bay Area'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 200 local playwrights in the development and staging of more than 850 original short plays and 75 new full-length plays, with 6 more commissions currently in development. PlayGround also operates Potrero Stage (formerly Thick House), a state-of-the-art 99-seat black box theatre in San Francisco's Potrero Hill neighborhood, home to some of the Bay Area's leading new play developers and producers, including PlayGround, Crowded Fire, Golden Thread, and Playwrights Foundation. For more information, visit http://playground-sf.org.