Festival Premiere: A Thousand Natural Shocks at PlayGround

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