“A robot may not injure a human or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.”
– The First Law of Robotics, I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
Technology – humanity’s greatest achievement, or our fiercest enemy? Don’t miss PlayGround’s first ever night of Sci-Fi as our playwrights tackle the big existential questions about humankind’s relationship to our creations. Monday Night PlayGround: Sci-Fi will take place on Monday, April 7 at 7pm CT, in-person at Theater Wit and simulcast, produced in association with Theater Wit. PlayGround-Chicago’s sister companies, PlayGround LA, PlayGround-SF, and PlayGround-NY will present their own interpretations of this theme throughout the month. As part of PlayGround’s commitment to radical accessibility, Monday Night PlayGround is admission-free (donations gratefully accepted) for online reservations and day-of admission in-person. Advance in-person reservations do requite an admission free of $10. For the complete schedule or to reserve tickets, visit https://playground-ch.org/monday.
The 4th season of PlayGround-Chicago’s celebrated Monday Night PlayGround staged reading series on select Mondays, Oct-Mar, will be held in-person at Theater Wit and live simulcast (December 3rd, 2024-April 7, 2025). Each month, PlayGround announces a topic and writers have just four-and-a-half days to generate their original ten-page script. Recent topics have included: ”The Legacy of the Land We Inhabit”, “Origin Story”, “What the World Needs Now…”, and “Give and Take”. The top six scripts are matched with directors and a cast of leading local professionals and rehearsed for just ninety minutes on the day of the performance. Following a brief technical rehearsal to add sound and other design elements, the six short plays are performed as script-in-hand staged readings for an in-person and live-stream viewing audience on the second Mondays, October through March.
Audience members can also 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-Chicago’s annual short play showcase, Best of PlayGround-Chicago. Advance reservations are required. Admission is free but donations are gratefully accepted. Masks are strongly recommended for in-person performance and attendees should be symptom-free and have no recent exposure to individuals with COVID.
Why Free?
At the beginning of the pandemic in May 2020, PlayGround began streaming all of its live programs, increasing accessibility to artists and audiences not only in the Bay Area but across the globe. At the same time, PlayGround made the bold choice to offer all programs admission-free. Why free admission, particularly when so many arts organizations were struggling to stay afloat and every dollar is a critical resource to support artist compensation? We chose free admission because it furthered our commitment to radical accessibility, ensuring that no one would be turned away for lack of resources. And as many of the PlayGround artists began their journey with us as audience members, it also ensured that the future artists of PlayGround would not encounter barriers to their participation. Of course, we offer audiences the opportunity to make a donation when reserving their free tickets and we hope that you’ll consider doing so if you’re able, recognizing that your direct support makes it possible for us to continue providing fair and equitable wages for professional artists while sustaining our radical accessibility efforts for all. And, as always, we thank you for your generous support!