Fresh Ground Pepper presents:
The 7th Annual PlayGround Festival
Dec 9th, 10th, 16th, and 17th

FGP PlayGround began as an end-of-the-year play reading marathon in December 2009, presenting eight new plays in two days. Since then, PlayGround has evolved into a habitat for emerging theater creators to develop more fully realized experiments.
The PlayGround PlayGroup is a year-long, collaborative workshop culminating in the PlayGround Festival, enforcing Fresh Ground Pepper’s mission to bring artists together and present work mid-process to supportive audiences. We are so excited to introduce you to this year’s PlayGroup.

Wednesday December 9th:
7:00pm
BIG BEND IN THE RED DIRT DESERT
by Molly Beach Murphy and Julia Izumi
directed by Gabriel Vega Weissman
A play of magic realism set inside a rental car on an epic journey across a dream-like Texas void encountering the vast sky, the empty nothingness of the land, and individual reckonings with loss, revenge, and belonging.

8:30pm
REX OF ECHO
a reading of a new science-fiction novel by Andrew Scoville
Rex lives in Echo Park, a new suburb on the first interstellar colony of Echo, where he hides his secret ability to defy physics, running and coasting like none before... that is, until a catastrophic disaster destroys his suburb and he is forced to run for his life.

9:30pm
TALES FOR TELLING
by James Monaco
directed by Annie Tippe
These are original tales that feel old and are new: told by James, who loves storytelling more than anything in all the world, and would especially love to tell these new tales to you.

Thursday December 10th:
7:00pm
POWER GAY
by Joe Castle Baker and Chris Tyler 
directed by Andrew Neisler
Sexy, rich, white gay men risk everything to put on the fiercest fundraising gala for the most at-risk gay animals.

9:00pm
VIV IS FOR VENGANCE
by Lindsey Hope Pearlman
directed by Tamilla Woodard
The Fresh Prince of Bel- Air meets Euripides' Medea: what really happened when Aunt Vivian was replaced by another mother.

Wednesday December 16th:
7:00pm
THE GIANTS, parts 1 & 2
by Matthew Jellison
directed by Isaac Klein
 "A skyscraper to the stars, the lovers who live there, and the giant who shows up one day to knock it down.”

9:00pm
HOTTENTOTTED
by Charly Simpson
directed by Colette Robert
A play that yarns together the stories and experiences of black women now and then with the life of Sarah Baartman, the Hottentot Venus.

Thursday December 17th:
7:00pm
THE GULLS
by Jamie Effros
directed by Teddy Bergman
A modern adaptation of Anton Chekov’s The Seagull, spun around the family of Archie Nickels, an aging rock-star turned reality TV Diva on the set of her show: her brother's Long Beach Island, NJ oceanfront estate.

9:30pm
LULU IS HUNGRY
inspired by Frank Wedekind's The Lulu Plays
by Claire Keichel
directed by Philip Gates
Lulu really takes the cake. She's always on your mind. She's like heroin on a sunny day. Just leaving you behind. 
A raucous meditation on celebrity, femininity, and performance. Featuring Louise Brooks, Frank Wedekind, Billie Holiday, Andy Warhol, Edie Sedgwick, Marilyn Monroe, Alfred Hitchcock, Britney Spears, and introducing... Jack the RIPPER!

Eternal Cult Presents 

Toby Johnson was my best friend in junior high

** Wednesday, December 2nd**

your presence is requested at 7pm to begin the performance
dinner will be served at 8:30pm

More information about the show:
“Toby Johnson” is a dinner party and ritual centering around the idea of  community. The guests will gather around the dining room table, where we will lead you through a series of readings, games and songs exploring the concept of group mentality, including case studies such as the Dada movement, kindergarteners, and a can of dead sardines . Your ticket includes a dinner with vegan and GF options, wine or juice and the show. The show lasts about an hour and fifteen minutes; dinner will be served immediately afterwards.  

More information about us:
Eternal Cult is a loose association of artists with thick Midwestern accents. This show includes Savannah Reich, Jon Mac Cole and Lauren Anderson.