Since its founding in 1994, PlayGround has supported more than 350 early-career playwrights, developing and staging over 1,500 of their original short plays through the Monday Night PlayGround staged reading series and PlayGround Festival of New Works. PlayGround has also commissioned 100 new full-length plays by 65 of these writers through its Commissioning Initiative and has directly facilitated the premiere of 36 of those works through its innovative New Play Production Fund and through intentional partnerships with other producers. The Festival has become one of the most important launching pads for early-career playwrights and their work, leading to collaborations, commissions and productions both in continuing relationship to and often well beyond PlayGround. In 2017, PlayGround added Potrero Stage, a state-of-the-art 99-seat performance space, to its suite of resources in support of new plays and playwrights. More recent programs in service to artists and arts organizations include: the PlayGround Solo Performance Festival, providing a platform for the development of new solo works by California artists; and the Innovator Incubator, fostering the launch of innovative new theatre companies representing the great diversity of the Bay Area.

PlayGround has received numerous awards including: Playwrights Foundation’s Inaugural New Play Champion Award, BATCC’s Paine Knickerbocker Award for ongoing contributions to Bay Area theater, and American Theater Wing’s National Theater Grant. PlayGround’s alumni have gone on to win local, national, and international honors for their short and full-length work, including recognition at the Humana Festival, O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, and New York International Fringe Festival. Six of the past ten Will Glickman Award winners for best new play are PlayGround alumni. Notable alumni include: Lauren Yee (Cambodian Rock Band), Jonathan Spector (Eureka Day), Vincent Terrel Durham (Polar Bears, Black Boys & Prairie Fringed Orchids & Rella Lossy Award Winner).