Play Cafe

09/03/2026

Get your ticket today (it’s an intimate venue) for Musical Cafe’s Songs from New Musicals - Feinstein’s at The Nikko on Sept. 27.

Featuring songs by Play Cafe members: Brian Belding & Natalie Brice, Sean P. Breen, Don Seaver, Susan Rabin & Patrick Morehead, Ann Lucena and MCs The Kilbanes.

For more info and tickets: https://www.playcafe.org/performances
Ticket Discount Code: MUSICAL

08/09/2026

FOR THE WANT OF PLOT Workshop. Play Cafe invites you to an on-line workshop presented by Jonathan Josephson on Sunday, August 16, 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM Pacific Time. Details and registration:

Play Cafe invites you to an on-line workshop presented by Jonathan Josephson on Sunday, August 16, 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM Pacific Time. 

07/21/2026

FOR THE WANT OF PLOT Workshop. Play Cafe invites you to an on-line workshop presented by Jonathan Josephson on Sunday, August 16, 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM Pacific Time. Details and registration:

Play Cafe invites you to an on-line workshop presented by Tracy Held on Sunday, July 19th, 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM Pacific Time.

07/15/2026

If you are considering self producing, Play Cafe is offering an on-line workshop this Sunday that you'll want to attend,

FUNDRAISING 101: STRATEGIES TO FUND YOUR PROJECT Workshop. Play Cafe invites you to an on-line workshop presented by Tracy Held on Sunday, July 19, 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM Pacific Time.

Details and Registration:
https://www.playcafe.org/workshops

05/30/2026

FUNDRAISING 101: STRATEGIES TO FUND YOUR PROJECT Workshop. Play Cafe invites you to an on-line workshop presented by Tracy Held on Sunday, July 19, 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM Pacific Time. https://www.playcafe.org/workshops

ABOUT THE WORKSHOP:
Do you have a story to produce, but need to raise the money to put it on stage or on screen? This workshop will help you understand your fundraising options so you can be strategic about choosing a fundraising campaign that will help you choose a practical and effective strategy for raising money. This workshop is especially geared for artists who are producing their own work and who are new to fundraising or have fundraised in the past but either struggled to successfully raise their goal amount or felt overwhelmed by the process. Tracy will help you identify a fundraising approach that will make it easier for you to fund your own projects.

In this workshop, you will gain a high level understanding of the primary approaches to fundraising: individual donor solicitation, crowdfunding, grant writing, and hosting events. You will then have an opportunity to perform a self-assessment to determine which strategies are right for your next project. By the end of the workshop, you should be able to identify an approach that is most likely to be successful for you as well as next steps for implementing your fundraising campaign.

FOR MORE DETAILS, including the instructor’s bio and REGISTRATION, go to https://www.playcafe.org/workshops. The fee to participate is $18 for Play Cafe members and $28 for non-members. Play Cafe Members, write to [email protected] to request the discount code.

05/28/2026

This is an excellent opportunity for Northern California Musical Theatre creatives.

Musical Cafe, a program of Play Cafe, is happy to announce that submissions are now open for Songs from New Musicals - Feinstein’s at The Nikko in San Francisco for original songs from musicals created by Northern California writers and composers.

Two songs each from five creative teams will be chosen by our jury of directors, writers, and composers to be performed live at Feinstein’s at The Nikko in San Francisco on September 27.
Feinstein’s is an exquisite venue https://www.feinsteinssf.com/ This is an exceptional opportunity for visibility.

Link to Guidelines and Submission Form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe_WIp73BrZ3tvHThOqTUss1bAG8PEIb83Pyn6MbWM2BkIqcw/viewform?usp=header

04/19/2026

May 4: Actors Reading Writers

AN EVENING OF

SHORT AUDIO PLAYS

Monday, May 4, 7pm

IN-PERSON & ONLINE

Actors Reading Writers in collaboration with Play Cafe presents

An Evening of Short Audio Plays in the Drawing Room of the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. The event is free (donations appreciated) and open to the public. RSVP here.

Join us as actors read four lively works by local playwrights spanning comedy, mystery, parody, and pastiche, enhanced by live music and Foley sound effects.

Come by at 6:45pm for music performed by pianist Jeanne Walpole. Readings start at 7:15pm. Attend in person at the beautiful Berkeley City Club or online at: https://berkeley.zoom.us/j/93072639723.

THE PLAYS:

“Special Delivery” by Cherielyn Ferguson

Jake’s mad at the world this Christmas and he's not going to take it anymore. With the unwitting help of his mild-mannered neighbor Irma, he’s out to fix everyone’s wagon. Tune in as all hell—or rather, all fruitcake—breaks loose.

“On the Train” by William Brasse

All aboard! As the train for London passes through Little Ducking and Greater Ducking, three passengers decide to pass the time with impromptu ukulele music. It does not go well.

“Fair Exchange” by Sanjit Sengupta

Bruce, a college student, gets unsolicited advice from Jessie, an airport restaurant owner, about how he should pursue a romantic interest. He gets more than he bargained for.

“Pickleball” by Karen Caronna

A dark and stormy night. A body. A missing chihuahua. A sister’s plea for help. What’s a woman to do?

THE PERFORMERS:

Isaac Arriaga

Mousumi Das

Lori Gieleghem

Gregory Tiede

Musical accompaniment by Jeanne Walpole. Directed by Rica Anderson.


Attend in person: Berkeley City Club's Drawing Room, 2315 Durant Ave, Berkeley, 94704

Join via Zoom: https://berkeley.zoom.us/j/93072639723

While readings are heard clearly over Zoom, live music is not. Zoom attendees might want to join at 7:15pm when the readings start.

If you have trouble logging on, make sure you've upgraded to the latest version of Zoom. Then, try signing out of your account and signing in again.

VIRTUAL DONATION JAR
Donations to ARW are happily accepted!
Contact Rica at [email protected].
Actors Reading Writers / (510) 778-8959 / [email protected]

04/04/2026

GREAT PLAYS PLAYWRIGHTS SHOULD KNOW Workshop. Play Cafe invites you to an on-line workshop presented by Anthony Clarvoe on Sunday, May 17, 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM Pacific Time. Details & Registration: https://www.playcafe.org/workshops

01/14/2026

ARTIST STATEMENT SEMINAR, for writing your Artist Statement (AKA Artistic Statement). Play Cafe invites you to an interactive workshop presented by Emma Goldman-Sherman on Sunday, February 22, 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM Pacific Time. https://www.playcafe.org/workshops

We will look at a few examples of different approaches to the Artistic Statement so that you can create one that is unique to you! We will do 3 short writing sprints (no athletic ability required) to free write from 7 optional lenses from a place of grounded embodiment to create some raw material. Then we will shift to convergent thinking to edit and shape our material into a draft of an Artistic Statement. Everyone will be invited to share their draft either in the workshop or afterwards privately (or both)!

For More Info, including the instructor's bio, and Registration go to: https://www.playcafe.org/workshops

08/12/2025

DATE CHANGE: Musical Cafe invites you to an online workshop presented by Lianne Marie Dobbs, "SOLO" CABARET CREATION: FROM BRAINSTORMS, TO BUILDING YOUR TEAM, TO MARKETING, TO SHOWTIME! Sunday, September 21, 4-5:30 pm Pacific Time. DETAILS AND REGISTRATION:

Play Cafe invites you to an online workshop presented by Lianne Marie Dobbs. Sunday August 17, 3:30-5:30 pm Pacific Time.

08/02/2025

Ira Marlowe’s musical THE METAMORPHOSIS OF BARRY SCHLECKMAN was selected for Musical Cafe’s 2025 Next Stages program. Jennifer and Piper Loomis’ musical BUBBLE GUM is the semi-finalist. Congratulations!