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Project Playground
April 25 @ 7pm
University Heights Center
A Collaborative Play-Creation Space for Seattle's Adult Artists
Project Playground is a new initiative designed to address a need in Seattle's performing arts community: a dedicated, low-pressure space for adult creatives to engage in the art of play and creation. Even at the community theater level, they often prioritizes commercial success and skill and experience based casting, leaving little room for exploration, creative risk-taking, and collaborative development. This project aims to fill that gap by creating an immersive and supportive environment where the goal of making art is not the final product.
Over the course of an intensive rehearsal period, Project Playground brings together adult actors with four new work pieces by local Seattle playwrights. This initiative ensures that everyone who signs up receives a role, eliminating the fear of being cut or compared to peers. The core of this project is the rehearsal room itself, a space where artists can "play" together, dive into new material, and collectively build a performance piece without the pressure of a box office bottom line.
Meet the Playwrights
Emily Haver The Happiest Day
Emily Haver (she/her) is a Seattle-based playwright and actor. She has her B.A. in Theatre from Seattle University and an M.A. in Intercultural Communication Studies from Shanghai Theatre Academy. Emily lived in Shanghai and Taipei from 2017-2025, and remains deeply connected to her artistic communities in Asia. As an artist, she collaborates across cultures, making ensemble and experimentation-based work that provokes social questions and is emotionally grounded. She is deeply passionate about authentically and lovingly telling stories about women and queer communities and hopes that her work makes people feel more alive and a little less alone in the world!
Her work has been produced at One World Theatre (Shanghai), Taipei Shorts, and Taipei Fringe Festival, and her short play "little moons" was published by Rain City Projects in Manifesto Series Volume 6: Ten to Places (2024). Most recently, her work was performed at 14/48: The World’s Quickest Theatre Festival and Centrifuge at Theatre Off Jackson, and her play “little moons” will be performed at HEART Repertory Theatre in May 2026. Learn more: emilyhaver.com
M. K. Wessel The Red Claw
M. K. Wessel holds an MA in Theatre Directing from the University of East Anglia and BA in Theatre from the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. Their first play, Tony the Fantastic Fireman! LIVE: One Show Only, was produced at their undergrad and nominated for the John Cauble Award for Outstanding One-Act Play at KCACTF (2019). In 2024, their one-act Thank You For Knowing Me premiered off-off-Broadway. Their full-length play, wild, mysterious forces, received a stage reading in Seattle Public Theater’s Distillery New Works Festival in 2025. Wessel’s writing has been featured in the Open: Journal of Arts and Letters, Writer’s Playground, The Raven Review, and Empyrean Magazine.
Indira Rampersad Hanging Back
Indira Rampersad (she/her) is a multidisciplinary theatre artist and educator based in Seattle. Since graduating from UT Austin with a BFA in Theatre Education, she’s worked at several theaters and schools as an Assistant Stage Manager, Props Designer, Teacher, and Playwright. She currently serves as the Education Coordinator at Seattle Public Theater, where she mentors students in performance and playwriting. She recently participated as a writer in 14/48, Winter 2026 and she is thrilled to get this opportunity to continue storytelling!
Meg Ledford Girl and Man on Bench
Meg Ledford (she/her/hers) is a playwright who got her start doing sketch comedy and improv. She has her MFA in Playwriting from Columbia University. Her work has been featured at Lenfest Center of the Arts, New Perspectives Theatre Company, and Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati. In 2021, she won the Jackie Demaline Regional Collegiate Playwriting Competition. Because of her sketch background, Meg approaches topics through a comedic lens, believing that humor often leads us to the deepest truths. During her time pursuing her masters, she developed a love for analyzing structures, and is often drawn to narratives that explore archetypes or transform well-established formats.