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We are proud to announce the following recipients of the Spring 2024 CA$H Theatre Grants. Learn more about CA$H Theatre.

CA$H Performs

CA$H Performs is a $5,000 grant that supports fully produced performances of theatre projects that are open to the public.

Ramon Abad 

Duck Soup is an immersive theatre experience for children and families at Bindlestiff Studio. This one-hour show guides the audience to various sections of the theatre, where they witness three short stories brought to life through puppetry. Duck Soup is an intergenerational collaboration with young designers aged 7-17 and adults from all over the Bay Area who collaborated in the making of the puppets. The three 10-minute plays by three adult Asian American playwrights were specifically designed for a child-friendly audience, addressing the lack of TYA by Asian American writers. Duck Soup plays June 8-15 at Bindlestiff Studio in San Francisco.  

Analog Theatre 

Analog Theatre will produce its first long-form narrative project, LOAF, an expansion of a short piece developed through their Mask Monday series. LOAF is a feast of physical theatre forms, including masks, puppets, shadow play, and more, created through devising with Nikki Meñez (director/deviser) and Megan Cohen (playwright/deviser). Inspired by one of Hans Christian Anderson’s lesser-known masterpieces, LOAF is a feminist fabulist fable about a little girl who makes terrible choices. It examines power, privilege, and the difference between selfish and selfless. In the midst of aggressive Bay Area gentrification, this story feels personal and current. Its searing satire and generous heart invite us towards change. LOAF will be presented as part of the Innovator Incubator Showcase, November 1-17 at the Potrero Stage in San Francisco.  

Jud Ferrer 

Ferrer’s company, Queer AF, presents Escape to a Queertopia– collective disassociation for the restless mind (working title). With the show being so close to the election, Ferrer wanted this project to purposely distract from impending doom while simultaneously creating moments of radical queer joy through the magic of community-based theater. Queertopia will be the 6th full-length production of Queer AF. Queertopia will incorporate Queer futurism and envision what a Queer utopia would be like using a mix of sketch comedy, short plays, and dashes of improv pieced together through a central theme. Queer AF uses comedy as a form of healing and uses thought provoking storylines to deepen understanding of the Queer experience. Underneath it all, their main goal is to create space for Queer folks of color to build community through the practice of devised theatre. Queertopia plays October 17-26 at Bindlestiff Studio in San Francisco.  

Left Coast Theatre Company 

Found Family is an anthology of six short plays centered around the theme of found family. The show is designed to expand the idea of a found family to help audiences understand that their chosen family doesn’t need to look or feel a certain way; it only needs to give them the love and support that family gives. Found Family opens in November to coincide with the holidays, a time that is difficult for many people because of family. This show will remind people that regardless of how difficult things may be with their biological families (not to mention the stress of travel and holiday shopping), they still have their chosen families to see them through, and that, even when it doesn’t seem like it, they are loved. Found Family plays November 15-December 7 at Phoenix Theatre in San Francisco.  

Oakland Public Theater 

The Baldwin Centennial Project focuses on James Baldwin’s personal life and his work. From the churches of Harlem, through expatriation in Europe, into the civil unrest burgeoning out of the South to blossom across America, to his evolving public identity as a gay man, these events are as rich in drama as they are significant to the maturation of this important African-American artist and activist. The Baldwin Centennial Project plays August 1-4 at Potrero Stage in San Francisco and August 22-September 1 at BAM House in Oakland.  

Fred C. Riley III 

The Ground is a visual/sonic poem which explores the relationship between human innovation and the natural world. Performed by six puppeteers, this piece combines the forms of mask, shadow puppets, and tabletop (puppeteers in direct contact with the puppet on an elevated surface). The intent of the piece is for the audience to feel more emotionally connected to the natural world. Using an abstract approach to the ideas of environmental stewardship, the piece intends to help break down barriers some feel towards environmentalism. The central character learns to walk, think, and finally to feel. Through interactions with the animals that populate the world, she learns about her own nature while observing theirs. The Ground plays August 16-25 at Dresher Ensemble Studio in San Francisco.  

Torange Yeghiazarian 

Yeghiazarian will write, direct, and produce a theatrical adaptation of Leyli & Majnun, a 12th-century epic romance poem by Nizami. Historically in Iran, these epic stories were performed by a “Naghal,” a storyteller, one person, usually a man, who gave voice to all the characters and made all the sound effects. Typically performing in a coffee shop at a bustling bazaar, the Naghal would mix poetry and prose, and throw in some contemporary commentary to keep his audience interested. Yeghiazarian’s adaptation will be in this tradition but combined with contemporary elements of American musical theatre, utilizing both music and movement. While the story of Leyli & Majnun is not directly related to current events in Iran, Yeghiazarian’s desire to tell Leyli’s story is inspired by Iranian women’s ongoing demand for equal rights. Leyli & Majnun plays November 8-17 at Central Stage in Richmond

CA$H Creates

CA$H Creates is a $2,500 grant that supports the development of artistic theatre projects or capacity-building projects not directly tied to a fully produced performance of a piece.

The Chikahan Company 

The Chikahan Company will develop a Festival of New Works with local Filipinx American artists. The artists will participate in a ten-week program (July-September), gaining valuable insights and techniques across classical, modern, and contemporary performance styles. In November, the artists will be featured in the Festival of New Works, six dynamic ten-minute plays crafted by Filipinx and Filipinx American playwrights. These plays delve into the diasporic lifestyle, the concept of Home away from home, and the significance of chosen family, while tackling issues of race, religion, and sexuality.  

Nicole Jost 

Maggie Grabmeier and Nicole Jost’s first-ever musical, LOVE U, is a queer rom-com about lies, love, and college. Sparks fly when small town bookworm Mia and big city track star Jae meet at the college library, and Jae tells a little white lie: that she’s just as much of a reader as Mia is. Will Jae’s fictions undermine their happily ever after? With emotionally honest songwriting and an all-queer cast of characters, LOVE U is a life-affirming coming-of-age tale. CA$H Creates will support a staged reading and showcase of LOVE U in Fall 2024.  

Radhika Rao 

Rao will visit the Prague Shakespeare Festival and be trained in acting and directing Shakespeare. She will use the techniques learned there to direct a production of Much Ado about Nothing with Oakland seniors. When it comes to inclusion, we do not often think about age and ageism. How would audiences benefit from watching senior citizens take on younger roles? How would more experienced and mature actors express the romance and passion of the young? How would this impact them, the narrative, and the audiences? Rao has already begun working on scenes with a group of seniors and has been in dialogue about senior-focused directing with the Prague Shakespeare Festival. She is looking forward to directing Much Ado about Nothing with these seniors who are fierce feminists, many of whom were active in the Free Speech movement in the 1960s, and who love Beatrice’s spunk and her ability to stand up for herself with quick wit. 

Spring 2024 CA$H Theatre Panelists

Leon Goertzen 

Leon Goertzen is a founder and former Artistic Director of Ferocious Lotus Theatre Company. As an actor, he has worked at Capital Stage, East West Players, Berkeley Rep, Magic Theatre, Bay Area Playwrights Foundation, Aurora Theatre’s Global Age Project, and San Francisco Mime Troupe, among others. Education: BFA, UNSCA School of Drama. Member AEA, SAG-AFTRA.  

Richard A. Mosqueda  

Richard A. Mosqueda is a queer Latine director and producer. Recent directing credits include Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Shotgun Players) and the World Premiere of 

A Marriage (TheatreFIRST). Previously, they were the Director in Residence for New Conservatory Theatre Center, a two-year recipient of the National New Play Network’s (NNPN) Producer in Residence Program, and a member of SDC Foundation’s Observership Class. Richard is a founder of Epic Party Theatre, where he produced and directed Love in the Time of Piñatas by Baruch Porras Hernandez at Z Below. He is a graduate of the Theatre School at DePaul University   

Ben Prusiner 

Ben Prusiner is a director, writer, and teacher who recently moved to San Francisco. His directing work includes new writing as well as productions of Shakespeare and his contemporaries in LA, New York, and the UK. As a teacher and facilitator, he co-creates work with different communities ranging from young children to adults. He holds an MA in Applied Theatre from the City University of New York and an MA in Drama Directing from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in England.  

Sindu Singh  

Sindu Singh is a theatre maker who uses her voice to explore social (in)justice within and among us through stories of identity, connection, loss, purpose, inspiration, and all the wondrous messiness that keeps us curious, searching, and breathing (sometimes barely!). Over the last 13+ years she has worked with multiple theatre companies across the Bay Area In 2014, she co-founded Bay Area Drama Company, serving as Artistic Director from 2015-2020, and overseeing 18 productions during her tenure. In March 2022, Sindu was nominated by SFBATCC for “Principal Performance- Drama.” She will be seen next in Central Works’ production of Patricial Milton’s Accused!