Upcoming Events

Recent Performances

Play On Words: Our Stories, Ourselves: June 17, 2021

San Jose’s literary arts series produced 16 amazing pieces, as performed by 9 actors, in its first virtual program in partnership with the San Jose Museum of Art.

City Lights Theatre Company Presents Storytelling with Play On Words: May 13, 2021

Play On Words was invited to participate in City Lights Theatre Company’s Next Stage program at 8 p.m. on Thursday, May 13. The free online event featured POWSJ co-founder, casting director and actor extraordinaire Melinda Marks reading a piece selected from our upcoming June show, followed by a short Q&A with City Lights marketing director Rebecca Wallace.

Flash Fiction Forum: March 10, 2021

I’m excited to return to San Jose’s Flash Fiction Forum (on Zoom) on Wednesday, March 10, to read “The Seven Stages of Office Doldrums,” a short satire.

The Racket: TRY TO KEEP CALM, October 1, 2020

I read a “All the Times I Tried To” as part of this online literary series based in San Francisco.

The Racket: YOUR MOM, May 14, 2020

I returned to San Francisco’s The Racket via Zoom.

Play On Words: Beyond Boundaries, January 12, 2020

Inspired in part by Pae White’s concept of defying boundaries, we performed stories, poems and vignettes by 11 Bay Area writers at the San Jose Museum of Art.

The Racket: HOLIDAY, December 3, 2019

I was delighted to be invited to read with the San Francisco literary series The Racket on December 3.

Play On Words: Live in San Francisco, October 19, 2019

Play On Words returned to San Francisco’s LitCrawl to perform the work of 6 Bay Area writers at the Stage Werx Theatre.

Flash Fiction Forum: October 9, 2019

I read short nonfiction piece at San Jose’s Flash Fiction Forum at WORKS Gallery.

Poetry in Parks: Quiet Lightning, September 15, 2019

I returned to Quiet Lightning on Angel Island on Sunday, September 15, to perform an excerpt of my novel-in-progress.

Bay Area Generations: August 26, 2019

I read “A Good Hurt” alongside my mother, the writer Lyra Halprin, at Oakland’s Joyce Gordon Gallery, as part of the Bay Area Generations reading series.

Play On Words: New Terrains, February 24, 2019

Play On Words was proud to partner with the San Jose Museum of Art for its “New Terrains: Migration and Mobility” cross-disciplinary exhibit. We performed to a sold-out audience at the Wendel Gallery at SMUSA on Sunday, February 24, 2019.

Play On Words: Nostalgia-rama, August 27, 2018

We returned to Redwood City's Dragon Theatre to present Nostalgia-rama, a very special evening featuring staged readings of our favorite television shows from the '70s, '80s and '90s.

Play On Words: April 11, 2018

Play on Words' spring show featured work by 15 artists, as performed by 8 amazing Bay Area actors. Check out photos on our Facebook page and stay tuned on our website for video from the show.

Play On Words: Activists Unite, January 17, 2018

In summer 2017, we partnered with San Jose’s Flash Fiction Forum and other local community activists to produce Activate, our first chapbook. We performed selections from our book at our first 2018 show at San Jose's Cafe Stritch.

Action Fiction: December 17, 2017

San Francisco's wonderful Action Fiction performed my story "Tap Show" on Sunday, December 17.

Flash Fiction Collective: December 7, 2017

I was delighted to read four 100-word stories at San Francisco's Flash Fiction Collective during their winter Flashathon at Alley Cat Books.

Play On Words: Leading Women, October 9, 2017

Play On Words proudly presented Leading Women at the Dragon Theatre in Redwood City, a reading of work by Bay Area women writers who challenge--and occasionally mock--gender norms. Featuring work by Leah Griesmann, Melinda Marks, and myself, as read by Melinda, Ivette Deltoro and April Culver. See our YouTube page for footage from the show.

Flash Fiction Forum: August 23, 2017

I read two short pieces at San Jose's Flash Fiction Forum at WORKS Gallery at 7 pm.

Flash Fiction Collective: June 1, 2017

I read alongside Jimin Han, Mary-Kim Arnold and Gary Singh at the Flash Fiction Collective at Alley Cat Books in San Francisco.

Best of Play On Words: Anne & Mark's Art Party, September 24, 2016

Play On Words produced a Best Of Mashup at Anne & Mark's Art Party during the opening night gala on September 24, 2016. Check out our website or sign up for new email list to stay in the loop! We accept fiction and nonfiction under 2000 words, as well as theater and poetry.

Play On Words: New Year, Nouveau--January 6, 2016

Our first show of 2016 took place on January 6, 2016, at San Jose's Cafe Stritch. Check out our website, Facebook and Instagram pages to see photos and footage from the event, which featured work by Allison Landa, Betsy Miller, Marilyn Horn-Fahey, Lita Kurth, Tania Martin, Rick Alpers, Christine Keating, Roy Proctor, Freya Seeburger (Cellista), Keiko O'Leary, Gary Singh, Sarah Lyn Rogers and Pratibha Kelapure.

Flash Fiction Forum's Literary Pub Crawl: November 22, 2015

I read alongside a crew of Silicon Valley writers at San Jose's first-ever Literary Pub Crawl, on Sunday, November 22, 2015. This event was hosted by the Flash Fiction Forum, an awesome series based here in San Jose.

Play On Words: Words & Music, July 14, 2015

Play On Words performed at San Jose's St. James Park on July 14, 2015, as part of a special summer series sponsored by the San Jose Parks Foundation with the support of The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Check out our blog, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for video footage and pictures from the show.

Play On Words: Take Flight, June 3, 2015

Play On Words hosted its first show at San Jose's Cafe Stritch on Wednesday, June 3, 2015, at 7 pm. This show was made possible in part by the San Jose Downtown Association and The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Check out our blog, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for video footage and pictures from the show.

Flash Fiction Forum: March 4, 2015

I read "Yells in the Night" and "Thanksgiving in Space" at San Jose's Flash Fiction Forum at the Works Gallery.

Lit Crawl: Your Words, Our Voices, October 2014

Play On Words performed in San Francisco's Clarion Alley on October 18, 2014. We kicked off the first hour of Lit Crawl, an amazing evening of literary events sponsored by Lit Quake, and featured original work by Brian Van Winkle, Leah Griesmann, me, Nicole Hughes, and Melinda Marks. Check out footage from our performance on our blog.

Flash Fiction Forum: August 13, 2014

I read a series of 100 word stories at San Jose's Flash Fiction Forum on August 13, 2014, at San Jose's Works Gallery.

Play On Words: Spring Fling! May 22, 2014

Play On Words proudly presented the work of Jessy Goodman, Sarah Lyn Rogers, Andrew Christian, Adam Magill, David Wirth and me at the Blackbird Tavern. Check out our website for videos, interviews and details.

Play On Words, Part Deux: February 13, 2014

Play On Words partnered with San Jose's Blackbird Tavern to host its second event at 7:30 pm on February 13, 2014. We featured original work by Kirstin Chen, Brian Van Winkle, Melinda Marks, Eli Hansen, Gary Singh and Darrell Dela Cruz, performed live by Adam Magill, Ryan Alpers, Brian Van Winkle, Melinda Marks, and Jeremy Ryan. To learn more about Play On Words, or to find information on submitting your own work, check out Gary Singh's Metro column, like us on Facebook, or read our origin story here.

Quiet Lightning: February 3, 2014

I read "La Madrugada," an excerpt from Foreigner, at Quiet Lightning: between midnight and early morning. The event took place at 50 Mason Social House in San Francisco, and featured original work by Jason File, Leigh Lucas, Tomas Moniz, Tara Rose, Kristina Ten, Jeff Von Ward, Sarah Carpenter, Penina Eilberg-Schwartz, Siamak Vossoughi, Sarah Bethe Nelson, Peter Bullen, and Rachel Bublitz. Visit Quiet Lightning to find links to sPARKLE n' bLINK.

Play On Words premiere: October 24, 2013

Play On Words is a new literary performance series based in San Jose. Our premiere event attracted 75 local writers, performers and patrons of the art to the Blackbird Tavern on Thursday, October 24. Local performers Adam Magill, Brian Van Winkle, Melinda Marks, Jimmy Allan, Doug York and Ryan Alpers performed staged readings of original work by Leah Griesmann, Ryan Alpers, Eric Sneathen, Melinda Marks and Adam Magill.

Quiet Lightning & Feast of Words: March 19, 2013

I read an excerpt from Foreigner at Quiet Lightning, a monthly submission-based reading series curated in San Francisco. This event was a co-hosted by Quiet Lightning and Feast of Words, a monthly potluck that features writers and good food. You can buy sPARKLE n' bLINK, Quiet Lightning's publication, to read all the pieces performed that evening.

Action Fiction: March 14, 2013

My short piece, "Soloist," was performed as part of Action Fiction, a robust reading and performance series presented by The Omnibucket Performance Academy -- where readings become performances -- a partnership between Omnibucket, San Francisco Writers Community, Fiction365, and Madlab Theatre. The amazing, one-of-a-kind Gray Performs took over Chez Poulet with her performance.

Featured writers and performers:

Katrin Arefy, performed by Jen Terry
Shruti Swami, performed by Anthony Villafuete
Ian Tuttle, performed by Gillian Eichenberger and Robert Thomas
Benjamin Wachs, performed by Sara Renauer, Jimmey Cross, and Benjamin Wachs
Zarina Zabrisky, performed by Austin Staunch and Meghan Rutigliano

Thanks to Omnibucket and Fiction365 for hosting and filming this event.