Residencies

The Playhouse provides a temporary home each year for an up-and-coming theatre company as part of our annual Theatre-in-Residence Program. Launched by Christopher Ashley in 2008, the program is designed to address the lack of available, affordable performance spaces for the many vibrant theatre companies in San Diego. In addition to performance space, the Playhouse provides lighting and sound support and is available to offer marketing and development collaboration.

Common Ground Theatre

Common Ground Theatre’s mission is to produce classics and new works by and about people of African descent that entertain, educate and connect with audiences of all ages, cultures and backgrounds. As the premier San Diego Black theatre, their aim is to produce high quality theatrical productions that provide a “common ground” for people to participate, interact, connect and share their love of theatre. The company was founded in 1963 by Rufus DeWitt and Dr. Robert Matthews as the Southeast Community Theatre (SECT), filling the need to develop the artistic talents of young African Americans. DeWitt and Matthews later invited Dr. Floyd Gaffney, then a new professor at UC San Diego, to become involved with the SECT, launching his 36-year association with the company. Upon his death in 2007, Dr. Gaffney left a rich legacy of developing and mentoring young Black theatre artists in San Diego with the company, renamed Common Ground Theatre. In 2021, Yolanda Franklin was selected as the company’s first female Executive Director.

Learn more about Common Ground Theatre:
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Past Theatres-in-Residence have included:

Blindspot Collective, 2020/2021 Season
Backyard Renaissance, 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 Season
Native Voices at the Autry, 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 Season
Circle Circle dot dot, 2014/2015 Season
Teatro Máscara Mágica, 2013/2014 Season
San Diego Asian American Repertory Theater, 2012/2013 Season
Eveoke Dance Theatre, 2011/2012 Season
MOXIE Theater, 2009/2010 Season
Mo’olelo, 2008 Season

The Artist-in-Residence program is a multi-month residency that gives artists the freedom to focus on their ongoing body of work. Resident Artists are invited to become fully integrated in to Playhouse operations, from the stage, to the boardroom, to the classroom. Recipients have included the Tony-nominated scenic designer Robert Brill (2015), Tony Award-winning actor and playwright BD Wong (2016) and internationally renowned puppeteer Basil Twist (2017).

The Artist-in-Residence Program is by invitation only.

Our current Artist-in-Residence is Dr. Maria Patrice Amon.

Dr. Maria Patrice Amon is a director, producer, scholar and leader. In addition to producing La Jolla Playhouse’s Latinx New Play Festival, Patrice’s directing credits include: Hoops (Milwaukee Chamber Theatre), A Skeptic and a Bruja (Urbanite Theatre), Group! The Musical (Passage Theatre), Hoopla! (La Jolla Playhouse POP Tour), Azul (Diversionary Theatre), Mojada (UC San Diego), A Zoom of One’s Own (CSUSM), Ich Bin Ein Berliner (Theatre Lab), DREAM HOU$E (CSUSM/TuYo Theatre), Fade (Moxie Theatre), The Madres (Moxie Theatre), Lydia (Brown Bag Theatre Company). Dramaturg: Manifest Destinitis and Beachtown (San Diego Rep). Patrice was a 2020 National Directing Fellow and an Associate Artistic Director at San Diego Repertory Theatre. She is also a co-founder and co-Artistic Director of TuYo Theatre, a professional Latinx Theatre Company in San Diego, with whom the Playhouse collaborated for Pásale Pásale at the 2024 WOW Festival, and On Her Shoulders We Stand at the 2022 WOW Festival. Currently an LTC Steering Committee member and a board member for NNPN, Patrice is an assistant professor at CSUSM. JD: California Western School of Law. Ph.D.: UC Irvine. mariapatriceamon.com