Laylah Muran de Assereto

Theatrical Producer, Playwright and Director

Concord, California

Member Since:
February 2014

Last online:
> 2 weeks ago

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About Laylah

Laylah has been involved in theatre and writing creative fiction since childhood. Raised in an extended urban family of poets, musicians, and performance artists Laylah got her start acting with her family’s avant-garde puppet theatre troupe, Handghost Theatre in the 1980s. She attended the School of the Arts at J. Eugene McAteer High School in San Francisco (now the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts) where she studied drama and theatre tech. She studied acting with Stephen Drewes from 1994 to 2006 and became heavily involved both as an actor, member, and board member with the Playwrights’ Center of San Francisco (PCSF) in 2005, serving variously as the Secretary, Publicity Director, Board Chair, and volunteering as a literary committee member. In 2009 Laylah joined Wily West Productions as their Executive Producer where she served until 2015, presenting several award winning, nominated, and critically acclaimed productions of new works by local area writers and theatre artists. She produced the annual short play festival “Sheherezade” from 2008-2014, which received a TBA nomination for Outstanding Anthology for “Sheherezade 14“.

AS OF ONE will be included in ReproRights! The Body Politic at the Thick House this summer. Her short play, FORTRESS FOUND, commissioned for the SF Olympians Festival 2015, was given a staged reading in November at the Exit Theatre. She was a participating playwright in Wily West’s 2015 summer shows I SAW IT and ZERO HOUR: The Mars Experiment. Laylah’s one-act UNDERNEATH THE ABOVE AND BELOW received a reading in PCSF’s 2014 Fall reading series. Three of her short plays, ANONYMOUS ME, JAIN, and CASH FOR CAPES were included in Wily West’s TBA Outstanding Anthology-nominated “Superheroes“, a collaborative thematic collection of plays by eight bay area playwrights. Her first short play CENSORED IN TEHRAN was included as part of “Sheherezade X“. Her plays PITCHFORK AND LIGHT, PARAPROSDOKIAN, and PERSONAL SPACE have appeared in PCSF’s 24-Hour Play festival (2013, 2014, and 2015). OUTWARD AND ONWARD received a reading in Southern Railroad Theatre Company’s “Resolutions: I Do Declare!” in 2013.

She directed four plays in PCSF’s SHEHEREZADE’S LAST TALES in December 2015. Laylah directed TWO TO FIVE WITH THREE SECONDS TO GO by Susan Jackson and AFTER FRANK by Patricia Milton, for “Sheherezade 13“. She directed four short plays in “Repro Rights! Women @ Risk” for Repro Rights Theatre and 3 Girls Theatre in August 2015 at Thick House, and will be directing one act of short plays and performance pieces in 2016. She has also directed readings of BLOODLINE by Alan Olenjiczak and Jeff Matlin, CROSSING THE CHASM by Rod McFadden, and INCOMING by Earl Roske. She directed Vonn Scott Bair’s experimental modular play THE POSSIBILITY for the PCSF 2016 Spring Reading Series and will be directing an evening of One Acts for SF Olympians 2016.

Gender:
Female

Certifications

Photos

SF Olympians 2015 reading of my play Fortress Found

Credits

TALKING HEADS (2016)
Theater by Spare Stage / Stephen Drewes (Comedy) CELIA An award-winning series of solo pieces, classics of contemporary drama, hailed for their razor-sharp wit and deeply felt humanity.
TERRA INCOGNITA: Episode 4 Misery and Mystery in Missouri (2016)
Theater by Ex Nihilo Theatre / ShawnJ West (Comedy) DECIMA TERRA INCOGNITA a serial play presented live in six episodes from October 2015 to October 2016 at The Octopus Literary Salon in Oakland, CA. We will record the play for podcast and release it unto the world! A cross-country driving excursion. A map and possessed darts. Entanglements in myths, urban legends, folklore...What is the ultimate destination for these adventurers? Will they arrive? And more importantly, what's up with these darts?
The Possibility (a Staged Reading) (2016)
Theater by The Playwrights' Center of San Francisco / Laylah Muran de Assereto (Comedy and Drama) Director THE POSSIBILITY, by Vonn Scott Bair Presented May 16, 2016 at the Shelton Theatre for PCSF The Possibility is a full-length "modular play" depicting the internal struggles of a man and a woman who think about the possibility of adultery--and who might act upon that. Vonn Scott Bair is an award-winning playwright, actor, screenwriter, blogger, and chocolate chip cookie baker based in San Francisco. His one-act play The Land of Hope & Dreams, developed at the PCSF, won the Helen-Jean Playwriting Contest in 2015.
The Right Note (a Concert Reading) (2016)
Theater by Musical Cafe / Laylah Muran de Assereto (Musical) Director THE RIGHT NOTE is a musicalization of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night with book and lyrics by Jerome Joseph Gentes and music and lyrics by Rice Majors. THE RIGHT NOTE, book and lyrics by Jerome Joseph Gentes, music and lyrics by Rice Majors, with Cabiria Jacobsen as "Vi," Jesse Cortez as "Duke," Ayelet Firstenberg as "Lady O," Shannon Kealey as "Mariah," Kyle Stoner as "Tobias," Chris Maltby as "Andreas," Joey Alvarado as "Mal," and Beebe Reisman as "Fez-T," direction by Laylah Muran de Assereto, and Billy Wolfe, pianist. Recorded on January 25, 2016 at PianoFight by John Quick for Musical Cafe 2016 Winter Showcase. musicalcafe.org and facebook.com/TheRightNoteMusical
Sheherezade's Last Tales (2015)
Theater by The Playwrights' Center of San Francisco / Laylah Muran de Assereto (Comedy and Drama) Director SHEHEREZADE'S LAST TALES (Sheherezade 15) Playwrights' Center of San Francisco @ the Exit Stage Left - December 3-12, 2015 A 15-year tradition that brings together the talent of local writers, actors, directors and designers. The final year of SHEHEREZADE in its current form - hence, SHEHEREZADE'S LAST TALES! From zany money-making schemes and awkward first dates at 70, to buried pasts, dark secrets and the aftermath of war, these plays range from hilarious to sobering and bittersweet. Directed four of eight plays A CLEAN WELL-LIGHTED PARK BENCH, by Patricia L. Morin with Brian Levi (Saul) and Amber Glasgow (Kid) An old Jewish man sits on a park bench talking to the moon as he reflects on his wife's death when a young teenager with a gun attempts to mug him. SPARSE PUBIC HAIR, by Lorraine Midanik with Rick Homan (Kenneth) and Miyoko Sakatani (Mildred) Two older adults, both seeking casual relationships, meet through the Internet for an uncomfortable first date at a bar. THE STUFF WE KEEP, by Rod McFadden with Alexaendrai Bond (Julie), Louel Senores (Bob), and AJ Davenport (Helen) While cleaning out the basement of their deceased father, a brother and sister find a box of secret love letters to him, not from their mother. Should the letters be shown to their mother? In trying to decide this, the siblings uncover their own dangerous secrets. RORSCHACH TEST, by Vaughn Hovannessian with Brian Levi (David), Miyoko Sakatani (Maureen), Rick Homan (Dr. Sanders) A couple attends a marriage counseling session with a twist.
Fortress Found (a Staged Reading)
Theater by SF Olympians Festival / Steven Withavee (Drama) Playwright FORTRESS FOUND by Laylah Muran de Assereto Inspired by the story of Telamon A renowned, if aging, investigative journalist and former navy captain has been captured by pirates, who keep him confined in a massive baobab tree. Three women keep him company and wile away the hours with card games and questions he can't always answer; and even if he could, he probably shouldn't. Just what did the fates have in store for Telamon, and how will his past affect his future?