{"id":317674,"date":"2026-05-15T19:32:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T19:32:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/317674\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T19:32:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T19:32:18","slug":"shotgun-players-presents-a-climate-change-comedy-continuity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/317674\/","title":{"rendered":"Shotgun Players presents a climate-change comedy, ‘Continuity’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Berkeley\u2019s Shotgun Players will present the Bay Area premiere of Bess Wohl\u2019s fast-paced climate change comedy, \u201cContinuity,\u201d May 23-June 27, at the Ashby Stage. Emilie Whelan, who returns after directing the critically acclaimed \u201cArt\u201d by Yasmina Reza, assembles another comedic ensemble in this satire about a Hollywood film crew making a movie about the climate crisis.<\/p>\n

Shotgun Players\u2019 \u201cContinuity\u201d May 23-June 27.\u00a0 Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. Tickets online<\/a> or at (510) 841-6500 ext. 303. Discounts available.<\/p>\n

Set on a major motion picture set, in which the chaotic soundstage mimics the real-world climate crisis, the director, Maria, tries to keep her production on track in this sharp-witted, energetic comedy. Egos clash, secrets spill and hard truths are faced as the crew responds to an existential predicament with movie magic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Continuity\u2019 is zany, ambitious, and full-throated,\u201d says Whelan. \u201cBess Wohl understands that the climate crisis is a human crisis and that humans standing in front of the climate crisis are actually like clowns. It is so big, and we are slack-jawed before it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The play, whose mock film is set on a Styrofoam ice shelf and shot in the middle of the New Mexico desert (because of tax breaks), satirizes showbiz archetypes to expose how humanity deals with a problem that affects us all.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Beneath the veneer of comedy lies an appeal to grasp the finite nature of human life on Earth and the ominous hourglass counting down to an irreversible state of destruction. The characters, like the audience, face this global situation while simultaneously reckoning with their own secret dilemmas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis play gets at climate change, and while the world is on fire, we still have to live our lives, and do the best we can,\u201d says Artistic Director Patrick Dooley. \u201cThe energy and the humor behind this show is the will toward life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Youtube
\nEmelie Whelan speaks about directing \u201cContinuity\u201d at Shotgun Players\u2019 Ashby Stage. Courtesy of Shotgun Players<\/p>\n

\u201cOn a film set, you are often counting down the time and, also, standing around doing nothing,\u201d playwright Wohl told the\u00a0 Theater Development Fund<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is this sense of a crisis, and yet it doesn\u2019t look or feel anything like a crisis,\u201d added Wohl, whose latest play, \u201cLiberation,\u201d just won the 2026 Pulitzer prize for Drama. \u201cIs there continuity to humanity, or are we living through an extinction?\u201d<\/p>\n

Rezan Asfaw plays an idealistic director determined to make a meaningful movie while trying to wrangle her high-maintenance lead actress. The film\u2019s antagonist is played by Nicholas Ren\u00e9 Rodriguez, from Shogun Players\u2019 2025 production of Terry Guest\u2019s \u201cThe Magnolia Ballet.\u201d Ije Success plays the mock movie\u2019s scientist, while Beno\u00cet Monin (last seen in \u201cArt\u201d) stars as its screenwriter.\u00a0 Malcolm Rodgers, Matt Standley and Adam Mendez Jr round out the cast.<\/p>\n

The production is directly in line with the theme of Shotgun Players\u2019 2026 season: making art that meets the moment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAs theater-makers, that means making art with epic themes, bold aesthetics, and sweeping emotions. Yes, let\u2019s entertain, but let\u2019s also take huge, joyful, heroic risks!\u201d said Dooley. \u201cIt\u2019s also a time for connection and community \u2014 the kind that comes from shared ideas and space and laughter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peformance details<\/p>\n

Performances are Wednesdays through Saturdays at 7 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m. Previews are May 23-29, with opening night on May 30. Post-show conversations happen Thursdays and\u00a0 Sundays.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Special performances include a haptic tour and live audio description matinee on Sun., June 7, and an ASL-interpreted performance on Thurs., June 18. A masked matinee is June 21.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Discounts include a limited number of $25 Community Tickets. And on June 4, theater-lovers 25 and under, pay $15 for the show, free pizza and beer (21+). Get tickets at online<\/a> or by calling the box office: 510-841-6500 x 303<\/p>\n

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