A climate comedy may sound irreverent given the dire changes our planet experiences every day. With the ice cap melting, oceans heating up and the extinction of various animal and insect species, climate change is hardly a laughing matter. Playwright Bess Wohl, however, manages to do just that in \u201cContinuity,\u201d running through June 27 at Shotgun Players on 1901 Ashby Ave. in Berkeley.<\/p>\n
In her own version of a play within a play, Wohl\u2019s satire utilizes the chaotic making of a Hollywood movie on eco terrorism to show the disconnect many have about climate change.<\/p>\n
Set on a faux ice floe (kudos to set designer Randy Wong-Westbrooke), the movie is being shot under the hot New Mexico sun. Evidently, the producer realized financial advantages by filming in New Mexico. A running gag involves the movie actors attempting to stay cool in the hot desert while wearing heavy winter gear.<\/p>\n
Here the director Maria (Rezan Asfaw) strives to make a serious film about climate change but is constantly thwarted by her self-absorbed star Nicole (Regina Morones). The eco terrorist George (Nicholas Rene Rodriguez) and doomed scientist Lily (Ije Success) join Nicole on the shrinking ice.<\/p>\n
During the many breaks in filming, the scientific advisor Larry (Malcolm Rodgers) attempts to correct the film\u2019s many inaccuracies by asking the writer David (Benoit Monin) to make changes while the production assistant (a hilarious Matt Standley) spends most of his time fixing a fake rock constantly broken by cast and crew.<\/p>\n
While play director Emilie Whelan and her talented cast keep up a fast pace with lots of laughs, the work itself feels empty. Important topics are thrown around with Wohl using Hollywood stereotypes to show how humanity continues to ignore the growing problem of our planet\u2019s survival. A monologue from the writer David regarding his health issues feels very out of place.<\/p>\n
Wohl, however, cleverly uses Maria\u2019s constant worry about \u201closing the light\u201d needed to finish filming to suggest the real time crunch as humans continue to destroy our planet.<\/p>\n
For tickets to \u201cContinuity,\u201d call 510-841-6500, ext. 303 or go to shotgunplayers.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n Walnut Creek: It\u2019s time to get your groove on as Walnut Creek\u2019s Headliners series kicks off the Lesher Center\u2019s annual Fiesta Cultural with Pacific Mambo Orchestra on Friday at 7:30 p.m.<\/p>\n The Grammy Award-winning Latin big band will fill the Lesher Center on 1601 Civic Drive with its infectious energy as it blends genre-bending originals with covers as diverse as Stevie Wonder\u2019s \u201cOverjoyed,\u201d Dizzy Gillespie\u2019s \u201cNight in Tunisia\u201d and Sergei Rachmaninoff\u2019s \u201cPiano Concerto. No. 2.\u201d<\/p>\n On Saturday, noon to 5 p.m., Fiesta Cultural Street Fair presents an all-day celebration of music and dance from the diverse cultures of Latin America.<\/p>\n For more information on the festivities, go to lesherartscenter.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n Oakland hills: Woodminster Summer Musicals kicks off its season with \u201cJekyll & Hyde,\u201d running Friday through June 21 high in the Oakland hills at Woodminster Amphitheater in Joaquin Miller Park.<\/p>\n From the horrors of Dr. Jekyll\u2019s experiments, Woodminster musicals goes to the enduring power of love with \u201cCarousel,\u201d July 10-19.<\/p>\n Next up, 10-time Tony Award-nominated \u201cThe Full Monty\u201d brings the determination of a group of unemployed steelworkers to make money for their families by becoming male strippers. Known for its humor, heart and memorable songs, the show runs Aug. 7-16.<\/p>\n Woodminster ends its season with Neil Simon\u2019s \u201cRumors,\u201d Aug. 28-30. Here guests arrive at an elegant townhouse for an anniversary party to find the host bleeding and the wife nowhere in sight.<\/p>\n For more information and tickets, go to woodminster.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n Festival Opera: On a magical island, the sorceress Alcina lures men with her beauty before turning them into stones, animals, trees and more. Learn about her enchanted world and the power of true love in Festival Opera\u2019s production of \u201cAlcina,\u201d starring Nikola Printz.<\/p>\n In collaboration with The San Francisco Early Music Society, Festival Opera offers concert performances Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. at Hertz Hall on 101 Cross-Sproul Path in Berkeley, as well as the full theatrical production June 19 at 7:30 p.m. and June 21 at 2 p.m. at Walnut Creek\u2019s Lesher Center.<\/p>\n For tickets to the Berkeley concert version, go to berkeleyfestival.org\/handel-alcina<\/a> and for the Walnut Creek production, go to lesherartscenter.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n Also in Berkeley: The Royal Underground Theatre Company presents \u201cA Few Good Men\u201d through June 21 at the Live Oak Theater on 1301 Shattuck Ave.<\/p>\n Enrico Banson directs Aaron Sorkin\u2019s drama about a group of military lawyers assigned to defend two Marines in Guantanamo Bay.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re leaning into the theatrical force of Sorkin\u2019s writing: language, pressure, rhythm, moral conflict and people in a room fighting over truth,\u201d said Banson. \u201cThat famous line, \u2018You can\u2019t handle the truth,\u2019 lands differently now, especially in a country where truth itself feels constantly argued over, buried, branded or weaponized.\u201d<\/p>\n For tickets, go to theroyalunderground.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n Reach Sally Hogarty at sallyhogarty@gmail.com<\/a>, and read more of her reviews online at eastbaytimes.com\/author\/sally-hogarty<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A climate comedy may sound irreverent given the dire changes our planet experiences every day. With the ice…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":351868,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[2245,2248,2241,66008,1472,2246,2242,967,109653,143829,143831,143835,86654,2236,2240,143,145,144,2244,143830,2239,143836,143834,2247,32220,2243,1058,143833,143832],"class_list":["post-351867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-acting","tag-choreography","tag-comedy","tag-continuity","tag-dance","tag-directing","tag-drama","tag-entertainment","tag-festival-opera","tag-fiesta-cultural","tag-fiesta-cultural-street-fair","tag-hertz-hall","tag-joaquin-miller-park","tag-lesher-center","tag-musicals","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-on-stage","tag-pacific-mambo-orchestra","tag-performing-arts","tag-royal-underground-theatre-company","tag-san-francisco-early-music-society","tag-screenwriting","tag-shotgun-players","tag-singing","tag-theater","tag-woodminster-amphitheater","tag-woodminster-summer-musicals"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=351867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351867\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/351868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=351867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=351867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=351867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}