The Champagne Staged Reading Series 2027

Shotgun Players presents

The 2027Champagne Staged Reading Series

The 2027 CSRS season is a grab bag feast of plays from some of our most innovative, contemporary playwrights. First up is the Obie Award-winning Shhhh, by Clare Barron, the bad girl of the downtown theater scene, serving up a story that digs into the sticky, slippery insides of human intimacy. Then comes Abigail Thorn’s The Prince, dishing up a slyly subversive spin on Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1 through her unique lens as one of the most influential trans artists in the world. Our final course is a revival of Mr. Burns, a post-electric play by Bay Area-born and bred Anne Washburn.

How it works

Just enough staging and tech to get started. Then adrenaline does the rest.

2027 Champagne Staged Readings

April 26, 27, & 28

Mon – Wed · 7 PM

Shhhh

Written by Clare BarronDirected by Lana Richards

Penny’s idea of a cool first date is a morbid anatomy museum. Kyle tells stories of dismemberment. Sally’s turn-on is tea and biscuits, and Shareen prepares a mysterious potion. A study in modern love, trauma, bliss, and revenge, Shhhh explores the vulnerability of women’s bodies, the role of kink in relationships, and the blurry line between pleasure and pain.

Explicit and occasionally uncomfortable, but for all the right reasons… aches with an unspoken loneliness.
The New York Times

June 14, 15, & 16

Mon – Wed · 7 PM

The Prince

By Abigail ThornDirected by Ezra T. Howlett

All the world’s a stage for Jen and Sam, two regular people who find themselves trapped inside the Shakespearean canon. The Prince is a queer story of self-discovery that has everything: sword fights, transgender allegory, Hamlet, and disappointed parents.

Glee oozes from Thorn’s playful juggling of Shakespearean language around identity and performance.
The Guardian

August 16, 17, & 18

Mon – Wed · 7 PM

Mr. Burnsa post-electric play

By Anne WashburnDirected by Sinjin JonesScore by Michael Friedman

After the grid fails and modern society crumbles, what stories will we remember? What songs will we sing? A paean to live theater and the resilience of Bart Simpson, Washburn’s dark comedy is an animated exploration of how the pop culture of one era might evolve into the mythology of another.

Mr. Burns also makes a case for theater as the most glorious and durable storyteller of all.
The New York Times

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$70A glass of bubbly and a reserved premium seat at each reading.

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