A WORLD PREMIERE!
THE FALL SHOW
CREATED BY ERIKA CHONG SHUCH & CHARLES MEE
PLAYING NOW THROUGH OCTOBER 25
You never know where love will find you, or when. Sam and Eddie are in the autumn of their lives and finding out that love doesn’t get easier with age. In a surreal story that’s full of big hearted fun, tender moments, and vibrant expressions of emotional depth, The Fall Show is a visceral exploration of how we relate told through movement and music.
SPECIAL SHOWCASE – Falling For You
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10 – 2 PM
For You (a socially engaged art group led by Erika Chong Shuch, Rowena Richie, Ryan Tacata) presents a special matinee showcase combining excerpts of The Fall Show with new stories and stage images inspired by their recent connections with East Bay elders. Working with the themes of The Fall Show, For You spent the past few months connecting with elders living near and around Shotgun Theatre—learning about their experiences of falling (in love, into new phases of life, out of touch with old friends). They’ll present creative responses to those elders, and their stories, alongside excerpts of The Fall Show. This collaboration with Shotgun Theatre is the latest engagement in an on-going project from For You called Artists & Elders. For more information, visit: www.foryou.productions/artistsandelders
SHOTGUN SPOTLIGHT
MEGAN TROUT
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6
10:30 AM – 12 PM
SHOTGUN STUDIOS @ 1201 UNIVERSITY AVE.
INTERVIEW & DISCUSSION WITH LONG-TIME SHOTGUN PLAYERS ACTOR & COMPANY MEMBER MEGAN TROUT
Hosted by Shotgun Players Artistic Director Patrick Dooley
the death of meyerhold
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY MARK JACKSON
PERFORMANCES START NOVEMBER 28
A revolution is on the march across our country. But whose revolution is it? We’re told it’s great—while artists and journalists are canceled for telling the truth. We’re told it’s about justice—while our friends, neighbors, and co-workers are disappeared in plain sight. Where are we—Soviet Russia?
The story of maverick theater artist Vsevolod Meyerhold and his era is surprisingly like the story unfolding on our streets today. Meyerhold’s fight for freedom in turbulent times is our fight.
SHOTGUN SPOTLIGHT
MICHAEL TORRES
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4
10:30 AM – 12 PM
SHOTGUN STUDIOS @ 1201 UNIVERSITY AVE.
INTERVIEW & DISCUSSION WITH LEGENDARY BAY AREA ACTOR AND THEATER MAKER MICHAEL TORRES
Hosted by Shotgun Players Artistic Director Patrick Dooley
3 performances only!
TAKES ALL KINDS
STORIES OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY
Feb 5-7
From Dan Hoyle whose work has been hailed as “riveting, funny and poignant” (New York Times) and “hilarious, moving and very necessary” (Salon) and directed by celebrated theater artist Aldo Billingslea, comes Takes All Kinds, a funny and essential new piece of Journalistic Theater that has been touring the country and resonating deeply with audiences and critics alike.
Based on immersive reporting from the trenches of democracy, Hoyle’s shape-shifting performance delights and mesmerizes, as audiences meet more than a dozen remarkable characters, all based on real people and real conversations.
The 2027 Season
Mar 20 – Apr 18
A View from the Bridge
By Arthur Miller · Directed by Patrick Dooley
It’s 1957 in Brooklyn, and Eddie Carbone has it all. A secure job as a longshoreman, his loyal wife Bea, and doting niece Catherine, who is nearly finished with school. When Eddie welcomes Bea’s immigrant cousins into their home, the idyllic family structure fractures. Arthur Miller’s tragedy explores hidden desires, social unrest, and the cost of revealing the truth. Who gets to live the American Dream?
THE CHAMPAGNE STAGED READING SERIES
Apr 26, 27, & 28
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.
May 22 – Jun 20
Catch as Catch Can
By Mia Chung · Directed by Susannah Martin
Generations collide in this mind-and-form-bending masterpiece where three actors take on six distinct roles, crossing and blurring the lines of age and gender. Set in a blue-collar Rhode Island neighborhood, playwright Mia Chung hits hilarious and heartbreaking hot-button issues in a story that explores family traditions, smoldering resentments, and how your life can change in an instant.
THE CHAMPAGNE STAGED READING SERIES
Jun 14, 15, & 16
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.
Jul 24 – Aug 22Bay Area premiere
The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial ofMiz Martha Washington
By James Ijames · Directed by Aejay Antonis Marquis
The recently widowed “Mother of America” lies alone in her Mount Vernon bed, ravaged by illness and attended to by the enslaved people who will be free the moment she dies. This uproarious form-shifting fever dream takes us deep into the ramifications of one of America’s original sins. Dizzying and fantastical, this Bay Area premiere from Pulitzer winner James Ijames boldly remixes this country’s dark history with a delicate balance of truth and humor.
THE CHAMPAGNE STAGED READING SERIES
Aug 16, 17, & 18
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.
Sep 25 – Oct 24, 2027
Cold War Choir Practice
By Ro Reddick · Directed by Elizabeth Carter
Set in 1987, this madcap political thriller follows Meek, a 10-year-old girl who fills her days with skating, singing, and daydreaming about how she might save the world from nuclear armageddon. Tensions erupt at the family-owned rink when her conservative uncle brings home his mysteriously ill wife, and Meek is pulled into a bizarre maze of surreal espionage and capitalist cult dynamics. Can she and her Russian pen pals save the world from itself?
Nov 27, 2027 – Jan 9, 2028
American Psycho
Music & Lyrics by Duncan Sheik · Book by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa · Based on the novel by Bret Easton Ellis · Directed by Josh Marx · Music Direction by Daniel Alley · Choreography by Nicole Helfer
Patrick Bateman is young, handsome, and ridiculously successful. He’s got impeccable taste and unquenchable desires. Patrick and his elite Wall Street cadre spend their time getting into hip restaurants, exclusive clubs, and designer labels. But late at night, Patrick indulges in darker errands, and his mask of sanity is starting to slip. Sexy and psychopathic, American Psycho is a ruthless and daring skewering of American capitalism set in the epicenter of excess. And it’s a musical!