Shotgun Players

Shotgun Players
Address	1901 Ashby Avenue; Berkeley, California; United States
Coordinates	37°51′16.48″N 122°16′15.3″W / 37.8545778°N 122.270917°WCoordinates: 37°51′16.48″N 122°16′15.3″W / 37.8545778°N 122.270917°W
Public transit	Ashby
Type	Regional theater
Capacity	Ashby Stage: 119
Opened	1992 (company); 2004: The Ashby Stage; 2015: The Shotgun Studios
Website
	www.shotgunplayers.org

The Shotgun Players is a California East Bay regional theatre group located in Berkeley, California. It runs 6 to 7 productions per season. Its main stage is the Ashby Stage located in the Lorin District near the Ashby BART station.

About[]

The Shotgun Players was founded in 1992 by Artistic Director Patrick Dooley.^[1] Dooley and ten other actors formed the company in La Val's Pizza Shop.^[2] Before moving to a permanent location at the Ashby Stage in 2004, Shotgun Players performed in 44 different spaces.^[3] In December 2007, the Shotgun Players' Ashby Stage performance space in Berkeley's Lorin District became the first live theater venue in the nation to convert fully to solar power.^[4] The Ashby Stage hosts all main stage shows and the Champagne Staged Reading Series. With donations from the community, Shotgun Players bought 1201 University Ave, which was previously Serendipity Books, and converted the building into a rehearsal studio and workshop in 2015. In addition to rehearsing Shotgun Players' own productions, the Shotgun Studios is a rehearsal space and creative hub for emerging performing arts groups.^[5]

Shotgun Players' mission statement is to "create bold, relevant, affordable theatre that inspires and challenges audience and artist alike to re-examine our lives, our community, and the ever-changing world around us." The company is one of the few mid-sized theaters that maintains a core company of artists—including actors, directors, designers, playwrights, and stage managers. The Shotgun Players artistic company meets the first Sunday of every month and meets for an annual retreat.^[6]

Shotgun Players performs both new and classic plays, specializing in new works by contemporary playwrights, Greek plays, and Shakespeare. It has produced many award-winning new plays: both Dog Act (2004) and Beowulf: A Thousand Years of Baggage (2008) were awarded the Will Glickman Award for Best New Play. The Salt Plays Part 1 and 2 (2010) as well as Phaedra (2011) and God's Plot (2011) have all been nominees. In 2011, San Francisco Weekly named Shotgun Players Best Theatre Company, and original works by company members are regularly included in the San Francisco Chronicle’s annual list of top ten productions.^[7]

Tickets can be purchased online or at the box office 2 hours prior to a show. There are various discounted tickets which are available to youth 25 and under, artists, and groups; these are also available during "pay-what-you-can previews" which take place during the first week of every show run.^[8] The theater has ADA seats available. Content advisories are provided to better prepare audiences to engage with each play.^[9]

In addition to producing award-winning shows, Shotgun Players has other community engagement programs. The Make a Difference (M.A.D.) program serves people 25 and under, striving to make theatre accessible and affordable to Bay Area youth by offering discounted show tickets, fellowship opportunities, and rehearsal space.^[10] Shotgun Players hosts general auditions for roles in upcoming productions.

Resident graphic artist Rich Black creates a new mural for each production, painting the facade on the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Ashby Ave.

Kings
Arcadia
Kiss
White
Dry Land

Production history[]

Since 1992, Shotgun Players has produced over 140 plays, 30 of which were newly commissioned works.

Main stage shows[]

Shotgun Players has one season per year and produces an average of 6 shows per season.^[11] In 2015, Shotgun Players announced a season of all works by women playwrights, including 6 full productions and 6 staged readings. In 2016, the company presented its season in repertory to celebrate its 25th anniversary.


2019 Season 28	2018 Season 27	2017 Season 26	2016 Season 25
KILL THE DEBBIE DOWNERS! KILL THEM! KILL THEM! KILL THEM OFF! Far, Far Better Things Kings Kill Move Paradise The Flick Elevada Vinegar Tom	Iron Shoes Dry Land White Kiss Women Laughing Alone With Salad Arcadia	The BLAST Theatre Festival 2017 Nora The Events brownsville song (b-side for tray) The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence Blasted The Black Rider: The Casting of the Magic Bullets	The BLAST Theatre Festival 2016 Hamlet The Village Bike Grand Concourse Caught Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
2015 Season 24	2014 Season 23	2013 Season 22	2012 Season 21
Antigonick Heart Shaped Nebula Top Girls Eurydice The Rover The Moustrap	The Coast of Utopia Part III: Salvage The Coast of Utopia Part II: Shipwreck The Coast of Utopia Part I: Voyage Daylighting Twelfth Night The New Electric Ballroom Harry Thaw Hates Everybody Our Town	The Coast of Utopia Part II: Shipwreck The Coast of Utopia Part I: Voyage By and By Bonnie & Clyde Sea of Reeds Strangers, Babies Edward Gant's Amazing Feats of Loneliness	Voyage The Great Divide Truffaldino Says No Precious Little Assassins Woyzeck
2011 Season 20	2010 Season 19	2009 Season 18	2008 Season 17
Beardo Care of Trees Road to Hades Phaedra God's Plot	A Seagull in the Hamptons God's Ear In the Wound Mary Stuart Of the Earth The Norman Conquests	Skylight Faust Part I The Farm This World In a Woman's Hands The Threepenny Opera	Mrs. Warren's Profession UBU for President Beowulf: A Thousand Years of Baggage Vera Wilde Macbeth
2007 Season 16	2006 Season 15	2005 Season 14	2004 Season 13
Blood Wedding The Cryptogram Three Musketeers Bulrusher The Shaker Chair	The Forest War Love is a Dream House in Lorin The Typographer's Dream Ragnorak King Lear Bright Ideas	The Just Arabian Night Cyrano De Bergerac Owners Cabaret	The Miser Quills The Caucasian Chalk Circle Dog Act Travesties
2003 Season 12	2002 Season 11	2001 Season 10	2000 Season 9
Oedipus Rex Vampires Under Milk Wood Mother Courage and Her Children The Water Principle The Death of Meyerhold	A Fairy's Tale Medea Abingdon Square Troilus and Cressida We Won't Pay! We Won't Pay! The Play About the Baby	Someone Who'll Watch Over Me A New Brain Iphigena in Aulis Loot Winesburg, Ohio Approach There Will Be No Trojan War	Three Sisters The Skriker The Jungle Book Four One Acts As You Like It The Water Engine & Mr. Happiness Arrivals/Departures
1999 Season 8	1998 Season 7	1997 Season 6	1996 Season 5
The Possum Play Man and Superman The Eighth Voyage of Sinbad Christmas on Mars Romeo and Juliet Swimming in the Shallows The Bacchae	Les Liaisons Dangereuses Red Roses and Petrol Bent The Odyssey Richard III Three Original Works Verdict Mascara	Uncle Vanya Dalliance A Midsummer Night's Dream Cheap Shots Approach Henry V	Baal Squirrels The Maids The Birthday Party
1995 Season 4	1994 Season 3	1993 Season 2	1992 Season 1
Where Were You When They Killed Victor Jara? Private Wars The Tragical Historie of Doctor Faustus	The Lover The Frog Prince The Merchant of Venice	All Men are Whores & the Shawl American Buffalo Drink Ticket: Three One Acts	Edmond Baby with the Bathwater

Champagne Staged Reading Series[]

The "Champagne Staged Reading Series" was introduced in 2015.^[12] This series serves as a pipeline to test new productions in two-night runs, performed on the current main stage production set. The Champagne Staged Reading Series is designed to provide opportunities to engage with more artists, thus providing increased exposure to new voices.


2019 Season 5	2018 Season 4	2017 Season 3	2016 Season 2	2015 Season 1
Charles Francis Chan Jr.'s Exotic Oriental Murder Mystery BEFORE & OVER Citizen: An American Lyric good friday	Hurricane Diane Botticelli in the Fire Kill Move Paradise The Secretaries The Cherry Orchard	Women Laughing Alone With Salad Two Cities The Niceties Kiss Collective Rage: A Play in Five Betties	You Got Older Animal brownsville song (b-side for tray) Cherokee At Black Lake Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead	The Ohio State Murders The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence Bethany Letters from Cuba The Mechanics of Love The Children's Hour

References[]

^ "Staff". shotgunplayers.org. Retrieved 2016-09-01.
^ "Mission and History". shotgunplayers.org. Retrieved 2016-09-01.
^ Article in Shotgun Players Mission and History
^ Hurwitt, Robert (2008-02-25). "Bay Area performing arts groups going green". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2016-09-01.
^ "Shotgun Players Studio". shotgunplayers.org. Retrieved 2016-09-01.
^ Article in Shotgun Players The Company
^ Rosen, Ruth (2004-01-07). "The play's the thing". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2016-09-01.
^ "About the box office". Retrieved 2019-06-25.
^ "Content advisories". Retrieved 2019-06-25.
^ "Make a Difference (M.A.D.) Program". Shotgun Players. Retrieved 2019-06-25.
^ "Shotgun Archive". shotgunplayers.org. Retrieved 2019-06-21.
^ "Past Productions". shotgunplayers.org. Retrieved 2016-06-21.

External links[]

[1] "Staff". shotgunplayers.org. Retrieved 2016-09-01.

[2] "Mission and History". shotgunplayers.org. Retrieved 2016-09-01.

[3] Article in Shotgun Players Mission and History

[4] Hurwitt, Robert (2008-02-25). "Bay Area performing arts groups going green". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2016-09-01.

[5] "Shotgun Players Studio". shotgunplayers.org. Retrieved 2016-09-01.

[6] Article in Shotgun Players The Company

[7] Rosen, Ruth (2004-01-07). "The play's the thing". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2016-09-01.

[8] "About the box office". Retrieved 2019-06-25.

[9] "Content advisories". Retrieved 2019-06-25.

[10] "Make a Difference (M.A.D.) Program". Shotgun Players. Retrieved 2019-06-25.

[11] "Shotgun Archive". shotgunplayers.org. Retrieved 2019-06-21.

[12] "Past Productions". shotgunplayers.org. Retrieved 2016-06-21.

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