Same Boat Theater Collective, a diverse team of San Francisco Bay Area playwrights and actors, will present the world premiere of "The Emeryville Horror: A Tale of Environmental Vengeance" in a full livestream immersive production featuring a global cast from San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, London and New Delhi for two performances, July 10-12.
Written by Bay Area playwrights Linda Amayo-Hassan, Lynn Aylward (lead writer), Lisa Kang (lead writer), Ellen Koivisto and Bridgette Dutta Portman and directed by Salim Razawi (Bay Area) the cast includes Marissa Ampon (Bay Area), Lou Cooper (Bay Area), Pamela Drummer-Williams (Bay Area), Peter Fitzsimmons (Bay Area), Piyush Kumar (New Delhi), Rosemarie Kingfisher (Bay Area), Sidal Kekilli (London), Sundarri Maria (Los Angeles), Amytza Maskati (Bay Area), Don Nguyen (Bay Area), Vinh Nguyen (Bay Area), Gloria Stanley (Bay Area) and John Scott Richardson (New York). Image and Sound Design is provided by Shubhra Prakash (New Delhi) with Zoom Tech Management by Marissa Ampon (Bay Area) and Potrero Stage, San Francisco.
The production is at the cutting edge of post-pandemic arts. While many theaters are producing plays via Zoom, The Emeryville Horror goes a step further and turns this constraint into a creative advantage. The cast comes together from three continents and five time zones, and performances will be simultaneously streaming around the globe. At each of the two performances, the audience will devise an ending to the story for the actors to improvise. Just as we face the daily life challenges of COVID 19, nobody knows how it will end!
This new play is a horror story that couldn't be more frighteningly timely. As the world deals with climate change, the play brings us to a world where large chunks of land, once sacred indigenous burial grounds, as well as people from vulnerable populations are vanishing in Emeryville. Citizens take matters into their own hands to figure out why, as elected officials pursue their relationships with chemical companies.
With the onslaught of the second pandemic, systemic racism, following on the heels of COVID 19, this production becomes even more relevant as it illustrates how marginalized people suffer the most from climate change. It amplifies the spirit of the protests as we see people of color, an Ohlone elder, a trans teen, a Vietnamese refugee and Latinx immigrants triumph over bias and oppression.
Performance One: July 10, 7pm PDT
Performance Two: July 12, 9am PDT
Tickets are $15.00 and are available at https://tickets.playground-sf.org/TheatreManager/1/online?event=241
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