Shotgun Players

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Sexually confused American President James Sandwich is pushing his political agenda of Power, Pact and Purpose. His deranged ego-maniacal wife, First Lady Whitbred Sandwich pursues her own cause ' North AmeriCanadian unification ' egged on by her sorority sisters, who harbor a hyper-enthusiastic obsession with the yoga of the '70's, Twister. In a world premiere written and directed by Thessaly Lerner, Shotgun Theater Lab presents The Canadian Play, a political satire of the highest rank. The Canadian Play opens Monday, November 4 and runs through November 19 at La Val's Subterranean, 1834 Euclid, Berkeley.

The appealing and wildly funny Lerner is both writer and performer. She's wonderfully sharp and her manic comic energy recalls 'Saturday Night Live' alums, Molly Shannon and Cheri O'Teri.

CHAD JONES Oakland Tribune

Bay Area native Thessaly Lerner is a director, performer, playwright and producer who has been creating innovative comedic theatricals since the mid-nineties. Her play Land of the Jane, Home of the Dicked, won the 5th annual Playwriting Competition for political satire at Emerson College. Lerner's one-woman cheerleading extravaganza, Champion! debuted to rave reviews at the EXIT Theater's DIVAfest this past May. Thessaly has been spotted in various forms at Venue 9, Z Space, The Marsh, Next Stage, EXIT Theater, The Magic and Berkeley Repertory. Additionally, Lerner's directing work has taken her into Bay Area schools and to Mexico, where she is artistic director of the Yucatan's Teatro Akumal.

Shotgun Theatre Lab is an ongoing side project of Shotgun Players' regular season. In five shows each year, members of the Lab explore only previously unpublished or unproduced work. In the name of truly 'experimental' theatre, all shows are produced in the basement of La Val's Pizzeria, built and costumed from existing Shotgun Players stock, and each show is followed by a post-show discussion that allows audience members to ask questions and/or make comments about what the hell they just saw.

Opens: Monday, November 4 at 8 PM

Continues: Mondays and Tuesdays through November 19 at 8PM

Where: La Val's Subterranean,
1834 Euclid, Berkeley

Admission: $10

Contact: 510.704.8210 for reservations

Thessaly Lerner, writer & director

JAMES SANDWICH: THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT Mark Romyn

NANCY WHITBRED SANDWICH: THE FIRST LADY Cameron Galloway

NANCY'S SORORITY SISTERS; KEEPERS OF THE TWISTER GAME; WHITE HOUSE FITNESS GURUS

MANDI: Deborah Wade

BRANDI: Rami Margron

CANDI: Nari Tomasetti

DARLENE SANDWICH: THE FIRST DAUGHTER Alexis Kelly

PAM ROSENTHAL: DARLENE'S FIANCE Eva Sollberger

RUTHERFORD: THE WHITE HOUSE STEWARD Robert Martinez

NILES: THE WHITE HOUSE CHEF Sam Shaw

JEAN-LUC SOUTIEN-GORGE: THE CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA Greg Lucey