Closed October 25, 2003

Written by Eliza Anderson | Directed by John Warren
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In a desolate world one tenacious woman stands exposed.
Razor-edged Addie is desperate to protect her home. The land is worthless.
Or is it? Around her people are eating worms, planning theme parks and
struggling to keep their backs off the ground. The result is a disturbing
tangle of personal conviction pitted against greed and gain. In an offering
of dark comedy and morally reprehensible acts, Water Principle is a hard
hitter on barren terrain.
Eliza Anderson's Water Principle is laced with vicious wit, hunger and the
urge to gain a foothold in a reality that is less than promising. Three
people are thrown together on an abandoned land to grapple through the guts
of it all - each with conflicting notions on issues ranging from property
development to what we need to survive. "The play speaks eloquently to this
perilous moment in the life of our planet," says Director John Warren. "It's
really an allegory about ecological sustainability, hidden under the veneer
of a quick-paced black comedy."
Acclaimed East Coast playwright Eliza Anderson has made her voice known in
the name of dramatic social inquiry. Another of her plays, Mills Girls,
tracks the harsh experience of young women working in the textile mills of
Fall River, MA. In Water Principle, Anderson creates a world of seemingly
endless horizon lines. She cultivates a heightened sense of isolation in a
mysterious and vast expanse of our country where there is little to hope for
and nothing to spare.
Set around a broken down shack in the middle of nowhere, Addie, Skimmer and
Weed alternately form alliances and betray one another in short order. Weed
plies Addie with beans in an attempt to seduce her land from her. Addie
sleeps with Skimmer to protect herself from Weed. Skimmer bargains with
Addie and Weed to make sure all his bases are covered. It's the comic
desperation of Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross stewed with the desolation of
Beckett's Endgame and set in the eerie world of a Twilight Zone episode.
John Warren is the Artistic Director of Unconditional Theatre, for which he
has directed such shows as Greensboro: A Requiem, The Baltimore Waltz, and
Lonely Planet. Other favorite productions include Problem Child for Exit
Theatre, Dutchman for Bare Bones Theatre, and Patterns of Interference: The
John Walker Lindh Project for Tamalpais High School/Marin Theatre Company.
Local directing credits also include Lunatique Fantastique, S.F. Shakespeare
Festival, Venue 9, Alchemy Works, City Lights, and Bay Area Playwrights
Festival. His directing work has received awards from the Bay Guardian and
SF Weekly, in addition to Bay Area Critics Circle nominations. He is the
author of numerous plays, including Next in Line and Groping for Justice:
The Bob Packwood Story, a finalist for the Humana Festival. John is
currently the Director of Fiscal Sponsorship & Incubation at Intersection
for the Arts, serves on Theatre Bay Area's Board of Directors, and worked
previously as General Manager of the Magic Theatre. He studied theatre at
Brown University.
The cast features Shotgun artistic associate John Thomas (Troilus and
Cressida and Mother Courage), Ian Petroni (We Won't Pay! We Won't Pay! and
R&J with New Conservatory) and Kate Sheehan, in her first appearance with
Shotgun.
Playwright Eliza Anderson currently teaches playwrighting at Brown
University and Trinity Repertory Theatre in Providence, Rhode Island. She
has received fellowships from the NEA/TCG, Howard Foundation, Rhode Island
State Council for the Arts and the George A. and Eliza Gardner Howard
Fellowship in Creative Writing at Brown University. She has also been a
resident at the Edward Albee Foundation and the Royal Court Theatre in
London.
This play comes highly recommended by Shotgun Artistic Associate and
acclaimed playwright Adam Bock. Bock and Anderson were classmates at Brown
University.
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THE REVIEWS ARE IN!
East Bay Express by Lisa Drostova
SFWeekly by Michael Scott Moore
Berkeley Daily Planet by David Sundelson
SF Bay Guardian by Robert Avila
West County Times by Jack Tucker
Previewed
September 18 & 19, 8 pm
Opened
Saturday September 20, 8 pm
Ran
Fridays-Saturdays at 8 pm, Sundays at 7 pm
Through October 19
RUN EXTENDED
Friday, October 24, 8PM
and Saturday, October 25, 8PM
Publicity Stills
Cast
Kate Sheehan
| Addie
Ian Petroni | Skimmer
John Thomas | Weed
Crew
John Warren | Director
Patick Dooley | Artistic Director
Aedrey Grey | Stage Manager
Liz Lisle | Production Manager
John Malmquist | Graphic Design
Rob Anderson | Light Design
Marilyn Stanley | Costume Design
Chris Paulina | Sound Design
Meredith Friedman | Assistant Director
Evren Odcikin | Set Design

Eighth Street Studio
2525 Eighth Street, Berkeley
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