A Celestial Collision of Wit
and Chaos in Meteor Shower

Steve Martin’s absurdist comedy Meteor Shower crashes onto the stage at Desert Ensemble Theatre like a cosmic cocktail party gone wonderfully wrong. The company’s current production of the play by Steve Martin—running through this Sunday—is a wild, starlit trip into the absurd, leaning unapologetically into Martin’s signature brand of surreal humor.

Theresa Jewett and Skylar Gaines

The setup is deceptively simple. Corky (Theresa Jewett) and Norm (David Youse) are the quintessential hosts, eager to welcome Gerald (Skylar Gaines) and Laura (Lizzie Sosa) to their home in Ojai, California. The stated goal of the evening is straightforward enough: gather on the patio, sip cocktails, and watch a once-in-a-lifetime meteor shower streak across the night sky.

Lizzie Sosa

But upon Gerald and Laura’s arrival the veneer that resembles anything like a suburban dinner party quickly cracks. Conversations veer into strange territory, social norms dissolve, and it becomes increasingly clear that Gerald and Laura are not quite who they seem to be. Under the direction of Keith Hoffman, the production confidently embraces the play’s escalating absurdity, allowing the strange logic of Martin’s world to unfold unapologetically.

David Youse and Theresa Jewett

The cast brings high-octane energy to the stage, keeping the audience on their toes throughout the evening. Jewett and Youse provide the audience initially ground the evening before gradually spiraling into the play’s madness. Gaines and Sosa bring sly unpredictability, fueling much of the evening’s escalating chaos.

Theresa Jewett

Thomas L. Valach’s set evokes an upscale Ojai home and patio—comfortable and familiar enough that the play’s increasingly bizarre events land with even greater surprise. Nick Wass’s lighting design punctuates the play’s cosmic interruptions with theatrical flair.

Theresa Jewett and Skylar Gaines

While the play is often uproariously funny, Martin’s insistence on delightfully breaking the rules of reality leaves us searching for a  plot. The story is intentionally non-linear and frequently jarring, prioritizing wit, philosophical musing, and comic invention over story arc.

(top) Skylar Gaines and (bottom) David Youse

But for audiences willing to submit to Martin’s signature blend of comic insanity, Meteor Shower proves to be a stellar theatrical experience. It’s the kind of play where the end of the world—or at least the end of a “perfectly normal” dinner party—feels less like a catastrophe and more like a cosmic joke you want to be part of.

David Youse and Lizzie Sosa

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photos by David A. Lee

Meteor Shower
Desert Ensemble Theatre
Camelot Theaters in the Palm Springs Cultural Center
2300 East Baristo Road in Palm Springs
Fri at 7:30; Sat at 2 & 7:30; Sun at 2
ends on March 15, 2026
for tickets ($40), call 760.565.2476 or visit Desert Ensemble

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