CLIMATE OF CONFUSION

Bess Wohl’s Hollywood satire delivers
ideas more successfully than laughs

Ije Success and Malcolm Rodgers

Nowadays everyone is aware of the climate crisis. We know about recycling, composting, and driving electric cars. If you are a successful filmmaker, you can make a movie about the effect on the environment. Directed by Emilie Whelan, Shotgun Players’ latest production Continuity arrives with an ambitious idea: can a comedy about climate change effectively balance social commentary with entertainment? Playwright Bess Wohl (whose Liberation just won the Tony Award for Best Play) attempts exactly that with her 2017 play, offering a movie-within-a-play about a filmmaker determined to make a difference while navigating the egos, anxieties, and dysfunctions of a Hollywood production.

Rezan Asfaw and Benoît Monin

Maria (Rezan Asfaw) has had a hit film at Sundance and hopes to follow it with an action-adventure movie carrying an underlying message about global warming. As with any film production, drama and secrets abound behind the scenes. The lead actress Eve (Regina Morones) is a bit of a diva, seemingly more concerned with her appearance than her performance. She’s also full of suggestions about the script and, as we later discover, has a complicated history with the egotistical screenwriter David Caxton (Benoît Monin).

Nicholas René Rodriguez and Regina Morones

The lead actor George (Nicholas René Rodriguez) is a closeted gay man worried about appearing masculine enough to play a convincing action hero. Larry (Malcolm Rodgers) is a scientist and technical consultant whose concerns about scientific accuracy provide much of the comic relief. Meanwhile, the film’s PA (Matt Standley), makes the most of a largely background role, stealing scenes with well-timed gestures and expressive reactions.

Regina Morones and Matt Standley

The play is billed as a comedy, and it certainly contains comedic moments. Some jokes land effectively, while others are overshadowed by the seriousness of the environmental message. Wohl appears to want the play to function as both social satire and cautionary tale, and the balance is not always successful. The environmental concerns come through clearly; the comedy less so. For Continuity to fully succeed as a comedy, it might benefit from pushing its absurdity further rather than merely suggesting it.

Matt Standley and Malcolm Rodgers

Traditionally, comedies often feature a relatively grounded protagonist reacting to the madness around them. Here, Wohl populates the stage with characters who are all, to varying degrees, dysfunctional. But it’s a great cast, so the result is an enjoyable evening in which the individual elements are often stronger than the whole.

Ije Success and Nicholas René Rodriguez

Particularly effective is Randy Wong-Westbrooke‘s glacier-inspired scenic design, which is put to excellent use despite most of the action taking place atop a single playing area. The production’s visual wit frequently enhances the script’s themes.

The Cast

Shotgun Players has long built its reputation on producing works that challenge and inspire audiences. Continuity certainly continues that tradition. Whether audiences ultimately view it as a comedy, a drama, or a hybrid of both may depend on their expectations, but it unquestionably sparks conversation about the climate crisis and our collective response to it.

Benoît Monin and Adam Mendez Jr.

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photos by Ben Krantz

Continuity
Shotgun Players
Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. in Berkeley
Wed-Sat at 7; Sun at 2
ends on June 27, 2026
for tickets ($40–$80), call 510.841.6500 ext. 303 or visit Shotgun Players

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