Shotgun Players

Shotgun Players is a company of theater artists committed to creating socially relevant work at affordable prices. Each year it produces a six-play season that features works written by women and playwrights of color. The organization offers numerous pay-what-you-can performances for each production, and reaches 20,000 people annually. Renewed funding will support the organization’s goals to establish a fellowship program, launch a fundraising campaign, and grow and diversify its board.

Shotgun Players enters its twentieth season as one of the stand-out theater companies in the Bay Area. Producing a six-play season before 15,000 audience members and a pay-what-you-can summer show at Berkeley’s John Hinkel Park, Shotgun regularly appears on local critics’ Best Play lists. Shotgun has bucked local and national trends in growing subscribers and single-ticket sales during the recession. In the upcoming grant period, the organization plans to focus on increasing individual support and pilot a Shotgun Cabaret series to extend its programming, while developing a new earned income stream.