“After Happy”: Climate Warriors Challenge ‘Family’ Oil Corp—at Central Works
Lauren Dunagan. Photo by Robbie Sweeny
Patricia Milton Conjures Louisiana Pirate Festival & Real Pirates
by Jenyth Jo
On the morning I woke up to the U.S. bombing of Iran, stopping nuclear proliferation was the stated goal. I wondered about Iran’s oil and natural gas reserves.
Similarly, in Patricia Milton’s new play “After Happy,” younger climate commandos state they want to reduce carbon emissions from oil companies by any means necessary. In fact, other motives surrounding the future of Noble Oil emerge.
Niece Katherine (unrelenting Lauren Dunagan), fresh out of jail and on the run, arrives at 5:05 a.m. to confront her Aunt Brenda (compelling Jan Zvaifler). Katherine wants her comfortable and complacent aunt to look outside at the Hurricane Happy refugees living under blue FEMA tarps. Brenda is more interested in finding a queen for her Lake Charles’ Pirate Festival.
The intricate dance between aunt and niece goes nowhere until the charismatic Steph (passionate Rezan Asfaw) arrives in combat gear, packing heat in her backpack. Asfaw commands her scenes with brief gestures, curt expressions, and authoritative delivery.
Rezan Asfaw, Jan Zvailfer, and Lauren Dunagan
She declares to her accomplice Katherine, “If you’re not a revolutionary, you’re a lazy scumbag.” She’s impatient and intense, but purposeful. We believe that Steph will use violence to achieve her goals.
What’s at stake? Simply the future sustainability of the planet in the face of rising greenhouse gases. But this script leaves too many holes in the cause-effect chain to urge a general audience into action.
Zvaifler’s Brenda begins to see, if dimly. Her struggle to reconcile her niece, the former carbon emissions compliance officer of their family oil company, to the current climate warrior is believable and poignant.
But Aunt Brenda spends her time planning the annual Pirate Festival, instead of admitting to the long-term consequences of her company’s fossil fuels. Brenda refuses to make the connection between emissions and superstorms.
Lauren Dunagan and Rezan Asfaw
Zvaifler succeeds in the challenging task of creating a plausible, wealthy white woman who avoids wielding her power. Eventually, she has to leave her contrived ignorance behind.
Dunagan’s Katherine sees herself as a hero and a prophet; but she reveals her true stripes as she chases the next climate action. Katherine is incapable of settling down to the difficult negotiations that would create permanent change. Is this the true attention span of Gen Z, we wonder?
Several surprising twists at the end leave audience members laughing, but some of us want more thoughtful laughter and less southern slang. There’s no climate hero in this play, just very human characters whose flaws will prevent them from achieving a noble goal.
“After Happy” by Patricia Milton, directed by Gary Graves, costumes by Tammy Berlin, lighting by Gary Graves, and sound by Gregory Scharpen, at Central Works, Berkeley, California.
Info: centralworks.org - to March 29, 2026.
Cast: Jan Zvaifler, Lauren Dunagan, and Rezan Asfaw.
