What is Berkeley to you? Is it a remnant of the past, containing relics of hippie culture? Is it grounds for intellectual growth, inspiration and pursuit? Is it a unique bubble that was pinched off the larger city of San Francisco? According to director Rebecca Novick and writer Dan Wolf, “There ain’t no one Berkeley.”

Over the last one and a half years, Novick and Wolf collected stories from different individuals in the city, ranging from students from Berkeley High School to the Cal swim team to a group of locals who meet every day at a bait-and-tackle shop on San Pablo. These stories came together to form the play “Daylighting: The Berkeley Stories Project,” which will open in a Shotgun Players production Friday and run until June 22.

The story follows Bee, a young high school graduate who must decide her fate during a walk across Berkeley from dawn till dusk. She travels from her graduation party in the hills and explores what Berkeley was in the past and what it is now while reliving her own past. Bee may not be a real person, but many of the people she encounters on her journey are, including “the naked guy” and the Bubble Lady of Telegraph Avenue.

“Our goal is to be authentic to the many parts of Berkeley,” Novick said in Berkeleyside.

You can buy tickets online, and they range from $20 to $25. For more information, you can go to the website.

Image source: featured photo