Great Things are Happening for Essential Theatre Playwrights

Lots of great things are happening for Essential Theatre playwrights. Our friend Karla Jennings recently won the 2010 John Gassner Award for her play MONSTROUS BEAUTY, a riff on the life and times of the notorious Nazi filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl. This national prize was initiated in 1967 to recognize outstanding new work by American writers. Her play will receive a cash prize and a staged reading in New York City.

Karla was one of the first Georgia playwrights whose work we produced – back in 2000, when our production of her play IMAGES IN SMOKE was named one of the best 15 shows of the year by Creative Loafing. She’s been going great guns since then, co-founding the Atlanta group Working Title Playwrights in 2001, and that same year seeing a workshop production of her play DISH BABIES at the Two Roads Theater in Los Angeles, where it was nominated for three ADA awards. She was also awarded the Hermann Kesten Fellowship to have her play CLAY’S WAR presented at an international writers’ conference in Germany. THE RUBY VECTOR was chosen for development at the prestigious Lark Theatre in New York City, and won the 2005 Playwrights First Award. An earlier one-act version of this play had originally been commissioned by Georgia Tech’s DramaTech Theatre. More recently, Karla’s play THE SMILES won the Pillars Playwriting Prize and was given a workshop production at Georgia College & State University in Milledgeville.

Karla says: “Essential’s faith in playwrights strengthens their faith in themselves, which keeps them writing. Essential Theatre helps Georgia speak for itself.”

Lauren Gunderson won the Essential Theatre Playwriting Award in 2001, for PARTS THEY CALL DEEP, written when she was just 17 – we like to think we discovered her. A few years later she won again, for her play BACKGROUND, but she’s been having a fantastic career all over the U.S.A., with so many productions and commissions we haven’t been able to keep track of them all. Here are some of the recent highlights:

Last summer she was in residence at the Eugene O’Neill Center’s National Playwrights Conference, developing her play FIRE WORK with director Sean Daniels (formerly Artistic Director of Atlanta’s Dad’s Garage Theater). This year she’s been commissioned by the Kennedy Center’s Performances for Young Audiences group to write two new science-themed plays for youth, and she has also become the first-ever Playwright In Residence at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics in Santa Barbara, California. Last year her play EMILIE: LA MARQUISE DU CHATELET DEFENDS HER LIFE TONIGHT was produced at California’s South Coast Repertory, and it’s now being published by Samuel French.

Coming up soon, Lauren’s play (EXIT, PURSUED BY A BEAR) will be featured in the Playwright’s Foundation Rough Readings Series in San Francisco, and right here in Atlanta on May 25 as part of Synchronicity Theatre’s SheWRITES Play Reading Festival. Also in Atlanta, her play DENISE² will be workshopped at Actor’s Express as part of the TURNER IN THE WORKS Series, on June 7.

Lauren writes: “The professionalism with which the Essential Theatre handled my work and delivered a beautiful performance allowed me entrance into the world of playwriting. It was an honor to work with them and a huge boost for my work to have won the Playwriting prize.”

And hey, how about Gabriel Dead, winner of this year’s Essential Award for his play QUALITIES OF STARLIGHT? Gabriel has such a big summer coming up that he won’t even be able to be here for the opening night of our production of his play – he’ll be working on another script of his, THE FREEMAN ELEGIES, in a residency at the Hangar Theatre in Ithaca, New York. Then he’ll be attending a week-long residency at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Connecticut. Plus, his short play PIGSKIN will be performed as part of the Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Festival this summer!

New Honors for Playwright Gabriel Jason Dean

I thought you guys would appreciate knowing this. One of my short plays, PigSkin, was accepted to the Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Festival this summer in July. YAY! The week before QOS opens.

Then, as if that wasn't enough good news, I got offered a residency at the Hangar Theatre in Ithaca NY to work on my new play The Freeman Elegies. Then, I'm going to the O'Neill for a week long residency.

I'm feeling pretty darn good today!

Cheers,

~Gabriel Jason Dean

Essential Theatre Play Development

One of the Essential Theatre’s most important goals has always been the production and encouragement of new plays by Georgia writers. Ever since our first annual Festival in 1999, we’ve been committed to the production of at least one World Premiere a year by a Georgia playwright, which led us to institute the annual Essential Theatre Playwriting Award, the only such competition exclusively dedicated to new works by writers from this state.

Along with producing fourteen World Premieres since then, we’ve done some work developing new plays, holding private and public readings and offering consultation to playwrights. Although production remains our primary goal, we hope to put more time into development work in the future.

Earlier this week we had a private reading and discussion of BLEACH, a dark comedy by playwright James Beck. The readers included some of the top acting talent in Atlanta: Robin Bloodworth, Kathleen Wattis, Bart Hansard, Jill Hames and Christie Vozniak. I always feel that the best way to help a playwright is to let them hear their script read by a talented group of well-cast actors. Playwright Beck says: “In organizing a reading of my play BLEACH, Peter pulled together a terrific group of actors who gave a great reading. Then Peter led the group in a constructive feedback session that allowed me as the playwright to experience my play, to question it and to gather new creative energy to apply in crafting the work. Peter did a great job of understanding that the playwright has to solve the riddle of the play but offered, through open discussion, and some really great reflection about the piece."

A few weeks back we had another private reading, this time of a play that we’ve had a longer history with. Playwright Glen Slattery has been working with us for several years on a dark comic fantasia about some of the members of Hitler’s inner circle, in a script that has gone through a number of titles (“The Foreign Minister,” “Hitler’s Parrot,” “The Last-Love Nazi” and “Von Who?”). This was the third time we’ve had a reading/discussion of the play, which has really been coming along. This time around our excellent readers were Bill Murphey, Michael Strauss, Yolanda Asher, Robin Bloodworth, Jill Hames, Theo Harness and James Baskin.

Glen says that: "Essential Theatre provided a setting for several readings of the play that were crucial to its development. Gifted actors brought the roles to life, while feedback from Artistic Director Peter Hardy was invaluable in sharpening the dramatic focus. I'm very grateful for the opportunity to work with such a fine organization."

Coming up next fall, Glen’s play will receive the benefits of a week-long Ethel Woolson Lab development workshop provided by our friends at Working Title, Atlanta’s foremost playwrights’ organization. We look forward to seeing its next incarnation.

Essential Theatre Seeks Festival Ushers

If you are interested in being an usher for our festival, we are seeking two ushers for each performance. Please visit our online Festival Usher Calendar to determine performance dates and availability. Click HERE to volunteer.

For Playwrights, a Reminder

The submission deadline is coming up for the 2011 Essential Theatre Playwriting Award competition. Unproduced plays by Georgia playwrights are eligible; there are no restrictions as to style, subject matter or length (though preference is given to plays with a running time of at least an hour). The winning playwright will receive a cash prize of $600, and the play will be given a full production as part of the 2011 Essential Theatre Play Festival.

The script submission deadline is April 23, 2010.

Submissions for the 2011 festival can be e-mailed to pmhardy@aol.com in pdf or MSWord format or sent by regular mail to the address below. If you submit it to us in some format that we can’t open, we will let you know and you can send it to us by regular mail.

Essential Theatre
1414 Foxhall Lane #10
Atlanta, GA 30316

There is no submission fee.

Please make sure that your contact information is on the front page of the script, and that your script pages are numbered!

Also, please, do yourself a favor and proof-read your script before sending it in. Using spell-check isn’t enough. Learn the difference between “there” and “their” and “they’re.”

The 2010 Essential Theatre Play Festival will be running from July 8 – August 8 at Actor’s Express, featuring the Southeastern Premiere of Rita Dove’s THE DARKER FACE OF THE EARTH, the Georgia Premiere (and second-ever production) of Peter Hardy’s SALLY AND GLEN AT THE PALACE, and the World Premiere of Gabriel Dean’s QUALITIES OF STARLIGHT, Winner of the 2010 Essential Theatre Playwriting Award competition.

For more information, please visit www.EssentialTheatre.com.

Thank You IHG Hotel Indigo

Essential Theatre is grateful to support from the International Hotel Group and Atlanta Hotel Indigo in their support for the 2010 Essential Theatre Play Festival. Ms. Rita Dove, "Darker Face of the Earth" playwright, and Pulitzer prize winning US Poet Laura will attend our opening festival.

A big thank you to the International Hotel Group for their support. Please visit their website to learn more.

Essential Theatre Preview Celebration: GA Wines & GA Playwrights

Help celebrate Georgia playwrights, Georgia wines and Georgia theatre on June 27th at 5:30 pm at the Essential Theatre Festival Preview Celebration at the Atlanta Four Seasons Hotel. Stay tuned for more information. We would gratefully appreciate your donation of an item or service for the silent auction fundraiser. Send a message or read the attached sponsorship/donation information.

Advice to Playwrights Starting Out

Some of this advice was given to me over the years by smart people, but I don’t really remember who said what, so you should just do it. It’s good advice, most of it. There are other things to do too, probably. Also, this is advice for starting out. You might do different things after you playwright a while. Remember that everyone has their own path. These might not all be helpful for you. So find what works for you. Good luck! ~ Adam Szymkowicz

Essential Theatre Seeks Those with a Passion for Theatre

If you have a passion for theatre and want to help support our mission, please consider becoming a board member. MORE INFORMATION

What Makes a #NewPlay "New"?

An interesting discussion on what makes a play new.

Rita Dove waxes poetic with Creative Loafings' Curt Holman

Many of your poems involve historical events and figures, like the “Not Welcome Here” poems in your American Smooth volume. Do you write historical poems any differently than the others?
I do research, but I don’t think I approach those poems differently than I do others. The research is driven by curiosity more than anything else. When it’s done, while writing the poem I try to forget the research, although I have to make sure I get my facts straight. When I wrote the play Darker Face of the Earth, I had to do the research first, but writing, it’s just these characters and assigning their personalities.

Essential Theatre is producing that play this summer. Is it true the story is Oedipus on a slave plantation?
That’s it, in a pretty small nut. When I began working on the play, I was trying to understand what it would be like to not know who your mother and father were on a plantation. Around that time I was reading Oedipus and thinking, “How could Oedipus not figure this out?” and then I realized it was much the same thing, and I could transplant that myth. It allowed me to really enliven and embody the story within the scene and scenario of slavery. And it helped me understand Oedipus, and realize that this original text is not dead and buried; it still has to do with real life.

READ THE ENTIRE INTERVIEW

2010 Festival Auditions

The Essential Theatre will hold General Auditions for the 2010 Essential Theatre Play Festival, three full-length plays to run in repertory (with separate casts) from July 8 – August 8, performing in the Actor’s Express space. (Performance schedules for the individual plays to be announced.) Non-union, most performers will be paid a stipend. General Auditions will be held on February 20 and 21 (location and time to be determined). Call 404-212-0815 or e-mail pmhardy@aol.com to schedule an audition appointment. Website www.EssentialTheatre.com. For audition, bring headshot and prepare two contrasting monologues (comic, dramatic, contemporary, classical – whatever) not totaling more than 4 minutes in length. If you sing, bring in about 30 seconds of something to sing without accompaniment.

The plays: THE DARKER FACE OF THE EARTH by Rita Dove, directed by Betty Hart. The classical story of Oedipus, from Greek Tragedy, re-imagined on a slave plantation in the American south. Large cast. Many African-American performers needed, both male and female, with possible ages ranging from 12 to 72. One Caucasian female, age around 40, and two Caucasian males, age range 30-50.

SALLY AND GLEN AT THE PALACE by Peter Hardy, directed by Ellen McQueen. Bittersweet comic drama about the friendship between two colleges students working in the lobby of a 1973 movie theatre. One male, one female, both early twenties.

QUALITIES OF STARLIGHT by Gabriel Dean, directed by Peter Hardy. Twisted and poetic family comedy set in rural Georgia, about a young man who discovers that his parents have become addicted to crystal meth. One male in the 50-60 range, one male around 30, one male in the 20-30 range, one male in the 30-50 age range. One female in the 50-60 range, one female around 30.

Lunch with Poet Laureate & Playwright Rita Dove at Georgia Perimeter College

"Ten years ago, on a trip to London, I saw a wonderful production of an extraordinary play at the National Theatre -- THE DARKER FACE OF THE EARTH, written by the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet (and former Poet Laureate of the United States), Rita Dove. It re-imagined the myth of Oedipus, from Greek Tragedy, setting it on a slave plantation in the American South. I fully expected this play to take America by storm but, to date, it hasn't received a professional production in the Southeast. The Essential Theatre is thrilled to be bringing this stunning play to Atlanta audiences, this summer, as part of the 2010 Essential Theatre Play Festival. And it was especially thrilling to be able to meet Rita Dove, who appeared in Atlanta this past weekend, to serve as Keynote Speaker for Georgia Perimeter College's annual birthday celebration for Martin Luther King, Jr.


Ms. Dove spoke with WABE Between the Lines host, Valerie Jackson about her new book Sonata Mullatica. To learn more about this book, please visit her website and Amazon.com

Ms. Dove was very gracious in greeting myself and Betty Hart (who will direct the play), along with Dr. Mark Perloe, the President of our Board of Directors. Betty was able to chat briefly with Ms. Dove, and make arrangements to discuss the play with her by phone. We're excited to have this distinguished author's input on what we think will be a theatre event that all Atlanta audiences will want to see.

We also had the opportunity to meet and talk with Mark Fitten, editor of the Chattahoochee Review,and Rob Jenkins, chair of the GPC Writer's Institute and Jack Riggs, writer-in-residence, and found out that they have an interest in reaching out to playwrights as well as the prose and fiction writers they have usually published and worked with. We hope that this will help the Essential Theatre in their efforts to support and develop new dramatic work by Georgia writers." ~ Peter Hardy

Essential Congratulates Playwright John Drago

Baby and Jennifer Defy the Laws of Timespace and All That That Implies by Johnny Drago will be presented at Actors Theatre of Louisville as part of the intern showcase. This play was part of the Essential Shorts, a public reading of new short plays written by Working Title Playwrights during the Essential Theatre Festival of Plays at Actor's Express last summer.

I support the Essential Theatre

Gabriel Dean ~ 2010 Playwriting Award Winner

2010 Essential Theatre Playwriting Award Winner

The Essential Theatre is proud to announce that the winner of the 2010 Essential Theatre Playwriting Award competition is Gabriel Dean's Qualities of Starlight, a modern southern family comedy. Gabriel Dean has been working for some years on the Atlanta scene as an actor and playwright, and is currently pursuing an M.F.A. in the Playwriting Program at the University of Texas in Austin. His play Buy My House - Please! recently ran at the Aurora Theatre in Lawrenceville. Mr. Dean will receive a cash prize of $600.00 and Qualities of Starlight will be produced as part of the 2010 Essential Theatre Play Festival, running at the Actor's Express space in July and August.

Qualities of Starlight
by Gabriel Dean, directed by Peter Hardy
The World Premiere of a twisted family comedy about a successful young astronomer who brings his wife home to the north Georgia mountains and the simple country household in which he grew up. And where his parents are now addicted to crystal meth. Winner of the 2010 Essential Theatre Playwriting Award.

Interview with Playwright Gabriel Dean

Please post your comments, rate Gabriel's comments with a few stars, select Essential Theatre as a channel favorite and subscribe to view upcoming production trailers.

Win an Essential Theatre STAYCATION Package

Win an Essential Theatre STAYCATION Package
including one night stay for two at Marietta's
Whitlock Inn as well as two tickets to a
performance at Theatre-In-The-Square.

Just fill in this brief survey and you will be entered to win. Make a Donation and you double your chances.

Whitlock Inn Come rock on the porch while you soak up some Southern charm. This cherished Victorian bed & breakfast is in a National Register Historic District, one block from the Marietta Square and 20 miles from Atlanta. This mansion has been crowned "the jewel of Marietta" and each of the five guest rooms has a distinctive personality. The Whitlock offers a daily continental breakfast and afternoon snack to guests.

Theatre In The Square Gutsy…grand-slam production…seasoned professionalism…powerhouse performance…well-tuned ensemble…likely to be the season’s most talked about production…rich, rewarding and insightful evening of theatre... Just be sure and buckle up!

December 16 Free Night of Theatre

JIM CROW AND THE RHYTHM DARLINGS by Vynnie Meli, directed by Betty Hart

RETURNING TO THE STAGE FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY

DECEMBER 16th 7pm, Admission is FREE

New Mercies Christian Church, 4000 Five Forks Trickum Rd, Lilburn, GA 30047
World Premiere
Actors: Rachel Bodenstein, Enisha Brewster, Daniel Burnley, DeAndrea Crawford, Nadir Mateen, Delesa Sims
It’s World War Two, and with so many men going off to serve, the previously all-male world of jazz is opening up to women for the first time. The International Rhythm Darlings are an all-female African-American band touring the Deep South, which would be a tough situation in the best of times … but now they’ve got a last-minute replacement in the group, a white Jewish woman, and integrated bands aren’t allowed to play together on stage. Not in the South, not anywhere.

Inspired by the real-life experiences of musicians from that era, Vynnie Meli’s play takes a fascinating look at some extraordinary women who make their way past fear and hatred to find the common threads that bind them together. Winner of the 2009 Essential Theatre Playwriting Award competition, the only prize exclusively dedicated to the work of Georgia playwrights. The Essential Theatre is proud to have developed this play (along with Working Title Playwrights, Jewish Theatre of the South and the Alliance Theatre playwriting class) and to be bringing it to the stage for the first time.

If you enjoy this performance, please visit us online and help support our mission.

Essential Theatre is a recipient of a Google Grant award.

The Google Grants program supports organizations sharing Google's philosophy of community service to help the world in areas such as science and technology, education, global public health, the environment, youth advocacy, and the arts.

Designed for 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations, Google Grants is a unique in-kind advertising program harnessing the power of Google AdWords advertising product. Google Grants has awarded AdWords advertising to hundreds of non-profit groups whose missions range from animal welfare to literacy, from supporting homeless children to promoting HIV education.

Invest in Our Success

Over the past twelve years, the Essential Theatre has become a leading voice in the support and development of new plays by Georgia writers. Our annual Essential Theatre Playwriting Award is the only competition of its kind, exclusively dedicated to the work of playwrights from the Peach State. Along with a cash prize, the winner gets to see his or her play given a World Premiere production in the Essential Theatre Festival, along with Regional Premieres by such nationally acclaimed authors as Sam Shepard, Christopher Durang, Paula Vogel and Lanford Wilson.

Here's an added incentive for you to support us with a donation prior to the end of the year. Essential Theatre has been chosen to participate in Google Grants Programs and will waive processing fees for online donations to Essential through the end of the year. This means that the entire amount of your gift will go to support our operations. So, be sure to give before December 31 and win twice, a tax deduction for 2009 and the full amount of your investment in helps us produce great new plays at Essential Theatre. Click here to learn about donation incentives. You win, We win, We all win...

Please scroll down to make a donation

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2010 Essential Theatre Playwriting Award Winner

The Essential Theatre is proud to announce that the winner of the 2010 Essential Theatre Playwriting Award competition is Gabriel Dean’s Qualities of Starlight, a modern southern family comedy. Gabriel Dean has been working for some years on the Atlanta scene as an actor and playwright, and is currently pursuing an M.F.A. in the Playwriting Program at the University of Texas in Austin. His play Buy My House – Please! Is currently running at the Aurora Theatre in Lawrenceville. Mr. Dean will receive a cash prize of $600.00 and Qualities of Starlight will be produced as part of the 2010 Essential Theatre Play Festival, running at the Actor’s Express space in July and August of next year.

Food for Fish & Cats & Dogs & save $5.

Bring a can or unopened bag of dog or cat food to Essential Theatre's production's of ICE GLEN, FOOD FOR FISH or JIM CROW & THE RHYTHM DARLINGS this weekend and save $5 off the adult ticket price. Collections will be distributed to the Atlanta Humane Society and Pet Rescue.

The 11th Annual Essential Theatre Festival closes this weekend, so don't miss out. And, please no FISH FOOD, we've got that covered already.

Want to know which show performs when? Click here.

Food for Fish photos

Click on the photo to view the entire album.

People are talking about Ice Glen by Joan Ackerman

ICE GLEN by Joan Ackermann
Beautifully written, masterfully delicate direction by Ellen McQueen, precise, delightful and surprising performances all round. Go see it.” Joanna Daniel

“ICE GLEN is both one of the best scripts and best overall productions I've seen in the nine years I've been in Atlanta, and Ellen's direction is flawlessly nuanced. A true "must-see."" Evan Guilford-Blake

"It’s one of the best shows in Atlanta this year!” Leonard Pallats

People are talking about "Jim Crow...."

WMLB Voice of the Arts' Larry Larson interviews playwright Vynnie Meli & director Betty Hart


And, In Print

“Directed by Betty Hart, Jim Crow & The Rhythm Darlings truly captures the love of jazz … the dialogue is quick paced and smart, the issues are diverse, and the acting is powerful. Not every day do you come across an intelligent play that explores gender roles, racism, and religion. Jim Crow & The Rhythm Darlings is a harmonious blend of talent, music, and discussion. Definitely a must see.” Kelechi Ubozoh, Atlanta Theatre Examiner

“Playwright Vynnie Meli’s Jim Crow and the Rhythm Darlings draws from a seemingly bottomless wellspring of drama. Director Betty Hart builds to some undeniably gripping confrontations … Essential Theatre offers an affecting homage to some of the unsung women of jazz.” Curt Holman, Creative Loafing

FOOD FOR FISH: It's a wild strange trip....one smart play....compelling

“Following its tradition of introducing Atlanta to some of the edgier plays around, Essential Theatre opened its annual summer festival with FOOD FOR FISH, a lively take on Chekhov’s THREE SISTERS by rising playwright Adam Szymkowicz … One smart play …dark, droll dialogue … it’s a wild, strange trip, full of black humor, and something to really challenge the mind.” read the entire review James Paulk, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“This play by the brilliant young playwright, Adam Szymkowicz, is one strange work of art … it is compelling, humorous, and I would give it a 9 on the proverbial scale.” Robert Heller, Publisher's Feature Service

Playwright Steve Yockey "strongly suggests that folks in Atlanta check out the whimsically dark, touching and intoxicatingly performed production of Adam Szymkowicz's "Food for Fish" at Essential Theatre."

Audience comments:

ICE GLEN opens tonight

Two things have been running through my head like a song, since I've been working on this play, ICE GLEN. One is a line from a song that a friend wrote: "We're all gonna live like people in a book." The other is from OUR TOWN, when Emily asks the Stage Manager (I'm paraphrasing here) "Do human beings ever realize how beautiful life is, every minute?" and he says, "The poets and the saints, some."

ICE GLEN is about being truly alive in the place where you belong. About being in that special place, inside and outside yourself (in the woods, or in a poem, or in a circle of people you love) where, if there's a frozen part of your heart because once something hurt too much for you to feel it, you can allow the ice to melt and come to life. Of course, there is an element of danger to being truly alive. When parts that have been too cold for too long warm up, they burn. But one of the surprises, when you open and feel, is how much fun and laughter you find where you feared to find only pain. There's a lot of fun and laughter in ICE GLEN. And we've all laughed a lot working and playing in this production.

The theatre has always been the place for me where the ice melts and the heart comes to life, and I find it happening again with this lovely play.
Ellen McQueen

Examiner.com: Jim Crow and The Rhythm Darlings

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Jim Crow and The Rhythm Darlings

What do you get when you combine a forties all-girl black jazz band with one Jewish member, and stir it up with a tour through the Jim Crow South? You get a recipe for disaster, but more importantly discovery. It's 1943...

To read the rest of this article, please click on the link below:

http://www.examiner.com/x-5055-Atlanta-Theater-Examiner~y2009m7d9-Jim-Crow-and-The-Rhythm-Darlings?cid=email-this-article

Become a Facebook Fan

The influence of Facebook in marketing the theatre continues to growth indicatinges how social media continues to enhance and re-define the way arts organizations reach out to audiences.

When we reach a fan base of 1,000, Facebook provides a series of advanced tools and analytics that will enhance our ability to reach those interested in theatre. We can easily achieve this by encouraging our friends on to Become a Fan on Facebook and recommend us to their friends. When you access our page you will see a list of options below the logo on the left. One is “Suggest to Friends.” When you click on this link a box with all of your friends’ photos opens. Simply click on the individuals you believe would be interested in the theatre (local residents, patrons of the arts, etc.). If they’re already a fan of ours their photo will be grayed out, so you’ll know by sight who is already with us. They will get an update from you suggesting they join us. It’s that simple. It’s a very soft ask that can make a huge difference in building relationships in time for the new season.

Clickon on the "Become a Fan" button then follow the link below to suggest that your friends join us. Thanks

The Essential Theatre on Facebook

Here’s a link to our page: EssentialTheatre Facebook Page and while your at it, please become a fan of Actors Express if you have not already done so.

If you’re not on Facebook and would like to be, please let me know and we’ll help you get started.

JC Reilly, one of the Georgia Poetry Society members who will be participating in a poetry reading at 7pm on Saturday July 25th prior to the 8pm "Ice Glen" performance. JC would like to offer this poem for your consideration. We hope you will come a bit early to hear JC's poetry and the work of other GPS members.

Fall, Star City by JC Reilly

The blush has crept into the leaves,
as sunshine, sanguine with the months
of growing, cools its fire. The light
that we get now is maizy, saturates

everything with extract of gold, even
the dogged verdigris of the Sower
filling his bag, even the blacks
of shadow and pavement.

Mornings crisp, like new apples,
glow with that rich, amber sheen,
warm only in its hue. Along 13th,
the maples and Bradford pears leaning

over the walks, buckled with roots,
gleam too, their discarded leaves
like frenzied handprints. You could say
that autumn in Lincoln is tumult

gilded by late September sun, the leaves
stabs of color in over-yellowed air,
so much yellow concentrated here
that spectrums everywhere else are bereft.

(previously published in Stones Throw Magazine: http://www.stonesthrowmagazine.com/pdf/fall.star.city.reilly.pdf)

JC Reilly wishes everything could be written as a poem, including editorials, cereal ads, and weather reports. She is a displaced Louisiana poet living in Atlanta, with two strange cats and a quirky Socialist husband. Her work has recently appeared or is forthcoming in the Xavier Review, the Arkansas Review, Cider Press Review, and three online journals, Ouroboros Review, Sweet: a Literary Confection, and Stone’s Throw Magazine.

National Black Arts Festival Around Town

We are proud to announce that the Essential Theatre performance of Vynnie Meli's "Jim Crow and the Rhythm Darlings" is to be presented during the National Black Arts Festival. For more information about National Black Arts Festival Around Town, click here.

Dexter Speaks Out

Sarah Falkenburg Wallace – Dexter (Food for Fish)
This is the fourth Festival I’ve been lucky enough to be involved in. I have always enjoyed being a part of the festival and have played a voice in the attic, a murderous college student, & a girl who turned into a horse. However, simply being cast as a man has turned into one of the most challenging roles of my acting career. I have enjoyed the process as one of the most truly involved roles I’ve worked to create since Dexter is the complete opposite of me in every way. I have enjoyed really observing and attempting to mimic the posture and movements associated with the male gender. I have also become very aware of how physically expressive I am naturally, which of course Dexter is not, so that has created it’s own challenge in itself. I have enjoyed working to embody and create the role of Dexter. I would like to thank Peter for allowing me this opportunity to grow as an actor and to continue to learn new things in this amazing craft.

Fundraising Raffle

Our sponsors have put together and incredible prize package for our raffle. Please check it out.

Guest Poetry Readers

Come support our guest poetry readers as they share a brief selection before selected performances.

• Flora Maria Garcia, Executive Director MACC July 10 8pm
• Jeff Watkins, Artistic Director, Shakespeare Tavern, July 12 7pm
• Bob Farley, Artistic Director, Georgia Ensemble July 20th 8pm
• Georgia Poetry Society July 25th begins at 7pm
• Charles Green, Fulton County Arts Council/Sunrise Bank. July 26th 7pm
• Phillip Depoy, Clayton State, Drama Dept. Chair, July 31 8pm.

Food for Fish: "I wanted to direct it"

As soon as I started reading Adam Szymkowicz’s FOOD FOR FISH, I knew that I wanted to include it in the 2009 Essential Theatre Play Festival, and that I wanted to direct it. I’m not sure I could have articulated why I felt this way, except that found the script to be funny and weird and beautiful (a combination that I always like). There’s a lot of stuff in it about writing, which I’m drawn to, and it also looks at the differences between the way we often try to idealize ourselves into fantasy relationships, instead of dealing with the reality of the people we get close to (another fascination of mine, although it took me longer to recognize how important a part of the play this was.)

So, I didn’t start out the rehearsal process with a firm, fixed concept in mind – I told the cast that I responded to the play intuitively, not analytically, and that I could always explain why I felt that some things should be pla yed a certain way, and that they were all very much the right people for their parts. As a result, our rehearsals have been an evolving series of explorations and discoveries, with some ideas taken up and discarded, and new ones rising up to take their place.

I had the pleasure of meeting the playwright a few weeks ago, and he told me that the play had been written fairly quickly and then produced -- having gone through almost no development process. This didn’t surprise me, and I think he was lucky to have had things go that way – this is the kind of script that the group discussions and second-guessing of most development processes could not much help, and would probably hurt. This is not to say that many plays aren’t helped by such processes – I hope that the development work done by the Essential Theatre with some new plays, over the years, has been good for their writers. But, sometimes, it’s better to go with a writer’s unbridled, unchecked impulses.

What kind of play is FOOD FOR FISH? It’s a comedy, that’s often sad – rather like Chekhov. Which isn’t a haphazard reference – the play is full of Chekhov motifs, from the three sisters who long to return home to New Jersey, to the tormented young writer who throws a dead pigeon at the feet of his lady love. It’s also like a dream play, full of connections that work on the subliminal level rather than in the dramaturgical manner of a well-made play.

Men play women, sometimes, and vice-versa, all the while their characters are trying to figure out why people fall in love, and what it means to be a man and what it means to be a woman. When you’ve got a male character -- played by an actress, saying that he’s trying to figure out how men should behave -- it throws our whole notions of “how things are supposed to be” into a new, revealing and comic perspective. To the writer’s credit, he doesn’t just play this for laughs – he gives us insights into the ways we trap ourselves by trying to live up to the fantasies we see on television, and read in magazines – rather than trying to understand who we truly are, and how our realities can relate to one another.

I couldn’t ask for a better cast. I’ve worked with all of them before, which makes for a trust that you need when you’re delving into such original and unusual material.

Sylvia, the youngest sister, is played by Kate Graham, who dazzled everybody playing Sally the Homecoming Queen and Princess Sophia the Hunchback in our production of Paul Rudnick’s VALHALLA last summer.&nb sp; Since then she’s appeared in BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS at the Center Theatre, and she’s also the star of the cult horror-comedy film Poultrygeist – the Night of the Living Chicken. Check it out!

Alice, the middle sister, is played by Dad’s Garage favorite Eve Krueger, while Barbara, the oldest, is played by Charles Swint. I’ve known Charles for years, and directed him as Adam in our production of THE MOST FABULOUS STORY EVER TOLD a few years back (but he keeps his clothes on, this time – even if they’re mostly women’s clothes). He also appeared in our hit production of THE BOOK OF LIZ (named one of the year’s best shows by the AJC).

The oldest sister’s husband is played by Sarah Falkenburg Wallace, who was nominated for a M etropolitan Atlanta Theatre Award for her performance in the Essential’s MRS. BOB CRATCHIT’S WILD CHRISTMAS BINGE, and played the title role in our World Premiere of Karen Wurl’s MISS MACBETH (which the AJC called “a doozy of a backstage farce … a delightful laugh-bath”). Having two skillful comic performers like Sarah and Charles play husband and wife (but with the genders reversed) is inherently funny … but not campy. We’ve been going for the heart of these characters, and have found that the more real we can make them, the funnier they are.
Brent Nicholas Rose plays the kissing-bandit-writer, coming of a year where he's worked with Synchronicity Performance Group and Dad’s Garage. Last summer he played the lead role in our Regional Premiere of Gina Gionfriddo’s AFTER ASHLEY, which has been nominated as Best Production of a Play by the Metropolitan Atlanta Theatre Awards. Rounding out the cast is Kelly Criss, having a great time playing (at last count) eleven different characters – both male and female. You may have seen her in THE LITTLE DOG LAUGHED at Theatre In the Square’s Alley Stage.

We open up July 5, at Actor’s Express, and there’ll be eight performances between then and August 1. Check out our website at http://www.essentialtheatre.com/ for information and scheduling. Hope you’ll come see us!
Peter

Volunteer Ushers: only a few dates remain open

Essential Theatre appreciates its' volunteer ushers. We have a few remaining opportunities to participate as an usher and great new theatre. These dates are still available. Please email us Essential AT ivf.com if you wish to usher on any of the dates listed below.

7/11 7:15 pm Food for Fish
7/18 7:15 pm Jim Crow
7/19 1:15 pm Jim Crow
7/19 6:15pm Food for Fish
7/25 1:15 pm Jim Crow
7/26 6:15pm Ice Glen
7/29 7:15 pm Ice Glen
7/30 7:15pm Jim Crow
7/31 7:15pm Ice Glen
8/1 1:15pm Jim Crow
8/1 7:15 pm Food for Fish
8/2 1:15pm Jim Crow

Essential Theatre Video Previews

Check out our behind the scenes HDTV video trailers shot during rehearsals shot and edited by Dany Nieves


Food for Fish


Ice Glen


Jim Crow and the Rhythm Darlings

From Artistic Director Peter Hardy

I came to Atlanta in the fall of 1986, hired by the late Michael Horne to direct a Wendy Wasserstein comedy called Isn’t It Romantic at Theatre in the Square, and then sticking around to perform in the Horizon Theatre’s Christmas production of Alan Ayckbourn’s Season’s Greetings. By that time, I’d decided to stay. In 1987 I was acting in another comedy at the Horizon, Christopher Durang’s The Marriage of Bette and Boo, but already I was wanting to make my own productions happen, and in the fall of ’87 I produced and directed the first Essential Theatre show – two ghost story one-acts by John Pielmeier (author of Agnes of God), featuring Scott Higgs and Bill Murphey (two fine local actors that I’m still friends with today) and a lady named Elin Zimmerman, who came down from New York just to do the show.

Over the next ten years I continued to free-lance with other companies, directing three of the first four productions ever done in Theatre In the Square’s Alley Stage space (we opened that place up with a comedy by local writer Karen Wurl, who I’ve gone on to work with several times since). In the summers I directed the outdoor drama Unto These Hills in Cherokee, North Carolina, working there with many talented people from the Atlanta theatre scene, and I also continued to produce and direct occasional productions with the Essential Theatre: Vinegar Tom and They Dance Real Slow In Jackson and Wandering Desires at the Horizon space; Down the Road at the 14th Street Playhouse; Cinders and A Child Shall Lead at 7 Stages; and my own play Lubricant at a place called the Atlanta Dream Hostel. (Lubricant finally got a New York production last year.)

Some of these productions got good audiences and good reviews, but mostly we were doing new scripts – World Premieres or Regional Premieres – and I found that when you're doing plays that no one has heard of, by a company that no one’s heard of, and you’re only producing once every year or so, and you’re usually performing in a different space than where you were the last time – you tend to fall through the cracks. We got great reviews for Down the Road from the AJC, Creative Loafing and WABE (which was doing theatre reviews back then), but three years later none of them bothered to come see A Child Shall Lead at 7 Stages. This was a beautiful, epic play about the Children’s Crusade, written by my friend Charlotte Fleck (originally from Spartanburg, South Carolina and now in New York City) and featuring a stunning performance by Laurie Beasley. In 2007, both these ladies finally got some of the critical praise they deserve for their work in our production of Night Travels.

Anyway, back in the late 90’s, I was wondering if I should keep trying to make my own theatre happen. I didn’t want to be producing year-round, and I didn’t want to do the kind of “audience-friendly” plays I was bored with seeing at so many other theatres in town. And that’s when the idea for the Essential Theatre Festival first came to me: Instead of doing one play no one has heard of, how about we do three plays no one has heard of? Maybe that’ll get us some more attention.

And it worked, right from the beginning. Curt Holman wrote a feature article about us for Creative Loafing in January of 1999, when we presented our first Festival at the old Push-Push Theater space. That year we did Paula Vogel’s Desdemona, Lynn Siefert’s comedy Little Egypt (recently turned into a musical, out west) and the World Premiere of Only Children by the afore-mentioned Karen Wurl. We decided that we’d produce at least one new play by a Georgia writer every year, and by 2001 that had coalesced into the idea of the Essential Theatre Playwriting Award, a state-wide competition that is still the only one of its kind. We’ve been proud and fortunate to present the World Premieres of new scripts by Georgia writers like Karla Jennings, Bill Gibson, Karen Page, Valetta Anderson, Jean Sterrett and Letitia Sweitzer.

In 2006 we did the first production of Larry Larson and Eddie Levi Lee’s Charm School, receiving critical raves and helping to pave the w ay for a larger, longer-run production by Horizon Theatre – which was so successful they revived it a year later. The play also won the Gene Gabriel Moore prize (part of the Suzi Bass Awards) for best new play produced in Atlanta.

In 2001, the Essential Theatre Playwriting Award when to 18-year-old Lauren Gunderson, a Decatur native, for her family comedy-drama Parts They Call Deep, which was a big hit for us and went on to an Off-Broadway production. Lauren’s continued to have great success, both in Atlanta and around the country, with a new play recently produced in California. Lauren writes: “The Essential Theatre has been fundamentally important for my career …every aspect of my time with them has been full of support, creativity and artistic daring. I will always credit the Essential Theatre with my early success and confidence.”

Along with our World Premieres, we’ve given Atlanta audiences their first chance to see important new work by nationally-recognized writers like Sam Shepard, Christopher Durang, Lanford Wilson, David Lindsay-Abaire, Steven Dietz, Gina Gionfriddo, and Amy and David Sedaris. The common denominator is this: Plays you’ve never seen around here before – exciting and challenging new work -- produced by artists who are doing it for love.

Perhaps my favorite show that we’ve ever done was our 2008 production of Paul Rudnick’s Valhalla -- which (among other things) was about being willing to go mad in order to create something beautiful. I can relate ...

And all that brings us up to today – and the 11th Annual Essential Theatre Play Festival, opening July 5 at Actor’s Express.

More on that soon.

Jim Crow & the Rhythm Darlings by Vynnie Meli, 2009

JIM CROW AND THE RHYTHM DARLINGS by Vynnie Meli. World Premiere. Directed by Betty Hart
Featuring: Rachel Bodenstein, Enisha Brewster, Daniel Burnley, DeAndrea Crawford, Nadir Mateen, Delesa Sims

It’s World War Two, and with so many men going off to serve, the previously all-male world of jazz is opening up to women for the first time. The International Rhythm Darlings are an all-female African-American band touring the Deep South, which would be a tough situation in the best of times … but now they’ve got a last-minute replacement in the group, a white Jewish woman, and integrated bands aren’t allowed to play together on stage. Not in the South, not anywhere. Inspired by the real-life experiences of musicians from that era, Vynnie Meli’s play takes a fascinating look at some extraordinary women who make their way past fear and hatred to find the common threads that bind them together. Winner of the 2009 Essential Theatre Playwriting Award competition.

Essential Playwright Vynnie Meli's PLAGUED at NYMF

Plagued A Love Story
Book and lyrics by Vynnie Meli [2009 Essential Theatre Playwriting Award Winner]
Music by Casey Filiaci

Congratulations are out to JIM CROW playwright Vynnie Meli. Her musical, PLAGUED will be part of this year's prestigious New York Music Theatre Festival. Well done Vynnie. You can see her play JIM CROW AND THE RHYTHM DARLINGS as part of this year's Essential Theatre Festival.

Cinderella celebrates her 20th anniversary to a man who isn’t always so charming. And Cinderella’s daughter, Dust Bunny, takes on an even greater challenge: the Bubonic Plague. Dust Bunny has to say goodbye to the handsome chronicler, and any chance of finding a cure, when her Queen Grandmother forces her to marry a rich old Prince. Fairy Godmother comes out of retirement in sunny south Florida to convince Dust Bunny she doesn’t have to wait for someone else to turn her life into a fairy tale. The princess uses a little ingenuity to defy the Queen, get the boy, and save the world.

Ice Glen and Poetry Reading, July 25th 7pm.

The Essential Theatre is pleased to announce that the Georgia Poetry Society will be holding a poetry reading July 25th at 7 pm prior to the 8pm performance of Ice Glen by Joan Ackermann. Your ticket for Ice Glen will serve as admission to both events.

The Georgia Poetry Society was founded in 1979 for the purpose of bringing into community poets and poetry lovers in the state of Georgia. If you are passionate about poetry, you’ve found the right place!

We welcome members from anywhere, but our quarterly meetings are held in various locations throughout the state of Georgia. The meetings are packed with poetry related programming, including member readings, featured poets, poetry workshops, and various talks on poetry related topics.

We also sponsor a series of poetry contests and publish an anthology each year.

You're invited to come as a guest to any of our quarterly meetings, poetry road shows, or local open poetry readings/workshops.

To support our future poetry programming in the state of Georgia and to participate in the contests and anthology, please consider becoming a member.

Food for Fish Photo Call

Photos by Brenda Messick

FOOD FOR FISH by Adam Szymkowicz, opening July 5. Regional Premiere.
Directed by Peter Hardy

Featuring: Kelly Criss, Kate Graham, Eve Krueger, Brent Nicholas Rose, Charles Swint and Sarah Falkenburg Wallace.

Bobbie is a lonely young man living in New York, trying to write about three sisters who long to escape the city and return to their childhood home of New Jersey … or is he really just an imaginary character in the mind of Sylvia, the youngest sister? Middle sister Alice is hopelessly in love with the husband of her older sister, and so she goes out on dates with a different man every night, working in her lab by day to isolate the human gene that makes us fall in love … so she can control it! Oldest sister Barbara (played by a man) and her husband (played by a woman) can’t figure out how men and women are supposed to relate to each other. This is the kind of play we love to do at the Essential – funny and beautiful and just about impossible to describe. The New York Times did it best, calling it “Fabulously weird and weirdly fabulous.”

Help us put an end to our loooong Facebook URL

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/The-Essential-Theatre/15257139165?ref=ts

Now that's a mouthful. With only 925 more fans, Facebook will allow us to become http://www.facebook.com/EssentialTheatre. [not yet active] We need your help to put an end to the awful URL above. Take a second click on the link and click "Become a Fan" along the left side of the page. We plan to have special Facebook fan discounts as well as discounts for those who follow us on Twitter @ATL_Essential

11th Annual Essential Theatre Play Festival Opens Soon

In just a few weeks, the 11th Annual Essential Theatre Play Festival will be opening, playing for the first time at the King Plow Art Center in the Actor's Express space. We'll be running July 5-August 2 -- please visit www.EssentialTheatre.com for details or follow us on Twitter ATL_Essential for the latest information.

FOOD FOR FISH by Adam Szymkowicz, opening July 5. Regional Premiere.
Directed by Peter Hardy
Featuring: Kelly Criss, Kate Graham, Eve Krueger, Brent Nicholas Rose, Charles Swint and Sarah Falkenburg Wallace.
Bobbie is a lonely young man living in New York, trying to write about three sisters who long to escape the city and return to their childhood home of New Jersey … or is he really just an imaginary character in the mind of Sylvia, the youngest sister? Middle sister Alice is hopelessly in love with the husband of her older sister, and so she goes out on dates with a different man every night, working in her lab by day to isolate the human gene that makes us fall in love … so she can control it! Oldest sister Barbara (played by a man) and her husband (played by a woman) can’t figure out how men and women are supposed to relate to each other. This is the kind of play we love to do at the Essential – funny and beautiful and just about impossible to describe. The New York Times did it best, calling it “Fabulously weird and weirdly fabulous.”

Next to open, on July 10, will be ICE GLEN by Joan Ackermann. Regional Premiere.
Directed by Ellen McQueen
Featuring: Jo Howarth, Dina Shadwell, Jayson Smith, Spencer G. Stephens, Jim Starbh and Ann Wilson.
Sarah Harding lives in an isolated country cottage, surrounded by a warm circle of quietly eccentric friends. She may be America’s greatest poet, but no one’s ever seen her work … which is just the way she wants it. But now an editor has arrived from Boston, wanting to publish her poems and bring her the fame and fortune she has never sought. With unforgettable characters, this wonderfully funny romantic drama -- about the frozen places in our hearts coming back to life again -- is like the best Emma Thompson movie you never saw. “Beautifully written.” Talkin’ Broadway. “A lovely play.” CurtainUp

Opening July 15 will be JIM CROW AND THE RHYTHM DARLINGS by Vynnie Meli. World Premiere.
Directed by Betty Hart
Featuring: Rachel Bodenstein, Enisha Brewster, Daniel Burnley, DeAndrea Crawford, Nadir Mateen, Delesa Sims
It’s World War Two, and with so many men going off to serve, the previously all-male world of jazz is opening up to women for the first time. The International Rhythm Darlings are an all-female African-American band touring the Deep South, which would be a tough situation in the best of times … but now they’ve got a last-minute replacement in the group, a white Jewish woman, and integrated bands aren’t allowed to play together on stage. Not in the South, not anywhere.

Inspired by the real-life experiences of musicians from that era, Vynnie Meli’s play takes a fascinating look at some extraordinary women who make their way past fear and hatred to find the common threads that bind them together. Winner of the 2009 Essential Theatre Playwriting Award competition, the only prize exclusively dedicated to the work of Georgia playwrights. The Essential Theatre is proud to have developed this play (along with Working Title Playwrights and Jewish Theatre of the South) and to be bringing it to the stage for the first time.

2009 Essential theatre Festival Cast & Crew

Check out the 2009 festival cast and crew.

EARLYBIRD Festival Pass Discount

For a limited time, an additional $5 off the three show Essential Theatre Festival Pass will be available for online purchases using the discount code "EARLYBIRD"

An Any Performance 3 Show Festival Pass is available for only $50 [now $45] and a Value Pass good for each of the three shows on Sunday through Thursday

$45 [now $40].

Best Local Playwrights: Sunday Paper recognizes a few of Atlanta's talented playwrights.

The Essential Theatre wants to congratulate Lauren Gunderson for being named Best Local Playwright in the Sunday Paper's Reader's Poll -- and Valetta Anderson for being named runner-up!

Lauren won the Essential Theatre Playwriting Award in 2001 (for PARTS THEY CALL DEEP) and 2004 (for BACKGROUND). Valetta won in 2006, for LEAVING LIMBO.

All the best to both these writers, and may they have continued success in their field.

In the meantime, look out for our World Premiere production of Vynnie Meli's JIM CROW AND THE RHYTHM DARLINGS, winner of this year's contest. It'll be part of the 11th Annual Essential Theatre Festival, playing July 5 - August 2 at Actor's Express.

For more information, visit www.EssentialTheatre.com.

Follow Essential Theatre on Twitter

Kudos for Essential Theatre Playwriting Award Winners Karla Jennings and Lauren Gunderson

The Essential Theatre wants to congratulate Atlanta playwright Karla Jennings on winning the Pillars Playwriting Prize for her script “The Smiles.” This award is sponsored by the Creative Writing Program in the Department of English, Speech and Journalism at Georgia College and State University. Karla will receive an honorarium of $2,000.00 and her play will be produced at the College.

The Essential Theatre chose Karla’s play “Images In Smoke” for production in 2000, making it the second winner of our annual competition for Georgia playwrights (though we weren’t officially calling it the Essential Theatre Playwriting Award yet). That production was named by Creative Loafing’s Curt Holman as being one of the fifteen best shows of that year.

Karla went on to win the Playwrights First Award (given by New York’s National Arts Club) for her play “The Ruby Vector.” We wish her all the best in her continued success.

In more good news for Essential Playwrights, Lauren Gunderson (winner of the 2001 and 2004 Essential Theatre Playwriting Awards, for “Parts They Call Deep” and “Background”) just had the World Premiere of her play “Emilie” at the very prestigious South Coast Repertory in California. Congratulations to Lauren as well!