The longest-running theatre company exclusively dedicated to supporting Georgia playwrights celebrated 25 years this summer with a packed festival of shows that audiences called “stunning,” “comical and poignant,” “powerful,” and “nothing short of spectacular.”

In a retrospective article in ArtsATL, Luke Evans wrote, “Founding Artistic Director Peter Hardy’s goal to support Georgia playwrights from conception to full production has resulted in some of the best works of the last quarter century.”

Atlanta Magazine says, “Essential Theatre has launched the careers of some of the nation’s most important contemporary writers.”

And Creative Loafing quips that Essential is “Essential in more ways than one”

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Monday’s Bare Essentials Play Reading is False Awakening by Jacob Ryan Martinez. Read on to learn a little more about the playwright and the play we’ll be seeing on Monday!

Jacob Ryan Martinez is an actor, writer and director originally from San Antonio, Texas. He grew up as the son of a theatre teacher and has been acting since childhood.

Jacob graduated from Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi in 2022 with a B.A. in Acting/Directing through their Honors Program. Shortly after, he moved to Atlanta with his beautiful fiancé and their dog. He has since been collaborating on many projects in theatre,

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Meet the Cast of Emily McClain’s The Rock & The Hard Place, opening August 16

Winner of the 2024 Essential Theatre Playwriting Award, The Rock & The Hard Place tells the searing story of a young woman’s desperate efforts to free her innocent father from Death Row.

Featuring the acting talents of Roger Payano, Indya Bussey, Chase Steven Anderson, Durell Brown, Jennifer Brown, Mala Bhattacharya, and Ali Bhamani.

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Meet the Cast of Peter Hardy’s The Other Part of the Picture, opening August 9

Winner of playwriting prizes from the Best Script Awards – London and the New York Script Awards as well as being chosen for the Lanford Wilson New American Play Festival, The Other Part of the Picture is a comic drama about friendship and storytelling, centering around a group of students who find some mysterious old letters.

Featuring the acting talents of Caleb Wilkinson, Ash Anderson, Iniki Roberts, Brock Kercher, Tommy Sullivan-Lovett, Rebecca Van Kirk, and Ellie Styron and the voiceover talents of Carolyn and Matt Cook.

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Free preshow conversation led by Amina McIntyre of Hush Harbor Lab, featuring playwright Kelundra Smith and more.

Join Hush Harbor Lab, Essential Theatre, Impact Theatre and Synchronicity Theatre for a conversation led by Amina McIntyre of Hush Harbor Lab, featuring playwright Kelundra Smith and more. Hear these powerful women speak about their own creative processes and their different paths to artistic and professional success, including The Wash‘s own journey from idea to its current World Premiere Production.

Stay after for the Pay What You Can performance of 

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Registration is now open for Essential Theatre’s online Introduction to Playwriting course, which meets on Tuesday afternoons  June through mid-July and is offered free of charge in partnership with Fulton County Arts & Culture.

Hungry for a challenge? Registration is also open for our 10 Minute Play Bootcamp, a four-week in-person playwriting intensive that concludes with a public showcase of participants’ plays as part of the 2024 Essential Theatre Play Festival.

Read what past participants have to say about their experiences, and join us!

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We’re excited to announce the lineup for the 25th Annual Essential Theatre Play Festival, which will be running from August 9 – September 1 at 7 Stages!  For our Silver Anniversary Festival we will continue our long tradition of bringing new work by Georgia playwrights to the stage by producing a repertory of two World Premiere productions, along with staged readings and other special presentations.

Opening the Festival on August 9 will be The Other Part of the Picture, a comic drama about a group of students who find a mysterious batch of old letters in the house two of them are living in.

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We are pleased and excited to announce that the 2024 Essential Theatre Playwriting Award winner is Emily McClain, with The Rock & The Hard Place! Her play will receive a full production in this summer’s Festival as well as a $1,000 cash prize. The 2024 Award is sponsored by Could Be Pretty Cool, our Playwriting Award Sponsor since 2021. Emily will be honored at this year’s Celebration of Georgia Playwrights event in April – plan to join us and show your support for Emily and your appreciation for Georgia’s rich dramatic heritage!

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The deadline for the 2025 Essential Theatre Playwriting Award competition is April 23, 2024.

The only competition exclusively dedicated to the work of Georgia playwrights, the winning play will receive both a full production and a $1,000 cash prize. Playwrights must be current Georgia residents, and the plays must be previously unproduced. There are no restrictions as to style, length or subject matter.

Email your script to [email protected] or submit it here today:

Submit a play

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Now through April 30, purchase a Two-, Four-, or Eight-Ticket Festival Pass to guarantee priority access to your preferred dates for this summer’s shows. 

Festival Pass holders will have 48 hour early access on July 1 and 2 to redeem your pass for individual tickets and ensure you get seats according to your preferred schedule before tickets become available to the general public on July 3.

Our Silver Anniversary Festival is shaping up to be the most jam-packed festival yet, so don’t miss out on this chance to immerse yourself in the best of Georgia’s theater scene this summer!

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