The changing face of theatre criticism in Atlanta has been a subject that fascinated me for some time, having closely observed it for 25 years now. There are a lot of things I miss about the days when you’d get the Friday AJC and one or two theatre reviews would be on the front page, maybe with some more inside. And there are things about those days that I don’t miss (the power that one or two reviewers had). But I can’t help but see this as part of a much larger picture, how the nature of media has changed over that time (more and more rapidly,

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THE LOCAL. Is a collaborative theatre project made of short pieces by different Atlanta artists. All the pieces are set in different Atlanta locations. There are also pieces based on real stories collected from local people. The stage is set f or the many locations through the use of projected photographs.

THE LOCAL is being produced by The Essential Theatre in July, 2012, as part of a three play festival performing in the King Plow Arts Center in Atlanta. The Essential has got the bare bones covered but this project wants to fly. There are playwrights, poets,

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Win a walk-on role in Jordan Pulliam’s Bat-Hamlet, a comic book re-telling of Shakespeare’s Hamlet!

To Enter:
Simply follow the link to our OvationTix calendarand select BAT-HAMLET WALK ON RAFFLE tickets and you will be taken to a page to sign up. Only 25 raffle tickets are available per performance date, so get yours now! Purchase of a raffle ticket does NOT reserve you a seat in the audience. If you would like to attend a performance, you will need to purchase regularly priced tickets as well.

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Three of the finalists being considered for the Eugene O’Neill Center’s National Playwrights Conference this year are Georgia writers who’ve had World Premieres produced by the Essential Theatre: Karla Jennings, Gabriel Jason Dean and Lauren Gunderson! Congrats to all three of them (and also to Adam Szymkowicz, whose “Food For Fish” we produced in 2009). The Essential Theatre helps send Georgia playwrights out into the world!  https://sites.google.com/a/theoneill.org/npc-2012-finalists/full-finalist-list

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ESSENTIAL THEATRE FLEXPASS IS A WIN-WIN OPPORTUNITY
For a Short Time Additional Savings with Early Purchase
You know you’re going to come see at least one play during Essential Theatre Festival. This year we feature world premieres exclusively written by Georgia playwrights. When you buy a six or ten ticket FlexPass now, you save even more~ up to $60 with the FlexPass 6 and up to $110. How can we do this you ask? Well, the FlexPass is a win-win situation. You lock in your savings now and can use your tickets on any date and in any combination you like and the funds pass through helping us fund the festival.

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The Essential Theatre is proud to announce that Gabriel Jason Dean’s QUALITIES OF STARLIGHT, the winner of the 2010 Essential Theatre Playwriting Award, will be produced this summer as part of Washington D.C.’s Source Festival. (http://www.sourcedc.org/sourcefestival/full_length/full_length.html) The Essential Theatre presented an earlier version of the play as part of the 2010 Essential Theatre Play Festival, and we’re happy that it’s moving on out into the world. Congratulations to Gabriel!

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2012 Essential Theatre Festival 
more info at http://bit.ly/2012_Auditions 

Evelyn in Purgatory
byTopher Payne, director Betty Hart
Five public school teachers are caught in the limbo of the disciplinary “Rubber Room”, waiting for their cases to be heard and their fates decided. Poignant and funny, it’s like The Breakfast Club for teachers, as they share secrets with each other and begin to look into their own hearts. Winner of the 2012 Essential Theatre Playwriting Award. 

Bat-Hamlet
by Jordan Pulliam, director Peter Hardy 

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If you keep meaning to come see “Next Fall” at Actor’s Express, but have been putting it off, keep in mind that this time next week, THEY WILL HAVE CLOSED.  

Twentysomething Luke, who believes in God, is deeply in love with the slightly older Adam, who believes in everything but. When a tragic accident interrupts their perfect New York life, Adam must turn to Luke’s friends and deeply religious family for support – and answers. This runaway New York hit began off-Broadway in 2009 and transferred by popular demand to Broadway in 2010. The New York Times called Next Fall “smart,

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