Emily McClain is co-winner of the 2019 Essential Theatre Playwriting Award, along with Ben Thorpe. Emily is the co-director of theatre at Buford High School. She graduated from Berry College with a B.A. in Theatre. Her work has been performed by Out Of Box Theatre, Merely Players, Atlanta AppCo, and the Courtroom Drama Series. She is a member of Working Title Playwrights and Merely Writers. She is particularly passionate about playwriting in schools and spent 9 years working with Georgia Thespians to develop the PlayWorks program for high school theatre students. Slaying Holofernes is her first full-length play.

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Ben Thorpe is co-winner of the 2019 Essential Theatre Playwriting Award, along with Emily McClain. Join us as we get to know Ben a little bit better:

ET: Congratulations, Ben! We’ll be spending plenty of time together in the coming months, but for now, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

BT: I’m an actor and playwright, originally from Snellville, GA. I went to Point Park University in Pittsburgh, PA and lived in New York City for years before moving back to Atlanta in 2015. I’ve been in productions around town at Actor’s Express,

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Join Essential Theatre on March 9 for a Celebration of Georgia Playwrights!
On Saturday, March 9, from 4 to 6pm at Manuel’s Tavern, meet the newest additions to the Essential Theatre legacy, Emily McClain and Ben Thorpe, and celebrate Essential’s – and Georgia’s – rich theatre tradition and the community in which our playwrights grow and thrive.

At our Celebration of Georgia Playwrights Event, you’ll get to:
Hang out with a bunch of great folks who, like you, are proud of the literary and dramatic heritage of the place we call home.
(Love Essential? Want to introduce a friend?

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Marilyn and Sharon are
the sister duo behind MEMORY LANE, (concert reading this Saturday at 7:30pm)

E: Hi Marilyn. Hi Sharon. We’re so excited to be presenting a concert reading of your musical this Saturday! We’d love to hear a little more about yourselves and the musical you’ve made together.

What inspired you to write Memory Lane?

M: The inspiration for the play was my niece, Annika Goldman (my sister Sharon Goldman’s daughter), who volunteered for two summers in high school at an adult day care facility for Alzheimer’s patients in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, and who is the model for the character,

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book and lyrics by Marilyn Baron and Sharon Goldman directed by Peter Hardy
music direction by Olivia Sloan Ivey

FEATURING THE READING AND MUSICAL TALENTS OF: Rylee Bunton as Sunny, Barry West as Chuck, Darrell Wofford as Stan, Anjil Jeter as Davonda, Pat Bell as Grace, Sarah Cave as Julia, Patrick Hill as Brett and Jean-Pierre, Robert Wayne as Monty Stone and Dr. Wilson, Marc Gowan as Mr. Mathers, Bobbie Elzey as Lillian, Betty Mitchell as Mildred, Marianne Geyer as Bessie Nat Martin as Pastor Brown,

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March 30, 1922 – January 2, 2019

William Marion Hardy, father of Essential’s founding Artistic Director Peter Hardy, passed away peacefully on January 2, 2019, at the age of 96, at the Dubose Medical Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

When asked if he had any hobbies, he said “Not really. The theatre
was my profession and I had the good fortune to thoroughly enjoy
my work. I didn’t need any other hobby.”

To read his full obituary, written by Peter, click here.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that donations be made to Essential’s newly renamed Bill and Martha Nell Hardy Memorial Fund.

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In the just-released ArtsATL “Year in Review,” this summer’s World Premiere of Avery Sharpe’s WOKE was named “Play We Couldn’t Shake.” Curators of the list added, “The summer of 2018 can be described as the summer of Avery Sharpe; we sincerely hope it’s the first of many.”

All three of the Best Performers named in the list – Anthony Goolsby, Ashley Anderson, and Lee Osorio – have Essential ties as well!

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Big Congratulations to Betty Hart, who just won the True West Award in Denver, Colorado!
Before moving to Denver, Betty played a big part in some of Essential’s growth years, directing productions of JIM CROW AND THE RHYTHM DARLINGS, THE DARKER FACE OF THE EARTH, A THOUSAND CIRCLETS and EVELYN IN PURGATORY.

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Returning at Theatrical Outfit November 21 – December 23, 2018, this holiday hit by Decatur native and Essential veteran playwright Lauren Gunderson features Amelia Fischer (Dispossessed, 2016 Essential Theatre Play Festival) in the title role. The production team is peppered with other familiar Essential names, including Lee Osorio and Galen Crawley in the cast, Alex Riviere (lighting design) and Barbara Gantt O’Haley (production stage manager).

“When my co-author Margot Melcon and I started Miss Bennet, we wanted to create a holiday story for everyone that explores the complexities of family and love.

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Ashley Anderson, last seen on Essential’s stage in the title role of the box office hit Ada and the Memory Engine by Lauren Gunderson, can currently be seen in an entirely different kind of performance at The Space in Smyrna.  Just four performances remain of the exciting show Curious Reverie, created by Havoc Movement Company, “…a self-described ‘action-circus theatre’ group whose upcoming gallery show is as likely to appeal to lovers of fairy tales as to fans of death-defying stunts.” You won’t want to miss it!

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