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The Local, curated and directed by Ellen McQueen and written/created by over two dozen local writers and story contributors (2012)

THE LOCAL, curated by Ellen McQueen and produced by Essential in 2012, was actually comprised of dozens of short plays, songs, poems and personal stories about the City of Atlanta. Writers and contributors included Margaret Baldwin, Matthew Myers, Carlton Molette, Barbara Molette, Karla Jennings, Sarah Satola, Topher Payne, Peter Hardy, Stephanie Schrag, Chris Buechner, Jessica Bodiford, Ellen McQueen, vynnie Meli, Oliver Turner, Ashley McQueen, Dre Camacho, John Dull, Julia Dahlia, Robin Bloodworth,

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The 2003 Essential Theatre Playwriting Award Winner,
Karen Page

The 2003 Essential Theatre Playwriting Award Winner was Karen Page, for her play SPEAKING NAZI. After the Essential Theatre premiere of this play, Karen had her script “Dracula, Re-Vamped” workshopped at the Mountainside Tehatre in North Carolina.
Does anybody out there know Karen? We’ve lost track of her and would love to get back in touch!

We’re proud to have supported Karens work. Won’t you support ours? 36 days to go: https://power2give.org/go/p/8445

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2006 Essential Theatre Playwriting Award Winners:
Larry Larson & Eddie Levi Lee

Larry Larson & Eddie Levi Lee wrote CHARM SCHOOL, the 2006 Playwriting Award Winner. CHARM SCHOOL won the Suzi’s Gene-Gabriel Moore Playwriting Award in 2007 and was later produced by Horizon Theatre as well.
Why is producing new plays by Georgia playwrights important?
“Performing before an audience can teach you things about a play. After watching the first few performances, the authors and director decided to cut an entire scene from the play, for the rest of the run.”

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2007 Essential Theatre Playwriting Award Winner:
Jean Sterrett!

Jean Sterrett won the 2007 Playwriting Award with her play FIX ME SO I CAN STAND, a powerful fact-inspired story about injustice to African Americans in the South. One of the characters, a young lawyer, was based on a real man from Clayton County, now a judge. He came to see the play on his own — and then returned with friends and family in tow!
An Atlanta resident at the time the play was written, Jean originally hails from Australia. After Essential’s production of this play,

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Running Nov 13th-15th and Nov 20th-22nd at The Big House on Ponce (368 Ponce De Leon Ave NE Atlanta, GA 30308), How to Survive Being Human” by Lee Nowell is Ex Somnium’s latest production. Featuring an entire cast of Essential veterans in addition to the playwright: Blaire Hillman, Jeffrey Zwartjes and Bobby Labartino.

Purchase tickets online at 
 http://htsbh.bpt.me
and use code THEA5OFF to get $5 off

     “Your mind will tell you that you’re alone. But separation is an illusion. Ask a scientist. Read a book. We’re all made of carbon.

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2008 Essential Theatre Playwriting Award Winner:
Letitia Sweitzer!

The 2008 Playwriting Award Winner was Letitia Sweitzer, with WEST OF EDEN. This play grew from a one-act (which won the 2005 Georgia Theatre Conference’s One-Act Competition) to the full-length work produced by Essential.

We’re proud to have supported Letitia’s work. Won’t you support ours? 39 days to go: https://power2give.org/go/p/8445

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Today, to spice up the final 40 days of our fall power2give campaign, we’re kicking off a new series of Facebook and website posts:

“40 Days of Essential Playwrights”

Join us every morning at 10am for our next post celebrating a fun fact about one of the fantastic playwrights whose work we have produced over the past — can you believe it? — 27 years!

To kick off the countdown:

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Prolific playwright and Atlanta personality, Topher Payne!

Among his many other, wildly popular accomplishments, Topher acted in our first prize winning play (Lauren Gunderson’s PARTS THEY CALL DEEP) and has gone on to appear in four other Essential productions.

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HAPPENING NOW: Our fall power2give fundraising campaign!

Help give Georgia playwrights a voice by donating today! Every donation is matched dollar-for-dollar by funds from the City of Atlanta, so your gift goes twice as far! Click here to find out more and hear our Artistic Director, Peter Hardy, share his thoughts about giving Georgia playwrights a voice and tell you more about the work your donation will support.

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Click here to read the full interview!

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2014 marked the 16th year of the Essential Theatre Festival, and this was the third year in a row that we’ve featured exclusively Georgia playwrights, with great success and inspiring community and local support. Thanks for joining us if you made it out to the Festival.

Check back here or join our mailing list by submitting your email address at the bottom of this page, to stay up to date on all the latest Essential Theatre news. We’ll be sharing pictures and updates from this summer’s festival as well as news about what we’re up to next and what our artists,

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