Darker Face of the Earth
by Rita Dove, directed by Betty Hart
The Georgia Premiere of a stunning tragic drama by a Pulitzer Prize-winning African-American poet (and former Poet Laureate of the United States). The classic story of Oedipus is re-imagined on a slave plantation in the American South.
Adult situations, with some violence. VIDEO

“A luminous choreopoem that shows off the strengths of a strong supporting ensemble …A scintillating meditation on the shifting balance of power between master and servant, husband and wife, “The Darker Face of the Earth” transports the mythology of classical literature to the landscape of the Old South,

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Former US Poet Laureate Rita Dove was in town at a reception for the Atlanta premiere of her play, Darker Face of the Earth. Essential Theatre Company is performing the work at Actors’ Express.

The play is a re-telling of Oedipus, the classic Greek tragedy in which a king tries unsuccessfully to avoid his fate, of killing his father and marrying his own mother. Dove’s play takes place on a slave plantation in the American South. Recently, WABE’s Lois Reitzes spoke with Rita Dove about the play. She began by asking: Why Oedipus?

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• The Trials of Girlhood
• Could Slaves Read and Write
• House versus Field Slaves
• South Carolina
• A Slaveholder’s Daughter
• Slaves and Music

The Trials Of Girlhood – excerpt from Harriet Jacobs’ Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
During the first years of my service in Dr. Flint’s family, I was accustomed to share some indulgences with the children of my mistress. Though this seemed to me no more than right,

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“Very fine performance of the “Darker Face of the Earth.” Very strong cast and well produced.”
Joe Bankoff, President and CEO of The Woodruff Arts Center

“The scope of this play is large, and the execution is sharp. This play is engaging theatrically, visually, historically and spiritually. Essential always puts on a good show, and this may be its most awe-some yet. I hope this play gets the kind of turnout it deserves. Congrats to Peter, Betty, Essential and the outstanding cast!”
Hank Kimmel, Board Chair, Working Title Playwrights

“A very well acted piece.

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The Essential Theatre has done pretty well with the Metropolitan Atlanta Theatre Awards over the past few years — getting lots of nominations and some wins, including two for Best Direction of a Play (Dina Shadwell for FIX ME SO I CAN STAND and Ellen McQueen for AFTER ASHLEY), Best Actor in a Play (Spencer Stephens for FIX ME SO I CAN STAND) and Best Supporting Actor in a Play (Bobby Labartino for MRS. BOB CRATCHIT’S WILD CHRISTMAS BINGE). This year we’re proud to say we’ve got nine nominations all told — for two of the productions in last summer’s Essential Theatre Play Festival,

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Become an Usher

We are seeking two ushers for each performance. Please visit our online Theatre Festival Usher Calendar to determine performance dates and availability. Click HERE to volunteer.

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Essential Theatre presents “Darker Face of the Earth” by Rita Dove, directed by Betty Hart, opening night reception with Pulitzer Prize Winner, Former U.S. Poet Laureate, playwright Rita Dove.

Regional Premiere – This stunning tragic drama takes the ancient Greek legend of Oedipus and re-imagines it on a slave plantation in the American South.

Ms. Dove’s books will be available before the performance and during intermission for sale by A Cappella Books. Ms. Dove will be available after the performance for a book signing.

July 8th, 2010
VIP Reception 7 pm
Performance 8 pm

Essential Theatre @ Actors Express
887 W.

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Film critic Pauline Kael proposed that the real Golden Age of American Movies was not the much-heralded 1940s, but instead the long decade of the 1970s, when a kind of freewheeling creativity and an explosion of new voices and impulses were unleashed. American film suddenly revealed more varieties of stories, more unconventional talents, more dialogue with foreign film and forbidden subject-matter than ever before. In Peter Hardy’s Sally and Glen at the Palace, pop movie culture does not coarsen the mind and emotions, but creates a conduit for the most delicate moments of (imperfect) communication. Peter Hardy’s young heroine and hero–battered,

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Starlight plays tricks with time: while we feel the stars are timeless, and name them after gods, science tells us that they are actually time-bound, that—counter-intuitively–the light that shines on us bears a specific history, and tells us about the nature and origin of things. Gabriel Jason Dean‘s Qualities of Starlight lives in this mystery: we follow a scientist who has learned that creation is forever beginning again (upending easy ideas of origins and consequences, doom and possibilities)–even as he journeys to encounter his family past, but finds there nothing but the unexpected. Science crashes violently into nature, identities shift,

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I am especially pleased with how hard working and talented the cast of Darker Face of the Earth is. They are a collective pleasure to work with and they make me laugh every rehearsal–I love laughing and NO it’s not a comedy; we just like to have a good time!
Betty Hart

Darker Face of the Earth
by Rita Dove
directed by Betty Hart
preview July 7, 2010
opens July 8, 2010

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