Win an Essential Theatre STAYCATION Package

Win an Essential Theatre STAYCATION Package
including one night stay for two at Marietta's
Whitlock Inn as well as two tickets to a
performance at Theatre-In-The-Square.

Just fill in this brief survey and you will be entered to win. Make a Donation and you double your chances.

Whitlock Inn Come rock on the porch while you soak up some Southern charm. This cherished Victorian bed & breakfast is in a National Register Historic District, one block from the Marietta Square and 20 miles from Atlanta. This mansion has been crowned "the jewel of Marietta" and each of the five guest rooms has a distinctive personality. The Whitlock offers a daily continental breakfast and afternoon snack to guests.

Theatre In The Square Gutsy…grand-slam production…seasoned professionalism…powerhouse performance…well-tuned ensemble…likely to be the season’s most talked about production…rich, rewarding and insightful evening of theatre... Just be sure and buckle up!

December 16 Free Night of Theatre

JIM CROW AND THE RHYTHM DARLINGS by Vynnie Meli, directed by Betty Hart

RETURNING TO THE STAGE FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY

DECEMBER 16th 7pm, Admission is FREE

New Mercies Christian Church, 4000 Five Forks Trickum Rd, Lilburn, GA 30047
World Premiere
Actors: Rachel Bodenstein, Enisha Brewster, Daniel Burnley, DeAndrea Crawford, Nadir Mateen, Delesa Sims
It’s World War Two, and with so many men going off to serve, the previously all-male world of jazz is opening up to women for the first time. The International Rhythm Darlings are an all-female African-American band touring the Deep South, which would be a tough situation in the best of times … but now they’ve got a last-minute replacement in the group, a white Jewish woman, and integrated bands aren’t allowed to play together on stage. Not in the South, not anywhere.

Inspired by the real-life experiences of musicians from that era, Vynnie Meli’s play takes a fascinating look at some extraordinary women who make their way past fear and hatred to find the common threads that bind them together. Winner of the 2009 Essential Theatre Playwriting Award competition, the only prize exclusively dedicated to the work of Georgia playwrights. The Essential Theatre is proud to have developed this play (along with Working Title Playwrights, Jewish Theatre of the South and the Alliance Theatre playwriting class) and to be bringing it to the stage for the first time.

If you enjoy this performance, please visit us online and help support our mission.

Essential Theatre is a recipient of a Google Grant award.

The Google Grants program supports organizations sharing Google's philosophy of community service to help the world in areas such as science and technology, education, global public health, the environment, youth advocacy, and the arts.

Designed for 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations, Google Grants is a unique in-kind advertising program harnessing the power of Google AdWords advertising product. Google Grants has awarded AdWords advertising to hundreds of non-profit groups whose missions range from animal welfare to literacy, from supporting homeless children to promoting HIV education.

Invest in Our Success

Over the past twelve years, the Essential Theatre has become a leading voice in the support and development of new plays by Georgia writers. Our annual Essential Theatre Playwriting Award is the only competition of its kind, exclusively dedicated to the work of playwrights from the Peach State. Along with a cash prize, the winner gets to see his or her play given a World Premiere production in the Essential Theatre Festival, along with Regional Premieres by such nationally acclaimed authors as Sam Shepard, Christopher Durang, Paula Vogel and Lanford Wilson.

Here's an added incentive for you to support us with a donation prior to the end of the year. Essential Theatre has been chosen to participate in Google Grants Programs and will waive processing fees for online donations to Essential through the end of the year. This means that the entire amount of your gift will go to support our operations. So, be sure to give before December 31 and win twice, a tax deduction for 2009 and the full amount of your investment in helps us produce great new plays at Essential Theatre. Click here to learn about donation incentives. You win, We win, We all win...

Please scroll down to make a donation

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2010 Essential Theatre Playwriting Award Winner

The Essential Theatre is proud to announce that the winner of the 2010 Essential Theatre Playwriting Award competition is Gabriel Dean’s Qualities of Starlight, a modern southern family comedy. Gabriel Dean has been working for some years on the Atlanta scene as an actor and playwright, and is currently pursuing an M.F.A. in the Playwriting Program at the University of Texas in Austin. His play Buy My House – Please! Is currently running at the Aurora Theatre in Lawrenceville. Mr. Dean will receive a cash prize of $600.00 and Qualities of Starlight will be produced as part of the 2010 Essential Theatre Play Festival, running at the Actor’s Express space in July and August of next year.

Food for Fish & Cats & Dogs & save $5.

Bring a can or unopened bag of dog or cat food to Essential Theatre's production's of ICE GLEN, FOOD FOR FISH or JIM CROW & THE RHYTHM DARLINGS this weekend and save $5 off the adult ticket price. Collections will be distributed to the Atlanta Humane Society and Pet Rescue.

The 11th Annual Essential Theatre Festival closes this weekend, so don't miss out. And, please no FISH FOOD, we've got that covered already.

Want to know which show performs when? Click here.

Food for Fish photos

Click on the photo to view the entire album.

People are talking about Ice Glen by Joan Ackerman

ICE GLEN by Joan Ackermann
Beautifully written, masterfully delicate direction by Ellen McQueen, precise, delightful and surprising performances all round. Go see it.” Joanna Daniel

“ICE GLEN is both one of the best scripts and best overall productions I've seen in the nine years I've been in Atlanta, and Ellen's direction is flawlessly nuanced. A true "must-see."" Evan Guilford-Blake

"It’s one of the best shows in Atlanta this year!” Leonard Pallats

People are talking about "Jim Crow...."

WMLB Voice of the Arts' Larry Larson interviews playwright Vynnie Meli & director Betty Hart


And, In Print

“Directed by Betty Hart, Jim Crow & The Rhythm Darlings truly captures the love of jazz … the dialogue is quick paced and smart, the issues are diverse, and the acting is powerful. Not every day do you come across an intelligent play that explores gender roles, racism, and religion. Jim Crow & The Rhythm Darlings is a harmonious blend of talent, music, and discussion. Definitely a must see.” Kelechi Ubozoh, Atlanta Theatre Examiner

“Playwright Vynnie Meli’s Jim Crow and the Rhythm Darlings draws from a seemingly bottomless wellspring of drama. Director Betty Hart builds to some undeniably gripping confrontations … Essential Theatre offers an affecting homage to some of the unsung women of jazz.” Curt Holman, Creative Loafing

FOOD FOR FISH: It's a wild strange trip....one smart play....compelling

“Following its tradition of introducing Atlanta to some of the edgier plays around, Essential Theatre opened its annual summer festival with FOOD FOR FISH, a lively take on Chekhov’s THREE SISTERS by rising playwright Adam Szymkowicz … One smart play …dark, droll dialogue … it’s a wild, strange trip, full of black humor, and something to really challenge the mind.” read the entire review James Paulk, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“This play by the brilliant young playwright, Adam Szymkowicz, is one strange work of art … it is compelling, humorous, and I would give it a 9 on the proverbial scale.” Robert Heller, Publisher's Feature Service

Playwright Steve Yockey "strongly suggests that folks in Atlanta check out the whimsically dark, touching and intoxicatingly performed production of Adam Szymkowicz's "Food for Fish" at Essential Theatre."

Audience comments:

ICE GLEN opens tonight

Two things have been running through my head like a song, since I've been working on this play, ICE GLEN. One is a line from a song that a friend wrote: "We're all gonna live like people in a book." The other is from OUR TOWN, when Emily asks the Stage Manager (I'm paraphrasing here) "Do human beings ever realize how beautiful life is, every minute?" and he says, "The poets and the saints, some."

ICE GLEN is about being truly alive in the place where you belong. About being in that special place, inside and outside yourself (in the woods, or in a poem, or in a circle of people you love) where, if there's a frozen part of your heart because once something hurt too much for you to feel it, you can allow the ice to melt and come to life. Of course, there is an element of danger to being truly alive. When parts that have been too cold for too long warm up, they burn. But one of the surprises, when you open and feel, is how much fun and laughter you find where you feared to find only pain. There's a lot of fun and laughter in ICE GLEN. And we've all laughed a lot working and playing in this production.

The theatre has always been the place for me where the ice melts and the heart comes to life, and I find it happening again with this lovely play.
Ellen McQueen

Examiner.com: Jim Crow and The Rhythm Darlings

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Jim Crow and The Rhythm Darlings

What do you get when you combine a forties all-girl black jazz band with one Jewish member, and stir it up with a tour through the Jim Crow South? You get a recipe for disaster, but more importantly discovery. It's 1943...

To read the rest of this article, please click on the link below:

http://www.examiner.com/x-5055-Atlanta-Theater-Examiner~y2009m7d9-Jim-Crow-and-The-Rhythm-Darlings?cid=email-this-article

Become a Facebook Fan

The influence of Facebook in marketing the theatre continues to growth indicatinges how social media continues to enhance and re-define the way arts organizations reach out to audiences.

When we reach a fan base of 1,000, Facebook provides a series of advanced tools and analytics that will enhance our ability to reach those interested in theatre. We can easily achieve this by encouraging our friends on to Become a Fan on Facebook and recommend us to their friends. When you access our page you will see a list of options below the logo on the left. One is “Suggest to Friends.” When you click on this link a box with all of your friends’ photos opens. Simply click on the individuals you believe would be interested in the theatre (local residents, patrons of the arts, etc.). If they’re already a fan of ours their photo will be grayed out, so you’ll know by sight who is already with us. They will get an update from you suggesting they join us. It’s that simple. It’s a very soft ask that can make a huge difference in building relationships in time for the new season.

Clickon on the "Become a Fan" button then follow the link below to suggest that your friends join us. Thanks

The Essential Theatre on Facebook

Here’s a link to our page: EssentialTheatre Facebook Page and while your at it, please become a fan of Actors Express if you have not already done so.

If you’re not on Facebook and would like to be, please let me know and we’ll help you get started.