Actor's Express to Present THE THRUSH AND THE WOODPECKER, SWEENEY TODD, and More as Part of 28th Season
By: Sally Henry Fuller Mar. 29, 2015
Actor's Express announces its 28th Season of stunning plays including six works, three of which are world premieres, and one classic musical.
The season opens September 12 with Aaron Posner's hilarious "sort-of-adaptation" of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull, Stupid F*cking Bird. In October and November, Actor's Express will produce two world premiere plays by Steve Yockey (previous AE hits Wolves and Pluto) in repertory. The Thrush and the Woodpecker is a white-knuckled thriller full of the power and theatricality audiences have come to expect of Yockey, while Blackberry Winter, a National New Play Network (NNPN) Rolling World Premiere and Co-Production with Out of Hand Theater starring Carolyn Cook, is a poignant story of a woman caring for her Alzheimer's-stricken mother. An electrifying production of the Tony Award-winning Sondheim masterpiece Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street starring Kevin Harry kicks off 2016 followed by the world premiere of Serial Black Face by Janine Nabers, an emotionally powerful piece about a mother coping with the disappearance of her young son set against the backdrop of the Atlanta Child Murders. The season will close in May with Significant Other, a gay romantic comedy by Joshua Harmon, the writer of last season's smash hit Bad Jews.
In addition to its mainstage season, Actor's Express will introduce Threshold, a new weeklong playwriting festival scheduled for the first week of December. This season's focus is on works by local playwrights. Libby Whittemore will return to Actor's Express for three engagements throughout the season, continuing her cabaret series Libby's at the Express.
Season subscription packages are now on sale and can be purchased online at actors-express.com or by calling 404.607.7469. Single tickets will go on sale July 10, 2105, the opening night of Actor's Express' summer musical Rent.
ABOUT THE PLAYS
Stupid F*cking Bird
By Aaron Posner, sort of adapted from The Seagull by Anton Chekhov
Directed by Freddie Ashley
September 12 - October 11, 2015
An irreverently hilarious sort-of-adaptation of The Seagull
Atlanta Premiere
Love! Art! Revolution! A passionate young director fights for the future of his art while competing with a famous novelist for the affections of a beautiful young actress. His mother, an aging Hollywood star, struggles with fading youth and her lover's wandering eye. And through it all, everyone discovers the disappointments and joys of life and love. In its Atlanta premiere, this award-winning play by Aaron Posner (My Name is Asher Lev) hilariously smashes the absolute f*ck out of Anton Chekhov's classic The Seagull.
Two World Premiere plays from Atlanta favorite Steve Yockey in rotating repertory!
The Thrush and the Woodpecker
By Steve Yockey
Directed by Melissa Foulger
Starring Kathleen Wattis
October 31 - November 15, 2015
Danger and destruction detonate in this shocking revenge thriller, World Premiere
Brenda Hendricks tries to repair a fractured relationship with her son Noah, who has hastily returned home from college following an act of vandalism. When a mysterious visitor arrives at their remote North Carolina home bearing dangerous secrets from Brenda's past, the three find themselves on a collision course with betrayal and revenge. This white-knuckled thriller promises plot twists, gasps and the gripping theatricality you've come to expect from Steve Yockey.
Blackberry Winter
By Steve Yockey
Directed by Adam Fristoe
Starring Carolyn Cook
November 7-22, 2015
When memory fades, love endures, A National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere and a Co-Production with Out of Hand Theater
Vivienne struggles with caring for her mother, an Alzheimer's patient whose condition is showing signs of deterioration. In some of Yockey's most poignant writing to date, she confesses and confronts the myriad challenges of caring for someone who is vanishing slowly before her very eyes.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Book by Hugh Wheeler, Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Directed by Freddie Ashley
Starring Kevin Harry
January 23 - February 28, 2016
Winner! Eight Tony Awards including Best Musical and Best Score!
A wronged barber escapes from prison, returning to his native London to exact revenge on the corrupt judge who unjustly imprisoned him and stole his wife and child. When he joins forces with the lonely piemaker Mrs. Lovett, he sets into motion a tale of lust, murder, revenge and some really twisted meat pie recipes. Sondheim's electrifying masterpiece explodes off the AE stage with raw power and some of the best singing you'll hear in Atlanta all year.
Serial Black Face
Directed by Freddie Ashley
March 29 - April 23, 2016
A mother's brave journey of loss, love and learning to choose life, World Premiere and Winner of the 2014 Yale Drama Series
Atlanta, 1979. The city is gripped by the murders of 23 children. Single mother Vivian copes with the disappearance of her young son while working tirelessly to give a fresh start to her troubled teenage daughter. When a handsome stranger enters her life with promises of new love, she soon learns that nothing is as it seems. This award-winning play by one of America's most promising young playwrights pulses to life with extraordinary grace and raw emotional power.
Significant Other
May 21 - June 19, 2016
From the playwright of the smash hit Bad Jews!
Jordan Berman is looking for Mr. Right. As each of his close-knit girlfriends begin coupling off, he navigates the uneasy transition from gay best friend to bridesman. Through it all, he wades through a string of workplace crushes, awkward first dates and romantic misadventures of his own, wondering if he'll ever find true love. AE favorite Joshua Harmon goes from Bad Jews to bad dates in this bittersweet comedy about searching for love and moving on.
Actor's Express is located on the west side of Atlanta in the King Plow Arts Center at 887 W. Marietta Street, Suite J-107, Atlanta, Georgia 30318.
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