Essential Theatre's Bare Essentials Play Reading Series Begins Monday

From August 11 to September 3, Essential Theatre is presenting its 24th Festival featuring two World Premiere productions, four staged readings, partner presentations of two more plays, and a 10 Minute Play Bootcamp Showcase - all by Georgia playwrights. The Festival opens with the World Premiere of Matthew Hoffman's The Manuscript on August 11 and continues with the World Premiere of The Wishing Place, written by Beverly Austin and directed by Ellen McQueen, on August 18 at 8pm in the 7Stages Black Box Theatre.

The Festival also includes workshop presentations and staged readings, including the Bare Essentials Play Reading Series with readings on August 14, 22, and 29. 

"I love staged readings because they allow a play to take its first baby steps towards coming to life," shares The Rock and the Hard Place author Emily McClain. "When I’m writing the dialogue I hear it in my head a certain way but until it’s actually coming out of the mouths of performers I don’t know if it’s working the way I thought. Staged readings also give a great sense of the flow and momentum of the piece as a whole. They are a part of my creative process with every script I write."

The first Bare Essentials reading will be Water Boyz, a play by Kwik Jones, directed by Damian Lockhart and featuring the reading talents of Brian Ashton Smith, Will Oliver, Corey Finley, Kyrun Walker-Smith. Inspired by Atlanta's renowned Water Boys, in this play the bond of brotherhood is challenged as tensions rise between three young entrepreneurs hustling for freedom and stability on the streets of Atlanta.

Curated by Essential’s Founding Artistic Director, Peter Hardy, himself a national award-winning playwright who’s had over 30 productions of his work done around the country and has had plays chosen for the National Playwrights’ Conference and the Lanford Wilson New American Play Festival and received playwriting awards from the National Playwrights’ Conference, the Festival of Southern Theatre and the New Southern Theatre Festival.

Performance Schedule:

Monday August 14 (7:30pm) Water Boyz by Kwik Jones

Tuesday August 22 (7:30pm) The Rock and the Hard Place by Emily McClain

Tuesday August 29 (7:30pm) DOUBLE FEATURE! The Other Bones by Beverly Sylvester and Pas de Deux by Sarah Swiderski

All readings in the Bare Essentials series are free and open to the public.

7Stages Theatre is located at 1105 Euclid Ave, Atlanta, GA 30307. Tickets are on sale now! Visit EssentialTheatre.Tix.com or call 404-212-0815.