Essential Theatre to Present 23rd Summer Play Festival Featuring Two World Premieres & More

From July 29 to August 28, Essential Theatre is presenting its 23rd Festival with the world premieres of two plays and four staged readings, all by Georgia playwrights. The Outrage Machine, written by Daniel Carter Brown and directed by Peter Hardy, opens Friday, July 28, 2022 at 8pm at the West End Performing Arts Center. A Complicated Hope, written by John Mabey and directed by Ellen McQueen, opens Friday, August 5, 2022 at 8pm at the same venue. The Festival is rounded out with guests Hush Harbor Lab presenting a reading of K. D. Smith's The Wash, and three readings as part of the Bare Essentials Play Reading Series, produced with support from Georgia Humanities.

2020 Essential Playwriting Award Co-Winner The Outrage Machine by Daniel Carter Brown kicks off the Festival on July 28. A satiric drama that explores internet journalism, social media, and the culture of outrage, this play is as timely now as it was when it won the award and when it was originally penned five years earlier, when "outrage culture" was a concept most Americans were only beginning to be aware of.

This year's Playwriting Award Winner, A Complicated Hope by John Mabey, opens the following week on August 5. A play about hope, shining a light on the darkest corners of grief, A Complicated Hope was developed by Theatrical Outfit & Working Title Playwrights here in Atlanta and won the Mildred and Albert Panowski Playwriting Award by the Forest Roberts Theatre at Northern Michigan University in 2021 and the Charles M. Getchell New Play Award through The Southeastern Theatre Conference in 2022. This will be the play's first professional production.

For one night only on August 18, Essential is pleased to host a reading by Hush Harbor Lab, Atlanta's Black Play Development Company. Founders Amina McIntyre and Addae Moon describe the organization as "a brave space for the development and production of new and innovative digital, live and multi-media performance work by Black Atlanta-based artists." The organization is only two years old, but McIntyre and Moon are well-established in the local and national theater scene, and Essential is excited to provide a new stage for their vision and talent. They will be presenting a reading of K. D. Smith's The Wash, an intimate and often funny tale of women who went from workers to fighters, and won, based on true events.

Finishing out the festival's offerings is the Bare Essentials Play Reading series, produced with support from Georgia Humanities, which features:
The Exhibit by Ozzy Rose Wagner, directed by Carolyn Cook (August 9)
Barbie Liberation Organization by Robert Fuson, directed by Kati Grace Brown (August 10)
Shark Week by Anneka Rose, directed by Cameryn Richardson

The Festival features all local talent, working to serve and contribute to the Atlanta arts scene.

The West End Performing Arts Center is located at 945 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd, Atlanta, GA, 30310. Tickets are on sale now!

The 2022 Essential Play Festival will take place from July 29 to August 28 at the West End Performing Arts Center (945 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd, Atlanta, GA 30310) in Atlanta's Historic West End, Essential Theatre's home since 2014. COVID restrictions including masks and enhanced air purification and cleaning practices will be in place to ensure artists and patrons alike have a safe and enjoyable time at the theatre. To read the whole COVID Policy go to: EssentialTheatre.com/Experience/2022-festival/covid-safety-policy
To purchase tickets: EssentialTheatre.Tix.com