Georgia Playwrights Retake the Stage Next Month

The 2020 Essential Play Festival was cancelled due to COVID - making 2020 the first year since the Festival began in 1999 that there hasn't been a festival - and the company moved to online play readings and launched community playwriting classes to fill the programming gap.

"Moving readings online allowed us to continue to support Georgia's community of playwrights and stay connected with our audience while we were unable to gather in person," explains Founding Artistic Director Peter Hardy, "and the playwriting classes we developed over the past year have been as much of an inspiration to us at Essential as they seem to have been to the class participants!"

Fast forward to fall of 2021: the 2021 playwriting award winners have been named, and dates have been set for a shortened festival in November to premiere their plays. The 2021 Essential Play Festival will take place from November 5-21 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 mask and vaccine requirements, reduced seating capacity, 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.