MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG, A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, and More Set For Actor's Express Season 39

Actor’s Express has announced its 39th Season full of dynamic and piercing theatre. This five-show season includes a World Premiere play by an Atlanta playwright, an Atlanta premiere and a Pulitzer Prize winner – plus a special sixth show that will be announced later.

Season 39 opens in March with Tectonic Theatre Project’s gripping multimedia play Here There Are Blueberries, conceived by Moisés Kaufman and written by Kaufman and Amanda Gronich. This Pulitzer Prize finalist follows curators at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum as an album of World War II-era photographs is mysteriously delivered to them, and the discovery they make about the truth behind these photographs. Here There Are Blueberries will be directed by Amber McGinnis, who most recently directed The Revolutionists at Theatrical Outfit. “Here There Are Blueberries forces us to see evil people as human beings,” AE’s Artistic Director Freddie Ashley notes, “Holding that particular kind of mirror up to society enables us to confront the banality of evil and the dangers of complicity in troubled times.”

In May, AE continues its 39th season with Stephen Sondheim's emotionally trenchant musical Merrily We Roll Along directed by AE Artistic Director Freddie Ashley. Premiering on Broadway in 1981, Merrily We Roll Along features some of Sondheim's most celebrated songs including “Not A Day Goes By,” “Good Thing Going” and “Our Time.” When asked what makes this show so impactful, Artistic Director Freddie Ashley stated, “In Merrily We Roll Along, we take a trip back in time as we trace a fractured group of friends back to the night they met. Along the way, we see not only a powerful story of friendship, but a probing look at the unintended outcomes of the choices we make in life.”

The season continues in July with playwright Jonathan Norton’s Malcolm X and Redd Foxx Washing Dishes at Jimmy’s Chicken Shack directed by AE Associate Artistic Director Amanda Washington. This funny, warm-hearted play follows the true story of Malcom X and Redd Foxx when they worked together as young men in the kitchen of an iconic Harlem restaurant. When asked what made this play right for AE’s 39th season, Ashley said, “Malcolm X and Redd Foxx Washing Dishes at Jimmy's Chicken Shack in Harlem is an unexpected gem. We get to see a foundational period between two young men long before each became a legend. It's a celebration of brotherhood and the connections that catalyze each man's journey toward leaving their marks on the world.”

In November, AE is proud to produce the World Premiere of Game Night by Atlanta’s own Suehyla El-Attar Young. Game Night follows a group of friends during an ordinary game night that quickly devolves into something far more sinister when a second-hand board game from Goodwill proves to be possessed. This nail-biting comedy blends humor and horror in a way that is sure to shock and delight audiences. When asked what excites him about this play, AE’s Artistic Director Freddie Ashley expressed, “Game Night is a very special moment for AE. We commissioned Suehyla to write this play, so we'll have started out with its very birth up to its World Premiere on our stage. It's razor sharp and scabrously funny.”

Actor’s Express Will Close its 39th season in January 2028 with Tennessee Williams’ monumental Pulitzer Prize winner, A Streetcar Named Desire, celebrating the play's 80th anniversary. Fading southern Belle Blanche Dubois descends upon her sister Stella's French Quarter doorstep, haunted by loss and searching for solace. When Stella’s hot-tempered husband Stanley begins challenging Blanche’s delicate manners and carefully guarded stories, his explosive cruelty comes to a head with Blanche’s unraveling sense of self. When asked what will excite audiences most of AE’s production of this well-known piece, AE’s Artistic Director Freddie Ashley said, “A Streetcar Named Desire is one of the greatest plays of the twentieth century. As we have done with other classics like The Crucible, we'll bring an epic Classic-with-a-capital-c up close and personal to audiences with an intimacy and accessibility that is the true mark of AE at our very best.”

Actor’s Express’ 39th season will also include a special sixth show that will be announced at a later date. “Where else can you see a lineup like this?,” Artistic Director Freddie Ashley asks. “Sure, you might find any one of these individual plays at another theatre, but when you put them all together you get something adventurous and unexpected. That's the magic that only Actor's Express can bring you - a lineup of plays and twists and turns, taking you on a journey all season long.”

Ashley continues, “Season 39 is one of the biggest and boldest seasons we've ever embarked on at Actor's Express. The play selections run the gamut from new to classic, from heart wrenching to heart warming, and from hilarious to dramatic. There are surprises to be found in every one of the plays and musicals we have curated, and we believe it will become one of the most exciting seasons in AE history.”

Season subscription packages are now on sale and can be purchased online at actors-express.com or by calling 404-607-SHOW.

Here There Are Blueberries

Conceived by Moisés Kaufman

Written by Moisés Kaufman and Amanda Gronich

Directed by Amber McGinnis

March 11- April 11, 2027

In 2007, curators at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum received a mysterious delivery of an old album full of World War II-era photographs. What was shocking about the photos was not their explicit horror, but their depictions of the banality of daily life for the staff of one of the most lethal concentration camps. The museum curators unravel the truth behind the images and discover how their impact echoes over 70 years later in this heartstopping multimedia play.

Merrily We Roll Along

Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

Book by George Furth

Based on the Original Play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart

Orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick

Originally Directed on Broadway by Harold Prince

Originally produced on Broadway by Lorde Grade, Martin Starger, Robert Fryer and Harold Prince in association with Ruth Mitchell and Howard Haines

Directed by Freddie Ashley

May 13 - June 20, 2027

“Hey, old friend, how do you stay old friends?” That is the question at the center of Stephen Sondheim’s emotionally trenchant musical about three friends in show business navigating their turbulent relationship. Spanning almost 30 years, Merrily We Roll Along is widely lauded as one of Sondheim’s most ahead-of-its-time musicals – and his most personal. Features Sondheim standards like “Not a Day Goes By,” “Good Thing Going” and “Our Time.”

Malcolm X and Red Foxx Washing Dishes Together at Jimmy’s Chicken Shack

By Jonathan Norton

Directed by Amanda Washington

July 22 - August 15, 2027

In 1943 Harlem, Foxy and Little work alongside each other in the kitchen of an iconic Harlem restaurant. Equally driven by ambition, they see their friendship strained and their souls tested as the world around them becomes more turbulent with each passing day. Based on real events, this funny and insightful examination of the bonds of brotherhood demonstrate how the seeds planted in a humble environment blossomed into legends that shaped history.

Game Night

By Suehyla El-Attar Young

November 4-21, 2027

WORLD PREMIERE!

All Kylie wants is the perfect game night where nobody fights too much and nobody gets too drunk and her husband doesn’t drive her too crazy. Is that too much to ask? Well, when a second-hand board game that Kylie picked up at Goodwill proves to be possessed, her simple game night devolves into something she could never have imagined. In this nail-biting comedy, a dysfunctional group of friends discover that putting their differences aside is no small feat – but it may just be the only way they’ll make it out alive.

A Streetcar Named Desire

By Tennessee Williams

Directed by Freddie Ashley

January 27 - February 27, 2028

Fading southern Belle Blanche Dubois descends upon her sister Stella's French Quarter doorstep, haunted by loss and searching for solace. When Stella’s hot-tempered husband Stanley begins challenging Blanche’s delicate manners and carefully guarded stories, his explosive cruelty comes to a head with Blanche’s unraveling sense of self. Tennessee Williams’ monumental Pulitzer Prize winner is as shattering and captivating today as it was when it first enraptured Broadway eighty years ago.