Out Of Box Theatre Opens it 8th Season With ENTERTAINING LESBIANS

There's nothing more exciting for a theatre company than the first production of a new work. But there are many steps in the journey of a new play, and with the launch of it's new Beta Test Performance Series, Out of Box Theatre continues to live up to its name by introducing new works in the final stage of development before the World Premiere.

With the start of their eighth season, Out of Box launches the Beta Test Performance Series with Entertaining Lesbians, a new farce by award-winning Atlanta playwright Topher Payne. In a Beta Test, playwrights can test out a new work with a rehearsed cast and a fully designed production, while refining and rewriting based on the mentorship of the audience. This gives the playwright the opportunity to make cuts, substantial changes, or even try out new scenes over the course of the run. In short, if a joke doesn't land on Friday, there might be a new one on Saturday. This process invites the community at large to be an essential part of that process.

And there are plenty of jokes in this non-stop comedy. All Rowena Tuttle wants is to gain admission for her daughter into the uber-exclusive School for Young People. But she's going to require a more compelling personal narrative, and a more diverse group of friends. Aided with significant hesitation by her husband and her personal assistant, Rowena sets her sights on Atlanta's most powerful lesbian couple, determined to forge a friendship. But just before the lesbians arrive, Rowena's past catches up with her: Her long-presumed-dead mother arrives on her doorstep with a mutant farm animal and a passel of inconvenient truths. Then they find the ransom note. Rowena's daughter has been kidnapped. But Rowena Tuttle will not be deterred. There are still lesbians to entertain.

Out of Box is known producing plays that are always a bit more than they seem at first glance. As Artistic Director Carolyn Choe puts it, "It's like moms hiding the spinach in the lasagna." Playwright Payne adds, "My policy as a writer is if you want to make people listen, you make them laugh. And in an era of constantly shifting expectations, I wanted to tell a story of the anxieties and opportunities that accompany our desire to connect."

Entertaining Lesbians runs August 2-17, Thursday through Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 3 pm. Out of Box Theatre is located in the Artisan Resource Center at 585 Cobb Pkwy S, Marietta, 30060. Tickets are $22 and can be purchased online at www.outofboxtheatre.com or by calling 678-653-4605.