The 2025 Essential Theatre Play Festival Kicks Off This Week
The event is on August 8.
By: Stephi Wild Aug. 05, 2025
On August 8, the 2025 Essential Theatre Play Festival kicks off at 7Stages in Little Five Points with the World Premiere of Matt Hoffman's A Very Special Hospital, directed by Peter Hardy.
About A Very Special Hospital
A surreal comedy about healthcare, with a deeply emotional family story at its core, this is Hoffman’s second full-length play. The first premiered at the 2023 Essential Theatre Play Festival to popular and critical acclaim. Upon reading this script when it was first submitted, Essential's Founding Artistic Director (and this show's director) said, "I'm excited to have received another excellent submission from Matt, written in such a different style, with a strikingly theatrical imagination."
About the Playwright, Matt Hoffman
A writer and critical care physician whose first play, The Manuscript, was the winner of the 2023 Essential Theatre Playwriting Award, Matt has also worked as a freelance journalist, writer and editor for WebMD, intern at CNN, professional blogger, and frontman for a cover band. Born and raised in the Midwest, he currently lives in Atlanta with his wife and two young children.
About the Essential Theatre Playwriting Award
Started in 2001, the Essential Theatre Playwriting Competition is the only one of its kind, exclusively for Georgia writers, with the winner receiving a cash prize and a full production. Many past Award Winners have gone on to publication and future productions around the country, including the very first Essential Theatre Playwriting Award Winner, Lauren Gunderson, who has been one of the most produced playwrights in America for more than a decade (American Theatre Magazine), topping the list three different times since 2015.
Based on his own experience, Hoffman has this to say about the Essential Theatre Playwriting Award: “My experience with submitting work nationally since The Manuscript has shown me just how fortunate we all are to have Essential Theatre in Atlanta dedicated to featuring the work of Georgia playwrights. Almost no other contests stage a full production of their winning plays. To get to see The Manuscript and now A Very Special Hospital come to life on stage under Peter Hardy’s direction is a dream come true, twice."
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