Speakeysie News Desk 9/26/2020

ATLANTA, GA – Actor’s Express launches Virtual Downstage: A Theatrical Online Experience. Fall 2020 will include a slate of online programming including a new play reading, a weekly monologue series, and a one-woman show. 

Artistic Director Freddie Ashley said, “As theatre companies across Atlanta and the nation continue to assess when we can return to live, in-person programming, we wanted to think about different kinds of work that can resonate with our audiences online. We have curated a slate of work that speaks to our current moment in thoughtful and varying ways.” 

ABOUT VIRTUAL DOWNSTAGE
Virtual Downstage: An Online Theatrical Experience is a new online initiative by Actor’s Express
to provide premiere theatrical entertainment to patrons at-home. Virtual Downstage is
supported by Fulton County Arts & Culture COVID-19 Small Business Relief – Virtual Arts
Initiative. Actor’s Express will produce digital content between September 2020 and
December 2020 to keep audiences entertained while the theatre is shut down due to
COVID-19.

ABOUT THE PROGRAMMING

Hometown Boy by Keiko Green
Directed by Donya K. Washington
October 4, 2020 • 7:00 PM
James hasn’t been back to his rural Georgia hometown in over a decade, but reluctantly
returns to check in on his father, whose behavior has become worryingly erratic. And since
the South has a way of holding onto secrets, he soon stumbles into a life he thought he had
left behind as a child. That stench in the air isn’t just his father’s decaying house, but the
rotten core of long-buried secrets teeming just under the surface and ready to explode.
Hometown Boy boldly tackles race, class and being an outsider in the Deep South.

Monologue Series
Features work by Quinn Xavier Hernandez, Amina S. McIntyre and Avery Sharpe
Launches weekly beginning October 8, 2020; available free on Actor’s Express’s
YouTube channel

Actor’s Express commissioned three of Atlanta’s most dynamic and fiercely talented young
playwrights to craft short-form solo performance pieces. We asked them to consider
themes of hope for the future and encouraged them to interpret these ideas as broadly or
as narrowly as they like. The result is three compelling pieces from the next generation of
Atlanta writers:

YouTube channel

Actor’s Express commissioned three of Atlanta’s most dynamic and fiercely talented young playwrights to craft short-form solo performance pieces. We asked them to consider themes of hope for the future and encouraged them to interpret these ideas as broadly or as narrowly as they like. The result is three compelling pieces from the next generation of Atlanta writers: 

you are going to do amazing things 

By Quinn Xavier Hernandez 

A young father records a message for the newborn daughter whom he’s given up for adoption and whom he may never know. 

Toward Joy 

By Amina S. McIntyre 

A woman on the cusp of a restorative journey ponders the need for joy in the world right now. 

Spongebob Spectrum Pineapple People 

By Avery Sharpe 

What do a trip to Mellow Mushroom, drunk-watching “Lovecraft Country” and a certain sponge who lives in a pineapple under the sea have in common? You’re about to find out! 

Neat 

By Charlayne Woodard 

Directed by Eric J. Little 

November 11-25, 2020 

Celebrated playwright Charlayne Woodard lovingly crafts the story of her cherished Aunt Neat, a woman whose simplicity, love, energy and tenderness made a profound impact. What begins as a nostalgic personal remembrance blossoms into a magical and compelling story of embracing womanhood, Blackness and the myriad changes of life itself. This tour-de-force solo play is as inspiring as it is hopeful. 

An Actor’s Express Holiday Surprise! 

December (Holiday) 2020 

We’re cooking up a fun December surprise for everyone…stay tuned to see how we’re going to ring in the holiday season at Actor’s Express! 

ADMISSION 

Hometown Boy and the Monologue Series are both free online events. Ticket information for Neat and An Actor’s Express Holiday Surprise will available in the coming weeks. For questions and more info, email tickets@actorsexpress.com.

COVID-19 PROTOCOL 

In a collaboration with Emory University Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Actor’s Express has implemented a safe protocol for operating during this time. The guidelines set will ensure a healthy working environment for both creatives and theatre staff. 

WE ARE GRATEFUL TO OUR SPONSORS 

Bloomberg Philanthropies, Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta Metropolitan Arts Fund, City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs,  Fulton County Board Commissioners, Georgia Council for the Arts, Holland IT Consulting , Kilpatrick Townsend, National Endowment for the Arts, Charles Loridans Foundation, Shubert Foundation,  Thompson Hine , WarnerMedia 

ABOUT ACTOR’S EXPRESS 

Since our founding in 1988, we have sought to nurture the next generation of playwrights through workshops, readings, and full productions of new plays; to develop and nurture Atlanta’s artistic community through theatre training; to catalyze the dialogue essential to the vitality of our neighborhood and our city, and to enhance Atlanta’s reputation nationally as a thriving center for live performance. 

Actor’s Express is located on the westside of Atlanta in the King Plow Arts Center at 887 W. Marietta Street, Suite J-107, Atlanta, Georgia 30318.