Theater & Film

Expect theatrical anarchy when Atlanta debuts its own “fringe festival” in May

By Andrew Alexander | Jan 17, 2012
Expect theatrical anarchy when Atlanta debuts its own “fringe festival” in May

The very first “fringe festival” was held in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1947, and considering the random format — put a bunch of unrelated performance proposals into a hat, pick out a few and then put on a show — you’d think it would also have been the very last. But the Edinburgh festival has grown [...]

Theater & Film

Review: At Actor’s Express, love and faith collide in smart, must-see “Next Fall”

By Andrew Alexander | Jan 15, 2012
Joe Sykes (Luke) and Mitchell Anderson (Adam) make a convincing couple in "Next Fall" at Actor's Express. (Photo by Offhand Photography)

“Next Fall,” at Actor’s Express through February 11, dramatizes a relationship as it comes to a moment of crisis: Adam (Mitchell Anderson) is an atheist with a caustic New Yorker’s wit, while his partner, the younger Luke (Joe Sykes), is a wide-eyed innocent with a fundamentalist Christian background and beliefs. The play was an off-Broadway [...]

Theater & Film

Review: In OnStage Atlanta’s “40 Weeks,” pregnancy shakes up a marriage

By Andrew Alexander | Jan 14, 2012
Review: In OnStage Atlanta’s “40 Weeks,” pregnancy shakes up a marriage

The title of the play “40 Weeks,” at OnStage Atlanta through January 28, refers to 40 weeks of pregnancy, and as it follows couple Mark (Geoff “Googie” Uterhardt) and Angie (Barbara Cole Uterhardt) over that period, it becomes far more than a cutesy dramatic version of “What to Expect When You’re Expecting.” It delves into [...]

Theater & Film

The year in review: Big shows, bare bones, and 11 productions that enthralled

By Andrew Alexander | Dec 29, 2011
From left: Del Hamilton, Brenda Bynum and Diany Rodriguez in "August: Osage County." (Photo by Greg Mooney

By all accounts, 2011 should have been a bad year for theater in Atlanta. The economy was tanking, audiences dwindled, funding dried up, and several established theaters sent out desperate pleas that they were weeks away from closing. Hardly an auspicious environment for artistic creation. But instead of shuttering shop, the city’s theatrical artists hunkered [...]

Theater & Film

Review: Horses take the stage in “Odysseo,” spectacle at its best

By Andrew Alexander | Dec 10, 2011
Review: Horses take the stage in “Odysseo,” spectacle at its best

“Odysseo” opens with horses. They enter the performance area quietly, in a loose, casual way, without any trainers or human performers. A horse saunters into the arena alone, then another enters, then a couple more. The stage is not actually a clearing in a verdant, primeval forest, but it’s decorated and lit as if it [...]

Theater & Film

Review: Fabrefaction’s “Rocky Horror” shivers with Christmas weirdness — and good cheer

By Andrew Alexander | Dec 5, 2011
Review: Fabrefaction’s “Rocky Horror” shivers with Christmas weirdness — and good cheer

“The Rocky Horror Show” is usually brought to the stage around Halloween, but Fabrefaction Theatre has given the whole thing a peppermint-flavored twist by rolling out its production at Christmastime. It’s an appealing option: when audiences have had enough of Handel’s hallelujahs, Scrooge’s humbugs and ballerinas en pointe in sugar-coated candy kingdoms, they can balance [...]