The Essential Theatre

06/13/2026

Essential Playwriting Award winner Beverly Austin has a new show opening!

06/12/2026

Please join Essential Theatre this Sunday at Manuel's Tavern!
Who: You, our friends and theatre lovers
What: Meet the Playwright: Susan Swavely
When: this Sunday, June 14, from 4-6pm
Where: Manuel's Tavern, in the First Level room
Why: to meet the 2026 Essential Theatre Playwriting Award Winner, Susan Swavely, in an intimate, relaxed, and conversational setting
This event is free to attend, with no RSVP required.
You are a vital part of our community. Come celebrate with us. We hope to see you there!

This Sunday, join us 🎭✨🥂

Meet our 2026 award winning Playwright: Susan Swavely
🖊️

From 4–6pm at Manuel’s Tavern for an exciting afternoon of drinks, conversation, and community as we celebrate our 2026 award-winning playwright.

🎉 🎉 🎉 🍻

06/10/2026

Congratulations 🎊 and we are looking forward!!!

via >>> Essential Theatre’s Homegrown award comes with the incredible opportunity to reprise the winning performance at the Essential Theatre Festival in August.

Don Toberman will be playing ping-pong at Edinburgh Fringe at that time, so we are so pleased to announce that our (very close) runner-up for the Homegrown award, Babylon is an Action Verb, will be taking that slot! Congratulations to the wonderful team behind this fantastic show!

🎉 Mark your calendars for the Essential Theatre Festival - August 7-23,2026

06/09/2026

This Sunday, join us 🎭✨🥂

Meet our 2026 award winning Playwright: Susan Swavely
🖊️

From 4–6pm at Manuel’s Tavern for an exciting afternoon of drinks, conversation, and community as we celebrate our 2026 award-winning playwright.

🎉 🎉 🎉 🍻

06/09/2026

Festival Passes are now available!

Now through June 30, purchase a Festival Pass and get the best prices and priority access to your preferred dates for this summer’s shows!

Two-, Four-, and Eight-Ticket passes available.

Festival Passes give passholders 48 hour early access July 4-5 to redeem your pass for individual tickets and ensure you get seats according to your preferred schedule, before tickets are available to the general public on July 6.

Don’t miss out on this chance to immerse yourself in the best of Georgia’s theater scene this summer!

Get Your Festival Pass here https://www.tix.com/ticket-sales/essentialtheatre/709?

05/28/2026

🚨 LAST CHANCE TO REGISTER! 🚨

Registration for Essential Theatre’s Introduction to Playwriting class closes at MIDNIGHT tomorrow night!

Have a story you’ve always wanted to tell? Curious about writing for the stage? Essential’s flagship community playwriting course is the perfect place to begin.

Participants will explore the elements of playwriting through:
✨ Writing exercises
✨ Examples from great plays
✨ Guest professional playwrights from our own community
✨ Sharing work in a supportive environment

Classes meet weekly for 90 minutes, and writers of all experience levels are welcome.

Don’t miss your chance to find your voice and bring your stories to life on stage.

Register now at Essential Theatre:
https://www.essentialtheatre.com/program/introduction-to-playwriting/

05/28/2026

Two-time Essential Theatre playwriting award-winner Lauren Gunderson will be back at Theatrical Outfit

Via >>> Atlanta playwright Lauren Gunderson (Silent Sky & Christmas at Pemberley) returns to TO with THE REVOLUTIONISTS – an irreverent, girl-powered comedy set during the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror. Playwright Olympe de Gouges, assassin Charlotte Corday, former queen Marie Antoinette, and Haitian rebel Marianne Angelle hang out, murder Marat, and try to beat back the insanity in 1793 Paris. This grand and dream-tweaked comedy is about violence and legacy, art and activism, and how we actually go about changing the world. It’s a true story. Or total fiction. Or a play about a play. THERE’S REALLY ONLY ONE WAY TO FIND OUT!

Ticket Link https://www.theatricaloutfit.org/revolutionists 🎭