Looking for something cultural to do in the next week or so? Here’s our select list of recommendations. Pictured: Veronika Duerr as Emilie in “Emilie: La Marquise du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight,” a Weird Sisters Theatre Project staging of a play by Lauren Gunderson. Photo by Katie Causey.
RECOMMENDED
Every Tongue Confess. THROUGH AUG. 25. The summer heat is rising and flames are flying in this fantastical whodunit at Horizon Theatre. The staging isn’t perfect, but you’ll see theater in all its bold and imperfect glory. As the citizens of Boligee, Ala., try to find out who’s behind a string of church fires, the gossip simmers and secrets start to slip out. The script — by poet-playwright Marcus Gardley, a young writer with a national reputation — is rooted in history and magic realism. $20-$30 plus tax. 8 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; 3 and 8:30 p.m. Saturday; and 5 p.m. Sunday. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.584.7450. Half-price tickets (Aug. 14 only ) at PoshDealz.com. Read more about Minka Wiltz, who plays Mother Sister, in this Encore SNAPSHOT.
Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical. THROUGH AUG. 18. Join hands, pick a wildflower and commune with The Tribe, a group of politically active hippies in the Age of Aquarius. Note: This Serenbe Playhouse production contains nudity and adult language/content. Anyone under age 18 must be accompanied by an adult. Seating and bug spray provided! Full bar at show. Outside food and drinks allowed. The critics: “A one-of-a-kind theatrical experience. It will blow your mind” (Wendell Brock, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution); “Smart, enjoyable and immersive” (Andrew Alexander, ArtsATL.com). $25; $20 students. It’s selling well, so please call for tickets before you go. 8:30 p.m. Thursday-Sunday (pre-show 8 p.m.) The Wildflower Meadow (enter off Hutcheson Ferry Road, past the Serenbe entrance). 9110 Selborne Lane, Palmetto, about 30 minutes from Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Details, tickets HERE or at 770.463.1110. Discounts at PoshDealz.com. (Pictured: Kylie Brown as Sheila. Photo by BreeAnne Clowdus)
Les Misérables. Aurora Theatre begins its 18th season with its largest undertaking ever, the epic sung-through musical about an antihero named Jean Valjean and revolution in 19th-century France. The 28-person cast is led by Bryant Smith as Valjean, Natasha Drena as Fantine and Kevin Harry as Javert. The show won eight 1987 Tony Awards. Justin Anderson directs. The critics: “A victory for the ambitious Aurora Theatre” (Wendell Brock, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution); “The production is stunning” (Kenny Norton, AtlantaTheaterFans.com). $30-$40. Through Sept. 8 (Aug. 25 and 29 shows sold out). 8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. Also at 10 a.m. Aug. 14, 21 and 28 ($20; no evening shows those days). 128 East Pike St., Lawrenceville. Free, attached parking deck at 153 Crogan St. Details, tickets HERE or at 678.226.6222. Read more about Kevin Harry, who plays Javert, in this Encore SNAPSHOT. (Pictured: Bryant Smith as Valjean. Photo by BreeAnne Clowdus)
LAST CHANCE
Mysterious Connections. CLOSES FRIDAY. World premiere. Part of Essential Theatre‘s three-play summer festival. The script, by Essential Producing Artistic Director Peter Hardy, features two lonely women haunted by their pasts yet drawn to one another from the first time they meet. $18-$23. 8 p.m. Friday. Note: For mature audiences. Includes sexual situations, smoke and fog effects. Actor’s Express, 887 W. Marietta St. Note: The King Plow Arts Center parking lot is under construction. Alternate parking options HERE. Details, tickets HERE or at 1.866.811.4111. Read more about the Essential Theatre festival in this ENCORE FEATURE.
Stray Dogs. CLOSES SATURDAY. World premiere. Part of Essential Theatre‘s three-play summer festival. Playwright Matthew Myers won the 2013 Essential Theatre Playwriting Award with this script, a comedy/crime story/romance in the Tarantino style. Jackson is a petty criminal who’s not as smart as he thinks. Violet is a teenage call girl who’s not nearly everything she pretends to be. $18-$23. 8 p.m. Saturday. Actor’s Express, 887 W. Marietta St. Note: The King Plow Arts Center parking lot is under construction. Alternate parking options HERE. Details, tickets HERE or at 1.866.811.4111.
Swimming With Jellyfish. CLOSES SUNDAY. World premiere. Part of Essential Theatre‘s three-play summer festival. This comedy-drama, by Atlanta playwright Katie Grant Shalin, features a family trying to hold it together as the kids get ready to leave the house and everything starts falling apart for Mom and Dad. $18-$23. 8 tonight and 2 p.m. Sunday. Actor’s Express, 887 W. Marietta St. Note: The King Plow Arts Center parking lot is under construction. Alternate parking options HERE. Details, tickets HERE or at 1.866.811.4111.
THIS WEEKEND ONLY
Brothers of Affliction. THROUGH SATURDAY. An encore run by 3 Hill Productions, which staged this drama at 7 Stages last year and, more recently, at the Orlando Fringe Festival. It’s the story of three brothers united, and divided, by a secret. The script, by Paris Crayton III, is for mature audiences only. The cast: Crayton, Kirk D. Henny and Robb Douglas. $18. 8 tonight-Friday; 3 and 8 p.m. Saturday. Porter Sanford III Performing Arts Center, 3181 Rainbow Drive, Decatur, 404.687.2731.Details HERE. Tickets HERE.
Jazz on the Lawn: Madoca & Company. 7:30 P.M. FRIDAY. Composer and jazz keyboardist Madoca teams with the Prince Project for a mix of fusion, funk, Latin and contemporary jazz. Bring a blanket and a picnic. Part of Callanwolde’s Jazz on the Lawn series. $15 in advance; $20 at door. Callanwolde Fine Arts Center, 980 Briarcliff Road N.E. 404.872.5338. Details, tickets HERE.
OPENING THIS WEEKEND
Emilie: La Marquise du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight. THROUGH AUG. 25. Weird Sisters Theatre Project stages this piece about an 18th-century scientific genius, described thusly by her lover Voltaire: “A great man whose only fault was being a woman.” On this night in her afterlife, Emilie is back and determined to answer the question that eluded her in life: love or philosophy, head or heart? Atlanta-bred, San Francisco-based playwright Lauren Gunderson tells a highly theatrical, fast, funny and sexy rediscovery of one of history’s most intriguing women. Cast: Veronika Duerr as Emilie and Joe Sykes as Voltaire, with Erin Considine, Tony Larkin and Holly Stevenson. Shannon Eubanks directs. $15. 8 tonight-Saturday, Aug. 15, 19, 22-25; and 2:30 p.m. Aug. 17-18 and 25. Details, tickets HERE or at 678.226.6222.
STILL PLAYING
A Midsummer Night’s Dream. THROUGH AUG. 17. Shakespeare’s fairy-filled in through the woods, perfect with a draft beer for a summer evening. $15-$36. 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; and 6:30 p.m. Sunday. New American Shakespeare Tavern, 499 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.874.5299. Get a $50 gift card, good on tickets, food and drink, for $25 HERE.
Rumpelstiltskin. THROUGH SEPT. 8. A reprise of this Center for Puppetry Arts original based on the Grimm Brothers fairy tale about straw, spinning and a mysterious little man. Told with hand-crafted marionettes. Adapted by Bobby Box and Michael Haverty, two major names in puppetry in, and beyond, Atlanta. $16.50 non-members; $9.25 members. 10 and 11:30 a.m. Thursday-Friday; 11 a.m. 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday; and 1 and 3 p.m. Sunday. 1404 Spring St. N.W. (at 18th Street). Details, tickets HERE or at 404.873.3391.
LOOKING AHEAD
Third Country. READING. 7:30 p.m. Sunday-Monday. Get a first look at a new play by Atlanta-based writer Suehyla El-Attar, inspired by real-life events in Clarkston, where thousands of refugees have been resettled in the past decade. With wit and optimism, El-Attar looks at a community in transition and what happens when we are forced to redefine and share our homes. The world premiere runs Sept. 20-Oct. 20 at Horizon Theatre. Sunday’s reading (reception at 6:30 p.m.) is at the Clarkston Community Center, 3701 College Ave., Clarkston. Monday’s reading is at Horizon Theatre, 1083 Austin Ave. N.E. (at Euclid Avenue). Feedback sessions follow both readings. Free; reservations accepted but not required. Details HERE or at 404.584.7450.
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Kathy Janich, Encore Atlanta’s managing editor, has been seeing, covering or working in the performing arts for most of her life. Full disclosure: She is affiliated with Weird Sisters Theatre Project listed above. Please email: kathy@encoreatlanta.com.
