Arís Theatre commemorates the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I with the Veterans Day-timed “Not About Heroes;” “Knead” (Alliance) premieres; Steve Yockey’s bloody fun-smart “Reykjavik” (Actor’s Express) runs on; and Halloween shows give way to Christmas stories. Details in this week’s curated column. Pictured: Chris Harding (left) and Eric Lang in “Not About Heroes.” Photo by Marcus Geduld.
Top picks
Knead. BEGINS TUESDAY. An Alliance Theatre world premiere. In the wee hours, a woman attempts to bake bread from her mother’s incomprehensible recipe. But the ingredients of time and memory keep interfering, and the bread-baking process — the kneading, rising, shaping and baking, all in real time —becomes a journey into the unpredictability of, well, just about everything. Bread will be baked and, maybe, shared. Two-time Suzi Bass Award-winning actor Mary Lynn Owen wrote the one-person script, her first, and plays the woman. Knead was developed in the Alliance’s third Reiser Atlanta Artists Lab and was a semifinalist for the important O’Neill National Playwrights Conference in Waterford, Conn. David de Vries directs. Recommended for age 14 and up. Through Dec. 9. 7:30 p.m. Nov. 13 ($30) + Nov. 14 ($45). Regularly $45; $10 teens. Runs 7:30 p.m. Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 2:30 + 8 p.m. Saturday; 2:30 + 7:30 p.m. Sunday. No show Thanksgiving Day. Hertz Stage, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. NE. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
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Not About Heroes. THROUGH NOV. 18. Arís Theatre commemorates the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I with this Veterans Day-timed story of friendship between a shell-shocked British soldier and a famous poet. Wilfred Owen is 24 when he meets poet, protester and soldier Siegfried Sassoon at Scotland’s Craiglockhart War Hospital. Their mutual love of words and disillusionment with war draws them together. The script is by British playwright Stephen MacDonald (1933-2009). Chris Harding is Owen; Eric Lang is Sassoon. Both are Atlanta-based actors. Frank Miller, a longtime theater lecturer at Georgia State University, directs. $18-$28. 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday. 7 Stages BackStage space, 1105 Euclid Ave. NE. Tickets HERE.
Reykjavik. THROUGH NOV. 18. Reykjavik at Actor’s Express unfolds beneath the otherworldly glow of the Northern Lights, where tourists and locals mingle in the shadows of Iceland’s capital city. As told by Los Angeles-based playwright Steve Yockey, an Atlanta favorite with a strong national reputation, eight interconnected vignettes play out. We eavesdrop on lovers, siblings, hotel employees, sex workers and opinionated birds. In true Yockey style (Pluto, Wolves, Octopus), this collision of sex and danger introduces a world in which the supernatural is closer than we think. The six-person cast is directed by frequent Express (and Yockey) collaborator Melissa Foulger and features such familiar faces as Stephanie Friedman, Eliana Marianes, Joe Sykes and Ben Thorpe (Alliance Theatre’s Hand to God). This is a National New Play Network rolling world premiere, a pretty big deal. $35 and subject to change based on demand. 8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. King Plow Arts Center, 887 W. Marietta St. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.607.7469. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
West Side Story. CLOSES SUNDAY. The Atlanta Opera presents the American musical classic by Leonard Bernstein, Jerome Robbins, Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim about battling gangs in 1950s New York. The score is indelible — “Maria,” “Tonight,” “America,” “Cool,” “I Feel Pretty” and “Somewhere,” among others. American soprano Vanessa Becerra is Maria, with American tenor Andrew Bidlack as Tony, American baritone Brian Vu as Riff and DJ Petrosino as Bernardo, a role he performed in August at The Bernstein Centennial Celebration at Tanglewood Music Center in Massachusetts. Internationally recognized director Francesca Zambello directs. Sung in English with English supertitles. $43-$139. 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday; 3 p.m. Sunday. Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, 2800 Cobb Galleria Parkway, Atlanta. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.881.8885.
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This weekend only
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. THURSDAY + SATURDAY. Guest conductor Roberto Abbado of Italy returns to conduct Beethoven’s buoyant Eighth Symphony and Rossini’s String Sonata No. 1, written when the composer was 12. Also on the program: Brahms’ Violin Concerto, about which a curmudgeonly 19th-century maestro once sniped that it isn’t a concerto for violin, it’s a “concerto against the violin.” Or so says the ASO website. Audiences have always loved the famously difficult piece, performed here by German violinist Veronika Eberle, making her ASO debut. $22-$103 Thursday; $38-$69 Saturday (most sections are sold out). 8 nightly. Symphony Hall,Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. NE. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000.
Terminus Modern Ballet Theatre. FRIDAY-SUNDAY. Translation, a world premiere, is described as an immersive dance work by Atlanta native Troy Schumacher, a soloist and New York City Ballet choreographer. The living art installation is designed to lead audiences on a sensory journey. These performances expand on Schumacher’s 2017 version of the piece. TMBT, as the company is known, was founded a year ago by five former Atlanta Ballet principal dancers with a combined 85 years of professional experience — Christian Clark, Heath Gill, Tara Lee, Rachel Van Buskirk and John Welker. Their mission: mixing ballet and modern styles to create new theatrical dance. $35-$40. 2 p.m. Saturday; 2 + 8 p.m. Sunday (Friday + Saturday night performances sold out). Westside Cultural Arts Center, 760 10th St. NW. Details, tickets HERE.
Last chance
I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti. CLOSES SUNDAY. Georgia Ensemble Theatre in Roswell presents this one-woman romantic comedy with live, onstage cooking (eight audience members can sit onstage and dine as the show progresses). The piece is based on the 2009 book I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti: A Memoir of Good Food and Bad Boyfriends by Giulia Melucci. The comedy has been described as “a foodie’s dream version of ‘Sex and the City.'” Atlanta actor Jennifer Levison, perhaps better known for her Souper Jenny restaurants, is the lone cast member. Rachel May, Synchronicity Theatre artistic director, directs. $26-$42. 8 p.m. Thursday-Friday; 4 + 8 p.m. Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday. GET performs in the Roswell Cultural Arts Center, 959 Forrest St. Details, tickets HERE or at 770.641.1260. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
The Sleepy Hollow Experience. CLOSES SUNDAY. Spooky season ends at Serenbe Playhouse, which stages its sixth Sleepy Hollow. Washington Irving’s 1820 horror story follows schoolmaster Ichabod Crane and his efforts to win the heart of Katrina Van Tassel. This adaptation comes from artistic director Brian Clowdus. The cast: Erik Poger Abrahamsen, Erin Burnett, Jeremy Gee, Anna Lanier, Jordan Patrick and Madison Welch. $30-$45 (rain insurance available). 8 p.m. Thursday; 8 + 10:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday. Family-friendly staging at 2 p.m. Saturday-Sunday includes fall festival events before the show and at intermission. Done in the Horseman’s Meadow. Most Serenbe shows require a walk along a path that can be muddy. Appropriate footwear suggested. This is a traveling show, without seating. For mobility assistance (parking, accessibility cart, chairs, etc.), contact the box office. 9110 Selborne Lane in Chattahoochee Hills. Details, tickets HERE or at 770.463.1110.
The View Upstairs. CLOSES SATURDAY. At Out Front Theatre Company. The 2017 off-Broadway musical follows a young fashion designer (Kyle Larkins) in modern-day New Orleans. When he buys an abandoned building in the French Quarter, he’s transported to the UpStairs Lounge, a vibrant 1970s gay bar where a forgotten community comes to life. The piece recalls the 1973 arson attack at the Big Easy’s real-life UpStairs Lounge, which killed 32. Paul Conroy, Out Front’s founder and artistic director, directs. His cast includes Justin Dilley, Tony Hayes, Felicia Hernandez, Quinn Xavier Hernandez, Keena Redding Hunt, Trevor Perry, Jamie Smith, John Henry Ward and Byron Wigfall. $25. 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; 3 p.m. Sunday. 999 Brady Ave. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.448.2755. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
Opening this week
A Man for All Seasons. IN PREVIEWS. OPENS SATURDAY. Shakespeare Tavern Playhouse stages a short (11-performance) run of the 1960 Robert Bolt drama. It tells of the fatal struggle between King Henry VIII of England and his lord chancellor, Sir Thomas More, over issues of religion, power and conscience. Artistic director Jeff Watkins as More and Troy Willis as Henry VIII lead a cast of 13. $22-$45. Previews Nov. 8 ($14) and Nov. 9 ($20). Through Nov. 25. Shows at 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; and 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Pub menu and spirited beverages available. 499 Peachtree St. NE. Parking recommended in Emory University Hospital Midtown deck across Peachtree Street. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.874.5299, Ext. 0. Discount Tavern gift cards at PoshDealz.com.
Next week
Christmas Canteen. NOV. 15-DEC. 23. Christmas arrives before Thanksgiving at Aurora Theatre , which stages its 23rd original holiday revue. It sells very quickly, so if you’re interested, don’t delay. A singing, dancing cast of eight channels the golden days of TV Christmas specials (think Bing Crosby and Andy Williams) and mixes in a few contemporary moves to create a show that will have you glowing with the magic of the season. Ricardo Aponte and Anthony P. Rodriguez co-direct. Aponte also choreographs, with musical direction by Ann-Carol Pence, who also performs. This year’s merrymakers are Galen Crawley, Jimi Kocina, Christian Magby, Kristin Markiton, Chani Masionet, Kenny Tran, Cecil Washington Jr. and Briana Young. $30 and up; $20 and up for Tuesday morning matinees. 8 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; 2:30 + 8 p.m. Saturday; and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. 10 a.m. matinees Nov. 27, Dec. 11 + Dec. 18. Limited Thanksgiving week performances. Aurora offers free, covered, attached parking in a city deck at 153 E. Crogan St. Details, tickets HERE or at 678.226.6222.
Coming up
Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley. BEGINS NOV. 21. Theatrical Outfit reprises this 2017 holiday hit with a script by Decatur-born, San Francisco-based playwright Lauren Gunderson and colleague Margot Melcon. This romantic and witty sequel to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice focuses on socially awkward sister Mary and a potential romantic entanglement. Well-known Atlanta theater artist Carolyn Cook directs. Amelia Fischer and Jonathan Horne return as Mary Bennet and Arthur De Bourgh, as do Devon Hales and Juan Carlos Unzueta. New to the cast are Stephanie Friedman, Jeanette Illidge, Jasmine Thomas and Justin Walker. $18-$51 plus fees. Through Dec. 23. Previews at 2:30 p.m. Nov. 21 + 24; 7:30 p.m. Nov. 23. Opens at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 24. Regularly at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Also at 11 a.m. Nov. 29, Dec. 13 + Dec. 20. No show Thanksgiving Day. The Outfit performs at the Balzer Theater at Herren’s at 84 Luckie St. NW. Details, tickets HERE or at 678.528.1500.
