Looking for something cultural to do this weekend and beyond? Our select list of recommendations includes “C.S. Lewis On Stage,” written and performed by Tom Key and opening tonight at Theatrical Outfit. Photo illustration by BreeAnne Clowdus.
RECOMMENDED
As You Like It. THROUGH JUNE 29. Georgia Shakespeare‘s season opener moves indoors from Piedmont Park. As you might recall, “All the world’s a stage, and the men and women merely players.” Extras this season include pre-show talks 30 minutes before each performance, an actor chat on June 21 and, on post-show cabarets June 27-28. While you’re getting your Bard on, check out the new picnicking furniture on the Conant grounds. Bring your own picnic or order from Newk’s Brookhaven. $14-$33. 8 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. Additional shows at 7 p.m. June 22 and 2 p.m. June 28. Oglethorpe University, 4484 Peachtree Road N.E. Details HERE or at 404.504.1473. (Pictured: Courtney Patterson, left, and Ann Marie Gideon. Photo by Greg Mooney.)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. THROUGH AUG. 2. Serenbe Playhouse promises a one-of-a-kind retelling of the classic L. Frank Baum story with a bookish Dorothy who creates magic in her own backyard and with visuals created by the Center for Puppetry Arts out of organic and reclaimed materials. Adapted by Rachel Teagle and not a musical. Directed by Brian Clowdus. Performed outdoors in the Animal Village (enter at The Inn). Bring your own seating. The critics: “In the theatrical landscape of Atlanta, there really is no place like Serenbe” (Wendell Brock, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution). $15; $10 ages 13 and under. 11 a.m. Friday-Saturday; 2 p.m. June 22 & 29 and July 13, 20 & 27. 10950 Hutcheson Ferry Road, Chattahoochee Hills. Details HERE. Tickets available HERE until one hour before show time, then on-site. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
OPENING THIS WEEKEND
C.S. Lewis On Stage. THROUGH JUNE 29. Let actor-director-writer Tom Key lead you through the wardrobe in this one-man show acclaimed by C.S. Lewis scholars and cheered by audiences from Oxford University to the Kennedy Center to Harvard and Yale and across America. His words come straight from Surprised by Joy, The Screwtape Letters, Mere Christianity, Letters to an American Lady, The Man Born Blind, The Great Divorce and much more. Lewis (1898-1963) is considered one of the 20th-century’s great thinkers. $25-$35. 7:30 tonight-Friday and June 26-27; 2:30 & 7:30 p.m. June 21 & 28; and 2:30 p.m. June 22 & 29. Theatrical Outfit at the Balzer Theater at Herren’s, 84 Luckie St. N.W. Details, tickets HERE or at 678.528.1500.
CLOSING THIS WEEKEND
Criminal Hearts. CLOSES SUNDAY. Weird Sisters Theatre Project stages this quirky comedy by Jane Martin, best described, perhaps, as a cross between the movies Thelma & Louise and The Grifters. It’s set in Chicago and peopled by an agoraphobic, her estranged husband, a would-be burglar and her accomplice. $20. 8 tonight-Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday. At Aurora Theatre, 128 E. Pike St., Lawrenceville. Free, attached, covered parking in city of Lawrenceville deck (enter at 153 E. Crogan St.). Tickets, details HERE or at 678.226.6222. See a video chat with the Weird Sisters HERE. (Pictured: Sarah Elizabeth Wallis as the agoraphobic Ata. Photo by Katie Cathell.)
Levi. CLOSES SUNDAY. In this world premiere from Atlanta playwright Paris Crayton III and Rising Sage Theatre, a self-proclaimed free-spirited radical returns home for the first time in 13 years when he hears his father’s church is being torn down. Featuring stage and TV actor Taurean Blacque (“Hill Street Blues”). $25 plus fees. 8 p.m. Thursday-Friday; 2 & 8 p.m. Saturday; and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.500-SAGE. See this ENCORE SNAPSHOT for more on writer-actor Crayton.
NOW PLAYING
Dr. Seuss’s The Cat in the Hat. THROUGH JULY 20. Featuring the Cat in the tall striped hat, Sally and her brother, their pet Fish, and Thing 1 and Thing 2 in an adventure for anyone age 4 and older. It’s told with rod puppets and animation. $16.60; under 2 free. 10 a.m. & noon Tuesday-Friday; 11 a.m., 1 & 3 p.m. Saturday; and 1 & 3 p.m. Sunday. Closed July 4. Center for Puppetry Arts, 1404 Spring St. N.W. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.873.3391.
Spamalot. THROUGH JUNE 29. Atlanta Lyric Theatre stages this Tony Award-winning best musical (2005), lovingly ripped off from the movie classic Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Follow King Arthur (Bart Hansard) and his Knights of the Round Table as they search for that elusive Grail, persevering despite death, cowardice, Laker Girls, flying cows, killer rabbits and taunting Frenchmen. $25-$50. 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. Also at 2 p.m. June 28. Jennie T. Anderson Theatre, Cobb County Civic Center Complex, 548 S. Marietta Parkway, Marietta. Details, tickets HERE.
Ten Mile Lake. THROUGH JUNE 29. In this world premiere by California playwright Tira Palmquist, a father and daughter learn the true meaning of the word “home.” Featuring Bryan Brendle, Veronika Duerr and Mark Kincaid. $25; $20 students. Serenbe Playhouse, on the Grange Lake Dock (behind the Nest Homes). 10950 Hutcheson Ferry Road, Chattahoochee Hills. Tickets available HERE until one hour before show time, then on-site. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com. (Pictured: Bryan Brendle and Veronika Duerr. Photo by BreeAnne Clowdus.)
LOOKING AHEAD
Same Time, Next Year. OPENS JULY 8 | THROUGH AUG. 3. Kenny Leon and Phylicia Rashad play lovers George and Doris, who meet by chance on business in 1951 and, though married to others, promise to rendezvous every year at the same time atsame place (wonder where the title comes from?). The 1975 script is by Bernard Slade. Directed by Chris Coleman, a co-founder of Atlanta’s Actor’s Express, who’s been artistic director at Portland Center Stage in Oregon for 14 years. $35. Schedule varies. True Colors Theatre Company at the Southwest Arts Center, 915 New Hope Road S.W. Tickets HERE. Directions HERE.
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Kathy Janich, Encore Atlanta’s managing editor, has been seeing, working in or covering the performing arts for most of her life. Full disclosure: She’s affiiliated with Theatrical Outfit and Weird Sisters Theatre Project, both mentioned above. Please email: [email protected].
