Atlanta Stage Write Productions

> HOME: Norcross

> THEATER BACKGROUND: Beck didn't "stumble into" acting and writing until his mid 20s, after graduating from college with a business degree. He was living in Chicago and joined the Chicago Dramatists, and started studying acting before being drawn to playwriting. When Beck moved back to Atlanta several years ago to be near family, he said, "I found a much richer environment than the one I left in terms of theater. There's a lot more theater groups, and I think the talent's gotten deeper."

> SHOWTIME: His work, as well as short plays by eight other writers, will be showcased next weekend and June 14-15 at the 9x9 '08 (Nine plays by nine Atlanta playwrights) festival at the Norcross Cultural Arts and Community Center ($5, www.onionmanproductions.com). It's a mix of comedies and dramas using a total of 16 actors and five directors. Last year, the event was at Callanwolde Fine Arts Center. Beck describes his play, "Little Red Wagon," as being about a recently deceased man who arrives with a little red wagon to help someone through a difficult experience.

> BACKSTAGE: "Scattered throughout the audience will be nine nervous playwrights," Beck said of the festival. "You get anxious and nervous and all that good stuff. Will they like it? In the end, you settle on [realizing] it's what's in my heart and what I wanted to write."

> CURTAIN CALL: Beck, 43, works at Georgia's Own Credit Union.

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