For 25 years now, under the leadership of producing artistic director Peter Hardy, Essential Theatre has specialized in giving Atlanta audiences an opportunity to experience offbeat or obscure plays that they might otherwise never see.
The company's primary claim to fame of late has been an annual summer repertory that alternates performances of three different shows, at least one of which has always been the work of a Georgia writer.
With its 14th-annual Essential Play Festival, however, the entire lineup is comprised of premiere productions written by locals. This year's winner of the Essential Playwriting Award, which includes a $600 cash prize, is the prolific Atlanta-based writer Topher Payne ("Tokens of Affection," "Perfect Arrangement").
His comic drama "Evelyn in Purgatory" (previewing Thursday, opening Friday) is billed as a "Breakfast Club" for grown-ups. Based on actual circumstances, the play is set in a New York City "rubber room," where a group of teachers is being held in detention while they await their various disciplinary hearings.
Directing the show, fittingly enough, is Betty Hart, who also mounted the productions of previous Essential award-winners Theroun Patterson ("A Thousand Circlets" in 2011) and Vynnie Meli ("Jim Crow and the Rhythm Darlings" in 2009).
"I've always had a real love for new work," Hart says. "The greatest challenge with that, as a director, is that you have no idea how or if it will work, no frame of reference based on any other versions of the same material."
After a pause, she adds, "But that's the reward, too, being able to collaborate on something from the ground up, to be a creative part of its inception and infancy, helping that baby get on its feet and walk for the first time. That can be pretty exciting."
Hart credits Payne for "his witty and wonderful dialogue (and) an uncanny ability to write strong women characters." While her other Essential shows (also including 2010's "The Darker Face of the Earth") have been heavier dramas, "It's a pleasure for me getting to work on something that's a lot funnier," she admits.
The ensemble of faculty members features Amanda Cucher as Evelyn, alongside Jo Howarth, Rial Ellsworth, Josie Burgin-Lawson, Jon Wierenga, Betty Mitchell and Megan Hayes.
Hayes -- and Payne, for that matter -- serve double duty on Essential's "Bat-Hamlet" (previewing July 18, opening July 19), a parody by first-time playwright Jordan Pulliam, who lives in Decatur. The title speaks for itself: Pulliam takes the famous Shakespearean plot and gives it a campy twist by way of the old TV series "Batman." Payne plays the lead role, with Hayes as his newly reimagined mother, Barbara (formerly Gertrude).
Elsewhere, Horatio is now Songbird Boy (not to be confused with Robin); Claudius becomes a comic-book villain named the Jester (as opposed to the Joker); Polonius is the Puffin (instead of the Penguin); and all of it unfolds neither in Elsinore nor in Gotham City, but in a place known as Gothic Castle. Also in the cast: Stuart McDaniel, Lake Roberts and Kate Graham.
"Believe it or not, it isn't quite as far-fetched as it might sound," notes Hardy, who is staging the show. "Whether you're a fan of 'Hamlet' or a fan of 'Batman,' there are plenty of in-jokes running throughout the play on both sides."
Hardy had participated in a reading of the play more than a year ago, under the auspices of Working Title Playwrights. "Later, when I looked at the script again, I became even more impressed with what Jordan had accomplished. It wasn't just a high-concept idea. It was actually very smart and imaginative," he says.
"There's a lot of action in it, a few effects, and we've been having lots of fun working with the costumes and makeup and props."
Arguably the most ambitious undertaking in this year's festival is "The Local" (previewing July 11, opening July 12), a collection of some two dozen variations on a theme -- including traditional scenes and monologues, but also incorporating poetry, music and dance to tell a myriad of stories by and about people who call Atlanta home.
Developed and directed by frequent Essential collaborator Ellen McQueen ("Sally and Glen at the Palace," "Charm School"), the production has been nine months in the making. Back in November, she and Hardy put out a call for writing submissions and received more than 80 contributions from which to choose.
In addition to pieces by Hardy, Payne and Meli, there are others by the likes of Margaret Baldwin (who most recently penned Horizon's "Night Blooms"). A few of them are based on recollections and impressions of the city by such local actors as Robin Bloodworth and Matt Myers.
Although McQueen's large ensemble features a lot of new faces, regular theatergoers should recognize Spencer Stephens (as a symbolic train conductor who guides the action and connects the various vignettes), if not also Nancy Lowery Powell, a fixture of the late '80s and early '90s, who's making a comeback of sorts after years away from the scene.
"This was a way of doing something special in honor of the company's 25th anniversary," explains McQueen. "The central themes are about belonging and renewal, about finding or remaking oneself in a city whose symbol is a phoenix reborn from its own ashes, and we've tried to represent voices from all sorts of different communities and walks of life."
Even native Atlantans may learn something new about their hometown. "The show gives audiences a chance to hear from the inside about things that might be outside their own experiences, from life in the projects to stories about undocumented workers who seem to be invisible to a lot of people," she says.
Using video projections to set the scenes, the action ranges from Piedmont Park to Georgia Tech to Cabbagetown, and between such iconic locations as the Fox Theatre, the Cyclorama and even Manuel's Tavern.
Theoretically, at least, McQueen hopes the play will appeal to the widest possible audience. As she puts it, "We've tried to cover as many bases as we could, so that everyone ought to be able to relate to it on a personal level, either in parts or on the whole."
The 2012 Essential Theatre Play Festival Through Aug. 5. Rotating performances of "Evelyn in Purgatory" (opening July 6, with a preview Thursday), "The Local" (opening July 12, with a preview July 11) and "Bat-Hamlet" (opening July 19, with a preview July 18). 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays (July 22 and 29), 2 p.m. Sunday (Aug. 5), 8 p.m. Mondays (July 23 and 30), 8 p.m. Tuesday (July 24). $18-$23. Actor's Express (at King Plow Arts Center), 887 W. Marietta St., Atlanta. 866-811-4111. essentialtheatre.com.
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