Theater preview
“Torn: Every Decision Has a Consequence”
8 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; 3 and 8 p.m. Saturday; 3 and 7 p.m. Sunday. $25. 14th Street Playhouse, 173 14th St., Atlanta. 404-733-4738, www.14thstplayhouse.org
In real life
• Name: Herbert Dorsey Levens.
• Age: 40.
• Residence: Atlanta.
• Marital status: Single/engaged.
• Family: Daughter, 8-year-old Amaya.
• Athletic accomplishments: All-ACC running back at Georgia Tech (1993); All Pro with the Green Bay Packers in 1997, gaining 1,435 yards; member of Super Bowl XXXI champion Packers team.
• Fumbles: 13 in 11 NFL seasons.
• Current occupation: Owner of Levens Communications; football commentator for CSS network; actor in training.
• Aspirations: "My goal is to do similar to what Tyler Perry has done, but do it in my own way. One thing that worries me is that people will always think, 'Oh, he's just a football player trying to be on stage.'"
• Persona: "I'm laid back. I lean on the truth."
Stage life
• Name: D.J.
• Age: 37.
• Residence: Atlanta.
• Marital status: Determinedly single. "But he lies and tells women he's married. He even wears a wedding band. It works for what he's trying to do," Levens said.
• Family: None.
• Athletic accomplishments: Played a little at Georgia Tech, but never made the NFL. In the opening scene, D.J. and Ryan Stewart's character talk about their glory days on The Flats.
• Fumbles: "Oh yeah, I've dropped lines. It's going to happen. The first play we did [at Destiny Metropolitan Church in Marietta], my first time on stage, I skipped like two whole lines. The lead is so talented, she just picked up where I left off, kept on going and the crowd didn't even know."
• Current occupation: Coca-Cola executive.
• Aspirations: To bed his best friend's wife.
• Persona: "He's a slimeball. He's a player, but a dirty player. He's a liar, a sneak. I've been around quite a few in my days, played with quite a few. None as bad as D.J. though."
